JULY 5th, 2026 PASTOR DON PIEPER
The Spirit In Action Eph 6:10-8/ACTS 4:21-31
“BOLD & BODACIOUS, ER, GRACIOUS!”
Our reading from Acts 4 this morning is the conclusion to one of the most amazing stories Luke writes. It’s got adventure, adversity, intrigue, courage and unmistakeable evidence that the Holy Spirit has been unleashed! It takes Luke two long chapters to tell it and has taken us three weeks to unpack it! As Christ's followers unite in prayer they not only all receive the very same biblical word of know-ledge, but there's a seismic shift in their hearts and lives as God rocks their house of worship.
Luke records God’s response in chapter 5 : “The apostles began performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people..., and as a result, crowds came in from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed.”
(Acts 5:12, 15)
It was one thing to see Jesus healing people and casting out demons, it’s quite another to see his friends and followers suddenly exhibiting the same power and courage!
The religious leaders, who thought they'd silenced the Nazarene, were clearly rattled. Luke tells us that “the council threatened them again...” implying that if they didn't stop healing in Jesus' name they'd be seriously hurt, even killed. The threats were increasingly hostile and full of malice. (Acts 4:21)
What follows is the disciples' response to those threats. How would you react? I'd respond in one of three ways. One, I'd run! “Bravely fled Sir Donald, Sir Donald ran away. When fear reared its ugly head, Sir Donald turned and bravely fled....” Thank you...! Very nice. Second, I'd reciprocate, kind of like Calvin did when he was threatened by a bully at school... (Moe walks up, shaking his fist)
Moe: I'm gonna pound you at recess, Twinky.
Calvin: You'd better be nice to me, Moe.
Moe: Haw! Oh yeah? Why is that, Twinky?
Calvin Because someday my tax dollars will be paying for your prison cell. (*Moe looks at cong, confused, then clobbers C.) POW! My whole problem is my lips move when I think.
(There's Treasure Everywhere, p. 61)
Yeah, that usually doesn't end well. A third way I might respond is by asserting my superiority:
Moe: You're dead at recess, Twinky.
Calvin: You don't scare me, Moe. This is just your clumsy way of coping with the fact that I'm a
genious and you're still struggling with the concept of walking erect. (*) - POW! -
My body wishes my ego had call-waiting. (The Days Are Just Packed, p. 151)
In contrast to Calvin, who's perhaps not the best model in how to respond to threats, what can we learn from Peter and John in their response to being threatened? How can we follow their lead...?
Most of us have probably never been threatened with violence for sharing our faith, but we may well have experienced hostility, sarcasm or passive aggressive indifference at one point or another. The circumstances of the pandemic has only intensified peoples' negative reaction to Christian witnessing.
So how did Peter and John respond to the reality of such adversity & aggression? First,“as soon as they were freed, (that is, as soon as they could), Peter and John returned to the other believers.”
(Acts 4:23)
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They got reconnected. In a season of strife and anxiety, Peter and John's first act is to regroup with their friends in Christ. When one stands up/out for Christ, one can expect all manner of spiritual attack, so partners in the gospel watch each other's back. We need one another!
The enemy is at work these days sowing seeds of doubt, division and distrust – and not just in the streets, but also in our churches. He wants to see the church divided and disconnected!
It is no small detail that Luke notes that “as soon as they (could), Peter and John returned to the other believers.” (Acts 4:23) They leaned into each other! It's like that scene towards the end of the film, Gladiator, when Maximus, rallies his colleagues together. “Stay close!” he shouts
“Whatever comes out of those gates, we have a better chance of survival if we work together! If we stay together, we survive!” It was Jesus' vision that we not only survive, but thrive as we walk in the Spirit together, protected from the enemy's arrows. The Holy Spirit calls and gathers us, Luther wrote, making of us a force to be reckoned with as we meet, pray and worship together!
“Stay close!” Or as the apostle Paul put it: “Stand firm together against the devil's schemes, for we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil spirits active in the world. Stay alert, then, and be persistent in your prayers for God's people.” (Ephesians 6:11-12,18)
We're under attack. We need each other. God strengthens us as we stand firm together. Two ways we do that is in corporate worship and through small groups. Six days, from Sunday to Sunday, is a lot of time for the enemy to get in your head. As Hans And Franz used to say: “We're here to pump you up” – to encourage and strengthen one another. Luke provides us with this story, so that we may follow Peter & John's example who, “as soon as they could, returned to the other believers!”
(Acts 4:23)
Second, having shared the nature of the threat they joined together in prayer. Luke writes: “When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God...” (4:24)
Note two things there. First, Luke tells us it wasn't just Peter and John who prayed, we're told ALL the believers prayed; and second, they all lifted their voices! That is they prayed aloud. They acknowledge the threat and then they each joined in praying aloud so that they could do so together!
The prayer that follows is one of the most amazing prayers in the New Testament, though it's only a glimpse of the heartfelt prayers they prayed that day. Their prayer has three key elements to it: praise, perspective and petition. They open with praise: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea and every-thing in them – you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit...!” (Acts 4:24-25a)
It's reminiscent of how Jesus taught his followers to pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name...!” (Matthew 6:9) By starting prayer with praise we're reminded who we're talking to!
In anticipation of America's 250 years of independence we watched Ken Burn's doc.., where we learned that when people addressed General Washington they called him, “your excellency”. In doing so, they're reminded of the power he wielded as Commander in chief; they acknowledged his authority.
Starting with praise acknowledges God's authority. We're reminded of who we're talking to, he who heals cripples and raises the dead to life – who speaks and moves by the power of the Holy Spirit!
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The second element of their prayer is that they sought biblical perspective, quoting Psalm 2: “Why were the nations so angry? Why did they waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepared for battle; the rulers gather together against the Lord and against the Messiah.”
(Psalm 2:1-2/Acts 4:25-26)
To know what God might be saying to them now, under threat, they quote scripture relevant to their situation and heard God speaking fresh encouragement thru ancient words... To gain perspective and counter attack the enemy's deception & discouragement they unsheath “the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God”, and the Spirit emboldened them. (Ephesians 6:17)
17 years ago, Redeemer went through a major rift. It was a difficult time to say the least. One night, Claudia was doing devotions while I was working on sermon prep. She came over and said she felt God had given her a verse for me. “Be strong and courageous! Do not be discouraged or afraid, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go!” (Joshua 1:9) Tears swelled. I'd just been read-ing from Deuteronomy 31: “Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged or afraid, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you! He will not abandon you. He will be with you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)
A week or two later someone put a note in my mail box, in which they wrote out Joshua 1:9... There's something tremendously powerful about the way God emboldens us through His living word...!
The third element of their prayer is their petition. Listen not only for what they ask but what they don't ask: “And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power...thru the name of...Jesus!”
(Acts 4:29-30)
Peter and John are under threat, yet not a word is uttered in prayer asking for protection from harm. Instead their request is that they be given boldness & for people to be healed, knowing that when people are healed their hearts are softened to the gospel! So they pray...and God responds big time!
Luke reports that “the building where they're meeting shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they preached God’s message with boldness.” (Acts 4:31) And later, “crowds came in from the villages, bringing the sick and those afflicted by evil spirits, and they were all healed.”
(Acts 5:16)
Prayer is powerful and it builds faith. Trusting in God to respond, to heal, to liberate, to fill us, and empower with a boldness of the Spirit rocks our world in the best way possible!
The Acts 4 prayer reminds me of all the Alpha retreats where God proverbially shook the house, like the one a quiet guest in our group was filled with the Holy Spirit. A couple weeks later, when the talk was Why and How Should We Tell Others, he informed us: “I may have told one or two others about the retreat.” His wife, eyes wide said, “One or two others? He's told everyone....!”
Talk about being bold and bodacious...! I like how my study Bible defines boldness...:
“To gain boldness you can (1) pray to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, (2) ask & look for opportunities God will provide to tell others about Jesus and your faith in him, (3) realize that rejection, social discomfort and embarassment are not necessarily persecution.” How do we follow
P & J's lead? We ask to be filled, we ask & look for opportunities & pursue resilience & perseverance.
(NLT Study Bible)
“Don't worry about such threats. Worship Christ as Lord of your life, and if someone asks about your hope as a believer, be ready to explain it, but do this in a gentle and respectful way.”)
(1 Peter 3:14-15)
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What if we prayed as Peter and John's friends did – not so much for safety or security but for us to be gracious and yet bold in our witness, and for God to do the hard part – to bring healing where there is hurt, hope for whom life is hard and to soften hearts and open minds to life with Jesus!
If we ask him, God will remove our reluctance and give us resilience and boldness as we strive to follow Peter and John's lead as witnesses to Jesus' love and resurrection. So, shall we ask?
Ask to be filled w/the Spirit, ask & look for opportunities, pursue resilience & perseverance.