Groundbreaking: Obey

Groundbreaking

This is the third week for our message series for the season of Easter that we call Groundbreaking.  A groundbreaking event describes something that has never been done, or seen, or perhaps even thought of before.  It's new, it's innovative, it's pioneering, perhaps even revolutionary; and usually it surprises.

Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is groundbreaking because it is all of these things and more.  The impact of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is still felt today.

More than a third of the world's population follow and worship a Jewish carpenter from an obscure village, in the middle of nowhere, who lived 2,000 years ago!

Think about that.  Think about the life of the man, Jesus of Nazareth.  By today’s materialistic standards, he was a nobody.

And yet, here we are, celebrating his life. Somehow the whole world has been touched and changed by the person Jesus.

And it all comes down to Easter.  Jesus’ resurrection from the dead proved that Jesus was who he said he was, God.

And he could do what he said he could do, anything, even defying death.  Here's another thing Jesus said about you and me. He said that because he rose from the dead, we would, too.  Easter is groundbreaking for all of us!

Through this series, we want to discover, or rediscover, the principles and practices of the early church that made the early church something that had great impact and mattered in this world, because that's what we want to be too, a church with great impact that truly matters.

Today we're going to look at just one principle of the early church, but it was a core principle, and a principle which is useful to you today.  It's a principle that is both liberating and intimidating. If we were to start basing our decisions, and our choices, and our behaviors on this one principle, it would make quite a difference in our lives. The principle is stated clearly in the first reading that we heard today from the Acts of the Apostles.

We heard the temple authorities, are jealous and angry with Jesus’ apostles because the apostles are healing people and telling people about Jesus.

And they are doing it right there in the temple area.  The Apostles were thrown in jail for doing this. The high priest of the temple, sternly questions them, and says, "We gave you strict orders not to teach in the name of Jesus. We told you, and we told you, and we told you not to do this."

At which point Peter steps forward to speak for the group.  Now imagine yourself in this scenario, the very leaders that put your boss to death, and have power of life and death over you, are making serious charges against you, and for Peter, this is not his first conflict with the temple authorities.

So Peter might be expected to try and talk his way out of it.  But instead, he stands up, and boldly declares a foundational principle, a principle under which he's decided to operate for the rest of his life.  Peter says, "Yes, we know you told us not to do it, but we must obey God rather than people.” We must obey God rather than people. That's a good phrase for all of us here to remember.

We must obey God rather than people.  If you think about it, that's a principle we all can use.  So often, in life, we don't have the kind of impact, the full impact that we could have, that we should have.

Because rather than trying to obey God, and honor Him, we obey people.  Sometimes it's people we don't even like, but we spend a lot of time trying to please.  We run around fearing human opinion and, in the process, lose sight of God. It might be something as simple as spending a lot of money that you don't have on clothes to impress people around you.  Maybe it's something much more consequential like an authority at work who's asking you to lie or cheat or fudge the facts. Maybe at school or work you feel pressured by friends to do the wrong thing.  You don't want to do it, but it feels like you have to do it

Or you're going to lose your friends.  Maybe you have an opportunity to speak up for something that's right or good or true, and you find yourself remaining silent instead, because your concerned that people might think you're some kind of religious freak.  We fear human opinion and, in the process, lose sight of God.

Maybe you came to church today to hear that it is just the opposite; however, we all need to hear that we must obey God rather than people.  It's not always comfortable. It's often quite uncomfortable to tell someone no, or just stand out from the crowd and be different.

It's scary to move beyond our comfort zone and do something different.  But the reality is that that growth is always outside of our comfort zone.  If we don't step outside of our comfort zone, we're never going to grow. We're never going to grow in goodness or grace.  We're never going to grow in that boldness and bravery that Peter displayed, a boldness and bravery that all of us want deep down in our hearts.

The difference for Peter, the difference for you and me, if we're going to be Christians, is this, we're not just standing up for principles. We're standing up for principles based on a person.  The person of Jesus Christ.

When we obey God rather than people, we're listening to the person of Jesus Christ, and it is in our best interest to do it.  When you think about it, it's the wise thing to do. Human power is short term. It's limited. People's ability to influence us is finite.  Think back to middle school or high school, or college. There were people in your school whose opinion meant so much to you that you hungered and thirsted for it.

And now, years later, their opinion isn't even a consideration for you.  Human power and influence is temporary.

God's power is eternal.  It's infinite. Obeying God simplifies life.  It's freeing, because rather than having many masters, you've got one, and that brings the freedom to say no to others, or everyone else, if you have to.  Peter tells the temple leaders no, and that makes them very, very angry, so angry they want to kill the apostles, they want to execute them, but cooler heads prevail and they get a reprieve.

And then the bible reports an unexpected ending to the story. We read, "The apostles, left the court, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer."  What?

Rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer?  That sounds strange, doesn't it? They rejoiced because they came to realize that it was so much better, it felt better to obey God rather than those corrupt temple authorities.  It just felt better. It always does, doesn't it?

When we run away from what is right, when we run around trying to please everybody, when we fail to do what we know we should do, it never feels good. Sometimes it feels terrible.  Obeying God feels great. It feels great, and it brings rewards, too. The Bible tells us there are always rewards in return for obedience.

And there's no limit to God's ability to reward us, especially in the long term.  So it's the wise thing to do. It simplifies life, and it brings rewards.

All of which provokes a question today.  Where is the Holy Spirit, or your conscience, speaking to you about this message today? Is there a good idea, or maybe a bold decision, that you're hesitating to make because you're afraid. You're afraid of what others might think or say?  You know it's the right thing to do, you know it's what God wants you to do, but you're afraid.

The early church was groundbreaking, precisely because they moved past their fears.  Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is knowing you are afraid and doing the right thing anyway.  It's not that the apostles didn't have fear. They had fear just like we do, but they moved beyond their fears to follow God and obediently serve him.  What kind of impact could you have if you were willing to do that, too?

If you were willing to move beyond your fears in one area, or another, and become a little more fearless, what kind of impact could you have in your school, with your friends, or among your colleagues at work, or with other moms, or other dads?  I can tell you this, your impact will be groundbreaking.