How We Roll (Acts 4:23-31)

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There is a pattern to the life of the early Church, preserved by Luke, the author of the book of Acts. Centuries, millennia after those events, when I look at the book of Acts, I see that pattern, powerful and important—one for us to see today, to get embedded in our hearts, grooved into our minds so that we know to watch for it.  

This pattern means something for us as a church.  

I'm going to describe for you 3 scenes in the early life of the Church: 

• Scene 1 is Pentecost, the arrival of the Holy Spirit.  
• Scene 2 is the arrest of Peter and John. 
• Scene 3 is their release.  

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Scene 1 – Arrival. The birth of the Church, the arrival of the Holy Spirit.  

In Matthew 28:19, Jesus gives us what is called the Great Commission, telling us what our job is, what we are going to be doing:  

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.  

That's our job. That is our task. That is our responsibility.  

But he doesn't leave us without the tools to do the job. It's not just all on us to figure this out: 

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8) 

That baptism with the Holy Spirit... that's our toolbox. That's where our power comes from. That's where our capacity to do the job comes from.  

In Acts 2:1, the people were waiting, doing what Jesus told them to do: waiting in Jerusalem for this power to come. They knew about the filling of the Holy Spirit because they'd seen it. They'd seen the Holy Spirit enter into and light on individuals here and there throughout israel's history. But now they were waiting for that to happen to them. Which would be scary. Terrifying. Exciting. Thrilling. Joyous.  

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4) 

They were speaking in languages that they had never learned. They were speaking in languages that (I’d put money on it) some of them had never even heard before. 

Empowered by the Spirit, Peter preached his first great sermon.  

(TLDR: Hey, you guys! We didn't get it either. But now we get it, because this is the work of the Spirit: promised by Yahweh God, delivered by Yahweh God, through Jesus the Christ who was killed. Who defeated death from the inside, and burst back out into the world in life! He is the source of forgiveness. Of life, of reconciliation, of purification. He is ground zero of a completely new start!” 

Peter preached. People responded.  

That was the beginning of the pattern: somebody obeyed. Somebody prayed. The Spirit moved. And the Church became bolder. 

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Scene 2—Arrest.  

Again, Peter started to preach the message of the power of Jesus. Because he was preaching in the temple and because it caused such a foofaraw, the authorities took exception. They did not like the direction this was going. They arrested Peter and John and, because it was late in the day, locked them up. Now the text does not specifically say this but I think we can safely infer from passages like Acts 12:5 that when Peter and John were locked up, the Church prayed for them. The next morning, they were brought up before the Sanhedrin (the authorities who would judge them and decide their punishment).  

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people!If we are being examined today about a kind service to a man who was lame, to determine how he was healed, then let this be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel... (Acts 4:8-10) 

‘You asked the question, this is the answer: He is healed in the name of Jesus the Christ from Nazareth whom you crucified, but who God raised from the dead.’ Luke records that, “...They saw the boldness of Peter and John” and told them 'OK, we'll let you go. But you've got to knock it off. You’ve got to stop causing trouble.'

To which Peter replied these fabulous words: 

Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God.  (Acts 4:19)  

So again, we have a situation where Peter and John obeyed. They did what they were supposed to be doing. People prayed for them while they were doing what they were supposed to be doing. The Holy Spirit moved and filled Peter—gave him the words he needed for that moment. The words that he needed for that audience. And the boldness to say, “Who do you think I’m going to listen to. You? Or God?” 

Somebody obeyed, somebody prayed. God’s Spirit moved. And the Church was made bold. 

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Scene 3 - Release. 

Peter and John were released and went home to their own people.  

Part of the Great Commission is the making of disciples, which means teaching each other the deeper truths of Christ, teaching each other how to live His truth in the world. 

Peter and John returned their community of believers and they old their story. Their experience. Their fear. Their trust in the name of Jesus. What God did for them. 

The people who heard them... and immediately started to pray. 

When they had finished praying: 

...their meeting place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.  (Acts 4:31) 

Someone obeyed, someone prayed. The Spirit moved. And the Church became bolder.  

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Now I know, and I've said before, that the stories of people's lives that we read in scripture, are not fables with morals at the end that are just there to teach us a lesson. This pattern is not an exclusive, unmitigated precedent for how God works in the Church, but it is definitely one of the ways that God works in the Church. When we learn from the lives and the examples of the believers who came before us, we can see ways in which we should be watching for God's hand as it moves. Listening for what it is we are called to do. 

In these events lies this pattern: somebody obeys and somebody prays and the Spirit moves and the Church becomes bold.  

• They're told to wait. So they wait. While they wait, they pray. While they pray, the Spirit arrives in power. Peter and the eleven other apostles stand in public and preach the gospel of Jesus despite the opposition.  
• The Church has been told to preach, so Peter and John preach. With the Church's prayers behind them, the Spirit fills them and they become bold to stand in the face of opposition and threat.  
• The Church has been told to make disciples. Peter and John go back to their friends and they share what has happened. The Church prays, “Our father in heaven. Holy is your name... Give us today our daily courage.” The Spirit arrives and shakes the room. The Church speaks the message of Jesus with boldness. 

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Let's pray together. Let's pray these words with our sisters and brothers from the 1st century so long ago:  

Sovereign Lord, You made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. 

You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, our father David: 

Why do the nations rage? Why do the peoples plot in vain.

The kings of the earth take their stand.

The rulers gather together against the lord and his anointed one.  

So God, we pray in this city where the foolish and the cruel conspire against your Holy Spirit, and against Jesus who you anointed. They carry out what your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen, and now Lord, consider your people.  

Consider the challenges that we face. Consider the threats that we might stumble up against, and enable us—your servants—not to live in safety, not to indulge in the safety that you give us in this country to carry your name.

But God, deliver us from our desire for safety.

Enable us to speak your word with complete boldness, as you stretch out your hand to perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant, Jesus.

In whose name we pray. Amen.  

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