April 11, 2010 - Easter 2

Set Free to Witness
Acts 5:27-32
Easter 2 – April 11, 2010

I don't know if any of you have ever had to go to court, or what your experiences there were. In my old job, I used to have to take my clients to Family Court periodically. For the most part, I sat out in the hallway with them and their social workers and wait for their case to be called. And then, once they were up, I usually wasn't invited to go into the courtroom with them. But on occasion, I went with them before the judge. Even more rarely, I was asked to speak. And I have to tell you, that during those times, I was usually pretty nervous. It's kind of strange – I was never in any sort of trouble – I was there to share my opinions or observations. But still, I was uncomfortable – the strangeness of the situation, the power of the judge, the fear of making a mistake or unintentionally doing something disrespectful. I'm one of those people who is an obey-er of the rules, a respecter of people in power and authority, generally speaking, and you can see why I'd feel a little skittish. It's like being called to the principal's office, even when you know you didn't do anything wrong.

And you'd think that maybe the apostles would feel a little of that too. We see it in the Gospel, there on Easter day, when they are locked behind closed doors out of fear. We see it earlier in the book of Acts, when Peter and John have been arrested and jailed overnight for healing and teaching in Jesus' name. And when they are released, it's with warnings and threats not to speak any more to anyone in this name. So Peter and John go back to the growing group of believers, and they're a little shaken up by the experience – so they pray, pray for God to grant them to speak God's word with all boldness – because they are know the risk they are facing, - they saw what happened to Jesus. They know all too well the temptation to keep quiet.

But then we come to this story in Acts, chapter 5, and we see something different. They no longer have that nervousness or fear that I felt so strongly standing in a courtroom. When this story picks up, the apostles had just been arrested and jailed overnight again. But this time, an angel of the Lord had come in the night and set them free. Set them free and sent them with a mission – to go back to the temple where they were arrested the day before and tell the people the good news, the whole message about this life. So when the temple police go to the prison to find them in the morning, they're not there. The doors are locked, the guards are still standing guard, but the apostles are long gone. And if they were like you or me, you might have expected that they had left town, gone to a less dangerous place. But no. Daybreak finds them in the temple, back at the scene of the crime, doing just what had gotten them thrown into jail the 1st two times – preaching and teaching in the name of Jesus. And when confronted by the council - “Who do you think you are? We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, but here you are, filling Jerusalem with your teaching...”, Peter and the rest of the apostles say, “We have to. We must obey God rather than any human authorities.” They go on and share the good news with these people who seem like the enemy – God has raised Jesus up! “God has exalted him as Leader and Savior, that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things...”

We are witnesses to these things. Witnesses. And witnesses are not mere observers. Just seeing something happen doesn't make you a witness, not in a legal sense. We all know from being in court or watching court shows on TV that witnesses are the people who are willing to get up in court and sit in that stand next to the judge and tell what they saw. They don't keep what they have experienced to themselves, they share it. They tell the story to others. Clearly the apostles faced some witness intimidation, but what they had to say was too important. They literally can't shut up about God and Jesus and the Spirit and what they have done for them and for the world. The good news cannot be stopped. The apostles cannot be stifled, because they have been set free, not just from the physical prison of the religious authorities, but set free from fear. And they were set free for a purpose – so that they might witness to what God was up to in the world, even to the last people who want to hear about it.

It's amazing to read these stories of the early church, to see the boldness the early believers had in sharing the good news, even in the face of such consistent opposition, knowing as we do that for many of them, it led to death. I don't know about you, but I tend to find it a lot easier to relate to the disciples on Easter Day than these brave, post-Pentecost apostles, sent to carry God's message to the world. We shy Lutherans are not known for being quick to share our faith – we even tend to have a hard time inviting someone to come to church with us! We all have our reasons – fear of standing out in the crowd, of seeming different, of offending someone. We don't really know what to say. We lack the words to express how God has changed our lives. We lack the sense of urgency the disciples had, to share the story of what God has done and is doing for us and for the whole world. So we tend to hold our tongues; we take this ancient council's orders not to teach in Christ's name to heart.

Yet if we are people of a resurrection faith, if we have felt God at work in our lives, we too are called to be witnesses of these things – that God sent the only Son, not to condemn the world, but to save it; that Jesus came to give repentance and forgiveness of sins, to open the door to new life of healing and wholeness, a life graced with his peace, not the world's fear. People of a resurrection faith are called to look at the many places and ways that God has set us free – set free in baptism from the power of death and sin, yes, but also, by the power of the Holy Spirit, set free from the power of fear and anger and bitterness. And not only have we been set free, we have been set free for a purpose, set free to witness to these things, to share the stories of how God has changed our lives. The world is desperate for some good news – and we have the best news of all! May the Holy Spirit fill us with boldness to tell someone today.

Amen.