Cultural Reflection: Last week, Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday in Seattle were totally out of control. Many were injured and one was killed. People wondered how there could be this much violence. Erik Lacitis, a Seattle Times columnist wrote an article titled, "Booze, boobs and brawls" that detailed the violent carnage. He heard a bar bouncer ask, "Why do they do this?" At the end of the article Erik Lacitis answered the question himself. He said, "The answer is, because we let them get away with it."
The Police appear not to have learned the lesson from WTO. In that case, they let demonstrators have free reign on the first day and then struggled to bring them under control. At Fat Tuesday, the crowd was allowed to violate any number of laws in the early stages of the evening. Laws against indecent exposure were ignored. Public drunkenness was allowed. The crowd was given control of the streets. They vandalized without interference. A spirit of lawlessness was released. Lest anyone misunderstand what I am saying, let me be very clear. It was a demon that was unleashed by that behavior. I mean an actual demon. Once that demon is released, restraint of evil ceases and all hell breaks loose. God intends that the police should be the restraining force against those who will not restrain themselves. Because the police failed, sin was allowed free course. When sin is free, the public is in bondage to fear for their safety.
Changing the World when Surrounded by Failures
Today we see people at their best and at their worst. Chapters 5 and 6 represent the forward and backward motion of the church. We see progress and we see failure.
Chapter 5 begins with a failure that looks like a success. Ananias and Sapphira come with a big offering for the poor. They didn’t have to give anything, but they wanted to appear like they were giving everything. They wanted to appear more righteous than they were in their heart. The Reader’s Digest version would be, "they lied and they died."
Then Acts tells of an apparent failure that, in fact, was a success.
Acts 5:16-20 "Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed. 17 Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. 20 "Go, stand in the temple courts," he said, "and tell the people the full message of this new life."
Peter and John were put in prison. That would normally be considered a failure. Our two key guys are in jail for preaching the Gospel. When you do good things, you are supposed to get good results. If you preach the Gospel, something good should happen to you. There are always people around whose spiritual discernment is about nil, but that doesn’t keep them from talking. Probably someone was ready to suggest that Peter and John must have some sin in their life otherwise this bad thing would not have happened to them. They were just getting ready to preach on the sin of Achan, when everything turned around.
Peter and John were jailed for preaching the Gospel. Before the night was out, so were they. An angel came (19) and released them from jail. That would be good. They were told to go back to the Temple and start preaching all over again. That was good. They were preaching with success which was also good.
However, because they were found preaching again they were arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin again. In verse 40, they are flogged. That would appear to be bad. "…a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin"[1] and convincingly argued for letting the disciples alone.
Acts 5:38-42 "Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God." 40 His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.[2] 42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
It might seem small, this flogging. In fact, flogging was severe. The whip used for this type of punishment consisted of a handle to which one or more leather cords or thongs were attached. Sometimes these cords were knotted or weighted with pieces of metal or bone to make the whip more effective as a flesh-cutting instrument.[3]
So what did the disciples do after this apparent failure. They "left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name." Can you imagine rejoicing because of disgrace and pain?
People who change the world are motivated by the eternal values of Jesus Christ. They see things with eternity in mind. They do not measure things according to their personal pain or comfort. They don’t expect to be rewarded in the here and now. They expect the reward of their efforts to come in eternity.
Acts 6 has several lessons for us about changing the world. First, being spiritual doesn’t prevent you from having certain built-in, but unconscious, prejudices. The Apostles were overlooking the Greek widows. They didn’t mean to. They didn’t want to. The fact is, the Greek widows traveled in a somewhat different social circle so they were easy to miss. It was out of sight, out of mind. Every group and every person has blind spots. There are just things they don’t see. Their background or life experience does not equip them to see it. This is not a reason to get upset with people. People do what they see to do. They react as their knowledge and life experiences have trained them to react. In my experience in church life, I find that good people act responsibly when given a decent explanation. In this case, the Apostles confirm our faith in good people to act properly.
Godly people make the changes necessary to keep in step with God. When the problem was called to the attention of the Apostles, they took steps to organize the church in such a way as to deal with the problems at hand. Spiritual leadership solves problems according to a prioritized system of values. The selection of deacons was a solution to a problem.
Second, every job in the church, including waiting on tables, requires spiritual people. Ultimately, every kind of good work flows from the work of the Spirit in our lives. Last week we saw how the Holy Spirit caused the people to act righteously toward the poor. In this passage we have more of that. The Apostles wanted people to be full of the Holy Spirit because the Spirit helps us to do good and compassionate work.
This is why I am calling for prayer in the church. We need a spiritual awakening in the church where each of us is filled with the Holy Spirit. When we are filled with the Spirit, good things get done.
Instead of filling your minds with TV and movies, I am asking you to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Instead of surfing the net for fun or playing video games, you can be filled with the Holy Spirit. You let God fill your heart and your mind. He becomes the most important thing in your life. Even if they flog you for doing good, you rejoice because Jesus is filling your life. When you do everything right, but everything goes wrong, you rejoice because your future is secure. You belong to Jesus and he is filling your life.
During the Lenten Season I am asking you to pray as much as you watch TV, Movies, or the other entertainment media. To remind you, I have prepared a sheath for your remote control. It has a sticker on the outside that reads, "I want to change the World through Prayer. Until Easter, I pledge to pray as much as I watch TV or movies."
I’ve had some practical questions asked. What about preschool children? They are exempt, but hopefully even they are learning to entertain themselves without the media.
This being Communion Sunday, I probably won’t have time for what follows but I included it in the web notes for those who read it there instead of hear it in church.
The success of the Deacons is recognized by almost everyone. It is clear that the apostles wanted everybody to be treated alike. They were advocates of inclusion. Everyone should be included and no one should be left out. However, they did not require some kind of quota system that required certain number of those distributing food to be Greek, and a certain number to be women, etc. They believed that anyone could minister to anyone else without regard to race if the Spirit of the Lord was in their life.
Even though inclusion is a good thing in the kingdom of God, the idea can be taken so far that it actually becomes a bad thing. The case of one of the seven Deacons named Nicolaus is a good illustration. Nicolaus represents a success that became a failure. He was originally chosen because he was full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. It may be that Nicolaus was also chosen because he had a good attitude toward everyone. However, his followers created a real problem by wandering over the line of inclusion.
Many years later, in the book of Revelation, the Apostle John is working to bring Nicolaus and his followers back into the fold.[4] There were some who were excessively advocating inclusion. It was no problem to go to the pagan temples and eat with the people there. After all, we can’t win ‘em if we never hang out with ‘em. If we act in the same sexual way as other people do, no problem, Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.
Nicolaitans wanted to mix with the crowd that went to Diana’s temple and thought the Christians were being too old-fashioned with their sexual values. The Nicolaitans were following one of the seven Deacons chosen by the apostles in Acts 6. Hippolytus said,
But Nicolaus has been a cause of the widespread combination of these wicked men. He, as one of the seven (that were chosen) for the diaconate, was appointed by the Apostles. (But Nicolaus) departed from correct doctrine, and was in the habit of inculcating indifferency of both life and food. And when the disciples (of Nicolaus) continued to offer insult to the Holy Spirit, John reproved them in the Apocalypse as fornicators and eaters of things offered unto idols.[5]
I cite this example to show the contrast between Stephen and what eventually happened to Nicolaus. In time, one became a backslider and fell away from the faith, but the Church continued to grow. It is always sad when there are failures along the way. It has always been true and I suspect will continue in just this way. In spite of the failures, the church is succeeding. We need to pray that we don’t become a Nicolaus who started well but ended in destruction.
Acts 6:1-12 "In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." 5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. 8 Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)-- Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. These men began to argue with Stephen, 10 but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke. 11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, "We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God." 12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin.
FOOTNOTES:
1. Acts 5:34.
2. They received the same flogging that Jesus received. Matt 27:26 "Then he released
Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified."
3. Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Deut 25:1-3 also speaks of this punishment. When men have a dispute, they are to take it
to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting the innocent and condemning the
guilty. 2 If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make him lie down and
have him flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime deserves, 3 but he
must not give him more than forty lashes. If he is flogged more than that, your brother
will be degraded in your eyes.
4. John compares the Nicolaitans to Balaam who probably was responsible for the
cohabitation of the men of Israel with the women of Moab (Num. 25:1-2; 31:16). Therefore,
the error of this group was moral rather than doctrinal. If the "Jezebel" of
Revelation 2:20-23 was a teacher of this sect, as many believe, their sexual laxity was
indeed strong. Most likely, they were a group of anti-law practitioners who supported a
freedom that became self-indulgence. It may have been the same heresy condemned in (2
Peter 2:15) and (Jude 11). Some early church leaders believed the continuing spiritual
drift of the Nicolaitans caused them to become a GNOSTIC sect. Nelson's Illustrated Bible
Dictionary, (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers.
5. Hippolytus, "The Refutation of All Heresies, Book VII", Ante-Nicene
Fathers, Alexander Roberts, D.D., and James Donaldson, LL.D., eds., (Peabody,
Massachusetts: Hendrickson), Vol. 5, pg. 115. The views of Hippolytus on this subject are
very important. He lived between 170 and 236 AD. Not only is he early, but he is the
disciple of Irenaeus who was the disciple of Polycarp, who was the disciple of the Apostle
John himself. It would be hard to get a more authoritative statement about the
Nicolaitans.