
The Difference Between an Exciting Christian Life & a Mediocre One - Acts 5:12-42
• Series: Resurrection Season
The Difference Between an Abundant Christian Life and a Mediocre One “We can do things.” I have heard Pastor Jed say those four words on numerous occasions over the past month. In fact, he used those same words last Tuesday in our staff meeting. What does it mean to “do things?” I don’t think he is referring to eating donuts and having Bible studies, not that those things are bad. Those blueberry donuts are especially good! Not as good as an apple fritter, but I digress. Pastor Jed is saying that our relationship with Jesus Christ makes it possible to do things that we would otherwise seem too scary, too risky, too impossible. However, our ability to do those things for the Kingdom of God and our desire to do them often are in conflict. I am convinced that the Christian life should be one of excitement, boldness, risk, and eternal purpose. I think that Acts 5:12-42 gives us a demonstration of this kind of life. Acts 5:12-16: Here we see the Church, led by the Apostles, going out into the community and affecting dynamic change for the Kingdom of God. Following the example of King Jesus, they are not waiting for the world to come to them but are moving out into the world. As a result, great wonders and miracles are taking place, and many people are coming to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. However, this activity brings trouble to the Church, and especially the Apostles. It disrupts their organized and orderly lives. Acts 5:17-26: The Apostles are arrested, but God releases them to go back to their outreach. This is often the experience of those living exciting and bold lives for Christ. Trouble comes to them, but so does God’s sustaining and sometimes rescuing power. Acts 5:27-33: The Sadducees turn up the heat to intimidate the Apostles and get them to retreat into their safe little lives. When faced with the choice of submitting to the authority of the Sanhedrin and avoiding conflict or submitting to God’s authority and faith in his power, they choose God. They choose a life of meaning and eternal values. Acts 5:34-40: The Apostles are released, but they are also beaten up in an effort to impress upon them the Sanhedrin’s determination to shut them up. This point is important to notice. The Apostles' situation does not end in a fairy tale fashion. They suffer for their efforts to follow the Lord, Jesus Christ. If we are victors in Christ, why do we still suffer? Acts 5:41-42: The Apostles continue teaching and preaching, but the important thing to notice is their attitude: “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.” That name is Jesus Christ! "Hang ten" in a surfing context means to ride a wave with all ten toes hanging over the front of the board. In a more general, metaphorical sense, Phil Edwards says in "How to Hang Ten Through Life and Stay Happy" that hanging ten can be interpreted as a guide to living a fulfilling and joyful life by embracing the moment and finding balance. Now Phil Edwards isn’t a theologian, he is an American surfer from Oceanside, California. He is credited with being the first to surf the Banzai pipeline in Hawaii, being the first professional surfer, and creating the first signature surf board. He wrote this book about surfing the and the surfer’s lifestyle. . "There is a need in all of us," he says, "for controlled danger. That is, there is a need for activity that puts us on the edge of life. There are uncounted millions of people right now who are going through life without any sort of real, vibrant kick. I call them 'the legions of the unjazzed.'" I think that the Christian life should be like riding a surfboard through life with God. Let me explain. If you are going to surf you need to get out to where the waves are, out to the white water. You can’t surf sitting on the beach sipping a mia tai. That's what we see in the scene that's before us. The disciples had been out heralding the good news about Jesus. That's the word: "to herald." It's like blowing a trumpet. They're making a big noise for the sake of Jesus Christ, and they are arrested from out there in the white water of witness. They are arrested, and they are brought before the supreme court of the Jews. That is what the Apostles were doing. In fact, the book of Acts is filled with Christians padding out to the big waves; spending their lives on risky, eternal goals that demand an all powerful God to make happen. Look at Stephen, the first martyr. At the very moment when the stones are striking him and crushing the life out of him, he lifts up his eyes, he sees his risen and his regal Lord, and he cries out, "Hallelujah!" He dies praising Christ and praying for forgiveness of those who are taking his life away. Or look at Paul and Silas. They're in prison. If you think prison conditions are bad today, believe me, there was no society for the improvement of penal conditions in Palestine 2,000 years ago. There they are in jail at midnight, and what do they do? It is recorded that they gave themselves to a hymn sing. The Apostle Paul shared this attitude. In Colossians 1:24-27 he says, “ Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” That's New Testament living. These are lives lived red hot for Christ. So here is the big question: What are these believers doing and what do they know that we are not doing and knowing? The answer begins with another look at the scriptures read before the message. John 10:10 The question is, what is abundant life? In America, we tend to think in terms of needs met, health maintained, freedoms secured, good shows on TV, etc. Speaking of donuts…I used to like jelly donuts, but I got tired of a spoonful of jelly filling and miles of dough. I think that a wrong view of the abundant life is like a jelly donut. It holds the promise of great things which may or may not show up here or there for a short while, but is mostly a bunch of chewing. John 16: 32-33 The question is, how can we have peace when we have tribulation? Again, we have a misunderstanding of what Christ’ peace is all about. Life is full of tribulation. If you were to come to me and offer me money to give you the secret to a trouble free life I would give it to you. I would tell you go down to Elk Grove Blvd and turn left take that road over to the 99 north. Travel 1 mile and get of at Bond go right and then left at the first light. Stay on that road until you come to Eastlawn Cementary. There you will find thousands of people who have no trials at all. Matthew 11:28-30 The question is, how can Jesus' yoke be easy when life gives us unbearable burdens? Yep, you thinking correctly, we can’t misundstand Jesus’ easy yoke as no pain, no struggle, no shortage, no illness. His yoke is easy because he has done everything needed to secure our eternal future and our security in the midst of this troubled filled life. We don’t have to make it happen, Jesus had already made it happen. What is the difference between them and us today? The difference is in how they viewed life, tribulation, and suffering. As American Christians, who have so much in our lives, we can find it very hard to see our suffering as anything other than the enemy of our organized and sanitized lives. When Jesus promised us abundant life, he was not saying a life without problems or struggle. He was saying we can have a life so full of eternal meaning that our problems and struggles fade in comparison. The peace that Jesus gives is not freedom from tribulation, but a tranquility that surpasses tribulation. And Jesus’ yoke is easy because it moves us from focusing on making a better life in this world to making a better life for the people of this world in the next, as we wait for the far greater life in eternity! So, the most important thing for us to settle today is “on what are we going to spend our lives?” Are we going to stay on the shore, occasionally dipping our toes in the little waves that washup on the sand. Worrying about keep our lives comfortable and safe. Or are we going to paddle out to the white water of significant ministry, risking our selves for Jesus and enjoying the ride? A lady was going through the Philadelphia Zoo, and she saw the monkeys playing with dice. She went and told the keepers that somebody had thrown some dice into the monkey cage. The keepers didn't believe her. She said, "It's true; come and see." They went and saw, and it was so. They said, "Yes, Ma'am, you're right," and turned around and started to walk away. She said, "Aren't you going to do anything about it?" They said, "No, they're just playing for peanuts." That's the trouble with most people's living: they're playing for peanuts. And the only place you discover the thrill and the power of faith is when you get out into the white water where the deep issues are. That is what our God is calling us too. You might think that is too impulsive, I say it is resurrection living! Now the second thing you have to do to surf is this: when you get out into the white water where the big issues are, you have to lean into the wave. That is what the disciples did. It wasn't just getting out there; it was doing the job when they were there. It was becoming involved. It was leaning into the thing. You see the water that flows around the base of the cross never needs chlorine. It moves so fast that it is . And what you have to do is be willing to lean into that current, to lean into what the surfer would call the curl. The wave builds up, you ride behind it, and then just as it begins to crest, you climb to the top of that crest and you ride the current. And you hear the whole Pacific Ocean roaring behind you, because it understands itself to be in a race with you and you are winning. And your surfboard trembles at your feet. I don't understand how it is that we can involve ourselves in faithful undertakings in so many different dimensions of our life and then when it comes to the great social issues of the day, back off. Every time you step on your brakes, that's an act of faith. When you meet a young girl, when you meet a young man, and the two of you become one in God's house before God's people, that's an act of faith. What's that relationship going to be like in ten years? You don't know. It's an act of trust. When you bring a child into the world, that's an act of faith. No one can guarantee to you that that child is going to be perfect and beautiful in every way, as you want that child to be. If we, then, are involved in faith in every dimension of our lives, why when it comes to the big and the most significant issues of our time, do we back off? What we ought to be doing is riding the curl. The faith would never have gotten out of Galilee without loyalty to Jesus Christ. That takes discipline. There are no exceptions, no evasions, no excuses. It is commitment, loyalty, and discipline, but the result is a life full of the glory of God. I think of a Presbyterian elder in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who got a call one night. It was not an ordinary night. Pittsburgh had undergone an ice storm, that is, it had rained and then everything had frozen. The whole city and everything in it were covered with ice. Police wagons and fire wagons were not moving. Ambulances from hospitals were not on the road. This man got a call from the pastor of his church. There was a family in the church that had a little boy who had leukemia. The youngster had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. They called the hospital and the hospital said, "Bring him in." They were unwilling to send an ambulance to bring him. These people didn't have a car. They called the minister of their church asking if he would help. His car was in the repair shop some ten miles from his home, no way for him to get it. But this elder happened to live near this family, and so the minister called him. He was a person. He was willing to lean into the wave. He got into his car. He had three accidents before he got to the house of these people to pick up the boy. You couldn't stop for stop signs; you couldn't stop for traffic lights. You could stop only when the momentum of your car was stopped by natural things about you. They brought the little boy down, wrapped in a blanket. The mother and the child got into the front seat, the father in the back seat, and they started off. They had several minor scrapes as they went along the road. They were going just a foot at a time. They came to the bottom of a hill, and as they managed to skid to a stop, he tried to decide whether he should try to make the grade on the other side, or whether he should go to the right and down the valley to the hospital. And as he was thinking about this, he chanced to look to the right and he saw the face of the little boy. The youngster's face was hushed, and his eyes wide with fever and with fear. To comfort the child, he reached over and tousled his hair. Then it was that the little boy said to him, "Mister, are you Jesus?" Do you know, in that moment he could have said yes. For him to live was Jesus Christ. Doesn’t this kind of living involve struggle and pain. You bet, but here is what I have learned. I think of a Presbyterian elder in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who got a call one night. It was not an ordinary night. Pittsburgh had undergone an ice storm, that is, it had rained and then everything had frozen. The whole city and everything in it were covered with ice. Police wagons and fire wagons were not moving. Ambulances from hospitals were not on the road. This man got a call from the pastor of his church. There was a family in the church that had a little boy who had leukemia. The youngster had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. They called the hospital and the hospital said, "Bring him in." They were unwilling to send an ambulance to bring him. These people didn't have a car. They called the minister of their church asking if he would help. His car was in the repair shop some ten miles from his home, no way for him to get it. But this elder happened to live near this family, and so the minister called him. He was a person. He was willing to lean into the wave. He got into his car. He had three accidents before he got to the house of these people to pick up the boy. You couldn't stop for stop signs; you couldn't stop for traffic lights. You could stop only when the momentum of your car was stopped by natural things about you. They brought the little boy down, wrapped in a blanket. The mother and the child got into the front seat, the father in the back seat, and they started off. They had several minor scrapes as they went along the road. They were going just a foot at a time. They came to the bottom of a hill, and as they managed to skid to a stop, he tried to decide whether he should try to make the grade on the other side, or whether he should go to the right and down the valley to the hospital. And as he was thinking about this, he chanced to look to the right and he saw the face of the little boy. The youngster's face was hushed, and his eyes wide with fever and with fear. To comfort the child, he reached over and tousled his hair. Then it was that the little boy said to him, "Mister, are you Jesus?" Do you know, in that moment he could have said yes. For him to live was Jesus Christ. Any Christian in the white water knows what I mean. You never weary of Christ's service, oh, but sometimes you're bone weary in it. But it's a very magic time. It's the time that it seems to me makes the whole ride we call life, worth living. There are a lot of folks who have planned their lives out very carefully. Nice little job. Nice little marriage. Two nice little kids: a nice little boy and a nice little girl. Nice little retirement plan. Nice little house with a nice little garage with a nice little car in each half of it. Nice little place to go to in the summer or, if you prefer, a nice little place to go to in the winter. You know what the end of that story is? It's a nice little hill with a nice little mound upon it and a nice little stone at the top of the mound with your nice little name on it and a few nice little dates underneath. You know what will have happened? You will have pampered yourself into mediocrity when you could have lost yourself into immortality. Don’t do that. Let’s start doing things for the Kingdom of God and let Him fill our lives with the excitement of his power working in and through us.