Sun. April 21, 2024
4th Sunday of Easter
Acts 4:5-12
A Laboratory of Love: “No other name”
5The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, 6with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.
7When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”
8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, 10let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.
11This Jesus is
‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders;
it has become the cornerstone.’
12There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”
***
Introduction
Share about the road construction man on 212, en route to Saugerties- he’s out there doing his own thing- dancing to his own rhythm, while the other guys just go about their job normally, with some seriousness. This guy seems to have his own song playing on a loudspeaker- he’s not out on 212, but in his head and in his body, he’s at some imaginary night club, partying it up and having his own experience.
While it’s a little startling the first time you drive past him, after a while you just wanna join the dance. You wonder why you were taking your drive-time so seriously in the first place. You wonder what the other guys on the crew think: whether they’re amused or have just learned to ignore him.
I thought of this guy as I studied this passage from Acts this week, because here you’ve got the religious authorities trying to do their job, and then you have Peter- and John- jamming to a whole different beat. A Holy Spirit rhythm, that moves not only their bodies in a bold way to proclaim Christ and his resurrection- but a rhythm that compels them to reach out and heal the body of a lame man, so he can leap and dance and praise God with them.
A little context here:
The sermon series itself…
And what happened last week…
And what happened right before this passage…
Deeper dive into this text:
Why were all these high-up Jewish priests and rulers so disturbed? Why did they even care this much?
It seems their main question is how this healing happened.
They consider themselves the primary religious powers and authorities. So who is this Peter person? In whose name is he claiming to be able to heal someone?
Why does it matter that Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit? Why does Luke give us this detail?
Peter reframes their question, and addresses them with respect
He states the reason for the healing very clearly and succinctly- he is standing here in good health today due to the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth (a title you don’t often hear- all in one phrase)
The Sadducees don’t believe in a resurrection after death, so part of why they arrest Peter and John is for preaching what they believe is falsehood. And yet some 5000 were added to their number, because God is at work, and a lot of people are persuaded by Peter’s preaching.
The Sanhedrin- body of religious leaders, the power holders- are the ones trying Peter, here. They are like the religious supreme court of that day. The high priestly class.
BBT- note on whom Peter was addressing- not the council on world religions and interfaith dialogue- but the authorities within his own religion
And note one of the roles of the Sanhedrin is to work for Rome and keep the peace and put the kabash on any demonstration of 5000 Jews getting riled up by the latest local shaman claiming to heal. They need to restore the religious equilibrium.
Peter reframes the whole question, and never even mentions “I” or “we” – just the work of God; he’s curiously passive. Not unlike that cornerstone on the building, that holds it all up. Peter is finally done denying Jesus.
Peter reminds them that God raised him from the dead, and quotes Psalm 118 about the cornerstone that the builders rejected… referring to the religious authorities’ rejection of Christ.
Recall Rob Bell’s questions:
We are wise to ask the questions Rob Bell posits, when coming to a tricky chunk of scripture: why was it originally written? And why did it endure?
In this instance of Acts 4, this passage was written by Luke to show us a) how the church was formed, b) how Peter became empowered by the Holy Spirit to transform from fearful denier to bold proclaimer, and c) to show us the level of urgency the early apostles felt, to share and spread the faith.
Why did it endure? Because the early scripture canon-makers wanted future generations of believers to know their roots! To see where we came from. The book of Acts endured because those early days were filled with occasions for the apostles to explain themselves to the nay-sayers around them, and those religious authorities of their day who were questioning them. For Christianity to emerge as a movement of Jesus- followers, motivated to increase their number, it had to be driven by a level of passion, purpose, and a mission to save. They would face much opposition and persecution, and Peter here would be their example of courage to follow.
Vs. 12 “no other name” is the source of *many* modern-day questions about the exclusivity of Christ, about pluralism, about openness and acceptance, etc.
Present 3 views-
Each of these views has its merits, and its problems:
The problem with #1- is what about those who never hear of Christ, or never accept him? Are they all going to remain unsaved? And what does that actually entail?
The problem with #2- is that this seems to undermine all the other religious traditions, if in the end, Jesus is the one true way and is going to save everyone. Are the Buddhists and Jews and Muslims and Hindus just getting a little foretaste of a few aspects of Jesus’ way, and then they’ll realize in heaven that it was him all along?
And the problem with #3, is why even both with Christianity, then? If Jesus is just one name among many, then who really needs to come to church, read the Bible, hear the Gospel, and share the news of Jesus’ love? If he’s just one way of many- a sort of “Christ consciousness,” if you will, then what’s the point? He’s just a teacher we seek to emulate. Did he really rise from the dead? And were all these verses about his uniqueness just meant to be explained away?
So after all this, what do I think?
It’s hard to answer with absolute certainty. It seems presumptuous to suggest a definite right interpretation, to the exclusion of the others.
I lean toward #3 at a social-global level, #2 at a theological level, and #1 at a personal level. But aren’t these views mutually exclusive? How can you hold a “both/and” perspective on this?
Let me explain- and I’ll work backwards here:
3) I have indeed met people outside of Christianity, who inspire me and seem to point profoundly toward a loving God, and a depth of meaning to life. Here I think about Mike Kellogg, Katie Childers, Bear Gokan, Rabbi Jonathan, and other teachers, leaders, mystics, and friends, who drink deeply from the wells of their traditions, and come back with not only truths that speak to me- but lives that have influenced me.
I cannot dismiss these friends / neighbors / leaders, as simply “misguided,” “pre-Jesus,” or “waiting to be evangelized.” Quite simply, I do believe that the primary religions (and not every single spiritual group or cult) contain some teachings of real value. If you read the Bhagavad Gita, learn the yoga traditions, or spend a weekend meditating at Zen Mountain Monastery… If you attend a Seder feast, or a Jewish wedding, or an Islamic art festival, you will be hard-pressed to say there’s nothing of God in these faiths. This is a social-global observation that I hold to be true. Theologians call this “common grace,” that God gives truth and beauty to us, wherever humans earnestly seek it, even before they know the name of Christ.
Frederick Buechner
Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). He didn't say that any particular ethic, doctrine, or religion was the way, the truth, and the life. He said that he was. He didn't say that it was by believing or doing anything in particular that you could "come to the Father." He said that it was only by himby living, participating in, being caught up by the way of life that he embodied, that was his way.
Thus it is possible to be on Christ's way and with his mark upon you without ever having heard of Christ, and for that reason to be on your way to God though maybe you don't even believe in God.
A Christian is one who is on the way, though not necessarily very far along it, and who has at least some dim and half-baked idea of whom to thank.
2) Jesus seems to make a real case for inclusivity, himself. John says he cares for the whole world. The first chapters in Genesis say that God made each person in God’s own image and called it good. God also created the animals and plants and heavenly bodies and called them good. Doesn’t it stand to reason that if Christ really is who he says he is, that he cares for this whole creation and all God’s children and animals and nature, and would seek to redeem it all? To save not just some lucky few, but the whole?
And let’s unpack the meaning of “salvation”! Sozo means both healed and saved- Luke uses the term salvation as broadly meaning physical and spiritual healing and wholeness, as well as deliverance from life-threatening situations and evils. Salvation, in Luke/Acts, applies to a person, a household, a people, and nations. Salvation in Christ includes more than the narrow notion of going to heaven when you die. In Luke / Acts, “salvation” meant healing the whole person and the restoration of God’s people- extended to all!
This means that to really be aligned with Jesus’s salvation- i.e., his saving work, Christians must care as much about health care as they do church attendance; as much about public education as the religious statistics of the younger generation, and as much about safe communities of clean air and drinking water, as the so-called “Christian” affiliations of a political party.
1) Here we are with these words of Peter.
And Jesus does indeed seem to find a way into people’s hearts, whether they were raised believing in him or not:
Teegan from yoga- Christian music, ayahuasca, dreams
“That sneaky Jesus” – Jana
The ways you all from church have shared your remarkable Jesus stories with me
Here’s the personal truth of my own life:
My earliest knowing of Jesus-
The picture in the hall at church of colorful Jesus with the children- looking like he really liked them, and liked us
My mom rocking me singing Jesus loves me and Jesus loves the little children.
Talk about how I thought of the “red and yellow, black and white.”
The one who I prayed to after nightmares, the one whose comfort I sought on the middle school bus.
The name of Christ as I experienced it in Kenya- the surprising universality of Jesus and his message- way beyond whatever the missionaries had first taught.
Inhale Jesus, exhale peace. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.
I wouldn’t even be in ministry if I didn’t believe the Risen Christ had met me in my own hour of need, had called me as a small child, had pointed a way of life open to me that nothing else compared to. I wouldn’t be a Christian- let alone a minister- if I didn’t believe Jesus’ hands were undergirding my very life itself, carrying and lifting me up, holding me even underneath my own doubts and disappointments, fickle heart and changeable mind.
I can’t explain why I know this to be true, or how I feel it as the realist thing about me, but I do. And that’s why I’m here. And that’s why I don’t despair even when the world seems to all but crumble and the trajectory of my own life confounds me and the mysteries of the universe elude me. Jesus is the first and last name I will sing about.
Share the story of Ann at Stonebridge Nursing Home- like the construction worker on 212, she seemed to have her own song in her head, that no one else got to hear…
(glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost. as it was in the beginning, is now and ever) SHALL BE. (world without end, amen, amen.)
Your turn to decide… what does the name of Jesus mean to you?
Why not turn to God and ask the Holy Spirit to show you?
Benediction
May the Risen Christ be with you, the Holy Spirit embolden you, and the love of God propel you- to share the good news of Jesus in word and in deed.