No Plan B (Second Sunday After Easter 2022)

No Plan B

Text: Acts 5:27 - 32

Acts 5:27-32  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.  (31)  God 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." (NRSV).

As D.L. Moody walked down a Chicago street one day, he saw a man leaning against a lamppost. The evangelist gently put his hand on the man's shoulder and asked him if he was a Christian. The fellow raised his fists and angrily exclaimed, "Mind your own business!" "I'm sorry if I've offended you," said Moody, "but to be very frank, that IS my business!"

Moody rightly observed that this is the business of the church. The church has one primary motive: The proclamation of God's forgiveness in Christ. Brett Blair, www./Sermons.com The High Priest and his associates who were all members of the Sadducees did not like how people responded to their message of the Gospel, so they had them arrested (Acts 5:17). The Sadducees wanted the Apostles to “to be quiet and mind their own business”.

This was not their first rodeo. Before Jesus was arrested and crucified, the Pharisees told Jesus to tell His disciples to be quiet (Luke 19:40). After Jesus was resurrected, the chief priests and the elders bribed the guards to lie because they wanted to control the information saying that the apostles stole Jesus’s body (Matthew 28:12 -15).

Peter and John were arrested Acts 4:3 and the next verse says that five thousand people became believers as a result of their preaching. Again, leaders from the Sanhedrin wanted to stop the news of Jesus’s resurrection from getting out any further (Acts 4:10 & 17). Acts 5:27 -32 represents their second arrest. “Minding their own business” involved sharing the Gospel. Matthew 28:19 was their call to go and make disciples! There was no Plan B.

Two things we want to focus on today are our calling and our opposition.

CALLING

Why is our calling so important today?

1) Kingdom priests: We are a kingdom of priests who have been called to serve the the Lord for His glory and by His power (Revelation 1:3). Peter reminds us that we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation who belong to God and are called to declare His praises (II Peter 2:9).

2)Testimony of the Spirit: John’s testimony (Revelation 1:3) and Peter’s testimony (II Peter 2:9) agree because of the Holy Spirit testifying through them that they are God’s children (Romans 8:16).

3) Marching orders: Matthew 28:19 reminds us of our marching orders to go and make disciples that cannot happen without the input of disciples! How is our input?

How do we answer that call?

1) Our mission field: Our mission field is also our battlefield! It was true for the disciples then and it is also true for the disciples today! Just as the disciples encountered opposition, we too, will encounter opposition!

2) Silence: Is silence an option? What happens when the church is silent? The church is supposed to be more than a (noun) building where we worship! The church is supposed to be the Body of Christ being active in the world which means the church is supposed to be a people---”a chosen people”, “a royal priesthood” of “action” which describes how we are called to be a verb! Can the church grow if it is silent?

3) Library silence: There are some who act like they are in the library because they are silent about the Gospel! Friends the message of the Gospel is far more important than any books in the library or any thing else because we are called to witness so that others may have their names in the Lamb’s Book of Life!

4) Ball game silence: Is there such a thing as ball game silence? In golf yes, in baseball, football, and basketball “no”!

ILLUSTRATION: At age five, little Aaron attended his first football game with his father. Beforehand, his dad gave him careful instructions about behavior at the game. He said, "You will have to stay seated, be quiet, and act like an adult." Not long after kickoff Aaron noticed lots of people jumping up and down, screaming, and shaking their fists in the air. He turned to his dad and asked, "Are these adults?" (Raymond McHenry. ed. McHenry’s Quips, Quotes And Other Notes.. [source: * The Best of Grandparents' Brag Board, Judy Pregel & Robin Riley, 1993, p. 33]. Third Printing. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004). How are others to hear without the disciples whom God who called to proclaim the Gospel in word and deed to the last, the least and the lost? (recall Romans 10:14). Is not the way we live a sermon---a lifestyle evangelism?