Do you know what my son James dreamed about last night? A friend asked Steve ( adapted from a story by Steve Goodier). The friend continued, “He dreamed about you.” Steve smiled with delight at the honor of a friend’s son including him in a dream. Steve had befriended the young boy early in their friendship after the boy had suffered a great loss. He had taught the boy how to imagine and play again. So with great interest Steve urged his friend on, “Well, tell me, what did he dream about? Was I a swashbuckling pirate saving the poor maiden, a courageous soldier fighting off the enemy or was I a superhero saving the world from the bad guys?
“Well not exactly,” laughed his friend. “James told me this morning that in his dream he was being chased by King Kong. Then he met you. I asked him if Mr. Steve had helped save him. He said, ‘No, He was hiding in the bushes with me while the Boy Scouts were beating King Kong with sticks.’” Thank goodness for courageous Boy Scouts! Are you courageous?
For most people, courage has little to do with fighting imaginary monsters in nighttime dreams. It has more to do with fighting those monsters of real life that keep us up at night. Real courage is found in the midst of living through those nightmares. It is learning to live even when it feels like life is crashing down around you. John Wayne put it this way, “Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.
For the Christian though courage takes on another dimension, a dimension of peace and joy in the middle of challenges and struggles. Courage is a matter of facing life while centered in God’s will. Turn with me to this morning’s sermon text as found in Acts 4:18-22 where we will find an example Christian courage in the face of real insurmountable odds.
READ SCRIPTURE
The first days of the early church were exciting, thrilling. Thousands of people were coming to believing knowledge in Jesus Christ. As we have heard, there were signs and wonders, and healings. The apostles were experiencing “favor with all people. They were successful and there efforts were reward with explosive growth but then things changed dramatically. The honeymoon was over! Opposition and persecution became very real and harsh.
Peter and John are exuberantly preaching the message of Christ. They were following the will of God, doing what Jesus had commanded them to do. When in a literal Greek translation here, the Sadducees “burst upon them suddenly and expressing a hostile attitude of anger” toward them. The Sadducees were a powerful group led by “Captain of the temple guard” second only in power to the High Priest, members of the very same group that had had Jesus seized in the Garden of Gethsemane. Peter and John had offended them and run afoul with the most powerful religious crowd in Israel. The Sadducees were part of the Sanhedrin, the very ones that had had Jesus crucified. Peter and John’s preaching in Jesus’ name and authority was direct challenge to the Sanhedrin’s decision to have Jesus killed and so they are seized, thrown into jail and left overnight.
I wonder what Peter and John must have been thinking that night sitting on the floor of a dark, damp, dirty, dungeon of despair behind bars of threatening circumstances. I wonder if they were questioning and arguing with God why they were there, I mean, they were doing God’s work. They were doing exactly what he had told them to do. They were good people. So, why were things going so badly? Why were bad things happening to them? Why were they suffering?
Or, I wonder if they were remembering Jesus’ words to them as found in Luke 21: 12-15 "But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13 This will result in your being witnesses to them. 14 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.” I don’t know what they were thinking but I am confident I know what they were doing. They were praying.
From the beginning of the Books of Acts starting with Acts 1:14, we hear, over and over again, “and they prayed” and “when they were praying.” They prayed for themselves. They prayed others, They prayed for their enemies, They prayed for guidance, They prayed for healing, wisdom, and leadership. They prayed in the streets, in houses, on rooftops, on the shore, in a boat and in the Temple. They prayed specifically at the ninth hour and at midnight and all times in between.- They prayed individually, in small and large groups. Their prayers began in chapter one and continue throughout the whole book, continued throughout the life the early church.
Prayer was never a second thought for them. There was never a time when Peter and John or the church said, “Oh, wait, let’s stop, I think it’s time for prayer.” Prayer was an integral part of who and what they were. Prayer was essential to their becoming His church, His people. It was prayer that gave them the strength to stand before such odds. Not the wish list kind of prayer, it was prayer that was rooted in their confidence that God was in control that God was watching over them.
It was their belief that they were empowered through prayer by the Holy Spirit. It was through prayer that they understood and believed that God could and would accomplish his purposes even when they had no idea how. It was prayer that gave them the assurance to stay centered in God’s will. It was prayer that gave them peace and joy in the midst of tragedy. Prayer gave them the faith they need to face the future with confidence and expectancy persuaded that God would do what he said he would do
And after a night of prayer they were ready to face their challenges, their difficulties, to face their adversaries and act the conviction of their soul. They stood before the Sanhedrin preached the gospel, the message of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the messiah resurrected from the dead. And the Sanhedrin was left bewildered, beside themselves as to what to do. These were ordinary, unschooled men and yet they had amazing, supernatural courage that could not be denied. The Sanhedrin sent them away again. How dare these men stand before them and speak such blasphemy. How dare these men stand before them so self assured and confident; but, what could the Sanhedrin do? People saw their faith, saw the results of their confidence in God, had witnessed the healing of the blind man – he was sitting right their, standing up for Peter and John. What joy that must have brought Peter and John.
So the Sanhedrin called them back in and threatened them to remain silent. These were not idle words. Jewish law specified that at the first instance of wrong or illegal action the guilty were to be warned and released. The next time they were caught doing the same thing they would be beaten with rods within an inch of death. The Council with this official order was setting Peter and John up for future punishment and pain if they continued to preach. Peter and John knew it too but they stood tall, “"Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. 20 For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." And even more came to a saving knowledge about Jesus Christ.
Bad things happen. Challenges come for the church and for the individual. Money problems, plumbing problems, Divorce, drugs, alcohol, jobs, family, relationship problems, fights with friends and colleagues, illnesses, broken bones, cars that are broken down, hail damaged roofs, demanding children and employers, all and this and more are the makings of sleepless nights. Are the makings of things that distract and pull us away from fully and completely “Becoming His.” Rick Warren says that life is a series of problems: either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one.”
And admit it our nature is to fill our minds with our problems, to dwell on what is going on in our life, to fret and worry over things. Worry is self center, self directed, it magnifies ourselves and our problems until they are so big that God can’t even handle them. But prayer puts in all back in perspective. Look at the examples in God’s word. Look at Peter and John, look at Paul, look at Moses.
One morning during Gladys Aylwards’ harrowing journey out of war torn Yang Chen during the Communist take over she was in deep despair. She had lost all hope of ever reaching safety when a 13 year old girl in the group she was leading tried to comfort her saying, “Don’t forget what you told us about Moses in the wilderness,” to which Gladys Aylward replied, “Yes, my dear, but I am not Moses.” The young girl replied, “Yes, but God is still God.”
You may not be a Peter, James, John or Moses. But God is still God and he can lead you, us, through any challenge, any despair, any problem, any trial, any tribulation we might be facing. We can become vibrant courageous Christians, a vibrant courageous church that stands out in the midst of life’s challenges if we too turn confidently to God in prayer.
A woman was walking through Walmart one day when she saw a man wearing a t-shirt that said, “I’m B.A.D.” Being the curious woman that she was she stopped the man and asked him what the acronym B.A.D. stood for. He replied, “Blessed and Delivered.” That thought stuck with her as she finished doing her shopping that day.
So she came up with a little advice for you and I today.
1. When the enemy tries to attack you, be B.A.D.
2. When things don’t seem to be going right on your job, be B.A.D.
3. When things are not looking good in your marriage, be B.A.D.
4. When folks scandalize your name , just be B.A.D.
5. When you are feeling alone and depressed. Get with somebody who you know that you can be
B.A.D. with!!!
When we pray, when we confidently turn things over to God, trusting completely in him. When prayer is a standard in our life, not a when we get around to it kind of thought, He can take us from feeling bad aout our life to feeling BAD. And when we feel blessed and delivered from oppositions and challenges, we can do what’s right in the eyes of God. We can stay centered in God’s will. We can be obedient courageous Christians actively living the abundant life of peace and joy that he attends for us to live.
And then lastly, notice once again, how this scenario ends Acts 4:23-31. Peter and John are praising God and witnessing to all the people about what God has done. When God has turned your bad day into a day of feeling BAD. Praise God and tell others what he has done.
May prayer be your constant companion. May God bless you and make you feel “BAD.” Praise God we serve and awesome and mighty God.
Amen and Amen.
