Alston Road Church of Christ Podcast

Series: 1 Peter (Living in Exile)

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

For two years we have been studying 1 Peter off and on being reminded that we are foreigners suffering  in exile for a little while, awaiting the eternal day of glory and exaltation. Now, as Peter wraps up his letter, we ask: how should we think and live until God exalts us in due time?

First, Humble Yourselves So That God May Exalt You (5:6-7)

We are to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. God is God and he will do what he sees fit with our lives and we don’t get to argue. Think about the gravity of what that meant for these Christians. They live as exiles grieved by various trials that feel like fire; sinful passions wage war against their souls; foolish people around them slander their good behavior, twist their words, and falsely accuse them of evil; a good number of them are slaves — some of them with evil masters who beat and curse them. Humbling themselves under God’s mighty hand — accepting his will — was a big ask. But, if they did humble themselves in this way while enduring suffering like this, I think that would have rightly led them to have little expectations of what is normally considered a good life. They had to accept losing their lives in this age.

This is a hard learned lesson when suffering feels optional. In the modern West we are used to exerting a lot of control over our environment. Run out of supplies? Click. Can’t find a loved one? Location tracking. Vandals haunting your neighborhood at night? Install security cameras and call the police. Pandemic? Hundreds of millions of dollars later — vaccine. Dirty floors? Hey Siri/Alexa, turn on the vacuum. Suffering? Hey, God? … Nevermind — Tap-tap. Amazon trucks are more reliable.

Catholic Philosopher Charles Taylor has demonstrated that 500 years ago people in the west viewed the world as an enchanted place open to both God’s and Satan’s power — full of angels and demons. Each dark night in their homes, each winter with the cold, each season with their crops, each sickness, each pregnancy, each trip into the deep woods: they held their breath and begged God to be with them and to send his angels to guard them. Then they went about their lives always aware that some demon from Hell might block their path or that some angel from God might guard them, bring timely rains, good health, or protect them from the dangers of each night. They saw heaven and hell as open places that are close to our world and impact our lives every day. And you were considered an absolute fool if you thought you could determine your destiny apart from God — it was considered very reasonable to humble yourself under the mighty hand of Yahweh and cast your anxieties on him. Or, in Peter’s world, at least call out to some god. You would almost never deny the existence of divine transcendent powers.

But for many reasons, we live in a different world now: our take is that we don’t live in an enchanted cosmos full of all manner of spiritual beings we cannot see nor explain, we live in a cold universe that we weigh, measure, test, and explain by means of pure rationalism. We know exactly what caused us to get sick and how to be healed. We know what’s happening in the clouds when rain happens and we can see it coming on our radars. We know how to ensure we have crops without ever saying a prayer. We view people in the past as uneducated, superstitious fools. We know how things happen and we can figure out how to manipulate it to our advantage, and that’s all you need to know right? Never-mind why we get sick; never-mind who sends the rains; never-mind that we can cut a corpse open and identify every part yet we live with a constant undercurrent of anxiety and uncertainty because we have no clue who we are or why we are. We can measure, weigh, track, and explain what things are made of, but what’s their significance?

We are products of our age. Our knowledge, technology, and cultural beliefs transform how we interact with our world (and even how we read the Scriptures). It gives us a sense of control. But what about when our body and world doesn’t all work to our benefit? What about when we cannot control it? What about when the rains don’t come, or when they don’t stop? What about when the surgery goes wrong? What about when the virus doesn’t go away? We may just find ourselves doing and rationalizing anything to make it go away — because we can’t just live under God’s mighty hand and cast all our anxieties on him and accept a lack of control, can we?

Every once in a while I have to remind myself that God may be allowing our towers of technology to hold at bay a ton of the chaos of the fallen world, but he doesn’t have to keep allowing that. He can confuse our languages. I’d like to try to forget that, but every once in awhile when I look at Ashley and Ruth I remember that without medical technologies none of them would likely be alive and Judith would likely not make it past 1 or 2 years old. We’d like to forget our control over the world is a mirage, but every time one of us has to take antibiotics or be put under the knife its like the morphine high just wore off and we’re reminded this life is pain and chaos and we may not always be able to keep that at bay with a pill or a tap.

This world is a dark and cold place haunted by hell and its demons, but Jesus and heaven’s kingdom have invaded this world and brought a little light, cast out a few demons, and rolled back the stone — demonstrating that heaven’s day is coming. But we must still suffer many tribulations to enter the kingdom. Sickness, genetic defects, infertility, miscarriages, cancer, accidents, early deaths, famines, pandemics, slander, false accusations, loss of face and job for the sake of Jesus should all be considered standard fare. Therefore, as Peter says, we need to humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand. To do that, we have to throw off our delusions of control. Our world is not shut off from the dark whims of Satan nor of the often unknowable will of our wise heavenly Father. A war rages in the heavenly places —  which touches us in ways we cannot readily see. But God’s mighty hand will guide us and history where he sees fit. At the proper time he will exalt us — the powers of darkness under our feet — but we must humble ourselves.

Humility here looks like casting all our anxieties on God. Why? God cares for you. But do we see how strange this is to us? These Christians had to grapple with a world where they confess Jesus as Lord of history, and the emperor burns your friends on poles to light his gardens; a world where God cares for you and at the same time your master unjustly beats you — all while you cast your anxieties on God. May our blessings not blur our vision. May we always step back with believers across all history and recognize we really are not in control and keep casting our anxieties on the God who does indeed cares for us — humbly accepting what his sovereign hand gives.

Second, Be Sober-minded and Watchful for the Devil (5:8-9)

Yet again, this is tough in a disenchanted age where the devil is a red cartoon character. We sound superstitious to blame suffering and temptation on him — let alone say he is prowling around like a lion seeking someone to devour. But in ages past people intuitively knew their cosmos was inhabited by all sorts of spiritual powers. They knew their minds, bodies, and lives were open and vulnerable to not only the Holy Spirit, but also to demonic spirits. But we intuitively see ourselves as closed off — inaccessible to spiritual powers that cannot be rationally explained away. That leaves us very vulnerable. And we must remember, when he does come, its not always as a terrifying dragon. He and his servants are often dressed up as angels of light and sound like innocent lambs. And he’s tricky: often compromising us by trying to make us decide between two corrupt paths — take the road less wicked.

Let’s not be naive. He is a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. We are always being hunted. I’m sure you have watched those animal shows where the predators are sneaking around their prey in the tall grass, waiting for them to turn their backs. I always love watching the meerkats — they always have sentries out to watch. But my reaction at their different behaviors is a curious thing. When I see lions tracking the wildebeests I think, “Look up!!” And yet, when I see meerkats on sentry duty I want to say, “Take it easy, guys!”

Let’s talk about the devil and our kids for a moment. Research varies, but over the past two decades statistics show that roughly 65-90% of youth will leave the church after high school. Some do come back later, but any number in that general range is staggering. From what I gather, only roughly 10% outright deny the faith. Most simply say they are busy or disillusioned with the church. It’s that simple. When our kids hit their 20s and life gets busy or hard or when they perceive hypocrisy, the devil snatches away the majority of our kids. Are we raising our kids until then as if we are in an all out war with the devil for their souls? Or are we trying to secure their best life now?

Maybe all the homework, practices, and extracurriculars will pay off and one of our youngsters will cure cancer, play for the Astros or Rockets, or become CEO of the next great company. But they intuitively know when all these things bow the knee to serve Jesus and his people, and when they bow the knee to serve their happiness and unique needs. When we are willing to miss bible study, prayer time, the assembly, service, or fellowship opportunities for sleep, sports, chores, homework, or work, we have just cut off at the feet our words which say Yahweh is God and we are in a war with the devil. Our hearts and words might say one thing is important; but they will believe our bodies more. They intuit the truth from our habits. We are what we love, but what we love is not merely what we think — it is what we habitually do (You Are What You Love, Smith).

But the devil is hunting and Peter says we need to resist him “knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” One way we defend ourselves against the devil is through solidarity of believers together resisting him. A few of us were talking recently and we found that all of us were going through a rocky time with our faith. We knew our circumstances were tough, but we didn’t know that each other felt like we were barely hanging on. It was quite encouraging to know that. Misery loves its company — a bunch of wildebeests together as a herd running for their lives.

We’re all enduring suffering at the hands of the devil. We’re all tempted week by week to explode in anger, pursue security in our money, let busyness or tiredness lead us to neglect our assemblies, studies, prayers, and habits to live out and proclaim the truth; he tempts us to join fruitless conversations and activities with the crowd; to anesthetize our boredom, anxiety, or loneliness with pornography, alcohol, and drugs; to believe the stories and hopes of modern ideologies: pursue equality, sexual freedom, life, liberty, and happiness, and the triumph of the U.S.; or in the face of health challenges, marital strife, and financial stress, he tempts us to stop caring, stop fighting, and give up altogether. All across the world, we’re all in this fight together.

By the way, one way for us to truly feel altogether in this is not only to talk together about what we’re going through, but to sing and pray it together. And that can be challenging — so many of the songs in our songbooks are peppy and shallow — very unlike the tenor of the Psalms. There’s a time to rejoice deeply in song, and there’s a time to weep deeply in song. But the songs currently at our disposal give us limited options for that. After we got home from the hospital and the shell shock of everything with Judith’s heart problems, all Willa wanted to sing was Victory in Jesus. I really needed to sing, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” I’m not sure what number that one is in the song book.

But we won’t be anxiously hunted forever — note verses 10-11.

Little Suffering, Eternal Glory (5:10-11)

It feels like we are being blown about in an eternal stormy night. But, actually, our suffering is just for a little while and God will call us to eternal glory. We have been weak, tired, doubtful, afflicted, tempted, distracted, tossed about; but in that day God himself will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us. God will have dominion forever and ever, no more weeds to pull or enemies to threaten.

Proverbs 14:13 (ESV) says, “Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief.” Have you ever felt that way? Even when you laugh you can’t enjoy it. Can you imagine a day when we’ll be able to smile and laugh freely? Psalm 126:1-3 (ESV) helps us imagine. It is a song about coming home from exile. “When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad.”

One day the fortunes of God’s people will never be reversed. We’ll laugh and shout for joy, and our hearts won’t ache, because everything sad will become untrue. We’ll come home to Zion and share in eternal glory in Christ. We’ll keep rubbing our eyes because it will feel like a dream.

Until then, let us humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand, cast our anxieties on him, be watchful for the devil, and — verse 14 — Greet one another with the kiss of love. You can walk all the way to the fires of Mordor if a faithful friends go with you. May our affectionate, familial love for one another last us through to that day.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: John Kilgore

Series: 1 Peter (Living in Exile)

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Judgment is beginning now at God’s house, so, in our text, Peter exhorts the elders over God’s house.

Let's rewind for a moment to setup Peter's words. It is 591 BC and Ezekiel is sitting in his home in exile outside of Babylon. The elders of Judah had come to hear a word from the Lord. The exiles had been away from home for six years and felt this whole thing was an injustice that would end soon. Their fathers were responsible, not them. Soon, they would go home — exile will have been a bad dream… but Ezekiel’s theatrics caught their attention, so they went to listen to him.

As the elders sat in his presence, Ezekiel was brought in a vision to the temple in Jerusalem — the delight of their eyes that they longed to return to and behold. And there Ezekiel saw ugliness — the temple was defiled with all manner of idolatry. So, six executioners were brought near and told to strike down everyone in Jerusalem who was not marked by God. But, before they begin, they are told, “Begin at my sanctuary.” And then Ezekiel tells us the executioners “began with the elders who were before the house.” In Ezekiel judgment is falling upon the nations, upon Judah, and Jerusalem. But God’s judgment, Peter later warns us in Ezekiel-like words, began and begins “at the house of God.” There’s may be good reason Peter now says, “So, I exhort the elders among you…” Elders in the past failed to be pure and to prove God’s house pure, and he doesn’t want history to repeat itself.

Christ’s glory will be revealed and the righteous are barely saved to partake in that. So, among all people, we have actually signed up to suffer first to be tested and refined so we can be proved — like gold — to be genuine before that final day. We are living stones being built as God’s house — but we are not yet the temple we should be. So God wills that we endure judgement, suffering, and refinement now. Therefore, we desperately need elders to shepherd the flock.

In our text, Peter first exhorts the elders before speaking to the rest of us — especially those of us who are younger. Therefore, for the first half of our sermon, I’m speaking to our elders — but my prayer is this: God, give other men in our church a heart for God’s people. Give other men the desire, ability, love, and knowledge to shepherd this flock. So I am also speaking to those of you who I hope will prepare to take up their cloaks — in 5, 10, 20, or 30 years.

Shepherding the Flock (5:1-4)

Peter offers four exhortations and one goal to look forward to.

First, shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight. Elders and future ones, you must understand that we are like sheep. We don’t know where green pastures and still waters are. We need to be led and fed and protected. On our own, we don’t feed on the most nutritious pastures. Further, some fat sheep and wolves who want to bully and take advantage of us are hoping you’ll step away, look the other way; but those who are true sheep feel anxious if you aren’t present to carefully guide, feed and protect us. We might foolishly resist you at times, but we are blessed to have you as elders. Please don’t stop exercising oversight and shepherding us. And, do shepherd — there is other work to be done in the church and life that we beg you let others do.

Note that he says to shepherd the flock of God. While you must take a measure of responsibility for us, some elders — pastors — become possessive: this is my flock to guide as I see fit. This is God’s flock.

And he says to shepherd the flock of God that is among you. I don’t believe Peter says this as to discourage concern for the larger flock of God: Peter is an elder who is serving that need by writing this letter and that concern should not die with the apostles. However, do shepherd this flock of God. At some point, you must focus on the sheep where God has placed you. Don’t lose sight of us… trying to take upon yourself the responsibility for the whole flock of God everywhere or even wondering about more compliant sheep elsewhere. Moses was not able carry the title “Chief Shepherd” and you won’t be able to either — thank God for Jesus.

Second, exercise oversight willingly, not under compulsion. I appreciated John’s encouragement to us last week to find joy in whatever we do and to not do a work if we cannot take joy in it. Elders, if you only serve because you feel you have to, you will run out of steam, you won’t model joy, and it would have been better that you not serve. I have seen occasions where people in various positions were not willing to serve any more, but they held onto the role. In these situations, work stagnates and people become discouraged — including people who might be pleased to relieve them of their duties. Find it in yourself to do this work willingly — and if not, actively seek to pass off your staff and cloak to someone else.

Third, related, not for shameful gain, but eagerly. While John and I receive pay from you as evangelists, our three elders have decided to serve us without pay. We joked during the pandemic that we should pay the elders double since the burden during the pandemic was much heavier. John even suggested we pay them triple. In all seriousness, our elders do not receive pay, but, to my knowledge, that has always been the historical norm. And I hope and trust it will be our honor to rise to the occasion to pay our elders if we and they desire to do that. I don’t care much that doctors exist until me or my family are terribly sick, and then we are all thankful doctors have put in tremendous time to wisely prepare to walk with us through difficulty. But they had to go through a lot of schooling and training to be ready for that. I think pastoring and preparing to do that may have some parallels. Some may show their eagerness to shepherd the flock by preparing diligently in schooling and training by giving themselves fully to the work of an elder. May we be ready to shoulder that for our own good.

But how many pastors have been caught up in financial scandals — shameful gain! How many even simply shepherd or preach simply because they are in the market for a job to put food on the table. Church, I caution you to never bring on someone who is merely looking for a job. As in the days of Micah, they may preach “peace” to those who fill their stomachs, but declare war against those who do not. Elders, other jobs you might simply be happy if you are paid, but this must be a work you are eager to do regardless.

Fourth, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. This is the same word Jesus used when he said that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over. Some people revel in calling the shots. Parents, you know the desire that can come up in us to micromanage our children — we aren’t looking for that. Jesus is not looking for leaders riding chariots to whip us from behind and call out orders, he is looking for leaders who will walk with and in front of us to show us by example how to be. That means we don’t need elders to rule as CEOs, but again as examples. And I would offer this caution — you may certainly learn a lot about leadership from the business world, but we need to be careful about translating that to the church. Some things may be applicable and helpful, but people, money, and time all work differently here. Our goals are different — so much is different. For one, we aren’t doing various things in order to get to a completely different end — money or a larger company. Our means are very much part of our end.

Peter offers a goal for you to look at, elders: when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Those who won contests in their day received leafy crowns that would quickly fade and wilt. It’s easy to get caught up wondering if our work will be will be recognized by anyone in this age. Whatever recognition we receive in this age will fade. But, elders, you have a Chief Shepherd who is watching and hoping to reward you with an unfading crown of glory, recognition and reward for your work that will never fade.

This reminds me of Luke 12 when Jesus encourages us that while he is gone, the master will appoint chief servants to ensure the other servants are cared for. Luke 12:43–44 ESV, “Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.” I cannot fathom all that awaits us at the Lord’s return — but consider that if you serve well as elders, when he returns, truly, he will set you over much.

Note by the way that both Peter and Jesus here have their sights set not on some reward at death but on the return, the appearance of Jesus. I know it is challenging because so many of our songs focus on a reward at the end of our personal lives. And in a couple of places Scriptures do speak of the rest we will have when we die — thank God for that! But 99% of Scripture urges us to not to look at our individual graves but to our collective hope in the clouds at the end of all history.

Be Subject to the Elders; Clothe Yourselves with Humility (5:5)

Now, Peter turns to the rest of us in verse 5 with a special word towards those of us who are younger. I remember when I first came here Troxel explained that previous generations were characterized by a spirit of joining something larger than themselves and committing to it to the bitter end. They followed their fearless leaders to the death — sometimes turning a blind eye to skeletons in the closet. It’s hard for me to emphasize how different our generation is. Our age is now characterized by individualism. I am willing to follow as long as you help me feel comfortable in my own skin and as long as your polite requests are crafted around my personal goals and schedules. And if you ever say anything I disagree with that makes me feel uncomfortable, you have not made me feel safe, and I will leave. Church, if you are fully imbedded within the spirit of this age as much as I have been, we will say together: I should be committed to the group and the leaders as long as it is best for me — and we won’t see what is wrong with that.

The spirit of our age has lead to a widespread loss: it is very difficult for leaders of any group to carry authority or weight to lead anywhere. Sometimes this reaction is very understandable — leaders are not always trustworthy. But, see, our definition of untrustworthy includes this large, made-up category called: they have my best interests at heart. That’s a difficult thing to judge, and that shouldn’t be at the top of our list.

This often leads to a cafeteria-style way of following the elders. I’ll pick what I want and leave what I don’t. But we don’t always put the best things on our plate when we visit buffets.

This will now be a challenge for anyone in our world, old or young — individualism is part of the air we breath. Someone will be committed to something for years, but if I judge that my best interests aren’t your number one concern, I’ll cancel you.

But this can especially be a challenge for those of us who are young. This is why you see so many hip churches popping up in the past couple of decades started by young people for young people. They’re tired of the stiff ways of the older generation. But, those of us who are younger need to consider: what will it be like when we are older? When we wish the younger generation would bend their ears? We know. If we don’t model that humility and 100% commitment to the church and her elders even when it is hard, neither will our children be committed and subject to the church, the elders, or even to us when we are older. If we insist our tired leaders make church fit our needs, our kids will insist that of us when we are older.

This doesn’t mean elders are always right. It doesn’t mean there is not a time for us to exhort them. We all fall short in various ways and we all need encouragement.

This also doesn’t mean Peter is calling for mindless obedience. If this sounds like that to you, Satan is nearer to you than you think. Elders are in fact hoping for you to come fully awake and alert with your will and desires and creativity and passion for God’s glory fully intact. I just love it when when God puts it on someone’s heart to serve Jesus and his church in ways none of us considered.

None of this is a call to blindly follow, this is a call for us to be alert to our tendency to arrogant. Our tendency to think we know it all or that we don’t need shepherding. This is a call to humility. Peter is roughly quoting Proverbs 3:34, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Normally we consider this in relation to God — I need to be humble towards God and not proud towards God. And this is good. But Peter urges this in the context of the church — all of us need to clothe ourselves with humility in our interactions with one another. God will give grace to those who are humble towards others. There will always be friction here and there in the church — iron sharpens iron. If there’s no friction we probably aren’t trying very hard. But, I like how one author put it: “Humility is the oil that allows relationships in the church to run smoothly and lovingly.” (Schreiner 238)

Conclusion

Judgment begins now with God’s house. We have signed up to suffer in this age. We need wise, eager elders to shepherd us through the valley of the shadow of death. We need to follow our elders where they guide us. They have been there before.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: John Kilgore

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

The world is always changing and in her 2018 book iGen author Jean Twenge analyzes copious amounts of data to help us appreciate the differences between teens today and teens 10-40 years ago. One observation she makes is that there is a much lower percentage of teens today who are interested in the Church — Christianity proclaims a worldview that appears archaic and cruel to many teens. Twenge wonders and hopes at the end of this chapter that maybe the church could help teens if only it would let go of some of its strangeness, its rigid ways of viewing gender and sexual orientation that make many teens today cringe. Consider how strange this recommendation is. Part of the point of the Church should be that it is ancient and time-tested. The Church has helped generation after generation by pointing to ancient truths that transcend the latest sensibilities — and yet we need to abandon what uniquely qualifies us to help in order to help our therapeutic age feel better about itself? We witness to a God older than Moses — church should feel a little outdated! Twenge fails to understand: the Church’s outdatedness is what makes it relevant and helpful — whether people recognize it or not.

The Church is not yet perfect, the world always misunderstands us, and there will always be pressures on us to be something different than what God calls us to be. And what is the church? One description according to Paul: a holy temple, a dwelling place for God.

The Hebrew writer tells us that the tabernacle is a replica of the heavenly tabernacle. We could say the tabernacle and the temple were small spaces where the earth had been made like heaven above. But Israel defiled God’s temple and land with their idols and immoralities and injustices, so God allowed his temple to be destroyed and for his people to be cast from their land. God later brought his people back to rebuild his temple and repopulate the land — promising his Spirit was among them and that one day the temple project would be completed.

And in Paul’s epistles he refers to Jesus’ church as the temple — as has been read from Ephesians 2:19-22. We are growing “into a holy temple in the Lord…” and “being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” This is a live, ongoing reality: “grows into holy temple” and “you… are being built together.” It’s not that we simply are a temple — this is a role we are growing into until God perfects us on the last day. And this is all made possible by the Holy Spirit. Paul speaks similarly in the Corinthian letters of our bodies being temples. This was big for Paul.

And I don’t think this was a vague spiritual theory Paul never observed but the Holy Spirit told him to write about it anyway. I think that as Paul lived among and observed the Church, he truly saw the temple taking shape before his eyes.

But what does this look like? How does an assembly of people become a temple of God? Acts chapters 2-7 shows us how the church is a better Israel and a better temple than the Jerusalem temple. Luke clues us into this theme when he repeatedly states that the Holy Spirit filled the apostles and dwelled in the church. Paul tells us the Holy Spirit forms the church into a temple, but Luke shows us this. Notice Acts 2:2-4a. When the Spirit comes upon the apostles (or possibly all the believers at that time), tongues of fire rest on them. By day a cloud covered the tabernacle, and by night — fire. This same tabernacle reality was temporarily visible over those who had the Spirit.

Throughout Acts 2-6, the church in whom God’s dwells is continually doing true Israel things and true temple things in Jerusalem and in the temple. Note this: the church in whom God dwells keeps meeting in and around the temple that God appears to not be dwelling in. Notice in Acts 5:17 who is jealous — the high priest and those with him. It doesn’t appear he’s simply jealous because Peter is getting attention — plenty of rulers and religious groups distracted people from himself. Luke may be hinting that the temple leaders are jealous of Peter and those with him because they’re doing all the things the temple and priests were supposed to do. This comes to a head in chapters 6 and 7: false witnesses accuse Stephen of speaking against the temple, just as they accused Jesus. It appears others are also feeling insecure about the temple and priests when there’s a superior temple and priests have taken shape all around them.

So Stephen takes the opportunity to preach: God does not dwell in houses made by hands and when you reject the church and her teachers you are doing what Israel has always done: you are resisting the Holy Spirit. One could summarize that as they reject the church, they reject both the Holy Spirit and the true temple of God. And so they kill Stephen and declare war on the church — seeking to destroy God’s new temple. But, the Holy Spirit won’t be contained — as the church is scattered into exile the Spirit and the Lord are with them wherever they go. God’s temple presence is filling the earth and they can't stop it.

This is a lesson about what the church should be. We will always be pressured to do and be something else, but we must always hone our focus and strive to be what God wants us to be.

The Church Is a Dwelling Place for God by the Holy Spirit…

Where the word of God is proclaimed. Priests and Levites were supposed to instruct people well in the way of the Lord, but we see in the prophets that this didn’t always happen. But in Acts it doesn’t matter what happens — whether persecution from the outside or strife on the inside: beatings, murder, deceit, neglect, you name it — Acts repeatedly emphasizes that the word of God continued to grow and be proclaimed. We know someone often by the words they speak. God is seen to be among us when his word is proclaimed. And nothing can take priority over that.

Where the diverse are reconciled. As those of you who are studying Judges, Samuel, and Kings know: the nations didn’t typically get along with Israel, and not even the people of Israel always get along with one another. The nations had their kings and gods, and even within Israel they could not agree who was king and what God ought to be served. And this led to tremendous strife. Yet the prophets saw a day when the north and the south — Israel and Judah — would be united under one king again. Not only this, they saw a day when the nations would come together with the Jews to God’s mountain in Jerusalem to hear the law of God. Nations would stop fighting, they’d beat their swords into farming equipment, and peace would flourish. In Acts 2, Jews from all nations and even proselytes are all united by means of the Holy Spirit — the Holy Spirit enables the word of God to be proclaimed in languages from everywhere. Later, in Acts 10-11, Peter and the Jews with him find themselves united with Gentiles who have faith in Jesus. Why? The Spirit of God has come upon them just as it came on others. The presence of God through the Spirit creates unity amidst diversity. We look different and have different customs, but hopefully we can see the common fruit of God’s Spirit in us: love, joy, peace, patience… and we can see that we are one. We have the same Spirit of the same Father from the same Lord in us.

I’m moving more quickly from these first two points than I would like. These are the most fundamental and important aspects of our life together. Sleeplessness from Judith has probably gotten the better of my judgment here, but there were three other points I hadn’t seen before that I spent more time preparing to speak about.

Where there are no needy. In Deuteronomy 15:4-5 Moses declared to Israel, “But there will be no poor among you; for the LORD will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess— if only you will strictly obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today.” If Israel obeyed, the Lord would bless them richly. Moses also explains how they would tithe and regularly release their debtors and redeem the poor — all to the end that actually there would be no poor among them.

This didn’t materialize as it should have in Israel. Prophets accused them of holding back the wages of their laborers and of disregarding the poor among them. But, Luke uses the language of Deuteronomy to demonstrate that this did start taking place in the church — note Acts 4:32-35. We have noted in the Acts class that sometimes in our tradition people draw a false dichotomy saying the church is a spiritual community, not a physical one. This certainly isn’t how Luke would have characterized the early church. Their spirituality was very physical, very material — they had all things in common: the word of Jesus, their tables and food, and their possessions. They sold their possessions and brought the proceeds — not to the temple in Jerusalem — but to the apostle’s feet. And it was distributed as there were needs. The result was that there wasn’t a needy person among them, just as Moses said would be the case with Israel.

Certainly a system like this requires wisdom and care. In Acts, some tried to deceive and give for show. Others are later neglected. Paul instructs Timothy later to prevent difficulties as well. But, despite the certain difficulties, I’m struck to think of the possibilities. This should be a church where we would make sure all the faithful here make rent and have access to heat and shoes and clothing, and don’t have to miss meals. I love how we even look beyond this church to Christians elsewhere to do what we can to lift them out of poverty. In this, we will turn out to be a better temple — or maybe simply a better Israel — than Israel ever was.

Where rebels are judged and all are made to fear. When you encounter the presence of God in the Old Testament people are always dying. The 3,000 at the foot of the mountain in the golden calf incident, Nadab and Abihu who offered strange fire, Uzzah who touched the ark, and still others. After a couple deaths around the tabernacle in Numbers, the people finally get it: “Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, shall die. Are we all to perish?” (Num. 17:12–13 ESV)

And while there is a promise of life and healing in the church — as we will soon talk about — rebels are also judged there too. Just as Nadab and Abihu brought strange fire to the tabernacle and were struck dead, Ananias and Sapphira meet a similar fate when they bring a deceitful offering to the apostles. Notice Acts 5:1-6. Sapphira meets the same fate after this. Notice that Peter accuses them of lying to the Holy Spirit — to God. I hope we tremble at this. When Ananias and Sapphira put on a show to deceive the apostles and the church they were lying to God. I appreciate how one author put it: “Deceiving the church is not simply deceiving the pastors, or the other members, but God himself, who is present in the church through his Spirit.” (Schnabel, Acts, Kindle Loc  8203-8218).

Notice the result of this is stated twice: in verse 5 and 11. Great fear fell on all who heard this. And even notice verses 12-13. It reminds me of how people treated Mount Sinai and the tabernacle when they realized God was there — they started backing off. We’ll see in a moment that some do draw near and find healing, but others heard these stories and backed away. You don’t enter the temple lightly but with fear and trembling, and there ought to be that respect for the church as well — for the Lord and the Holy Spirit dwells in an among us, brothers and sisters.

This would have never happened if Peter didn’t call out Ananias and Sapphira out on their lie. Sometimes it’s hard to get people to stick around in the church. At times it may feel counterintuitive to take a Peter-like stance against sin. But we’ll never grow into a holy temple for the Lord if not. The world won’t see God in us and stand back in awe, or draw near in awe. May we speak the truth in love, but let the truth cut where it may.

Where forgiveness and healing are found. In the Old Covenant the tabernacle and later the temple was the center for forgiveness and healing. In Leviticus, if a person was unclean in some way the priest had to examine them and they had to stay away from the tabernacle (and later the temple) so as to not defile it. But if the uncleanness went away, they would go to the priest and the priest who would instruct them to offer the proper sacrifices and to wash in water before declaring them clean.

But now it now appears that this is happening in the church through the apostles a lot better than it ever happened through the temple or the priests. There’s a lame man who has sat outside the temple receiving people’s charity his whole life — Peter declares him healed by Jesus and walks him right into the temple. And Acts says at multiple points that all sorts of signs and wonders — healings — were being done by the apostles. Sicknesses are cured and demons are sent away that would have likely kept them all outside God’s temple presence, but now they draw near.

Notice Acts 5:14-16 as an example. Isn’t Peter’s glorification here shocking? He looks like Jesus and almost God-like. When God’s presence filled the tabernacle, the Greek translation of Exodus says the glory cloud settled or overshadowed the tabernacle. Using the same word, Luke said that the power of the Most High overshadowed Mary, and that the cloud of God’s presence overshadowed the apostles at Jesus transfiguration. The woman who bled hoped to just touch Jesus’ garment to be healed; now, people are hoping that maybe Peter’s shadow would  — same word — overshadow. But why here? That they might be healed. And all who come are healed. It is after this that Luke said the high priest became jealous — maybe, maybe Luke is showing Peter as mediating the healing temple presence of God outside the temple.

And this is true for forgiveness of sins as well. If someone sinned, they were explicitly told in the Law to bring their animal to the tabernacle so the priest could make atonement for them. In Acts, people are being forgiven of their sins, but the Jerusalem priests and temple don’t have a single bit to do with it. Rather, the apostles and the teachers in the church are washing people with water and declaring them forgiven in Jesus’ name. And declaring the Holy Spirit — God’s presence! — is now in them.

No one in Acts is ever washed, forgiven, or healed by themselves or apart from the church. Even when Jesus appears to Saul or when the Holy Spirit falls on Cornelius and those with him — still someone from Jesus’ church baptizes them. Why? Could this not be another way that the church is the temple and priests of God? God always cleansed people in the past with priests and a temple, and now that power has mystically been bestowed upon the church as well.

Conclusion

As I consider in particular here the glorification of Peter and other stories later — like the way the Philippian jailer falls at the feet of Paul and Silas wondering how he might be saved — I am reminded of what Isaiah foresaw concerning renewed Israel. Isa 60:1–4 ESV, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you…” Isa. 60:9 ESV, “For the name of the LORD your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has made you beautiful.”

Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem was a wondrous thing to behold. And even Herod’s beautified temple was impressive. Yet God is doing a new, wondrous thing by making his dwelling among us. Whatever people see in us — that the word of God is proclaimed, that the diverse are reconciled under Jesus, that there are no needy among us, that rebels are judged, and that healing and forgiveness are offered among us — this ought to be the lasting impression people have: Yahweh God — not some other god — dwells among you.

Some days I am troubled that people don’t have the opportunity to see this in us through signs and wonders worked by the Holy Spirit. But the Spirit imparts better gifts than these — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And they can see that. In the final pages of Scripture — Revelation 21 — God’s dwelling place has been perfected. May we continue growing into that dwelling place, that holy temple for the Lord.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: John Kilgore

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Wendell Stevens