Counted Worthy to Suffer Dishonor
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| "Dispute before Sanhedrin" by Fra Angelica |
Then [the apostles] left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus” (Acts 5:40–42).
Grace to
you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
Baronelle
Stutzman, Kim Davis, Ruth Neely, Aaron and Melissa Klein: Are you familiar with
these men and women and their stories? You should be. Each of them are
Christians who recently have been bullied for failing to bow down at the altar
of political correctness. Each of them have suffered severe damage to their
reputation and livelihood for refusing to violate their consciences. Each one
of them has remained faithful despite religious persecution, rejoicing that
they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Jesus.
Baronelle
Stutzman is a 72-year-old florist in Richland, Washington. For her entire
career, she served and employed people who identify as homosexual. Despite
this, the ACLU and the Washington attorney general allege that she is guilty of
unlawful discrimination because she declined to use her creative skills to
beautify the same-sex ceremony of a long-time customer and another man.
Kim Davis
is a Rowan County, Kentucky county clerk who was sued and jailed for refusing
to validate marriage licenses for same-sex couples. Losing in lower courts,
Davis appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. When they refused to hear the appeal,
Davis, a relatively new Christian, responded: “I never imagined a day like this
would come, where I would be asked to violate a central teaching of Scripture
and of Jesus Himself regarding marriage. To issue a marriage license which
conflicts with God’s definition of marriage, with my name affixed to the
certificate, would violate my conscience.”
Ruth
Neely is a municipal court judge in Wyoming who was asked a hypothetical
question about whether she would officiate a same-sex marriage. Although she
prefaced her answer by saying she had never performed any wedding in her 21
years as a judge, she said that she would decline such a request based upon her
Christian faith. The radical religious group to which Judge Neely belongs? The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. By a vote of 3-2, she received a censure by the
Wyoming State Supreme Court and faces further legal action.
Aaron and Melissa Klein
are an Oregon couple who were asked to bake a cake for a wedding. Upon learning the
ceremony would be for two women, Aaron said, “I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t waste
your time, but we don’t do same-sex marriages” based on his belief in the
Bible. The women soon filed suit, claiming discrimination and mental harm. Overwhelmed
by a nasty social media campaign, the Klein’s were forced to close their bakery.
To add injury to insult, the Kleins were fined $135,000 by an Oregon judge for
discrimination.
To be sure, such
instances of violations of religious liberty in our country are the exception
rather than the rule. But emboldened by their recent successes, with the help
of an activist judiciary, willing accomplices in the media, and—let’s be honest—the
failure of us Christians to defend our brothers and sisters who come under
attack, such instances are becoming more frequent and the enemies of the Church
and its Christians are becoming more vocal and threatening.
Current trends of
political correctness put pressure on the Church as various groups declare that
it’s “hate speech” to warn sinners of their sin. Sooner or later, the time may
come when it is illegal to say that immorality is immoral or sin is sinful
simply because it hurts feelings, because people don’t want to hear with their
ears what their consciences are already telling them, because sin never settles
for toleration but seeks acceptance and eventually demands supremacy.
The day
is fast approaching when you or I may be challenged to confess with Peter and
the apostles, “We must obey God rather than men,” accepting the consequences of
such defiance, and then go forward, “rejoicing that [we are] counted worthy to
suffer dishonor for the name [of Jesus].”
I don’t
say this to scare you, for the only one we need to fear is the Lord. I say this
to prepare you, to convict you, and to encourage you. Martin Luther wrote:
I must place the Word of God above
everything else. To keep it and to stay with Christ, who is my highest Treasure
in heaven and on earth, I must be willing to risk my body and life, the
popularity of the world, my goods, my reputation, and all my happiness. For one
of these two things has to happen: either the Word of God will abide and
conquer them; or at least they will be unable to suppress it, even if they
refuse to accept all its grace and goodness and salvation.[i]
That is certainly
the situation of the apostles in our first lesson. They stand before the Council—the
Sanhedrin—because they’d been arrested in the temple. The chief priests had
thrown them in jail for a night, but an angel released them and they returned
to the temple to teach some more. And what are they teaching? They’re telling
the crowds Jesus has died for their sins and is risen from the dead; and by His
authority, the apostles are forgiving sins and healing people.
The chief
priests are furious. They have the apostles brought before them again and say, “We
strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled
Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us”
(Acts 5:28). The same men who led the mob in shouting, “Let His blood be on us
and our children” (Matthew 27:25) now want nothing to do with Jesus’ death or
blood. Ruled by blinding sin, they’re just trying to get as far away from Jesus
as they can. In their fervent opinion, the sooner these apostles stop talking
about Him, the better.
It is
then that “Peter and the apostles
answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men’” (Acts 5:29). This answer establishes
a principle for all Christians for all time. What God’s Word commands, we must
do, even when forbidden to do so by human authorities. What God’s Word
prohibits we must not do, even when commanded to do so by human authorities. It
is true that “there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have
been instituted by God” (Romans 13:1). But when that authority exceeds its
bounds by commanding people to break God’s law, Christians are bound to obey
God rather than the authorities.
Peter
goes on: “The God of our fathers
raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging Him on a tree. God exalted Him at His
right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness
of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom
God has given to those who obey Him.”
Why has
God done this? “To give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” Peter is
exercising the Office of the Keys that we heard about in our Gospel lesson.
Jesus said to His disciples, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins
of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is
withheld.” Jesus sent His disciples to forgive sinners; and Peter is attempting
to do exactly that. Peter is preaching the same message he had preached on
Pentecost and since—the message he and other had been proclaiming in the temple
courts a short while before. “You killed Jesus. God raised Him from the dead.
Repent! Receive God’s forgiveness, which is for all, including you.”
Once
again, in the case of the Sanhedrin, the message falls on deaf ears and hard
hearts. It makes them furious and murderous. They hear the Word of Life and
want to silence the messengers forever. This is no surprise, because this is
how unbelief reacts to the Gospel, especially when there is fear involved. The
chief priests are afraid—they’re afraid that if too many follow the apostles
and believe in Jesus, Rome will destroy them. Fear often makes for
zero-tolerance policies.
Fortunately,
Gamaliel, regarded as moderate and tolerant in his religious views, saves the
day. He notes examples of previous rebellions that have failed. Then he says, “in
the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for
if this plan or undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God you
will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!”
Gamaliel’s
speech persuades the Sanhedrin not to kill the apostles, but it does not
persuade them to treat the apostles fairly. The apostles suffer a terrible
beating; yet they rejoice that they are counted worthy to suffer for the name
of Jesus. The apostles keep on doing what they had been called to do. They
never stop teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
What does
this mean for you and me today?
First,
God grant that His Church never cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the
Christ even for a day. That is the news of salvation for all who believe, and
salvation is found in no other name than Jesus. If we are forbidden from
speaking it, we must obey God rather than men—the Good News is just too good of
news to forsake, for it gives repentance, forgiveness and eternal life.
This is
especially true when we speak to those who oppose the Christian faith. When
others seek to harm, the natural reaction is to speak only harm in return and
therefore deprive them of the Gospel, or stop speaking the Gospel because it’s
what got the trouble started in the first place.
But we
must remember: Those who oppose the Gospel are also those for whom Christ died.
He bore their sins to the cross and listened to their shouts of scorn as He
breathed His last. He desires that they be saved, and salvation is found only
in Christ and Him crucified. Therefore, where we encounter those who desire
that we cease proclaiming Christ, it is right for us to proclaim Christ even
more—for their sake; not without Law and not to be stubborn annoyances, but in
sincere, loving desire that they hear, believe, and receive forgiveness.
We pray
for them, too. And we give thanks: we give thanks that, while we were born
enemies of God, God has made His salvation known for us. And we give thanks
that, for Jesus’ sake, He counts us worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of
Jesus.
We must
obey God rather than men. Better yet, we believe God rather than men. The God
our fathers is your heavenly Father for Jesus’ sake, because He raised Jesus
from the dead, who was crucified for your sins. God has exalted His Son at His
right hand as Leader, as Your Savior who leads you even through the shadow of
death. He gives you repentance and the forgiveness of sins by the work of His Holy
Spirit. That is the news that gives you salvation, and that is the news that
God entrusts to His Church to declare so that others might have salvation, too.
Should
you suffer for that proclamation, God grant you faith and strength to endure.
God grant you joy, too: joy that He counts you worthy to suffer for the name of
Jesus. For this means that the world is not worthy of you, but that God
declares you worthy to bear His name—because you are forgiven for all your
sins.
In the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Unless
otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English
Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[i]
Luther, M. (1999).
Luther’s works,
vol. 21: The Sermon on the Mount and the Magnificat. (J. J.
Pelikan, H. C. Oswald, & H. T. Lehmann, Eds.) (Vol. 21, p. 121). Saint
Louis: Concordia Publishing House.
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