Say It Like It Is

Good morning, church. It’s good to be with you. If you’re in the room here at North, will you help me welcome people from other campuses, those online who are joining us as well? So good to have you here. Whether you’re watching live or are you watching later on this week, there are thousands of people who catch up throughout the week. Maybe you’re traveling because of work or you’re visiting family; we’re so glad that you are catching up with us.

You know, there’s a common theme that we see throughout Scripture. We see it at the very beginning with Adam and Eve. We continue in the Old Testament to Abraham’s life; we see it in Moses, in some of the kings, and in some of the prophets. Then if you go to the second part of Scripture, you see the New Testament and you see Jesus teach on this. Really, here’s what I want us to understand as we jump into chapter four of Acts: redemption is initiated and empowered by God, but it’s carried out through His followers.

It’s this algorithm of God’s power and God inviting us to be present in people’s lives. I don’t know exactly how it works; all I know is it is God’s power and authority inviting us into spaces and places through the relationships we have, the jobs we carry, and the parts of the world we’re from. Being with God is what’s really important.

We get into Acts chapter four, and it’s really a carryover from chapter three, where we saw Peter and John on their way to prayer. On the way, they saw a man who had been lame his entire life. They said, “We don’t have gold and silver. We don’t have anything of wealth to give you. But what we have is the name of Jesus.” They healed the man, and he went to prayer with them. It caused a ruckus because people knew this man had been there his entire life. Peter and John’s simple prayer, combined with God’s power and their presence, changed a man’s life.

Now, the religious leaders are upset because people are talking about this. We find ourselves in chapter four with Peter and John as they’ve been arrested and put in jail. Starting in verse five, the next day, the rulers, the elders, and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others of the high priest’s family. In those times, leadership in the priesthood was based on lineage and family. They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them, asking, “By what power or what name did you do this?”

To understand the context here, keep in mind that just a few months before, it was this same council that Jesus, the Savior of the world, was standing before. Peter and John are likely having an out-of-body experience because the disciples had previously abandoned Jesus in front of these same leaders. The leaders are asking this question because they weren’t necessarily connecting the miracle to Jesus; their prevailing thought was that if they got rid of the leader, the teachings and problems would go away. They had a precedent for this with other teachers before Jesus whose names faded after they died.

They couldn’t deny the miracle—the man was clearly walking—but they could put into question how it came about. They were used to making up stories to explain supernatural things so that God would not get credit, like when they paid soldiers to say the disciples stole Jesus’ body. The religious leaders felt they were the only ones who could interpret how God works, and they lorded that over people. To them, Jesus didn’t have the right pedigree, He didn’t praise them, and He didn’t overthrow the Roman Empire, so He couldn’t be the Messiah.

They had built a worldview by which God had to operate in order for God to be God. A worldview is the lens through which we see and interpret everything—life, truth, purpose, money, and right and wrong. We all do this; we say, “If God is real, these things will happen.” We put a prescription on God. I think of my daughter, Bella, who once wanted a specific pair of boots. I bought a pair that was the same brand but the “wrong” color because it was on sale. In her worldview at the time, if I loved her, I would have gotten the exact color she requested. When we don’t get what we think we deserve, we wonder if God is for us.

Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people, if we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who is lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this… it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. Salvation is found in no one else.”

This was huge for Peter. The last time he was at this council, he was on the outside and denied Jesus three times to a young girl. Now, after being restored by the resurrected Jesus, he moves from a private relationship to a public relationship. He speaks truth through a power that isn’t his own—the Holy Spirit. If you say yes to Jesus, God’s Spirit wants to reside in you and empower you to proclaim the good news boldly.

The tragedy of modern humanity is not that we have ceased to believe in God, but that we have ceased to be aware of God. Peter went all in, telling the leaders: Jesus is the Messiah, you crucified Him, and it is by His poer this man is healed. He used the imagery of the cornerstone from Psalm 118. Jesus is the most important stone. The religious leaders acted like owners of the land rather than stewards, killing the prophets and eventually the Son of the owner. Peter is calling them out, even though he is in jail.

But the “mic drop” moment isn’t the gospel. The good news is that salvation is found in no other name. Peter, an unlearned man with no formal training, puts himself on the same level as these leaders—we are all in need of a Savior. I remember when I first started following Jesus in college. My mom realized I had changed because I was actually nice to a young man with a learning difference at dinner. She knew I had been with Jesus because it was an overflow of my heart.

Can people tell you’ve been with Jesus? When the leaders told Peter and John not to preach, they replied, “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” If you have been with Jesus, you can’t help but tell others. The disciples went back to their friends and prayed for five things: they praised God, recognized their role, accepted resistance as normal, trusted God to overcome evil, and asked for boldness to keep proclaiming Him.

The apostles continued to testify with great power, and God’s grace was so at work that there were no needy persons among them because they sold what they had to give to others. We see this today when the church acts as the church. I know a group of couples who rallied together to buy an AC unit for a family in their group who had lost their jobs. They didn’t need the “corporate” church; they were the church.

Will you respond to the same call in your home, your work, and your city? Will you live sacrificially and speak boldly of Jesus? Who are the people in your life that you can begin praying for, loving them enough to give them the best gift ever—Jesus?