"We Must Obey God Rather Than Men"
Text: Acts 5:12-32
5-1-2022
In the name of our risen Lord and Savior, dear friends in Christ. Each year when we celebrate Confirmation Day, the message is geared especially to these young people who will be making their public confession of faith for all the world to hear. That’s no small thing because it’s becoming more difficult, and dare I say more dangerous, to do that these days. So this message from God’s Word is prepared with you 3 young ladies in mind. But the rest of us would be wise to pay close attention also because this truth applies to us all.
You know, there’s a tendency to glamorize the time of the disciples and the early Christian Church. I mean, many of them actually got to see and hear Jesus in person. Yeah, sure, some of them doubted and were scared at first. But after Christ rose from the dead then having faith in Him was easy, right? Wrong. What’s reported in the Book of Acts tells a different story. Right before Jesus ascended into heaven, He told them that they’d be His witnesses all throughout the world. And yet, they weren’t ready to make a bold, public confession of their faith. In fact, they were still laying low because they feared what the Jewish leaders might do to them for being followers of Jesus.
All that changed on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended on them in a powerful way and gave them the inspiration and courage to confess their faith in a hostile world. On that day nearly 3,000 people heard Peter preach a sermon that you girls would call “bussin.” (Us old people would say he “hit a home run.”) That large crowd was Baptized and joined the Christian Church. After that, the disciples and the rest of the believers were suddenly brave enough to appear in public and they even went to the temple to gather for worship. That’s the last place you’d want to go if you were being hunted by the religious leaders. Did they do it because they figured there was safety in numbers? No, their bravery was because the Holy Spirit had fanned their faith into a bright flame and they couldn’t hide it.
You’ll see proof of that in an incident that took place prior to the one in our text for today. Peter and John went up to the temple to pray. When they arrived, they encountered a lame beggar. By the power of Jesus that had been given to them, the man was healed. It caused quite a commotion and when the temple priests investigated it, they found out that Peter was boldly telling people about salvation through Jesus. That infuriated them because they had hoped to put an end to all this Jesus talk when they had Christ crucified. So, the disciples were arrested and hauled in front of the council of Jewish rulers. Peter made it clear that Jesus was alive and there’s no other way of salvation than through Him. You can bet that made the council grind their teeth. Anyway, they decided to cut the disciples loose with a stern warning to shut their mouths about all this Jesus stuff, or else. Peter and John left but were not fazed by the threats.
Which leads us to our reading for today from Acts 5. I know some of you will find this hard to believe but when I was at the seminary, I was outspoken in class. Shocker, right? When I heard something I didn’t agree with I said so. One of my friends would regularly pull me aside and say, “Cooperate and graduate.” In other words, don’t rock the boat and go along with the program. You can guess what my response was. When I know something to be true then I can’t be quiet about it. That certainly was the attitude of the disciples. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and fully convinced that Jesus was the Savior of the world. They couldn’t help talking about it and confessing it boldly. Courage is contagious and this emboldened others to speak out about their faith in Jesus too.
Well, the priests and the Jewish rulers figured they had to squash this rising movement. So they had the apostles, the ring leaders, arrested and put in jail. But in the middle of the night God sent an angel to release them. From our stand point a good strategy would be to go into hiding and let things cool off. God had a better plan, though. He sent them right back into the hornet’s nest. It was an “in you face” move to show those Jewish leaders that they couldn’t silence the good news of Jesus. Now if you don’t think there’s any comedy in the Bible then you’re not looking. The council sent for the prisoners. They would be dragged in wearing chains like whipped dogs. Ah, but when the temple police arrive, the door is locked but the prisoners are gone. While they reported this to the council, someone came in and basically says, “Ummm… you know those guys you’re looking for? They’re back in the temple preaching about Jesus again!” And this is the really funny part. When the captain and the officers went and approached the apostles, they didn’t dare lay hands on them for fear that the people would fight to defend them. So they politely asked them to accompany them to the council chambers.
Standing in front of the council, the High Priest reminds them of the strict warning they were given to quit with all this Jesus talk. I’d like you to focus on the first sentence of Peter’s response. He boldly says, “We must obey God rather than men.” The only way that he and the other apostles could be that brave is because they truly believed in their hearts that Jesus was the Savior. As long as they were standing on that truth then their eternal salvation was secure and nothing else mattered. You could take their property, their freedom, and even their lives (which happened to some of them) but it was all worth it as long as they were on God’s side.
I’d like to encourage you 3 girls to make that your theme verse along with your Confirmation verse: “We must obey God rather than men.” Longer ago, I used to tell my Confirmation classes that the devil and this evil world would work hard to get them to deny their faith… when they got to college. Then I revised it down to high school. But now, especially with some of the stories you gals have shared with me, I realize it’s already happening in your lives. The world around you insists that you shut your mouth about any of this Christian faith stuff. But you’ve been taught the truth from the Holy Scriptures now and so you know what God has to say about every issue that you’ll face. The only question is, how will you respond? Will you go along to get along, or will you say, “We must obey God rather than men.”
Our fallen world will try to convince you of many things. They’ll tell you that there are more than 2 genders. And that marriage isn’t exclusively for one man to one woman for life. There will be those who try to persuade you that abortion is a matter of “My body, my choice” rather than the murder of an innocent baby. And that it’s perfectly fine to live together and have sex before marriage. Our culture has a million and one tempting activities for you to do rather than regularly going to church to receive God’s Word and Sacrament. That’s just a short list of obvious temptations. There’s a long list of more like this. You know what the Bible says. So, you need to decide: Will you go along to get along, or will you say, “We must obey God rather than men.”
2 weeks ago, I attended my oldest granddaughter’s Confirmation in Lincoln. During the service, a sad question ran through my mind. “Which of those kids will be the ones to walk away from their confession of faith.” I don’t know. Only God does. Obviously, I pray that it won’t be my granddaughter. I don’t think it will be. But sadly, you don’t need a fancy survey in order to tell you that on average, 50-75% of our Confirmands quit worshiping here (and quite often anywhere) within one year of making the solemn vow that they would rather die than to deny any part of their faith. They also promised to be steadfast in hearing the Word of God and receiving Holy Communion. By the way, it isn’t only the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod that has this problem. It affects teens in all the Christian denominations.
Girls, listen to me closely. You don’t have to be one of those statistics. And I pray you won’t. We’ve spent a considerable amount of time studying what God’s Word says and where we draw the teachings and doctrine of our church from. You will be publicly and boldly saying that this is your own confession. Unfortunately, there will be people who will argue with you and try to change your mind about even these crucial issues of faith. Will you go along to get along, or will you say, “We must obey God rather than men.” You are guaranteed to stumble and fail at being faithful to all these promises. The good news is that God offers you, and all repentant sinners, forgiveness if we’ll just confess our sins to Him. He can and will restore your faith.
When the apostles were faced with threats, punishment, and peer pressure to back down from their bold confession, they refused. Like I said earlier, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and fully convinced that Jesus was the Savior of the world. They couldn’t help talking about it and confessing it boldly. Addison, Jaylah, and Camryn, back when you were Baptized you were also filled with the Holy Spirit as He came to live within you as a child of God. He’s been working in you ever since to build up your faith so that you could make this bold confession today. And He’ll continue to convince you of this truth so that your profession of faith will continue for the rest of your lives. It’s very freeing to know you’re on God’s side and that He’s there to protect and guide you. He has great blessings prepared for those who obey Him rather than listening to the voices of this world that are at odds with His will and commands. I encourage you to fight the trend and be an active Christian teenager… right here. Our congregation needs you and your enthusiasm. Serve the Lord with your talents and abilities to help build up our church. Remember how I said that courage is contagious? That can be true with you and your peer groups. You may very well be the tool that God uses to inspire others to be more active in their faith. So, trust in the Lord and be bold knowing that your salvation is secure. No one can take that from you. And may God bless you as you make your good confession of faith today. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!