The Daily Devo with Steve

This chapter is a beautiful recitation of Israel’s history, and summary of God’s relationship with her through time.  Stephen is attesting to the fact that God has always been there, providing through various forms of persecution, and opposing those who’d try to crush His plan.  In doing so, he demonstrates something I point out often, but which I also fail to consistently follow - and that is a specific prayer sequence.  I have said before that prayer is the weakest part of my ‘spiritual game’; it is the part which I must apply with discipline because my natural inclination is to do more of this - studying God’s word, pulling out application, leveraging and applying wisdom...but prayer is where the rubber meets the road in my life - when I am praying more, I am growing more.

Stephen provides a great model here, which is actually akin to the Lord’s Prayer, which starts, “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on Earth as in Heaven.”  Those words are saying what Stephen is saying here - “God, you have been and always will be in charge.  Looking back at the history of your relationship with your people, I can’t help but recognize that you’ve always been there, crafting your story, directing history in a way that executes on your will and your plan.”  And here is where I think this prayer can get personal.  “And God, I can see in my own life, that you’ve been working through various circumstances such as (insert my own list of events and answered prayers, as Stephen inserts Israel’s here in chapter 7).  You have been faithful to me...even when I haven’t been faithful to you.  You have been there consistently, even when I forget that fact.  And, just as you’ve been there for Israel for thousands of years, I trust that you’ll continue to be there or me.  This is really just an application of the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus gave us.  Stephen is doing the same thing here - he is just using it as a way to remind these Jewish leaders.

And then we see Stephen is stoned out on the city streets.  And, to say that this was part of God’s plan, that a man would be stoned to death, sounds terrible in one sense.  At the same time though, in this same event, we are introduced to the greatest evangelist that has ever lived.  The person in charge of this stoning is a person who was one of the staunchest, more devout Jews of the time.  He was a resolute persecutor of Christians, and leader in that regard - Saul.  And we all know, and we will read, that Saul becomes Paul.  And millions upon millions of people have been affected by Paul’s conversion.  And Paul carried this event in his mind forevermore, as a reminder of God’s forgiveness.  This event, the stoning of Stephen, is probably one of the most impactful and important events in Christian history, behind Jesus’ death, because it took the spread of the Christian faith to a whole new level by a twist of events that only God could write.

Chapter 7 reminds me - God has a plan, God is working that plan, and I can join in or sit on the sidelines...and Stephen gives us a remarkable example to follow in terms of how to think about God and pray to God.

Here in chapter 6, the guys who are the preachers and teachers of the word really aren’t gifted at serving the needs of the followers, and at administering the church.  So they elect people to do this so everyone can be serving in the area of their giftedness.  That makes sense.  And then we see a group that is complaining about how things are being done and then instigating an issue to get rid of a gentlemen named Stephen.  Based on everything that is said about Stephen in the text, it seems most likely that these folks didn’t get something they wanted, and they did what most of us do...the pouted.  Except, they pouted in a way that brought Stephen in front of counsel in a sort of trial.  I am going to guess, and this is conjecture, that at about the time things are heating up, over the next couple of chapters, between Stephen and the counsel, these guys felt about as sorry as did Judas after the guards showed up to seize Jesus.

At any rate, this is a product of a human church - in-fighting.  Last night, I was watching another documentary on Disney+; it was about the supposed Tomb of Christ.  It was fascinating.  The thing that I can’t see past though are the groups of people that have designated themselves as protectors of this tomb.  And I don’t want to tread on the faith of others, I just can’t help but look at these groups and wonder, “Would this has pleased Jesus?”.  These groups are very elite, very educated, very repellent of others, not diverse (it is all old white guys), and some of the stuff they do seems a little fanatical.  Again, I don’t want to step on their faith; I was just disappointed at this group being represented as “Christians” by National Geographic.  It appeared to be nothing like what’s been described in Acts 1-5, and much more like the extreme versions of what we see starting to happen here in Acts 6.

I would fully grant that the church should have boundaries, and edges.  There does need to be a way to mark someone as ‘in’ or ‘out’ in some way or another.  As Jesus-followers, we are to hold each other to a standard to which the rest of the world doesn’t answer, so there has to be a clear line marking that commitment.  At the same time though, Paul and clearly teaches us that we are to be in world, though not of the world, and I am not sure that much of what is in today’s churches really serves any purpose other than to scratch the emotional itch of those inside the church, and to creatively shield them from that which they’ve truly been called while helping them FEEL good about the way they are living their lives.  The reality is, this is so hard to get right.  This is all so personal.  God has a calling for me, and for which I am the only person who can truly step into that calling.  Perhaps one of the big ‘ah-ha’ realizations that we can glean from church is that we still need our savior to return.

Bottom line for me today - people aren’t perfect and churches aren’t perfect; we are called to love others in spite of that imperfection.  We are called to a perfect imperfection...to keep moving forward in following Jesus even though we can’t really ever get there...remembering that there really isn’t a destination though; it is in the journey that we meet and experience God.

In reading this morning, this text seemed pretty straight forward to me...but there is apparently some theological debate about several elements of the text.

In the first 11 verses, we see Ananias and Sapphira break with the customs of the group, in sharing all that they have as they sold a piece of land, and then we are told that they are essentially put to death by the Holy Spirit.  There is all sorts of mental jujitsu going on in my commentary to explain why it may be okay that they might have passed without a chance for repentance, and whether or not Peter was ultimately responsible, and all of that.  Look, I am fine with really trying to figure this stuff out, but God can do whatever God wants to do, and as naive as this may be, when I look at something like this, I tend to think that there is probably some element of the story that I don’t understand or know, not that God acted in a way that is inconsistent with His character throughout the rest of scripture.

Then we see a short segment about the signs and wonders being done as the number of people following the apostles, and joining them, greatly increases.  In other words - this was not a small group of people moving in a controlled manner...this was a movement.  This was growing quickly, and this was becoming an unstoppable force.

Then we see the greater part of this chapter is spent describing another run-in between the Jewish leaders who thought they had controlled this movement back in chapter 4 and the apostles, of which we know Peter is one, but we aren’t really revealed the list of participants.  And, again we see the tension and the struggle of these Jewish leaders...again, they don’t see interested in figuring out whether or not any of what the apostles are saying is true, they just want to control the situation, and they want to make sure THEY remain the leaders.  Luke actually says that they were jealous.

Then we get to the verse that I think is just fantastic - and it comes from a man in the Jewish counsel named Gamaliel, in verses 38-39

Gamaliel says, “So (talking to to the Jewish leaders), in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them.  You might even be found opposing God!”.

I think that pretty much sums it up...this is why all of what is recorded in Acts and in the New Testament happened...it was OF God, and BY God, and there wasn’t anything that anyone was going to do to stop it.

It reminds me that I should take stock of myself, and the things of which I have interest and in which I spend time; are these ‘of God’?  If not, I am pushing a rock up a proverbial hill in the way I am living.  Great words essentially from the opposition this morning, and a great reminder to take the path of least resistance in life, and to go where God is leading me.

The second have of Acts 4 has 2 distinct parts - a prayer by Peter and John, and those who were the ‘believers’ at this point in time, and a description of how this community lived in harmony, and essentially shared everything they had as one.

This prayer in verses 23 through 31 is just awesome.  So, Peter and John were just in prison, just answering for their faith in front of these folks who were obviously in power, and were power hungry.  And Peter and John no doubt knew that these events were likely to repeat if they continued to carry on in this fashion, spreading the gospel, out in the open, and fanning the flame of this Jesus movement.  They had to be a little scared.  And look what they prayed, v 24-31.

Notice - they didn’t pray for rescue.  They didn’t pray for peace.  They didn’t ask for saving.  They confessed to God that they were finally putting the pieces to together, that they were starting to understand that all along, God was actually sewing together this story that is now recent history, and they had missed it when it was happening, but that they could see it now.  I imagine they were still a little in shock as to how they missed it.  And so, what did they pray?  They asked for boldness.  They asked that God would simply give them the strength, the courage, and the will to continue in their calling, to continue their contribution in God’s story.   I just love that!

That’s a prayer worth repeating.  And, it is worth remembering in less glamorous times.  In that moment where I am at my whit’s end with a friend who is struggling with a particular issue, and I know I need to be a friend but I am tired of forgiving and I am exhausted from caring…perhaps I can pray that God would give me boldness to declare His word and to do as I know He would have me do.  When I am burnt out and broken down because I can’t get on the same page with my wife about an issue...perhaps I can pray for boldness, and the will to continue in God’s will.  It doesn’t have to be a life or death issue.  This prayer is a great example of asking God for something for which I think God essentially always responds.  If I humble myself and ask for the will and the courage and the energy to follow God’s will...that’s a prayer that I have experience having answered without fail.

And closing out the chapter, we see an awesome example of community, the sharing of resources and life between all of these believers.  It begs the question, “What if this was really what being a Christian felt like, this kind of community - who WOULDN’T want to be a part of that?”.  Our faith should be inviting.

Today, the big away from me is that prayer though...what an awesome prayer, and what an awesome reminder that I need to rely on God for the strength to do his will in my life.

As a refresher, yesterday we saw Peter and John heal a lame man, who in turn ran into the temple and ran around showing everyone that he can walk...he had been lame for 40 years and now is walking...running.  There was no denying what everyone could clearly see.  Then we saw Peter do a sermon when everyone placed their attention on he and John, and he leveraged the attention to shine the light on God.  Today we see the next part of the story.

The religious leaders (the Sadducees) saw what was happening, and they immediately reacted to quell the spread of this teaching that Peter was dolling out.

As a side note, there are various mentions of ‘religious leaders’ in the New Testament, and at various times it means the Sadducees, at other it is the Pharisees, and then there’s also the Essenes.  Via wikipedia, according to Josephus, whereas the Sadducees believed that people have total free will and the Essenes believed that all of a person's life is predestined, the Pharisees believed that people have free will but that God also has foreknowledge of human destiny.  And, the ONE thing that we continually find these groups agreeing on is that they want to get rid of this Jesus story...they were all interested in power, not truth.  Think about that for a second.  Think about what that says in terms of a life lesson for us...and what that says about the validity of the stories of Jesus.

Some of the most intelligent people, who were the rare individuals who could both read and write, are no where in history on record refuting what we believe happened...and they had all sorts of motivation to do so.  Why didn’t they?  If something fantastic like a man raising from the dead didn’t happen, it would be incredibly easy to shut this whole thing down.

Instead of that, what did they do?  They decided NOT to pursue truth - they pursued control.  These religious leaders arrested Peter and John.  And Luke gives us a roster of the leaders that were present...we know a little about a couple of them, but this list would have been a whose who of the time in terms of religious leaders.

And when they acted Peter and John about this, Peter and John didn’t pull any punches...they went straight at them and told them that it was God that healed this man.  They didn’t come at them  with anything religious...these are the most religious people on the planet!  They told them that they Jesus they had killed was in fact alive and that they saw him and talked to him.  Again, the leaders didn’t refute them; in fact, the text tells us that they were impressed by them, because they were just ordinary dudes.

So, the religious leaders, with all of their power and control on the line, had a decision to make - get to the bottom of this, or shut it down and maintain their control.  And here we see the motivation that was driving all of the tension between the religious leaders of the day and the disciples, apostles, and various Jesus-following groups of the day...it was power and control.

Today I am reminded that I don’t have to be scared of truth as a Christian.  I don’t have to worry about what science is going to come up with.  I don’t have to have a complex message about what I believe.  It is simple...and it is episodes like this that illuminate this reality.  It also reminds me how powerful and how blinding the motivations of power and control can be...and it serves as a warning that I need to always be monitoring myself, remaining aware of my internal motivations.

This truly is one of my favorite chapters in the entire Bible - this and the next.

This guy that can’t walk is laying around outside the temple, a lame man, and Peter & John walk by and tell him that they don’t have any money or possessions to give him, but that they did have something.  I am sure this guy was thinking, “Yeah, advice...thanks.”!  But, they healed him.  Then this guy is seen running around inside and outside the temple by everyone, and recognized as the guy that was laying outside and lame.  Everyone is astonished.  And with this opportunity, Peter stands up and does an impromptu sermon to explain and connect the dots between Jesus, whom most of these people would know about, and himself, along with John, and this man.  Peter leverages the moment to point the Jesus.

Now, tomorrow will be the real meat of this story...and I am resisting the urge to move on to that now.  But, there is plenty here; patience! Haha (that’s me talking to myself).

2 things come to mind today.

First off - Notice how Peter has figured it out, he has connected the dots, and he has evolved into much more spiritually rich person; in a moment when it would be really easy to let the light shine on himself for doing something miraculous, he points that light right back at God.  He doesn’t appear to hesitate in doing so.  When I think about myself, I think I would have to admit that I might fall into the trap of taking some of the glory myself.  That’s my track record at least.  I am quick to absorb benefit and credit for the good things, and quick to shirk the blame on bad things.  When I get the spotlight, can I say that I really give God the glory that he is due?  I can’t say that.  That’s an area where I can grow and develop.

Just last night, I was watching a documentary on National Geographic by this guy who was using scientific tools to try to understand more deeply the story of Moses parting the Red Sea.  It was fascinating, and there are some twists in the story that really were very interesting; and it really got me interested in Biblical archeology, as there is so much learning and discovery taking place right now that really corroborates what we see in the Bible.  But, at the end of the show, being a secular show, the host reveals that he has found a couple of reasonable explanations for this story, and none of them include a miracle performed by God.  And that tends to be what science does...it always looks for an explanation that excludes God.  I understand the approach of trying to explain things and searching for a natural explanation, but when science comes up short, it dubs the event “unexplainable” rather than accepting that perhaps it explained in one word: “God”.  It appears that the people, even the religious people in the next chapter, who have seen this man are looking for an explanation as to how he is running around all of the sudden, after being lame minutes before.  Peter and John are thinking, “Ah, it was God...the same God who raised a dude from the dead...so a lame man walking isn’t that miraculous!”.

Perhaps the BEST explanation for all of the amazing things we see from scripture, a collection of 66 books from over 40 writers over a period of about 1500 years is not completely explainable and understandable...perhaps the best idea that we have is just that one word explanation: God.  Maybe it is all true.

This chapter outlines the first actions these followers of Jesus were taking, from speaking to each other across various languages, able to understand each other because of a miracle God was doing right there in front of them, to a wonderful sermon by Peter that was laying the foundation of what the church would stand for, and then a picture of what community looked like for these early believers.

Just a small thing that I noticed this morning - I noticed how the people that were there in Jerusalem saw these people speaking in tongues,  and instantly they began to reason that these people must be drunk.  It reminds me that sometimes, when we are seeking explanations for things that happen, we tend to give ourselves options that don’t include God.  In fact, I think this is probably one of the reasons I don’t experience God as fully as I could...I typically just ascribe explainable, mundane things as coming from chance and or natural causes, without putting God in the equation.  Yeah, it is possible that I made all of the lights on the way to work yesterday out of luck.  But, it is equally possible that God was intervening in some way.  My logical and natural inclination is to think to myself, “God wouldn’t bother himself with that, there are far more important things going on that the lights headed to work.  But there is where the logical fallacy takes place...is my God limited in His resources to where if he interacts with me on a small detail in my life like that, that he can’t be saving a kid from drowning in a pool somewhere in France at the exact same time?  Well, no...he isn’t.  ...that’s just a tangent though.

Certainly the bulk of this chapter is dedicated to Peter’s sermon.  And, though this isn’t a ‘deep’ thought, I am always reminded of it as I read through this chapter of acts, and this sermon of Peter’s.  It wasn’t but a few chapters back, flipping back through the first chapter of Acts and back into Luke 18 that Peter was denying Jesus, questioned by a little teenage girl - and then the disciples (including Peter) disappeared, presumably hiding out and waiting to figure out what to do since their leader had died, before Jesus showed back up and helped them to connect the dots, now getting to a place where they could begin to understand that everything Jesus had been predicting and describing was actually taking place all along the way...they were blind to what was happening right in front of them.  That same Peter now steps into the role of spokesman for the church; that same Peter who was scarred with confusion and spiritual blindness, is now awakened.  Peter gives me hope.  Peter, and later Paul, reminds me that God always redeems the heart and the mind and the life of the person who stays in there, trying to understand, leaning in for God’s word...and, sometimes God even redeems those people who weren’t doing any of that, just because they are part of His plan.  In contrast, thinking of Paul - God really just snatched him up and inserted him into Christian history, almost out of the blue.  But, Peter’s story encourages me to continue to grow, to continue to pray, to continue to read...it reminds me of the recent study of Daniel, that our faith is grown progressively, over time, through time...and often by way of a path that is far from straight!

As we dive into this first chapter of Acts, we really see 3 things happening - an introduction, Jesus’ ascension, and then the selection of a replacement for Judas.  The thing that really jumps out at me in this short introductory chapter this morning is how we see the coming of the Holy Spirit.

I think it is hard to understand the world without the Holy Spirit, the world or the Old Testament.  It is hard because it is pretty hard to really define the impact of the Holy Spirit.  It is one of those things that is a ‘mushy’ topic.  When a non Christian asks about the resurrection, I have a concrete event that we are talking about.  If the topic is baptism, again, there is an idea or a definition that we can discuss with boundaries, and with a definition.  But how do you define the Holy Spirit, and when a person might feel it, or when he has felt it, or what it does in our daily lives?  It is a difficult thing to pin down.  It is one of the elements of our faith that I typically don’t discuss right out of the gate with a new believer, because it as a bit of that mystical element to it that almost is akin to some kooky Middle East religion or something.  But, the Holy Spirit is a big deal...it marks the biggest difference between an Old Testament God-fearer and a New Testament Jesus-follower.

The easiest way to get a sense of what the Holy Spirit’s role is for a Christian is just to understand that it is often referred to simply as our ‘helper’.  It affects our lives both directly and indirectly.  It is God’s presence in our lives, and it is given to us when we submit our lives to God by placing our faith in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.  For me, it wasn’t a wave of emotion or feeling that washed over me that was really obvious and that had a dramatic noticeable effect on my life; instead, I find subtle reminds that God is with me at various moments in time, through various channels - be it a friend saying something that I had actually prayed about that morning, or a strong sense or feeling that I should do a particular thing or make a particular decision, or a moment of perspective or clarity about an issue.  Everyone has these moments at different points in his life, but once we make a decision to follow Jesus, God actually puts His hands into these elements of life and we are, in effect, being guided by God in that way.

In the Old Testament, we see all sorts of crazy miracles and things that seem so dramatic that they seem like they must be fictitious...perhaps, since they didn’t have the Holy Spirit, we could think of the Old Testament as a time when God communicated through miracles, and the New Testament (after Jesus’ ascension) as a time when God began to rely on the Holy Spirit.  Granted, from time to time we hear stories about miracles happening these days, but more times than not, it is the Holy Spirit that is means of communication and influence from God.  To me, that is an idea that really helps to put a lot of what I read from the Old Testament stories into perspective.  And, as much as I say that I would love to see God do a major miracle that happened right in front of me, I have come to understand that I most likely have exactly what I most likely need - the Holy Spirit.

Today, we see the launch of a new phase in the spread of our faith.  I also want to be sure to note that this phase was launched when the Jerusalem council, here in chapter 15, made a great decision, which was the culmination of the discussion and debate that was started in yesterday’s reading about what it takes to become a Christian church member - remember, we are differentiating between being a church member and a recipient of God’s Grace.  God is clear - accept that Jesus lived the life we couldn’t live, a sinless life, and then died the death that we should have died, as a punishment for our sin, and then He rose from the grave, hung out with and taught hundreds of people some final things, and then went up into heaven to be with God again.  That’s all it takes to be saved by God.  In the church’s terms, they are wrestling with what they want that ‘marker’ to be, what’s the initiation element that separates those inside the faith from those outside the faith for the sake of joining the church.  And, they made a great choice in chapter 15 - and I love the person who finally steps up to push this through for this early church - James.

Think about James for a second...one of my favorite pastors, Andy Stanley, harps on this idea constantly, and I love it - James, a brother of Jesus, comes to believe that his brother is the savior of the world.  I mean, what would it take for someone you know, let alone a sibling, to convince you that He is the savior of the world?  That, in-and-of-itself is a huge plug for the validity of these gospels and these manuscripts that make up the New Testament. But, we’ll talk about that more when we get there.

The major thing that is happening as we turn to chapter 15 and then carry the book of Acts forward to its close is that we see Paul launching this faith movement way out beyond the bounds of Jerusalem, and he carries it out into the rest of the world.  And I want to touch on 2 things that he does that I think are so important, that are repeatedly referenced throughout the last half Acts.

First - Paul reason leans into this idea that logic and reason actually are supportive of our faith.  Paul is the first person that really see demonstrating that science and faith don’t have to clash.  Even today, most people allow themselves to adopt this false dichotomy that we either have to believe in God or believe in science - not so!  It is amazing what you can find it you take a little time to look for science that supports what we believe as Christians.  There are smart people, scientists, philosophers, astrologers, etc. that have come to the conclusion that our faith is supported by science and reason.  We can be reassured that we can approach science with a curiosity, and with a genuine desire for truth...we don’t have to be on the defense all of the time.

Second - Paul demonstrates that the purpose of our behaving, or our ‘goodness’, isn’t to win God’s Grace, it is to gain influence in this world.  Paul shows us that our behavior is our outward-facing evidence of our faith.  We should leverage the way we are, the person we become, and our behavior in general to gain influence on those around us - influence we can then use to expose them to the message of our faith.  People outside of the faith typically come into the faith because of the influence of someone they know...Paul knows this, and he teaches us to use this to our advantage.  If our behavior is perceived as anything other than an invitation, as condemnation, then we are doing it wrong.

I love these reminders this morning - such powerful ideas!

I love the contrast between the way the message of Jesus is met between the Jews and the Gentiles, which is really easily seen once Paul launches out into his ministry here in Acts.  And then, further, it is great to see how the early church wrestled with how this issue of what is  really ‘required’ of a person to be adopted into the church.  It is always important to remember that what an institution adopts as an outward symbol of faith is different than what God instructs as a means of salvation - believe in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection as a substitute for our own death, for which we are deserving because of our sin, so that we can be restored in relationship with God - that is all that God instructs that we believe as a means to His saving Grace.  But, a church has to have some level of outward symbol that can be adopted that its members can all have in common, some kind of a unity or a bond, and that’s the thing the church was wrestling with in chapter 15 of Acts.  And it is carries a lot of similarity with the contract between way the message of Jesus was met by  the Jews and the Christians.  And this same issue lives in many Christians’ hearts today.  It is this question, “Should we all have to earn our way into the church, in some way?”

It is a natural question, and it is a question that really is rooted in pride if we are being honest.   But, it is a flawed logic, and here is why.

First off, your reward for abiding to God’s law is really supposed to be (in a post-Jesus world) unity with God.  And, we know this, because that was the consequence of the original sin - separation from God.  If you are abiding so God will do your favors, or you are abiding so you can get anything other than unity with God, you missed the point.  God gave us the Law to show us how to draw close to Him in relationship - not as a way to ‘win’ at life somehow.  Think about this...if we could control God through right-living, then how sovereign, how omniscient is God?  He wouldn’t be!  God can’t be controlled or manipulated by our actions...He is WAY bigger than that.

Secondly, fairness is not a principle that is taught anywhere in the Bible or life, and we should just drop that from our vocabulary.  Fairness is a ridiculous idea.  God can do with his stuff what God wants to do.  You can give your money to the causes you choose, and if you decide you want to give $1,000 to the Goodwill and $100 to the Boys & Girls Club, then the Boys & Girls Club can’t sue you because you weren’t fair - that’s ridiculous.  It is your money, and you can do with it what you want.  As Christians, we just take a it a step further, and we adopt a mindset that we are God’s people, we are God’s resources, and God is free to use us as He pleases.  The beauty of our faith comes in understanding and appreciating the fact that God created us for a purpose, and that He only uses us for that purpose, and that in living out that purpose, ironically, we are actually able to experience the maximum joy possible in our lives.  We experience life at its best when we let go and let God.

I am reminded of this lesson as I am reading this morning, that we are due nothing, and we can earn nothing, and that we should never use our experiences as a measuring stick or point of comparison to judge whether or not someone is or isn’t a Christian, nor should be use it to judge whether or not they are a good person.  God is that judge.