Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

It's always been Jesus

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Acts 4:13-22
Observing the boldness of Peter and John and perceiving them to be uneducated, ordinary men, the leaders, elders, and scribes were amazed, and they recognized them as the companions of Jesus. Then when they saw the man who had been cured standing there with them, they could say nothing in reply.

So they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin, and conferred with one another, asking, "What are we going to do with these men? Everyone living in Jerusalem knows that an outstanding miracle was done through them, and we cannot deny it.

"But so that it may not be spread any further among the people, we must give them a stern warning never again to speak to anyone in this name."

So they called them back and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."

After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.

So goes the confrontation between those who love God and live life ... and the other ones who need to control it all. Peter and John "cannot help but speak." The healed man can do nothing but laugh and jump up and down and praise the Lord. What of the observing brethren? They are "amazed," but their pathetic response is to say, "We never did it that way before." Oh, woe.

Peter, Paul and Mary paraphrased Jesus when they sang, "If we do these things in the greenwood, what will happen in the dry (Luke 23:31)"? I do find it too easy, living in regret and fear from day to day, to buy the lie that if I don't know what's going to happen next, I should do something to slow down the train of events. The song continues,

Is this then the whimper and the ending?
The impotence of people raised on fear ...
(http://www.musicsonglyrics.com/P/peterpaulandmarylyrics/peterpaulandmarygreenwoodlyrics.htm)

But Peter and John don't settle for the commands of their elders. They just can't. In their awakening they see the world with fresh eyes. The Holy Spirit has given them new sight. They know Jesus and immediately they live their lives in a whole new way. Death has no dominion, and that changes everything. Here is what Wendell Berry writes in a poem called "Testament":

Dear relatives and friends, when my last breath
Grows large and free in air, don't call it death -
...
Be careful not to say
Anything too final. Whatever
Is unsure is possible, and life is bigger
Than flesh. Beyond reach of thought
Let imagination figure

Your hope. That will be generous
To me and to yourselves.
(http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/testament/)

This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. O Lord, save us.

Devotions Archive

It's always been Jesus

Saturday, April 18, 2009