Devotion • July 1
Today’s Scripture Reading
Acts 5:12–26
Now many signs and wonders were done among the people through the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem. Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he came by. A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.
Then the high priest took action; he and all who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with jealousy, arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, brought them out, and said, “Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.” When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching. When the high priest and those with him arrived, they called together the council and the whole body of the elders of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the temple police went there, they did not find them in the prison; so they returned and reported, “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were perplexed about them, wondering what might be going on. Then someone arrived and announced, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!”
Then the captain went with the temple police and brought them, but without violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. (NRSV)
Reflection
Preaching the gospel and attending to the needs of God’s children have gotten believers noticed since the earliest days of the church. In the verses above, the preaching and ministry of the apostles provoked the broadest range of human emotions imaginable: Those who were healed of various physical, emotional, and spiritual illnesses were undoubtedly happy beyond words. Those who came to believe in this “new life” found themselves part of a loving and growing community. The religious leaders of the day were so threatened by the apostles’ teaching that they had the apostles arrested and jailed. And the guards responsible for bringing them before the elders of Israel treated the apostles gently because those guards feared they would be killed if the people saw them mistreating the apostles.
It is amazing and noteworthy that the apostles stirred up this much interest and controversy simply by ministering to the needs of the sick, marginalized, and just plain folks of their day. These days it seems that Christians stir up controversy more often by backing particular political candidates or by choosing sides in the latest battle in our culture wars than we do by preaching, teaching, and addressing the needs of the forgotten and downtrodden.
Modern-day Christians, particularly here in the U.S., have little appreciation for the epic battle for the hearts, minds, and souls of God’s children, touched off by the leaders of the early church, that continues to this day. Christian ministry is powerful and will be noticed when it is faithfully deployed and will be rightly criticized when it is withheld or used in furtherance of worldly aims. In our increasingly post-religious world, it’s more important than ever that Christian principles and teachings are not misappropriated for purposes other than “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”
Prayer
Lord, we pray that in these challenging times, if believers are to be challenged, criticized, and threatened, it will be because of our love for and service to your children and our authentic witness to your gospel. Amen.
Written by John Marr, Member of Fourth Presbyterian Church
Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church
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