4/15/07 - Easter 2 - Acts 5:12,17-32

GO & TELL
- About your new life
- Despite the dangers

They were in prison again. Peter and the other apostles had done exactly what the Lord had told them to do, and now they were sitting in a prison cell because of it. They had preached the Word, they had given up their own safety, they had followed their Savior’s command but they had been arrested anyway. They were sitting on a rocky floor in the middle of the night, chained like criminals. Now what? The apostles must have been wondering “Now what? We did what Jesus told us to do and look where we’re at! There aren’t any people to spread the Word to in here. What are we supposed to do now?” But then the door opened. And it wasn’t a guard or the warden, it was an angel! A human-like form but definitely not a human. The angel then takes off their chains, leads them out of the prison, turns around and says to them, “Go, stand in the temple courts and tell the people the full message of this new life.” It couldn’t be a dream because all the apostles experienced the same thing. And now they were standing in the middle of the street, the angel was nowhere to be seen, and there were still a few hours left before daylight. Scripture doesn’t specify exactly, but the apostles may have went back to the places they had been staying at before they were thrown into prison, perhaps caught a couple hours of sleep, but by dawn the next day they were standing in the temple courts preaching and teaching the people. “Go and tell” the angel had said to them. And so that’s exactly what they did. They went and told all the people about this new life they had in Christ despite the dangers.
We have just gotten done with a month and a half of Lent services. We celebrated Maundy Thursday and Good Friday during Holy Week. We rejoiced together seven days ago on the greatest Sunday of the year as we soaked in the salvation poured out on us by Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Now what? Are we to go on with our lives like it’s the “same old, same old?” Are we to put Easter behind us and move on to the next part of the church year like we have every year before? Are we to act as if nothing has happened at all? “Go and tell,” the angel said not only to those apostles, but also to us. “Go and tell the people about this new life.”
Go and tell that you have been saved from the grave. Do you realize that? You have been saved from the grave. Paul tells us in Romans, “Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4). We have a new lease on life, so to speak. Before Christ died and rose from the dead, we were headed straight for eternal death. We were on death row because of our sins. And it really isn’t the amount of sins that condemns us, and it isn’t even the kind of sins we’ve committed. It’s the fact that we sin, period. Remember what James says, “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10). If I were to take a pen and pound the point of it against one of these large windows - shattering the entire thing - I couldn’t say to the insurance adjustor: “Hey, I only hit a pea-sized portion of that window! That’s all I’m paying for.” No, that’s not how it works. And that’s how God’s law works too. It’s an all or nothing sort of deal. So if you have ever sinned you have broken God’s law and deserve death. That’s why we are on death row. And rightly so.
But now, because of what happened last week, we have a new life in Christ. He has granted us a new life - a life worth living under his grace here on earth and an eternal life we can look forward to with him in heaven. He has given us a pardon! We no longer have to face the capital punishment we deserve! And he didn’t do this because we deserved it in some way, he did this simply because he loves us and had pity on us and wanted to show us mercy. And so now we have a new life that is filled with hope and joy and peace. This is the new life you have received because of the events on Easter Sunday. This is the new life you are to go and tell others about.
“Go, stand in the temple courts,” the angel said to the apostles. We, of course, are not directed to go specifically into the temple courts, but the place where the apostles were told to go is worth applying to where we are sent. Because notice that the angel didn’t tell them to go to Asia Minor or Greece or Spain or Africa… the angel told them to go to the temple courts of the city that they were already in and to speak to the people they had spoken to before. It is the same for us. Don’t imagine that this call to “go and tell” everyone about the new life you have in Christ means that you have to venture out to different people you’ve never met and in different places you’ve never been before. Go to your own “temple courts” - the places where you live and work and shop. Talk to the people you’ve talked to before - and talk to them again! - telling them about the new life they have been offered because of Christ’s resurrection.
I sound like a broken record sometimes, don’t I? It seems like I’m saying this very thing every week. But remember, I don’t exactly pick out the sermon text week by week. I simply preach on the gospel lesson one week, the epistle lesson the next week, and then the Old Testament lesson the week after that. But this topic of spreading the Word to those you know keeps coming up nevertheless. Why? Because it’s so important. It’s reiterated and repeated time and time again throughout Scripture as you have heard. And I will continue to say this same thing as often as the Lord brings it up for our hearing. Go and tell. What? About this new life. To whom? To those around you. When? Right now.
“At daybreak they entered the temple courts… and began to teach the people.” This is one of the most amazing things to me about this story. The disciples were in the temple courts telling the good news to the people at sun up. I doubt they slept well the night before - if at all! They were in a city prison half the night, they were surprised by an actual angel of the Lord who broke them out of jail, and were given a directive that would put them in immediate bodily danger! Would you be able to sleep well after that? But even if the apostles did get a couple hours of sleep it wasn’t much. Because they were up at daybreak. As soon as the sun was peaking over the horizon they were standing in the temple courts. The Lord told them to go and tell. And so they took the Lord’s command seriously and did not put it off despite the dangers.
Go and tell. Not “Hesitate and tell.” Not “Put it off until next week and tell.” Not “Wait for the right time and tell.” But “Go and tell.” I say this just as much for myself as I do for you. Because we are lazy when it comes to this directive from God. We are procrastinators. We are scared. We are afraid of failure and rejection and what people will think of us. And so we use those excuses to wait and put off and hide. Are we that knowledgeable that we can decide when to put God’s commands into practice and when not to? Are we that knowledgeable that we can determine that although God says “go and tell,” now is not the right time. Maybe later. Maybe someday. Maybe when I get around to it. Go and tell of this new life. Go and tell despite the dangers. And we don’t have to look any further for an example than right here in Acts chapter 5.
This story about the apostles in Acts chapter five is not the first time they had been thrown in prison. Peter and John and been put in jail by the same people for doing the exact same thing not too long before. And, in fact, if we were to read on in this chapter, Peter and the apostles were actually flogged by the Jewish leaders before they released them. Flogging took months to recover from… if you ever did. Flesh was ripped out of your back by metal tipped whips 39 times. People died from floggings. And after this punishment the Jewish leaders of the Sanhedrin warned them that they better not preach the gospel anymore ever again. And so what happened? “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ” (Acts 5:41-42). Wow. Wow! Their backs were probably still oozing blood. It’d be weeks before they could even lie down without pain, and here they are rejoicing! Here they are going back to the temple courts where they had just been arrested! Here they are “day after day” telling the people about the new life they had in Christ! Look no further for an example than right here. These apostles went and told the people about this new life despite what may have happened because of it.
Go and tell. It’s not going to be easy. I promise you - because the Lord promises you - it will not be easy. Pray that you will not be flogged or arrested or investigated because of what you believe. But your message will be hated. It will be rejected. People will give you the cold shoulder. Be prepared for that. But rejoice in that also. Because if people reject and hate the message you preach to them, that means you are doing your job! As ridiculous as that sounds, as hair-brained of an idea as that may seem to an outsider, it’s true. Jesus says, “All men will hate you because of me” (Matthew 10:22). It’s going to happen if you go and tell. Don’t be surprised. Don’t be discouraged. But rejoice with the apostles for being counted worthy enough to suffer disgrace for the Lord’s name.
It’s worth the effort, isn’t it? Even though it won’t be easy and you will not always see any positive results from your work, it’s worth the effort. You want to see those people in heaven. You want to share with them this new life you have in Christ. So it comes down to this: get over yourself and do it. Put your own fears and selfishness and pride aside and tell them about what matters. Stop thinking about yourself and think about what will happen if you don’t say a thing. Because, in reality, if they do not have this new life in Christ they have no life at all! The new life in Christ is the only life there is. Everything else is spiritual and eternal death. There is no in between. There’s death in sin and life in Christ. You are recipients of the latter. You are witnesses of this fact. Go and tell others about this new life despite what may come of it.
I fully expect that I will fail to follow this directive many times in my life. I know that no matter how good my intentions are that I will not carry out the command of “go and tell” to the best of my abilities. Lord, forgive me for that. Forgive me for not telling others about this new life. Forgive me for placing my fear above your love. I pray that you pray the same prayer. I pray that you know the Lord does forgive you. And he will forgive you every time you fail. Because that’s what this new life is all about! It’s a new life of forgiveness. So it’s not necessarily a second chance, it’s simply a rebirth - a life founded and based and living in Christ your Savior.
That doesn’t mean it won’t be a struggle to go and tell. It will be a struggle. Going and telling will always be something all of us will have to work at until we reach the glories of heaven. So keep on struggling. Keep on asking for forgiveness. Keep on spreading the news of this new life everywhere you are. Go and tell. There is nothing simpler. There is nothing more difficult. There is nothing more important.
Amen.

“Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.”
- Psalm 68:20