A bible study shared with the men’s group at Second
Presbyterian Church, March 31, 2016, Chattanooga, TN
Some of the content
of this reflection is motivated and guided by William
Willimon's commentary on The Acts of the Apostles. He described The Acts of
the Apostles this way, “Sometime between 70 and 100 AD, somewhere within the
Mediterranean world, the Acts of the Apostles was written…by the same unknown
writer we call Luke that gave us his gospel story.”
At its heart, Acts captures
the essence of the Biblical narrative in the time-honored way through stories
of the mighty acts of God for his chosen people. The magnificence of the story
is its open-endedness.
Its story is as
valuable today as when it was composed. It tells us stories about the
relationship between Christians and Jews, Christians and nonbelievers, Christians
within the stance of the state, the problem with prayer, why we teach and
preach, and the host of issues that arise within the “church.” It is a kind of unabashed, candid snapshot of life in the church and the world.
We should try to
listen to the stories with more attention than we might otherwise give them, and put the questions posed by our modern perspective on the backburner. When we read
Acts, history and the future take on new meaning.
What is truth?” - Pilate
Acts does not portray
the physical reality of the world - the world of Caesar, of selfishness and
enmity between people and death itself, but rather it portrays the alternative
world where God makes good on his promises to defeat that world. It describes a
future that is never closed, whose ending, day by day, is forever an ongoing
writing of the history of God’s faithful hesed – covenantal loving kindness, a
future living its ongoing fulfillment.
The story as we read
today is not about “the stubborn refusal” to shut up and accept an unalterable
world, but is about the unfolding present Kingdom of God.
What is historical truth?
Every story reflects
the perspective of its teller. The idea of historical “truth” is inevitably colored
by omissions and distorted recollections constructed to make it more “sensible.” The
subjective interests of the historian always shade history. Willimon says,“Whoever
looks for nothing in history finds nothing. Whoever looks for meaning finds it.”
Read any church history
and you see the donors of the stained glass windows or the organ glorified. You
read the names of beloved Sunday School teachers, leaders of PWA, donors who
funded the education building, but you seldom if ever read about the members
who left over disagreement with the pastor; or the pastor who was driven out
because he took an unpopular stand on a social issue.
Whenever we tell the
story of our lives and our church we should expect some fancy creativity that covers
up error and unpleasantness because viewing our lives truthfully is difficult. “Truth”
has a way of contradicting our intellectual perspective of how things ought to
be. We need to make sense of the world, to find concrete ways to assure us and
sustain our hope. This is a reality we all face.
How then can Acts be read as Truth?
Nevertheless, as
Willimon says, “Our claim is these stories are true as they help us see the world as it really is. It is a place where
God’s promises make a difference.” Acts uses the history of the early
church to form and equip the disciples to Jesus’ call to a new way of living
and dying. Acts depicts not only the promises of God but also the new way of
living in discipleship through the church.
The accuracy of Acts
is not measured with a yardstick of absolute coincidence with historical facts.
It is measured by its correspondence to the evidence of the Apostolic faith in
Christ that establishes and sustains the church. After all, we are reading Acts today in 2016.
Who is the Audience of Acts?
The audience of Acts
is not the state; it is the church.
Luke 24:44-47 ended
with the call of the disciples to be the witness of the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus. Acts continues the story of witness.
It is a proclamation
of what has happened, of God’s work in the world. The good news is that the
promise made in antiquity to Israel has been fulfilled. The “Christ event” is
fully grounded in God’s promise to Israel. Israel’s acceptance or denial of
this work and its extension to Gentiles proclaimed by Isaiah (chapter 56) does not negate
the promise to humankind.
We
should read Acts with a constructive literary eye understanding the meaning of
its stories and history in the context of our life as the modern congregant and
church in the world. Acts struggles with the argument between synagogue and
church over who constitutes the People of God and how the faith of Israel is embodied in the human condition. Faith makes this an unending story.
As we read today’s passage we should keep Luke
12:11-12, and 19:28-40
in mind. I encourage you to read the full story as it is written and then
return to the comments.
Acts
5:12 Now many signs and wonders were done among the people through
the apostles.
17Then the high priest took action; he and
all who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with
jealousy, 18 arrested the apostles and put them in the public
prison. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the
prison doors, brought them out, and said,
20 “Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole
message about this life.” 21a
When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went on with
their teaching.
comment: Do you recall the religious
leaders instructing Jesus to quiet the crowd in Luke 19:28-40? You can see how
Luke gives us The Acts as a continuation of his gospel story.
21b When the high priest and those with him
arrived, they called together the council and the whole body of the elders of
Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. 22 But when the temple police went
there, they did not find them in the prison; so they returned and
reported, 23 “We found the
prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened
them, we found no one inside.” 24
Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words,
they were perplexed about them, wondering what might be going on. 25 Then someone arrived and
announced, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and
teaching the people!” 26 Then
the captain went with the temple police and brought them, but without violence,
for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.
27 When they had brought them, they had them
stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We gave you strict
orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your
teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered,
“We must obey God rather than any human authority. 30 The God of our ancestors raised up
Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. 31God exalted him at his right
hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and
forgiveness of sins. 32 And
we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given
to those who obey him.”
Comment:
Luke 19:47-48, John 11:45-55 both note the
intent of the religious leaders and their fear of the people. They also show
that among these leaders were people who suspected the truth of Jesus’
presence.
33 When they heard this, they were enraged
and wanted to kill them. 34 But
a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by
all the people, stood up and ordered the men to be put outside for a short
time. 35Then he said to them, “Fellow Israelites, consider carefully
what you propose to do to these men. 36
For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number
of men, about four hundred, joined him; but he was killed, and all who followed
him were dispersed and disappeared. 37
After him Judas the Galilean rose up at the time of the census and got people
to follow him; he also perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38So in the present case, I tell
you, keep away from these men and let them alone; because if this plan or this
undertaking is of human origin, it will fail;
39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow
them—in that case you may even be found fighting against God!”
They
were convinced by him, 40 and
when they had called in the apostles, they had them flogged. Then they ordered
them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 As they left the council, they
rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of
the name.
Reflection
Luke understands that the words Jesus offered in Luke
19:28-40 mean Jesus is serious about proclamation. What is proclamation?
Proclamation is not the shouts of Christians shouting, “Here comes the King,” "Repent or burn in Hell," or the judgment, “That is a damnable
offense.” The shouts of Christian proclamation of received, unmerited grace cannot be silenced. Those shouts, our voices, are the acts of our daily
living that reflect the compassion and grace Jesus taught.
In a
thoroughly secular world, are we the stones that cannot be silenced, sharing
the magnificence of the Lord’s hesed:
loving kindness and mercy for which we have unmerited justification to
enjoy, or do we give only lip service to the gift of unmerited grace?
Is this
timeless story of history by Luke a
message to the modern church?
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