May 3 2009    Reading:  Acts 4.5-12

 Theme: Peter before the Temple Council...........

The stage play Benedictus, first performed this year is set against the background of a planned attack by the United States on nuclear sites in Iran. As the day for the strike nears, three old friends, one Jewish and one Muslim, one American, and all of them diplomats, take part in a secret meeting in a monastery in Tehran in an attempt to find a way through the looming crisis. The play looks at the way their friendship endures while things hang in the balance.

the play, with its three main characters has been described as very thought provoking ... of a very Deep subject

In the book of Acts.......chapters 4 and 5, there is also deep, thought provoking drama here, though of a different kind. What drama is this ? This is a drama of the gospel. We have the characters - Peter and John, a disabled man, the crowd, and the authorities.

all of them are caught up in what happens,

what God is doing..............

A disabled man has been carried every day to the Temple steps...... and there he asks for money from the worshippers going in and out of the Temple........ At three in the afternoon, when the worshippers crowd into the Temple for the time of prayer. On this particular day, he asks money from Peter and John. Peter tells him, he has no money, but offers him something else instead.........

Peter says to him, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk...........

and the man stands up and walks ! He begins to sing, his voice fills the Temple courtyard, He begins to leap and jump discovering what it is to walk. All this, of course, brings the crowds running............ they are filled with wonder and amazement...............

What a wonderful moment - why ? because - everything is in movement,

Here is a man, healed by the power of the living Jesus Christ. Here is a crowd, gathered ready to hear, and here is the apostle - Peter.............. who in a strong, steady, clear voice, now begins to explain to the crowd why it is that this man is walking and leaping and praising God............ it is through the name of Jesus........... Jesus, says Peter, is the fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham, that all the peoples of the earth will be blessed Jesus Christ is here to bless you ! How extraordinary, Jesus Christ who was crucified, has healed a man in the Temple, and is now present to bless the people........ Jesus, who was crucified is present in the very Temple itself and the good news is being preached in the courtyard. At the very heart of Israel - the gospel of Jesus Christ is being preached ! Jesus Christ is here to bless you ! so repent, says Peter to the crowd......... turn from your old way of life........... and that afternoon over 2000 people are added to the infant Church. The Church almost doubles in a matter of two or three hours............

But there’s a twist ! there is a final part to this drama ........ the authorities, those who had had Jesus crucified, are now concerned, and Peter and John are arrested. The next morning, after a night in the Temple prison, they are brought before the Temple Council

Annas the High priest, and his family - Caiaphas, John and Alexander ask.

By what power or name did you do this ?

Now Peter - filled with the Holy Spirit tells them of Jesus Christ !

What a moment....... the gospel of Jesus touching lives from courtyard to Council !

Now, time after time in the book of Acts time after time - there are events like these- where the Holy Spirit moves, and God breaks in - to read the book of Acts is to see patterns. Walking along the summits of the hills in Southern Scotland there are wonderful views of the valleys below, the rivers and streams. There are traces on the landscape of the great sheets of ice that once covered this region; there are the remains of ruined castles and old settlements; the traces of old field systems, all patterns on the landscape. The book of Acts is very rich. As we look over the landscape of Acts, there are patterns, great patterns, Biblical patterns the Holy Spirit moves, something happens, people ask what is going on and the apostles explain

This is what happened for example, at the very beginning of the church, in Acts 2 the Spirit comes, the disciples speak in tongues, different languages, the crowd outside asks what is going on... Peter tells them:

Or later in Acts: while Peter is in prison, the Spirit moves, an earthquake takes place breaking the walls and doors of the jail, this time the guard shouts out and asks what is going on, and Peter tells him

In the passage we read this morning, the Holy Spirit has moved, Peter and John have healed a disabled man in the name of Jesus right in the Temple, causing uproar and mayhem..... now its the turn of the authorities, Annas, Caiaphas, John, Alexander - who are in charge of good order in the Temple, its their turn to ask Peter and John - what is going on..... Peter tells them - this is the pattern right through Acts - the Spirit comes, men and women ask what is happening, the apostles explain......... tell them about Jesus

What a contrast to today !

Reading Acts, the contrast seems so great between then and now !

we see these great movements of the Spirit in the Church at its beginning........ .

and we look at the Church now and wonder at how far we are away from that today ! we see few healings, no crowds run to see what is happening,

few ask in desperate eagerness to hear about Jesus !

In fact it has been said that the biggest challenge, the most difficult thing about this age is its indifference, to Jesus Christ

but that indifference, is nothing new

It is as old as the prophet Isaiah, who declared that the stone left behind, neglected, rejected by the builders of Israel as worthless, had been made the very cornerstone by God’s power: the stone you builders rejected, says Peter to the Temple Council,

Jesus Christ Himself, has become the capstone of all that God is doing............

despite the indifference, of many today to Jesus, it is Jesus crucified and raised who is, in the power of God the cornerstone of all things, of all creation, of all the world.

And if God in His grace moved then, He can and will still do so now, in our own age......... just as Annas, Caiaphas John and Alexander, even Annas, Caiaphas John and Alexander actually asked Peter by what power or name did you do this, looking for answers, men and women are still looking for answers the Holy Spirit is still moving in creative power drawing men and women to Jesus Christ.............. despite the apparent indifference of many...........

and to meet someone who is looking for answers, to meet someone who will ask you sincerely about Jesus Christ - is still one of the richest moments in Christian experience, for these moments are God-given, Spirit created, filled with the greatest, most thrilling reality ..... as they are in the book of Acts

For when we encounter Jesus Christ

when He draws us to His saving, glorious cross, meets us as Risen Lord and calls us to follow Him, our lives are taken up into His, the greatest reality.

AMEN.