Acts 5:27-32 "Where is the Evidence?

It was important to the High Priest that he maintain control in Jerusalem, especially during Passover when thousands of Jews were descending on the Holy City. After all, the Roman authorities expected as much, and, besides, the provincial governor, Pilate, was in town.

That was why Jesus had to be done away with. He had been a troublemaker from the moment he had staged that ridiculous parade through the secondary city gate. Everyone knows that parades lead to crowds that at some point become uncontrollable.

And, of course, that spectacle was followed by his rampage in the temple atrium – overturning tables and angering the sacrificial dove vendors. And who can forget Jesus’ showing up the temple Pharisees, beating them at their own intellectual game of theological cat-and-mouse.

Getting rid of Jesus was the only option. Burying him was surely the best solution. Then the High Priest would be done with the latest possibility of civil unrest and could set aside his deep fear of a mob scene.

And besides, he had the specter of Rome to consider. You never knew when something like this Jesus thing might draw the attention of the Emperor himself – and nothing good ever came from being anything other than far below the radar screen. And so, by means of a monkey trial and a series of complicated finger pointing, Jesus was executed – and all was quiet once more.

How disappointing then for the High Priest that the calm which always followed such gruesome crucifixion incidents only lasted three days. You see, those disciples of Jesus then came out of hiding and proclaimed that he was here once more – come back from the dead – raised to new life – resurrected.

The High Priest was currently in a peck of trouble since that first resurrection proclamation several months ago. Deterring the disciples (now called apostles) from preaching, healing, and teaching Jesus’ message was impossible. The one named Peter was the worst by far. Was there no understanding of the predicament the High Priest and his holy underlings faced?

As Church of the Brethren pastor, Peter Haynes, writes, “Jerusalem was dangerous enough as it was. Zealots were all over the place, people sick of Roman domination - ready to die in some holy war at a moment’s notice. With the benefit of history, we know that a generation down the road the fires would erupt among the people, and Rome would crack down with an iron fist, tearing apart the city brick by brick, so that all that would remain of the Temple would be one wall at which Jewish believers today still gather and wail, praying through their tears….Jerusalem was a powder keg ready to explode.”

Who were these blasted disciples – these ignorant men who dared to stand up to the vast intellectual capabilities and spiritual skills of the Jewish temple leadership? “Everyone said they were just fishermen and tax collectors - ignorant Galileans who ought to be frightened out of their wits by a show of power. They should have learned their lesson at Calvary.” (Haynes)

Peter, who all his life had led with his mouth – right up until the end when he had three times denied even knowing Jesus – Peter had already been jailed once for witnessing to Jesus and his message and for preaching an alternative and contrary Jewish theology. Then he had broken free and went back on the streets to tell the story of Jesus to as many people as he could before he was rounded up again.

This is where our Scripture lesson picks up. Hauled in before the Sanhedrin (the Jewish Council), Peter faced a High Priest who did not mince words. “Didn't we give you strict orders not to teach in Jesus' name?” the High Priest queried. “And here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching.”

Impassioned by the Gospel message, Peter courageously responded with a confession of faith so bold that it angered the Jewish Council beyond measure. More thought out than his spontaneous outcry at Caesarea Philippi when he was first proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah, Peter spoke this time with a hint of steely resolve in his voice, “It is necessary to obey God rather than men.”

And if that was not confrontational enough, Peter went on to accuse the High Priest of killing Jesus, whom God had raised from the dead, pointing out explicitly how God’s power was more effective than the High Priest’s. “And we are witnesses to these things,” he finished triumphantly.

“You can imagine the uproar this must have caused in the high court: Pandemonium. A gavel banging repeatedly, drowned out by the roar of voices from the bench calling out in protest. A chorus of voices demanding the deaths of these people who were thumbing their noses at the legal system, even blasphemously daring to claim the authority of God for their actions and words.”

Here was a new Peter, a transformed Peter. This was not the Peter who, along with the other disciples, had been clueless about their calling for the three years they had tagged along with Jesus. As Presbyterian pastor, Heidi Petersen writes, “That was before: before Jesus’ crucifixion, before Peter’s own denial, before Peter saw the risen Christ, before the church received the gift of the Spirit. At this point, when the High Priest forbids Peter to witness, he might as well have been forbidding Peter to breathe.”

Of course, none of the apostles had started from this posture of astounding belief. They had all run away when Jesus was arrested. They had watched the grisly scene unfold from a distance – or not at all. Peter had not even believed when he saw the empty tomb. In one way or another, they had all been afraid, but not any more.

Now – with one another, in community - they stood up for Jesus, proclaiming his message and witnessing in his name.

This is surely a real swashbuckling tale of courage and resolve and standing firm in the face of tremendous odds. But what could it possibly say to us? After all, we are not likely to be brought before the Supreme Court to defend our Christian beliefs. So how does this story touch our lives?

You know, as I read the Scripture for today earlier this week, I thought that this text is really too good to be read the Sunday after Easter, when attendance is back to normal, and all the Easter church goers are doing what they usually do on Sunday mornings.

Would it not be fun some year on Easter to substitute this reading for the traditional empty tomb story? We could still have lilies and spring flowers. Scott could still play the trumpet. We could even sing the usual Easter hymns. But the scripture would be something like this passage from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles – because this is what is really important about Easter – and the Easter church goers never hear this part of the story.

They never hear specifically how encountering the Living Christ resurrects something deep inside you – how being part of a like minded community makes you foolish like Peter was in proclaiming the message of Jesus even when it flies in the face of cultural norms.

They never hear specifically how encountering the Living Christ transforms your life – how being part of a like minded community makes you courageous like Peter was in proclaiming the message of Jesus and going out to change the world, one healing at a time.

You see, this passage in Acts illustrates beautifully what is supposed to happen when we know the story of the empty tomb. In short, we are challenged to harness that Easter joy and faith we felt so deeply last week – and do something with it.

The author of Luke/Acts calls this “doing” “witnessing.” That is what Peter was up to when he challenged the Jewish authorities. Academic professor Kevin Wilson defines it like this: “Witnesses are not simply passive observers of an event; they must actively make known what they have seen."

You and I profess that we have encountered the Living Christ. You and I say that we are witnesses to this extraordinary event. That is why we are part of the church, part of this like minded community.

That being said, then I think that you and I are supposed to be courageous like Peter when it comes to being a Christian - whether we are in the pulpit or the pews. We are to try for that steely resolve.

I think you and I are meant to share our faith in words as well as deeds because doing so is the cost of discipleship, the cost of following Jesus, the cost of participating in the resurrection – even when Jesus’ vision, clashes with the cultural norms that remind us day in and day out that might makes right, that it is better to be safe than sorry, that we must first take what we need because there is not be enough to go around.

Witnessing as Peter witnessed means living as men and women who understand the sacrifice Jesus made on tour behalf and who respond with the love he called his followers to practice in his name, who both believe that the love of God in Jesus has overcome every barrier between them and God, and who react by proclaiming that forgiveness and love to all who will listen.

There was once a popular bumper sticker that read: “If you were charged with being a Christian today, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”

It is an intriguing question that bears serious thought – particularly right after Easter when we like the Easter church goers are sucked back into the ho hum of our lives. Yet, for us who have chosen to be part of the church, part of this community of like minded people, it is not that easy because now we have seen a glimpse of what Easter is all about, witnessed through the lens of Peter’s outspoken resolve.

“If you were charged with being a Christian today, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” Think about it.

Rev. Nancy Foran is pastor of the Raymond Village Community Church, Raymond, Maine

http://www.rvccme.org/