He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! This morning we continue to revel in the joy of the resurrection. Remember, one of the reasons we worship on Sunday is because, for us Christians, each and every Sunday is a mini Easter celebration. We celebrate that we worship a living God, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our text for this morning brings us to events that followed Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.
Our text speaks of the signs and wonders accomplished by the Apostles. We begin reading at verse twelve, “12Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. 13None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed” (v. 12-16).
You might remember that Jesus did signs and wonders. The gospel writer John speaks of the signs and wonders Jesus performed as proof of His divinity, that is that He is truly God. Since we know that the apostles are not God or gods, what purpose did it serve for them to have the power, or better said, the authority to perform the signs and wonders they did? The purpose of the signs and wonders of the early Apostles, that is that God had given them the authority to do these signs and wonders, was that these signs and wonders bore witness of the authenticity of what they were preaching. In other words, the signs and wonders they performed gave evidence, proof, if you will, that what they were preaching was faithful and true to what God had given them to preach.
So, why do we not see such signs and wonders in our world today? First we know that as the Apostles died out, so did this ability to perform signs and wonders. What we often see today, especially on television, that is touted as a miracle, is either a “slight” of hand, a trick, simply a show or con, a work of Satan himself, or in very rare and I mean very rare instances, truly a miracle. Personally, when it comes to believing in miracles, I give more credence to what I would call the quiet, unassuming miracles, those miracles which give glory to God and to God alone and are not accredited to any human person.
We would do well to remember that today God’s usual way of working with us, of coming to us, of giving to us, is not directly, what we would call immediately, but rather indirectly or mediately, through a medium, a mediator of sorts, through a means. In other words, today God’s usual way of bringing healing is through the means of doctors and medicine. As for our spiritual well-being today, in our day, God’s usual way of giving to us and working in and through us is through the means of His Word and Sacraments. God comes to us to give to us the good gifts and blessings He has to give through His Word, the Bible, as well as through the sacrament of Holy Baptism, through confession and absolution, and through the sacrament of His Holy Supper.
The second issue of our text I want to address this morning is the issue of obedience and the direction of proper obedience. We pick up at verse twenty-seven, “ 27And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28saying, ‘We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.’ 29But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men. 30The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him’” (v. 27-32).
As the apostles lived out their vocations, that is as they lived lives of faith, bearing witness of their faith through their lives, through their thoughts, words and actions, they were arrested and often times imprisoned. Their example of how they dealt with the governing authorities is one we would do well to heed today. As Christians, as citizens of this nation we understand that we are to be subject to our government, with one exception, and that exception is when our government goes against God and His Word. When our government goes against God and His word then we know that it is better to obey God than man.
When we obey God rather than man, when we are civilly disobedient, we are to be ready to accept and suffer the consequences. In other words, if the government should tell us that it is illegal to worship the Lord, then we would most certainly disobey and be in worship. And if we are caught, then we should be ready to accept the consequence, including being imprisoned or whatever else, whatever punishment might ensue.
At this time in our country I do believe we are still a few years away from the probability of such circumstances, but understand that it could happen. And know this, that if we should be imprisoned for our civil disobedience, God will give us the courage, boldness, and strength we need in any and all circumstances.
Our text speaks of the issue of obedience, yet, there are those who taut obedience to God as a means of salvation, but what does that mean? When we hear someone suggest that the only way to be saved is by being obedient to God, or when we hear someone say something like, “A person gets baptized to show their obedience to God,” then we need to ask ourselves, “What does this person really mean?” You know the questions I always tell you to ask. Who is running the show when obedience to God is stated as necessary for salvation? Can we actually be obedient to God? Remember, we are conceived and born in sin, and this fact means all people. Every inclination of our heart is evil all the time, and God gives no age restriction on either of these issues, in other words, as far as God is concerned, all people are conceived and born in sin and all people are accountable to God for their own sin, even an unborn child, everyone from the moment of conception. Thus, from conception we are spiritually blind, spiritually dead and enemies of God. From conception we are accountable to God for our sins. And from conception all we can do, in and of ourselves apart from God and His help, is refuse and reject the good gifts and blessings our Lord offers to us.
The problem with the idea of attempting to be obedient to God is that this idea brings a confusion of who is doing what and how God works. Another problem with this idea is a confusion of understanding sacraments, rites or ceremonies. When we fail to acknowledge what God tells us in His word, that we are sinful from conception, then we have this false hope in an untainted free will. The problem with failing to recognize the difference between sacraments and rites and ceremonies leads to a rejection of the gifts God gives through these means of grace and instead a false dependency and hope on one’s own doings. In other words, we move from depending on God for our salvation given through the external means of grace, to depending on ourselves, our doing or acting for our salvation. And quite frankly, we are not too dependable.
What can we do? Without God we can do no good thing. Without God all we can do, because our will has been tainted by sin, is to refuse and reject the good gifts and blessings the Lord has to give. But with God, by the power of the Holy Spirit working in us, especially through the means the Lord has given to come to us to give us the good gifts and blessings He has to give, with the Lord, we can do and we do great things.
So, what is true Christian obedience? First and foremost, true Christian obedience is to recognize who is doing what? Who is running the show? Who is running the verbs? True Christian obedience is to recognize that God does and we are done to, God gives and we are given to. It is not something we are doing for God, but what God is doing for us. Let me say that again in case we missed it. True Christian obedience is what God is doing for us.
Second, true Christian obedience is to recognize our inabilities, in and of ourselves. In others words, true Christian obedience is to recognize that we cannot be the people God commands and demands us to be. God’s demand, God’s command is that we are prefect. Because we are conceived and born in sin, because every inclination of our heart is evil all the time, because in and of ourselves all we can do is reject and refuse the good gifts and blessings God has to give to us, and because we are conceived and born spiritually blind, spiritually dead, and enemies of God, we understand that we cannot be obedient to God. Thus, more important than our obedience is God’s obedience. The fullness of the Gospel is the fact that Jesus came to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Jesus came to live in perfect obedience for us in order to fulfill God’s command in our place. More important than our obedience, which we cannot do, is God, in Jesus’ obedience for us, in our place.
Third, true Christian obedience is to rejoice in the gifts God gives and the means through which He gives them, His means of grace. In other words, true Christian obedience is to recognize that God works through means, to rejoice in His working through means and to not refuse and reject the good gifts and blessings He so lovingly lavishes and pours out on us through His means of grace.
Thus, fourth, true Christian obedience is to make regular and diligent use of the means of grace so that God can have His way with us and do for us and give to us and stir in us a response of faith, being obedient unto death and being given a crown of life. The only obedience we can offer is to remain faithful until death. And we can only do that, remain faithful until death, with the Lord’s help. Thus, our obedience is a response of faith, striving to live lives of faith, striving to live as priests in the priesthood of all believers, doing so imperfectly, yet doing so to the glory of the Lord.
This morning, as we continue to revel in the joy of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we rejoice in our Lord and His great love for us. We rejoice in the fact that God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to live for us, to be obedient for us, to fulfill all God’s laws and commands for us. We rejoice that Jesus was obedient to death even death on the cross for us in our place. And we rejoice even more in the fact that God has given us the authority and His promise to be with us always even to the end of the world so that as we live lives of faith and as He gives us the opportunity, we too, with His help and power are able to be obedient to death. And He stirs in us to rejoice and give thanks and say to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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