Spiritual Gifts as Worship (Romans 12:3-8)

Good Morning. I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. But let’s be honest, with Thanksgiving behind us, we’re all thinking about Christmas now. The Christmas decorations are already up in the Holcomb home. Part of me wants to complain that the Christmas decorations are up before it’s even December, but the other part of me thinks, “If we are going through all this trouble to set up the Christmas tree, it’s going to be up as long as possible,” so I’m fine with it. Even though this is the first Sunday after Thanksgiving, it is not an Advent Sunday. There is enough Sundays before Christmas in December this year to hold off the first Sunday of Advent to the first Sunday in December. But I will admit, I am one of those people thinking about Christmas. Hey, at least I’m thinking about the true meaning of Christmas: the historical event in which the Creator of the universe comes down to his creation as a humble baby. I’m thinking about the whole story: Mary, Joseph, the angels, the shepherds, and especially the magi.

 

Out of all the characters of the Christmas story, I find the magi the most interesting. The historical record of the magi can be found in Matthew 2:1-12, but over the years, as the Christmas story is told over and over again, legends arose about these magi, hence why they got renamed “wise men” and “three kings.” Usually, I quickly dismiss such legends because I don’t want confuse legend with the historically accurate inspired Word of God. One of these legends, however, I do like, just because it displays the symbolism behind the gifts the magi brought. The legend states that one of them was a young man, and in his youthful idealism he looked for a good and pure king, who would rule the people equally and fairly. He carried gold, a fitting gift for king. Another was middle-aged man. He had pushed aside such idealistic hope, and now he wanted the answer to deep the questions of life, ones about origins, meaning, morals and destiny. He realized only a God could answer such questions, and so sought to find God. His gift was frankincense with which to worship God, an incense offered to God as a sacrifice. The third was an elderly man. He was well aware his life was drawing to and end, and death would be near. Looking back on that life, all he could notice was that it was stained with in. He longed to discover a Savior. Through his studies, as well as logic and reasoning, he concluded that a Savior must be a sufferer to pay for his sins, even to point of death. He took with him the gift of myrrh, used to make healing medicine and perfume to embalm the dead.

I can neither affirm this legend as the inspired Word of God, nor can I confirm the historical accuracy of this legend, but this legend does one thing right. It displays and explains the three gifts of the magi very well. Most interesting is relating the symbolism of the gifts to the purpose of the magi’s visit: to worship. We know from the historically accurate Word of God that the magi came to worship the baby Jesus. There’s no doubt about that; just look it up in Matthew 2:2,11. But pay close attention to how they worship. They don’t surround him and sing songs to him. Instead, they worship him by giving him gifts. Also note that these gifts don’t just represent who Jesus is, but they also might reflect the giver and what the giver seeks in Jesus.

If you were to go to Bethlehem and go to the tradition spot of the manger, this is what it looks like now.

Maybe the magi can teach us something about passionate spirituality and vibrant worship. Now I suppose we could take a pilgrimage to Bethlehem, and we could leave at the traditional site of the manger a gift to that represents us and how we see Jesus. But I believe Paul provides us a more practical way to worship Jesus through gift giving. He provides those instructions in Romans 12:3-8.

Below you’ll see the passage, but you’ll notice I start the passage with Romans 12:1. That’s because I believe Romans 12:1-8 should be read as one paragraph, and I want to keep it in context. Some Bible translations will reflect this, while other Bible versions do not. I don’t have the space or time to teach you Greek grammar or syntax to help defend my position, but I know you remember your English classes, which taught you English grammar and syntax. Remember that that the first sentence of a paragraph is your topic sentence, while the following sentence go in detail about the topic. Keep that in mind when you read Romans 12:1-8.

Romans 12:1-2 NIV (1984 ed.)-
¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. ² Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. ³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. ⁴ Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. ⁷ If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; ⁸ if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully

Remember that the first sentence of the paragraph is the topic sentence. Paul’s topic sentence, if I may summarize Romans 12:1, is a command to offer their bodies as living sacrifices, which is their spiritual act of worship. Also remember that the term “living sacrifice” is a paradox. Both the Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians, familiar with the Jewish and pagan sacrificial system respectively, would tell you a sacrifice is not at all living, but it is very much dead. The term living sacrifice needs explanation, and Paul does so in Romans 12:2. A living sacrifice, to paraphrase Romans 12:2, is someone who no longer conforms to the pattern of the world, but is transformed by the renewing of the mind. That’s all internal, so how does someone live that externally? Romans 12:3-8 explains how to live out their spiritual act of worship.

12:3. Paul address the believers here on a personal level, as if he were there, speaking live to each one individually. Verse 3 begins with “For the grace given me.” Grace can mean, when used as an object like it is used here, “a spiritual gift that the Lord has given out of his graces.” Considering the rest of the paragraph goes on to talk about spiritual gifts, this definition would work here. With grace and spiritual gifts in mind, Paul issues a command to his readers. In this command, Paul plays around with a couple forms of the word σωφρονέω (sophroneo) “think” in this verse.  Since God has graced everyone with spiritual gifts, Paul commands everyone to not think of himself more highly than he ought. The idiom, “Don’t get a big a head” fits here. Christians with an inflated ego have no place in the church! Instead of having a big head, Paul instructs the believers to think of themselves in “sober judgment.” The Greek word for sober judgment, σωφρονεῖν (sophronein), might more literally translate to “sound thinking,” but many other words could communicate “sound thinking.” Paul picks this word for a good reason. To use another metaphor, the believers in Rome, especially those with sign gifts, might have become egoholics, drunk with their own ego. In this command Paul instructs the Christians in Rome to sober up their judgment with sound thinking.

Verse 3 closes with the phrase “in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” The measure of faith does not mean that people can have different amounts of salvation. The measure of faith does not mean that other people can have different levels of faith. Rather, quite the opposite. We all share the same faith, no matter how different people in a church can be. This faith levels the playing field for all Christians within a church. This faith is what qualifies us for our spiritual gifts, give us our spiritual gifts, and it determines how much or little we should use our gifts. Once again, the measure of faith gives us a healthy balance on how to think of ourselves with our spiritual gifts. A healthy way of viewing yourself is to is to view you as God views you. Not only does it give you a healthy self-esteem, but it also prevents you from getting a big head. This balance of humility and self-esteem should also give a healthy awareness of the importance and significance of the Christian contributing to the church. This will be helpful to remember as we enter our talk about spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts help give a healthy balance between humility and self-esteem. We should not think of our spiritual gifts more highly than they ought to be, but we should use them with sober judgment, in accordance to the faith God has given us. Remembering that the Holy Spirit empowers us with our spiritual gifts to glorify God keeps us in check. We cannot use our spiritual gifts to glorify ourselves, for that’s now what they are meant for.

12:4. Verses 4 starts off by emphasizing one body has many parts. This emphasis is to demonstrate that each body part has its own function, and therefore each body part has a different use for the body. A body all of one body part would not function, so a healthy body needs different body parts with different functions. The body parts work together to serve the body, not the body serving the body parts. When the body is healthy, the rest of the members are also healthy.

12:5. Verse 5 explains the illustration in verse 4. Just like a body has distinct body parts to perform certain functions, so the metaphorical Body of Christ, the church, has many distinct persons that come together to form one body, the Body of Christ. Just like the body has a diversity of body parts, they are all unified as one body. Unity in diversity will become the theme for the rest of the paragraph. God intended the Christian to be a communal one, not an individual one. Christians need the church, and the church needs Christians. When the distinct Christians in the church come together to build up the church or advance the kingdom of God, that’s what unites them in Christ. The metaphor of the body also reminds us that the Christian is to serve the church more than the church is to serve the Christian. When the Body of Christ mutually dependent on one another’s spiritual gift, you have a healthy Body of Christ. But once again, this can only happen if every Christian within the church views themselves and their gifts in the light of the grace God has given them.

12:6. Verse 6 begins a run-on sentence, which will not end until verse 8. Note how this verse starts off with “the graces given us,” whereas verse 3 begins with “the grace given me.” The same grace that made Paul who he was now worked wonders through the church at Rome. Verse 6 utilizes a beautiful wordplay. The Greek word used for spiritual is gift is χάρισμα (charismata), and the Greek word is χάρις (charis). This word play reminds the reader that God’s grace is the source of our spiritual gifts. This word play also reminds the reader that the purpose of God giving spiritual gifts to Christians is that so the Christian may by the tool or method of God’s blessing. Therefore, we should our spiritual gifts to grace others with God’s grace. Verse 6 brings the passage back to the individual level. Each individual believer has his or her own unique, distinct spiritual gift. Christians shouldn’t fret of what spiritual gifts that don’t have, what spiritual gifts other have, or even how other Christians use those other gifts. Nothing can be worse for a church when a Christian over-emphasizes or belittles a spiritual gift, whether that be someone else’s spiritual gift or his/her own. The Christian’s only concern is that he or she is using his or her own gifts, and he or she is using those gifts actively and energetically. In light of the previous verses, however, the reader needs to remember that such a spiritual gift needs to be utilized as God intended.

Paul lists prophecy as the first spiritual gift. Indeed, the Greek word used here is the word which transliterate and translate to get the word “prophecy.” Someone might be tempted to think of prophecy as simply predicting the future accurately, like a fortune teller, but prophecy meant so much more than just that. In fact, prophecy can talk of the past! Prophecy also included inspired utterances, and even sometimes just preaching. To sum it up in short, prophecy means proclaiming God’s message. Perhaps Paul listed this spiritual gift first because without God’s mouthpiece in the church speaking God’s Words, the church wouldn’t know how to prepare themselves to faithfully serve God. Notice how this gift is the only one that has the longest adverbial phrase “in proportion to his faith.” The phrase only appears here in the Old Testament. We know the phrase accurately translates into “measure” because it was used in the mathematics of measuring in the classical Greek period, but that doesn’t help ups theologically. We get a hint of what this means from a parallel passage about spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12-14. The church in Corinth was divided over spiritual gifts. Those who thought they had the “better spiritual gifts” (like prophecy) would uplift themselves because they had that spiritual gift, and they would put others down who didn’t have that spiritual gift. Maybe those who didn’t have that special spiritual gift might act or pretend like they did, just to avoid such humiliation. Paul instructs the church in Rome to that those who do not have the spiritual gift should not feel pressure to prophecy if they do not have that spiritual gift. In order to keep it in check, Paul commands those who have the spiritual gift the prophecy to use it in healthy proportion. The spiritual gift of prophecy should neither be overused or underused. It should be used in relationship to the truth already revealed to the church. By doing so, no one will treat prophecy like an extra special gift.

12:7. Paul lists teaching and service as the next two spiritual gifts. In the original Greek New Testament, the Greek word for service, διακονία (diakonia), is where we get the English word deacon. Earlier English translations would traditionally translate the spiritual gift as the gift of ministry, but modern-day English translations keep it simply to “serving.” Both “ministering” and “serving” are broad words, so neither really help understand what the  Serving might be in relationship the leadership mentioned in the next verse. Just as someone needs to lead in a ministry, someone needs to follow. Some have suggested service refers to the administrative tasks in a church. Today, this could mean everything from folding bulletins to collecting & counting the offering. Others have suggested service related to the ministry of reconciliation. If two members of the church did not get along, the deacon would step in to mediate until reconciliation is achieved. Service could also refer to caring for physical needs of the church.

Teaching differs from prophecy here in the sense a teacher transmits the doctrines and theologies that the prophet preaches, helps the church understand them, and then teaches the congregation how to live these truths out. Some interpreters have even suggested translating this spiritual gift as “mentoring,” for the teacher was more concerned about teaching the Christians how to live out the prophet’s words. Looking at this 2 independent clauses separately, the reader might forget the purpose of Paul listing the spiritual gifts. Therefore, it might be necessary to translate 12:7 as, “If God has given us the ability to teach, we should help the believers by teaching. If God has given us the ability to serve, we should help Christians by serving them.”

12:8. Encouraging could be as broad as other speaking ministries in the church beside prophesying and teaching. The gift of encouraging aims at the emotions and will. The encourager further emphasizes the what the preacher has preached and the teacher. If the prophet speaks the Word of God, and the teacher teaches them how to live out that the word, then the encourager encourages the church to heed God’s Word apply it to their lives. Encouraging is just as important as prophesying or teaching!  If God gave the believer the spiritual gift of encouraging, he or she should use it encourage other believers who need words of encouragement or the like. Someone might naturally think of the gift contributing as giving offerings, but it doesn’t need to be reduced to that. Contributing can be anything. Since God gives to his people in many forms, Christians can give in any form. In any case, if any Christian has the spiritual gift of giving, he or she should give generously and without skimping, and sincerely, without hidden or selfish motives.

The spiritual gift of leadership should not be mistaken for any official title. Paul simply instructs the believers that if any ministry in the church lacks the guidance of leadership, the church should seek someone with the gift of leadership to fill that role. Paul also commands those with the spiritual gift of leadership to govern diligently.. Instead, Paul might be simply saying, “If a ministry in the church lacks direction or goals, don’t just get anyone in the ministry to supervise them. Find a leader who had the spiritual gift of leadership to help them!” Whether that is the case or not, it is clear that the spiritual gift of leaders is not to give the Christian the power, but rather, by leading, they empower the church. The adverb diligently emphasizes that someone with the gift of leadership should not lead halfheartedly lazily. Rather, a good leader should invest his energy in serving the church in this way.

Finally, Paul lists the gift of mercy. To those with the gift of mercy, Paul instructs them to practice mercy cheerfully. Yes, that too, sounds exactly what it should be. Those with the gift of mercy should help those who need mercy from life and society, such as the poor, the hungry, the elderly, the widow and the orphan. Mercy should be practiced with happiness, smiling, and without any sadness. Those with the gift of mercy should show how grateful and joyful they are for having such a spiritual gift. Those they help do need someone to make them feel like they are a trouble or a burden. Life and society has already done that for them. A Christian with the gift of mercy should exercise his or her gift cheerfully, so the person feels loved and appreciated in this life.

If I were to sum up Romans 12:6-9, I would use the motto of the New England Patriots: Do your job. This motto helped the New England Patriots win Super Bowl LI. Simply put, the motto means that each player has an assignment, and each player is expected to execute that assignment. The players know exactly where to be. They know how to execute the game plan. They push themselves to improve their skills. See, this is why football is my favorite sport. In sports like basketball or hockey, everyone is responsible for passing, shooting, blocking and stealing, regardless of the position you play. In football, roles change with different positions. Quarterbacks are responsible to pass. Running backs are responsible to run (and occasionally catch). Wide receivers are responsible to catch the ball, and then run with it. Tight ends help the quarterback either by catching his passes or protecting him with the offensive line. The offensive line protects the quarterback. Even on defense, while everyone can tackle, sack a land intercept, the defensive line primary sacks, while the secondary primarily intercepts. What a good metaphor for the church! God has given you a spiritual gift to put you to work in the church. Now to what God has spiritually gifted you to do so.

Now that we have detailed understanding of the spiritual gifts mentioned in Romans 12:3-8, let’s put them back into context. Remember these spiritual gifts were mentioned in the supporting sentences of a paragraph. The topic sentence of this paragraph was a command to offer their bodies as living sacrifices, which is a spiritual act of worship. Put it together, and what do you get? When Christian exercise their spiritual gifts in the church, they worship God!

Therefore, I feel confident that I can make a bold statement: there is no one in the church who doesn’t like to worship! Even if you honest enough to confess “I dislike worship,” or even if you willing to admit “I struggle to worship” or “I have to force myself to worship,” I don’t believe it, and neither should the people saying those things. If you think those thoughts or feel that way, you’ve been given the wrong definition of worship. For my Church at Worship class in seminary, I studied the top 2 Hebrew words for worship in the Hebrew Old Testament and the top 2 Greek words for worship in the Greek New Testament, and from those 2 Hebrew words and those 2 Greek words, I constructed this definition: Worship is when a person voluntarily serves God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) with his thoughts, speech and actions, in a way that demonstrates loyalty, submission and honor, which only the Lord deserves. Notice my definition does not go into more detail on how to do that, and I left it that way on purpose. I believe Romans 12:3-8 teaches us that those thoughts, those words and those actions come down to our spiritual gifts, or how God made us and how God equipped us.

I can testify to this in my life. Early on, in 6^th grade, I learned that the Lord gave me the spiritual gift of knowledge and prophecy. At the time, I had no idea how to use that, except to get A’s in my Bible class at my Mennonite middle school (clearly, I did not fully comprehend spiritual gifts at the age of 12). I trusted the Lord with my spiritual gifts, and ever since, I have seen further equip men and build me up in regards to these spiritual gifts. 8 years of Bible Quizzing, 4 years of working for Child Evangelism Fellowship as a Summer Missionary, 4 years of undergrad at Lancaster Bible College and 6 years at Evangelical Seminary all aimed at building up these spiritual gifts God has given me. At this point in my life, I believe the Lord continues to push me, now asking me to earn my Ph.D in Bible. Now wouldn’t be odd if God spoke to me and said, “Graham, I have brought you through 8 years of Bible Quizzing, 4 years of working for Child Evangelism Fellowship as a Summer Missionary, 4 years of undergrad at Lancaster Bible College and 6 years at Evangelical Seminary. And now, I want you to be…A LUMBERJACK! Leaping from tree to tree!  As they float down the mighty rivers of British Columbia!  With your girl by your side! Now sing: ‘Oh, I’m a lumberjack and I’m okay, I sleep all night and I work all day!’” (I’m going to stop there before it gets raunchy.) Yes, I know that’s a silly example, possibly too silly, but so many Christians act this way. Either they don’t know their spiritual gifts, or they know them but dismiss them. Either way, Christians think that their God wants them to worship contrary to how God made them or how God equipped them.

At my church, Stony Brook Mennonite Church, the New Church Development process has revealed, through surveys of the congregation, that the congregation feels like the church lack passionate spirituality and vibrant worship. Such thinking and feeling must come a wrong definition of worship. Honestly, I can’t see it. I can worship happening in the church, even where you may not see it. I see Lois worshipping when she collects the soap and the school bags for MCC. I see MaryAnne worshipping when she plans events for the women at Reach Out. I see Shawn worshipping when fixes up the church building, and I see Dawn worship as she balances the budge. I hear about Ron worshipping when I hear your testimonies about maintaining the cemetery, even if that’s mowing the lawn or adjusting tombstones! I see Lorie worshipping when she plans fellowship meals, community meals and rescue mission meals. And I see Carlton worshipping as listens to the congregation’s concerns as the member-at-large. Maybe this sounds like you. Perhaps you serve a similar role or function at your church. I want to encourage you right now by telling you are worshipping! Romans 12:3-8 teaches us that’s all worshipping. See, you can worship, and I encourage you to continue worshipping in this way.  As for me, my spiritual gifts are knowledge, teaching and prophecy. I worship by teaching Sunday School and preaching sermons. Those Sundays where I end up doing both, I always get concerns if I’m overwhelmed. That could be the furthest from the truth. God made me this way, God equipped me this way, so I love doing teaching and preaching, and I enjoy preaching and teaching because I know I worship God and serve the church by teaching and preaching. If I stopped teaching or preaching in the church, I would be doing a huge disservice to both God and the church.

Now you might be encouraged, now that you know you can worship, and you possibly have been worshipping without knowing, but you’re not off the hook just yet. If a may borrow another metaphor from the world of football, God did not create and equip Christians to become church benchwarmers. You, as a Christian are not meant to keep the pew warm every Sunday morning. I already said I would be doing God and the church a disservice if I did not use my spiritual gifts, and now I will say that you are doing your God and your church a huge disservice if you are not using your spiritual gifts. True, God does not expect you to worship or serve in a way that’s contrary to the way he made and equipped you, but he does expect you to worship and serve in the way that he has created you, especially if you know your spiritual gifts. If you don’t know your spiritual gifts, this is probably what’s hindering you from passionate spirituality and vibrant worship. Get to know your spiritual gifts, so you can worship vibrantly and serve the church. If you do know spiritual gifts, find a way use them to worship God and serve the church. On the flip side, I want you to make yourself aware of the needs within the church. Then I want you to think to yourself, “Is there anywhere where my spiritual gifts can help?” If you can honestly say no, then you are off the hook. To be sure if you are honest, I offer what I call “The Mirror Test.” Look at yourself in the mirror and say, “My spiritual gifts do no equip me for that ministry.” If you say into a mirror, and you laugh or get angry, you know you’re lying to yourself. Serve.

If you can say that without laughing or getting angry, you’re still not off the hook. Your new job is now to pray for someone to come to this church, who is spiritually gifted in that way, who can served the church in that need. One of my biggest pet peeves is when I hear an announcement in the church go something like this: “I need someone fill an opening for a Sunday School teacher. Please consider volunteering. Anyone can do it.” No! That’s not what Romans 12:3-8 says. Romans 12:3-8 says that God has spiritual gifted certain people to equip them for certain roles in the church. Not everyone can do it! I like how Bob Kauflin says it his book Worship Matters, “When Moses had to find men to oversee the construction of the tabernacle, he didn’t pass around a sign-up list. He chose craftsmen whom God had gifted with ‘skill and intelligence’ (Exodus 36:1).” God has in mind someone to fulfill that needed role in a church. That person may already attend the church, or that person may not. If he does not attend that church, God will call that person to come the church a need, and a humbly obedient Christian will answer the call. This stresses the importance of praying for needs in the church. If you serve your church and still have open spots, pray that God will fill them.

Finally, I believe one last lesson we can learn from Romans 12:3-8. Romans 12:3-8 emphasizes unity through diversity. We all come together to worship God, but we worship God different because God has gifted us differently. Therefore, we cannot tell other Christians they worship wrongly because they worship differently. Different worship doesn’t always necessarily mean wrong worship or lacking worship. Once again, I believe Bob Kauflin words it well in his book Worship Matters, “Our highest priority when we gather with the church is not our own personal expressiveness [in worship], but the privilege of serving others.” When we come together to worship, let us remember who we worship. If we concern ourselves with how people worship differently than us, our audience is not God, but ourselves.

One more football illustration to make my point. Carson Wentz is the quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. When you watch him practice or warm up, you’ll see his clothing (sometimes his shirts, sometimes his cleats) have inscribed on them “AO1.” “AO1” stands for “Audience of 1.” It is Carson Wentz’s motto. It means that whatever he is doing, whether that be school or work (for him, that’s playing football) or hobbies, he does it as the Lord is his only audience. That’s powerful to hear that coming from the mouth of Carson Wentz. Carson Wentz probably doesn’t go to church on Sunday mornings to belt out praise and worship songs. On Sunday mornings, if anything, he’s probably warming up his arm. Carson Wentz, however, has discovered the beauty using your God-given gifts and talents as worship. He has combined his faith with his quarterbacking talent to worship the Lord on the playing field. He teaches a weekly Bible to his fellow players. God has accepted such an offering. Since Carson Wentz has joined the Philadelphia Eagles, 6 Eagles players have been baptized. And of course, the Philadelphia went 10-1 in their first 11 games. If Carson Wentz can worship the Lord and serve others through his God-given gifts and talents outside church on Sunday morning, we can too!

In closing, I invite you to pray. Pray that the Lord will reveal to you the spiritual gifts and talents that he has given you, whether you know of them or not. Then, pray to God, asking him to reveal to you how you can use the spiritual gifts and talents to serve the church and worship him, and also pray the Holy Spirit will encourage and motivate you to fill it. Some of you will need a tap on the shoulder, some of you will need a smack on the head, and some of you need a swift kick in the butt, but it needs to be done. Next, pray to the Lord that he may open your eyes and reveal to you ministries lacking in your church open spots in current ministries. Finally, if you can honestly and sincerely say that you cannot fill those positions, pray that God will rise up someone to fulfill those positions. May we rise up to serve the church, and thus worship God.

Living Stones (1 Peter 2:4-8)

In August 2016, the 31^st Summer Olympic games took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. One of the first games to launch the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics was cycling. Early on in the cycling route, one of the struggles the cyclists had to deal with was cobblestones. The cobblestones caused quite the havoc. They were breaking bikes. They made the water bottles fall out of their holders, giving the cyclists additional obstacles to dodge. The cobblestones caused such a hassle that when a stretch of the cobblestone part had pavement, a majority of the cyclist went out of their way to bike on the paved part than to continue on the cobblestone part. The Bible doesn’t talk about cobblestones, but it talks about another stone that starts with a c: the cornerstone. If you’re not on the right side, the cornerstone will cause you trouble, just like bikers on cobblestone, but if you’re on the right side, you’ll find attitudes and behaviors worth imitating.

I invite everyone to turn in their Bibles to 1 Peter. You’ll find 1 Peter near the end of your Bibles. In fact, it’s the 7^th to last book of the Bible. It is an epistle, meaning it’s a letter, and it’s a general epistle, which simply means this epistle is not written by Paul. It’s written by Peter to churches in what they knew back then as northern Asia Minor, but today we know as northern Turkey. Peter was probably a bishop, or overseer, of these churches. To set the scene, a new emperor has come into power, and he’s not too fond of Christians. A new persecution has broken out across the land. Peter provides hope so the Christians in northern Asia Minor can stay strong, and he also gives them instruction how to behave in such a time. Let’s look at 1 Peter 2:4-8.

While I have much to disagree with when it comes to the theology of John Calvin, one thing I do appreciate about his hermeneutics, or the process he interpreted Scripture, is that he always put God first. It’s a hermeneutic I have adopted myself, but I give it an Anabaptist-Mennonite twist. I believe the best application starts with understanding what the passage teaches about Jesus, and then to apply it, I ask myself, “How do I respond to that?” I believe Peter is thinking the same way. Peter wants all who are reading his letter to understand they are living stones. In order to understand what it means to be a living stone, Peter first wants us to understand that Jesus Christ himself was the ultimate living stone. To prove Jesus is the living stone, Peter does not turn to the life of Jesus, but rather the Old Testament. After looking at these 3 proof texts from the Old Testament, you too will believe Jesus is the living stone.

Before we get into any of proof texts, we need to talk about cornerstones, for the cornerstone are found in both texts. The cornerstone typically was a big stone that supported two walls coming together to form an angle. And when I say big, I mean big. Archaeologists found cornerstones of public buildings measuring up to 37 feet long and weighing over one hundred pounds! The whole foundation rested on the cornerstone. The whole building’s strength and stability relied on a strong, durable cornerstone. The building’s structure and design started at its cornerstone, and it worked around the cornerstone. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the 2 proof texts.

This is the Western Wall inside of the tunnels. The Wailing Wall you are familiar with are in the southern part of the Western Wall. This is more of the northern part. This specific part, the lower part of the walk on the picture, is believed to be the cornerstone of Western Wall. It is the biggest stone on the Western Wall. It is 40 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet deep. It is estimate to weigh 570 tons. Not only in this the biggest stone on the temple mount, but the biggest stone in Israel.

As a proof text that Jesus is indeed the living stone, Peter quotes Isaiah 28:16. I’m going to turn to the actual Isaiah 28:16, for the wording a little bit different. I’m not going into all the details of textual criticism, but let’s just say that Peter is most likely quoting the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Old Testament, which might have paraphrased and abridged this passage. Since our English Bibles looked at the Hebrew manuscripts first, it has the full text, so I’m going to read out of that one. In Isaiah 28, Yahweh, through the prophet Isaiah, pronounces judgment on the nation of Israel in order to warn Judah they could face the same impending doom. Assyria was on its way to conquer Israel, and Judah would be next on the hit list if they too did not turn back to the Lord. Of course, the response God wanted was a response of repentance and obedience. Instead, Judah turns to making alliances, from alliances to the foreign nations to alliances with the foreign gods. Their latest alliance was with a foreign god, the god of the death. The people of Judah believed that their alliance with the god of death would hold off their time with death. Yahweh informs Judah, through the prophet Isaiah, that if anything, by turning to the god of death, they have hurried along their own death. Rather, the Lord God calls on Judah to trust him instead of trusting in foreign nations or foreign gods. The Lord assures Judah that Judah can trust in him because he has laid a stone which will become the cornerstone and foundation. Those who believe in it, God promises, will not be in haste. Whereas the god of death will hasten Judah’s death, the living God, who has the laid the foundational cornerstone will bring salvation and not hasten death.

Now this is the part where I’d like to pause and tell you what the cornerstone is in original context (that is, how the Jews living in Judah during Isaiah’s lifetime would have understood the cornerstone to mean), but to be honest with you, no one knows! Jewish and Christian scholars alike have debate what it means. They have hypothesized the cornerstone refers to the temple, the Law, the covenant, the city of Jerusalem, the nation of Judah, faithful Jews, the Davidic king, or even Yahweh himself, but no hypothesis has brought up enough proof or evidence to stand out as the leading theory. Yet when Peter quotes in 1 Peter 2:6, and Paul quotes it in Romans 9:33, they declare, without batting an eye or breaking a sweat, “This is about the Messiah, Jesus Christ.” Therefore, many Christian scholars have sided, stating this text to be purely messianic, simply because Peter and Paul said so.

When Peter reads Isaiah 28:16 and he quotes it 1 Peter 2:6, Peter only mentions certain parts of the verse because he wants to highlight those certain parts. Peter chooses to focus on the two words used to scribed this stone: chosen (or elect) and precious (or honored). The Greek word for chosen more specifically refers to a specific one chosen out of many because it is special. The Greek word for precious means to be held in high honor. Together, the emphasis is on God’s master plan. God’s master plan always had Jesus chosen as Messiah, and his death and resurrection honors him as precious. God’s actions also differed from that of the Jewish religious leader. Where God chose Jesus and held him in honor as precious, the Jewish religious leaders of the day rejected Jesus and declared him worthless. More on that later. Instead of closing with the believers “not being in haste,” Peter closes with the phrase “will never be put to shame” as the NIV puts it (I prefer the NIV here. The Greek uses a double negative of the word “no,” which in English, best translates to “never”). The Septuagint chose a more generic word for “haste,” kataischunthēi It best translates to the word “shame,” but it could also mean disappointed, dishonored or humiliated. Put it all together, Peter makes a strong theological statement. Never has the cornerstone brought shame, disappointment or humiliation in the past, and the cornerstone will never do so in the future. God has always been victorious in the past, and so he will be in the future. Therefore, the believer will never be disappointed or ashamed for having faith in the cornerstone. The believer has nothing to fear, for security in Jesus is secured.

As another proof text, Peter quotes Psalm 118:22. From a plain reading of the verse alone, the verse already carries a great irony. The word “rejected,” used here to describe the stone, carries this idea that builders saw it and decided it was useless and good for nothing. What a twist of fate that the stone would go on to become the cornerstone, a very important and significant stone.

Let’s talk about Psalm 118:22 in its original context. Psalm 118 is what Bible scholars call a “declarative praise psalm,” meaning that the psalm is praising and thanking God for his rescuing. Both Jewish and Christian tradition states the psalm was written after the Jews returned from exile, and it was written for the first Jewish holiday the Jews could celebrate back in their home land. How fitting that holiday was the Feast of Tabernacles! Not only does the Feast of Tabernacles celebrate God’s provision of a bountiful harvest, but it also celebrates God rescuing Israel from Egypt, pulling them out of wandering in the desert and putting them in a land of their own, where they could go from hunting and gathering to growing crops, from living in tents to living in houses, and from worshipping in a tabernacle to worshipping in a temple. The Jews returning from the exile must have felt the same way. Coming out of Babylon and coming back into Israel, the Jews had many reasons to celebrate God giving them a home of their own. Coming down to Psalm 118:22 specifically, the worship leader (probably a prophet, priest or king/governor) marvels at the Lord’s decision for a people of his own. Of the great nations and empires of the world, the Lord picked the smallest. While so many of those great empires have dismissed Israel as a bunch of useless people wasting a good land (or maybe won’t even recognize them as a sovereign country!), God has made that nation the foundation of history.

When Peter reads Psalm 118:22, he reads it as if the Psalm 118:22 is looking forward to Jesus Christ, what later theologians would call reading it cristocentrically. So when Peter reads Psalm 118:22, he’s not just thinking about Israel in general, but he’s think about a specific part of Israel, specifically the Davidic king. While the foreign nations and empires rejected Israel as a nation in general, they have also rejected its Davidic king, not seeing him as a legitimate ruler. Centuries later, during Peter’s lifetime, even the rejected nation of Israel would reject their own Davidic king, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Instead of the foreign rulers rejecting the Davidic king, now the Jewish religious leaders reject him. Little they know that the man they rejected as useless and good for nothing would become the king of the kingdom of God. On the flip side, we know Jesus ministered to Gentiles: a Syrophoenician woman, a Roman centurion, even some Greeks, just to name a few. Therefore, Peter concludes the issue no longer lies in the nationality of the person, but rather in their faith. In fact, I believe a better translation of the Greek should start out 1 Peter 2:7 by saying, “It is precious to the believer, but to the unbeliever…” Those who believe will find Jesus, as the living stone, as precious. Those who do not believe, the like foreign rulers and the Jewish Sanhedrin, will find themselves in the same judgment.

For a third proof text, Peter goes back to Isaiah, but this time, he goes to Isaiah 8:14. Once again, Peter uses only the part of the verse relevant to him, so let’s read the passage in its original location, and let’s look at it in its original context. Remember that Israel has chosen to side with foreign nations and foreign gods over the true living God. By doing so, they have made themselves enemies of the Lord. So many Jews have done so, even the prophet Isaiah needs a reminder from God himself not to fall into peer pressure and do the same. In Isaiah 8:14, Isaiah describes the Lord using the metaphor of a rock, and he uses it both ways. When a rock or stone come together to make a sanctuary, that sanctuary can become a fortress of protection and security for someone. On the flip side, a rock or stone can also bring harm to a person when used as a weapon or a trap. Those who side with the Lord find themselves protected, while those who side against the Lord find themselves in danger.

Peter links the stone or rock mentioned in Isaiah 8:14 to the cornerstone mentioned in Psalm 118:22. Not only has the stone builders rejected become cornerstone, but it has also become the stumbling stone and the rock of offense. Not only has the Jesus that the religious leaders rejected become the foundation of the faith, the Jewish religious leaders’ disbelief and disobedience towards will be their downfall, just like the Jews disbelief and disobedience in the Old Testament led them to exile in Babylon.

Now it’s time to put our 3 proof texts together. Remember our hermeneutic process. We start by asking “What does this passage teach me about Jesus?” and we end by asking, “How do I respond to that truth?” What did we learn about Jesus from 1 Peter 2:4-8? Overall, we learn that Jesus is chosen and precious, or elect and honored. Yahweh chose/elected Jesus as Messiah and King of the kingdom of God, so Yahweh held Jesus as precious and honored. No shame, disappointment, dishonor or humiliation can fall on Jesus. Even when governors, kings, emperors or rulers reject Jesus, Jesus will always have the victory. All 3 proof texts defend Peter’s position that Jesus Christ is the Living Stone.

How do we respond to this truth that Jesus is the Living Stone? 1 Peter 2:5 makes it clear. If Jesus Christ is the ultimate Living Stone, then if we as Christians believe in Jesus, we too are living stones. We are precious and honored in sight of God. God holds us in high esteem. We too have been chosen and elect. God has big plans for us, better than the best we could have ever imagined. But that means we have to take the good with the bad. Just as Jesus faced rejection as the Living Stone, so we too, as Christians and living stones, must also face rejection, persecution and maybe even martyrdom. But that bad side even had a good side on the flip side. By believing and trusting in Jesus as the Living Stone, we find our protection in Him. The enemies of Jesus, however, will find themselves in harm’s way.

How do we act in response to this truth that we, as Christians, are living stones? Once again, I point you to 1 Peter 2:5. The only active verb in 1 Peter 2:5 is “offer” as in “offer living sacrifices.” How do we live as spiritual sacrifices? The other place that mentions spiritual sacrifices in the New Testament is Romans 12:1, so I suppose we go could there for more instructions, but I believe a more immediate context gives better instructions. Just look up at 1 Peter 2:1. The verse reads, “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.” Then 1 Peter 2:2 goes on to say, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.” All those words in 1 Peter 2:1 have a negative tone to them, but the word “salvation” in 1 Peter 2:2 associates with the gospel, or the good news. Put it all together. The Christian, as a living stone, offers a spiritual sacrifice by rejecting all evil and other bad things, while growing in the gospel, or good things.

While a plain reading of the text of 1 Peter 2:4-8 might have realized the same answer as looking deeper into the 3 Old Testament passages, the 3 proof texts give us an extra enlightenment. The Jews, God’s chosen people of the Old Testament, failed to live up to their role as livings stone. Not until Jesus came to this earth did God’s chosen one succeed and to live up that role. Let us, as Christians, not fail God again, but let us live up to that role as living stone.

Cemetaries Came Alive!

 ³ For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶ Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me [Paul] …¹² Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴ And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. ¹⁵ We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. ²⁰ But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. -1 Corinthians 15:3-8,12-20 ESV

Today, we join millions of Christians across this nation, if not across the whole world, celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Today, millions of Christian gather together at sunrise to worship the risen Jesus, meeting at parks, at beaches, at mountains, and even at cemeteries. Yes, you heard me right, cemeteries. Doesn’t sound right for Easter, does it? Cemeteries are something we associate more with Halloween than with Easter.

Christians meeting in cemeteries for church shouldn’t sound like a foreign idea. It’s a rich part of church history. While recent studies may show that Christians didn’t meet in the catacombs in Rome as we thought, early Christians did indeed meet in cemeteries. At first, it was just for practical reasons. During times of persecution, Christians met in cemeteries because cemeteries lied outside the city limits and would not catch the attention of the authorities. Also, with the growing faith, Christians needed a bigger place to come together and worship. What bigger a space than cemetery. But as time went by, meeting in a cemetery to have a deeper meaning.

⁵² The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, ⁵³ and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. -Matthew 27:52,53 ESV

These two verses are commonly forgot in the crucifixion and resurrection story, probably because only Matthew mentions this part of the story, and he really doesn’t put a lot of attention or detail. Who are these “saints” or, as the Greek literally puts it, “holy ones”? Are they Old Testament heroes of the faith? Maybe they aren’t. After all, if Moses or Elijah was to resurrect, walk into the city and say, “Hey, I’m Moses” or “Hey, I’m Elijah,” how could they really prove it? Even today with all our forensic science, we too would have a hard time proving the identity of someone before the time Christ, whether dead or alive. Then perhaps maybe these saints or “holy ones” are people living in the first century A.D. who believed in Jesus as the Messiah and died during Christ’s ministry, like Simeon or Anna from the Christmas story. But then again, the Jews living in Israel today will tell you they know the final resting place of all those Old Testament heroes. They’ve clearly marked, or should I say “decorated,” the tomb of Samuel (trust me, I’ve been there). So maybe it could be those Old Testament heroes. Either way, the truth remains. Upon Christ’s death, the tombs broke open. Upon Christ’s resurrection, the residents of the tombs came alive. The life-giving spirit has given life to those who were dead!

All the early Christians knew what this meant. No longer was death to be feared as the eternal separator and end to all. Their Lord, Savior and God had overcome death once. Now the Christians had hope. They knew by believing in Jesus, they too could look forward to overcoming death and coming back to life, just like the saints and holy ones who had also died and come back to life when Jesus died and came back to life. The early Christians lived out this truth daily in their lives. The laid hands and prayed healing on those who had communicable and fatal diseases. They preached the word of God where the word of God was banned, and they were martyred as a result. Most pertinent to my introduction, Christians worshiped in cemeteries, believing that they were worshipping side-by-side with their brothers and sisters in Christ who were not dead but merely just sleeping until Christ’s return. In fact, cemetery in Greek is koimeteria, which literally means “sleeping place.”

Part of my Easter tradition consists of calling my grandfather to wish him a happy Easter. My grandfather, turning 86 years old this June, is well aware of how close to death. I’m not ashamed or embarrassed to say such, for every holiday he reminds of how close to death he is. Despite being as healthy as an 86 year old can be, he’ll still say something like, “I’m not sure if I’ll be alive when you graduate from seminary or when you sister gets married” or he’ll tell me, “I’m just taking it one day at a time, for I might die tomorrow.” One time he even told me he was just waiting to die! As you can imagine, these calls become quite depressing. Yet when it comes to time to end the call, my grandfather never lets me say “goodbye.” He always says, “No, Graham, do not say ‘goodbye,’ for this is not goodbye. Say ‘so long for now,’ for this is until we talk again.” When Jesus rose from the dead, he removed all the “goodbyes.” He gave us hope that this is not the end, but the best is yet to come. So next time you walk by or drive by a cemetery, remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and then remember, this is not “goodbye,” this is just so long for now.

The Most Mennonite Verse in the Bible

I hope my title intrigued you. I hope it had you guessing. If you haven’t guessed, pause to take a guess. What do you think the most Mennonite verse in the Bible is? You might remember the Mennonites came from the Anabaptists, and Anabaptists mean “re-baptizers,” so it must be some verse that has to deal with baptism. It isn’t. Well, you might remember how the Mennonites were one of the first to view communion as a symbol, so the most Mennonite verse must be when Jesus says, “Do this in remembrance of me.” It isn’t. You might know the Mennonite have always took a stand of peace, pacifism and non-violence over a position of violence and war, so maybe the verse is in Matthew 5:44, when Jesus says to love your enemies, or Romans 12:17-21, when Paul commands to not repay evil with evil, but evil with good, or Psalm 34:14, in which David advises to seek peace and pursue it. Nope, nope and nope. The Mennonite have always been concerned with social justice. Could the most Mennonite verse be a prophet commanding social justice, like in Isaiah or Amos? Not what I have in mind. Then what is the most Mennonite verse in the Bible? Drumroll please. I believe the most Mennonite verse in Bible is Acts 5:29, where Peter and the apostle say, “We must obey God rather than man!” I hope to show you that this belief began with the apostles in 1^st century, continued with Anabaptist forefathers in the 16^th century, and has big implications for today.

Before diving into the verse, let’s look at the verse in context. The context of this verse starts all the back in the previous chapters, chapter 3 and 4, for those chapters show us that this is not the first time. In Acts 3, a miracle happens. Peter and John are walking in the temple courts when they walk by a lame man. Peter takes the lame man by the hand, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, the man can walk (3:1-10). This miracle lands them right in front of the Sanhedrin, the acting Supreme Court, to testify (4:1-7). Naturally, Peter gives all the credit to Jesus (4:8-12). When the members of the Sanhedrin come together to convene, they are completely befuddled! For starters, here they see two uneducated, untrained, common, ordinary men speaking with the authority, boldness and confidence of a scholar, and they don’t know how to deal with that alone. Furthermore, and even worse for them, they have a formerly lame man literally standing before them, too. All the people acknowledge this miracle, so much that even the Sanhedrin can’t deny what they see (4:13-17). So all the Sanhedrin can do is command them to not preach in the name of Jesus anymore (4:18). In Acts 4:19,20, Peter and John answer them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” To me, this is a passive statement. If I may paraphrase what Peter and John said in Acts 4:19,20, they are saying, “You have to decide on your own what’s the right thing to do, but we know the right thing to do.” After that, the Sanhedrin let them go. I suspect they thought, “Well, they technically didn’t say ‘no’”.

But then, a similar scene happens again. More miracles happen in the name of Jesus Christ (5:12-16). Out of jealousy, the Sadducees have the apostles arrested (5:17,18). The Sadducees might have thought this put an end to miracles, but it only causes another miracle to happen. An angel of the Lord frees the apostles from being behind bars, commanding them to return to the temple grounds to preach the gospel message (5:19-21a). When the Sanhedrin finally convenes and is ready to call the apostles forward, the officers cannot find them in their cells. The Sanhedrin launches an investigation, but the investigation leaves them befuddled again! The doors are locked and guarded, but the apostles are nowhere to be seen. Finally, someone discovers the apostles preaching in the temple court (5:21b-25). Once again, the captain and the officers bring the twelve apostles before the Sanhedrin for questioning (5:26,27), and once again, the Sanhedrin commands the twelve apostles to stop preaching about Jesus (5:28). Now Peter, John and the rest of the apostles answer more aggressively than before. They realize that the Sanhedrin had backed them into a corner in choosing between the submitting to their religious authorities and preaching what their rabbi Jesus taught them to do. For the apostles, the real moral choice was clear, and they answer with a strong, direct answer.

When I studied Acts 5:29 in my commentaries, the commentators approached this verse with fear and caution, and rightfully so, for this verse contains great power. In the wrong hands and with wrong intentions, Acts 5:29 can be misused. It can be used for anarchy. An anarchist might say, “In Acts 5:29, Jesus, through the mouth of Peter, tears down all government by inspiring his disciples to revolt in revolution!” On the flip side, religious leaders can misquote and skew this verse to get the average church layman to blindly follow his leadership, even if sinful. Indeed, some of the most wicked popes in church history have gotten Christians to submissively obey them because the pope told the Christians this his acts were acts of God, not as a man, the pope. Both sides would fall in error because the Bible has safeguards against such interpretation in what Bible Hermeneutics calls the immediate context, the near context and the far context.

The far context, or the verse in context to the other passages of the Bible, does not support this. The apostle Peter, the same Peter who boldly proclaims in Acts 5:29, “We must obey God rather than men!” will later on say in 1 Peter 2:12,13, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.” Soon after the story in Acts 5, the church will gain another apostle, named Paul. Eventually, the apostle Paul will write to the church in Rome, Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.” Together, 1 Peter 2:12,13 and Romans 13:1,2 show the Christian that Peter’s statement in Acts 5:29 is not a proclamation of anarchy.

The near context, or the verse in context to other verses in the chapter, does not support such bad interpretation. In Acts 5:30-32, Peter goes on to say, “The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” I personally bolded some words and phrases in those verses for emphasis. I like to call them “juicy nuggets.” These juicy nuggets demonstrate Peter is not pushing an anarchist agenda. First, Peter wisely uses the phrase “God of our fathers.” By doing so, Peter explains to the Sanhedrin that the apostles do not worship a new God or a different God. They were obeying the same God the Sanhedrin worshiped and the same God that both the apostles’ and the Sanhedrin’s ancestors worshipped. The difference was the apostles began following Jesus as God’s promised messiah, and Peter invites the Sanhedrin to accept Jesus as Messiah, too. Second, Peter gives Jesus the title “Prince.” This word has a heavy leadership connotation, especially in regards to government. The apostles may not be submitting to the Sanhedrin’s leadership, but they are submitting to Christ’s kingship. Third, Peter clarifies that God pours out the Holy Spirit to “those who obey him.” For Peter, and the reader as well, the Holy Spirit stands as proof of an apostle living a life of obedience, for the Holy Spirit indwells in Christians who live a life of obedience. (And just to clarify on my part, that obedience is not a list of commands, but rather that obedience is accepting and receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior

The immediate context, or the context of the words and phrases within the verse, safeguards the passage from bad interpretation. This one a little harder to see without reading the original Greek text. The word used for obey in Acts 5:29 is πειθαρχειν (peitharchein), which is not the common word used to define obedience, which is the Greek word ὑπακούω (hupakoúō). Once again, Peter carefully choses his wording in his defense. The word starts out with peith, deriving from the Greek word peitho, meaning to persuade. The middle part, arch, you might recognize from words like “archbishop” or “archenemy.” The Greek word arche, most literally means “first,” but can mean “first” as in supremacy, the highest. Therefore, the Greeks would commonly use the word for a leader or a ruler. Put it all together. The obedience that peitharchein talks about is an obedience out of persuasion by higher authority, such a ruler or an expert. Honestly, that “persuasion” could simply a ruler exerting his power, as in, “Obey my laws or suffer the consequences.” But I believe it was different for Peter and the other disciples. The disciples had spent the past few years listening to Jesus teach. They heard Jesus teach with authority, and such powerful teaching persuaded the disciples that Jesus had the way, the truth and the life from God. Then the Holy Spirit comes down on Pentecost, and when the disciples listen to the Holy Spirit speaking in their hearts, the Holy Spirits reaffirms the truths Jesus taught and persuades the disciples even more. For Peter and the disciples, they are persuaded by the Holy Spirit that they are not living a life of rebellion, but a life of obedience to a higher authority.

Still, as we read Acts 5:29, we have to stand in awe at the boldness and confidence of Peter and the apostles. Keep in the mind that the high priest and the Sanhedrin was the highest religious governing body of the day. They ruled on all matters religious and spiritual. They determined the difference between the godly and the ungodly, the righteous and the unrighteous, the clean and the sinful. And the Sanhedrin would tell you that God instituted them for that role. Peter and the apostles had been raised all their lives believing that. So when that governing body of 70 men tells them that one rabbi they listened to was off his rocker and a little crazy in the head, How could Peter and the apostles find the courage to stand so boldly and confidently to reply to the Sanhedrin, “No, you’re crazy for not listening to Christ Jesus”? I’ve already mentioned how Jesus taught with authority, and I went over how the Holy Spirit speaking the in apostles’ hearts, but I believe there’s more to it than that. I believe that piece is the Scriptures. We all know that famous verses 2 Timothy 3:16, which reads, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” What we all have a habit of forgetting is that the “Scriptures” that Paul is referring to what we call the Old Testament, the books from Genesis to Malachi. They did not have the New Testament yet. Luke 24:35 tells that after Jesus rose from the dead, Jesus “opened their mind to the Scriptures,” once again referring to the Old Testament. When the apostles read the Old Testament, they did not see the Sanhedrin’s interpretation; they saw Jesus.

But don’t think that the 1st century understanding of 2 Timothy 3:16 should be the same for the 21^st century. For us in the 21^st century, 2 Timothy 3:16 applies to New Testament Scripture, too. In 2 Peter 3:16, Peter puts Paul’s letters on the same level as the Old Testament Scripture. In 1 Timothy 5:18, Paul starts out by saying, “The Scriptures say,” and then quotes the Gospel of Luke. Already by the 1^st century, the apostles recognized that their words were not the words of their own heart and their own will, but rather, their words were the words were the words of God the Holy Spirit speaking through them. So when a few generations later, when the Early Church Fathers convened to officially the create the New Testament canon of Scriptures, for the most part, they did the with great ease. Christians of generations past had already recognized those 27 books as God-inspired revelation, not just because the teaching had authority, but also because these had been equipping, edifying and encouraging the church for decades.

So why do I think Acts 5:29 is the most Mennonite verse in the Bible? Let’s fast forward in history to the 1500s for some Anabaptist history (for those of you who don’t know, the Mennonites would come from the Anabaptists). Actually, let’s start with some Anabaptist pre-history. Ulrich Zwingli had begun a Reformation in Zurich, Switzerland, question both Catholic doctrine and Catholic church practices. In fact, the Anabaptist forefathers George Blaurock, Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz were disciples of Ulrich Zwingli. They looked up to him, but they saw that he had one big flaw, which Zwingli did not see as a flaw at all! Zwingli had a high view of church and state. Therefore, Zwingli would always ask the city council for permission before making a reform, and Zwingli would only go through with it if he received the city council’s stamp of approval.

 

The Anabaptist forefathers, Blaurock, Grebel and Manz sharply disagreed with Zwingli on this practice. They believed the city council had no authority to make decisions for the Christian or for the church. They believed only the Bible had the authority to do so. This caused the early Anabaptists to hold their own Bible studies, in which they read and re-read the Bible in order to learn how to live life as the Bible says to live life, not as any governing body said so.

At the time, the pressing issue just happened to be infant baptism. Ulrich Zwingli had actually played around with the thought of removing infant baptism, but when the council refused to get rid of infant baptism because they used the infant baptism as their method of taking census, Zwingli submitted and ceased to play around with the idea anymore. The Anabaptist forefathers, Blaurock, Grebel and Manz could not submit so easily. When they read the Bible, they could not find infants being baptized, but they saw adults being baptized as a symbol of voluntarily joining the church and the kingdom. Therefore, Conrad Grebel refused to baptized his daughter, and George Blaurock had Conrad Grebel baptize him as an adult, for Grebel and Blaurock believed that they followed the Bible more closely by doing so. So let me make a big and bold interpretation of history, for all history is interepreted. The initiation and foundation of the Anabaptism is not adult baptism, as the name hints. If big issue of the day would have been communion, we would have been known as the memorialists. If the big issue of the day would have been war, we would have been known as the pacifists. The initiation, foundation and driving force behind the Anabaptists and the Mennonites is the belief that the Bible, as God’s inspired Word, is the ultimate authority on truth and righteous living not man. To sum it up, I would use our verse, Acts 5:29, “We must obey God rather than men!”

If you need anymore, listen to this quote by Anabaptist forefather Felix Manz. At his trial, he gave this simple defense, “I wish to bring together those who were willing to accept Christ, obey the Word, and follow in His footsteps, to unite with these by baptism, and to purchase the rest in their present conviction.” As simple as Manz’s defense is, it’s also complex. Not only does Felix give the obedience of the Word a priority in his belief, he also recognize the only way a person can transition from accepting Jesus to following in Christ’s footsteps is obeying his word.

Let’s catch to the present day, to the 21^st century. How do we can continue on the tradition of acknowledging God’s Word as the authority on how to live our life, just like the apostles did in the 1^st century and the Anabaptist forefathers did the 16^th century? First, we have to know the Word. We cannot follow the Word unless we know the Word. This involves reading our Bible on a daily basis. This involves reading that Bible story for the hundredth time, if not more. That means taking to the time read and listen on what other Christians had to say about that passage, in both the past and present. And it involves taking the time to meditate and reflect on the Scriptures that are read. We cannot obey and follow unless we know what to obey and follow.

If you’re a teacher, or even took one teaching class in college, you’ll know there was this guy with the last name Bloom, who had a taxonomy, famously called Bloom’s Taxonomy. On Bloom’s Taxonomy. Bloom’s taxonomy displays the levels of learning. On the lower end, the base of the pyramid, you have lower end learning, “knowledge,” which is as simple as remembering, even if it’s by rote memorization. On the higher end, the top of the pyramid, you have higher learning, like analysis (breaking things down), synthesis (putting things together), and evaluation. The reason for the pyramid shape is that higher end learning cannot happen without a base of lower end thinking. Let’s look at an example. Consider the question, “Would Augustine have justified World War II with his Just War Theory?” That’s a high-end learning evaluation question. In order to answer that question, you needed a base of lower-level thinking knowledge. From the question alone, you need to know who Augustine was, what his Just War Theory was, and what World War II was. After finding out those answers, you’d have to build another base of knowledge and comprehension by making connections. After learning that Augustine’s Just War Theory says that all other possible means must be exhausted before declaring war, you’d have to look into what other nations attempted to do to stop Hitler prior to World War II. After learning that Augustine’s Just War Theory states the least destructive methods have to be used, you’d have to learn about the weapons and armor used in World War II, from the H-bomb to the fire bombings of Tokyo. See what I mean? If we want this generation of Christians, and the future generations of Christians, to live out a Christian lifestyle, we must start by building a foundation of Biblical knowledge. Without that foundation of Biblical knowledge, how can we expect future Christians to know how to apply a Christian lifestyle to the world that they live in?

If you still need convincing, you need to read unChristian by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. In most of the book unChristian, Kinnaman and Lyons focuses on surveying non-Christians to understand how they see Christians, but a few times, they survey Christians, and those surveys are quite eye-opening. When surveying Christians, David and Gabe wanted to make sure they were really surveying Christians, not just people who said they were Christian. So in order to qualify as Christian, the person had to call himself or her a “born again Christian,” a “fully devout Christian” or a Christian who “accepted/received Jesus as Lord/Savior.” I think we can agree that those people are indeed genuine Christians. They then wanted to see if those Christians had a Biblical worldview, meaning that they saw the world as the Bible sees the word. In order to have a Biblical worldview, the Christian had to believe that God is the all-knowing, all-powerful Creator of the universe, Jesus was sinless, Satan is real, salvation is a gift from God than cannot be earned, a Christian has the responsibility of sharing his/her faith with other people, the Bible is accurate in all the principles it teaches, there is such thing as unchanging moral truths, and the Bible tells us what those moral truths are. Once again, I believe we can all agree this is the bare minimum of a Biblical worldview. Guess how many Christian could say they have a Biblical worldview because they hold to all 7 beliefs. It’s not half of the Christians at 50%. It’s not a third of Christians at 33.3%. It’s 25%, 20%, 17.6%, 12.5% or even 10%. It’s 3-9%. Among Christians between the ages of 20 to 40, only 3% had a Biblical worldview. That’s roughly 1 out of 33. Among Christians over the age 40, only 9% of Christians had a Biblical worldview. That’s roughly 1 out of 11. Wow

That’s the not even the shocking part! After determining which Christians had Biblical worldview, Kinnaman and Lyons asked all the Christians in their survey about their lifestyle choices. David and Gabe found that the Christians who signed off on all 7 beliefs of a Biblical worldview live a lifestyle completely counter cultural to the world around. The Christians who could not sign off on any of those beliefs, and the Christians who signed off on only a couple or a few of those beliefs, lived lifestyles very similar to the world and the culture around. We need to realize that the way we think does affect the way we act. It all starts in our brain and in our hearts, and it flows out of our hands. If we want to live out a Biblical worldview, we need to start by thinking a Biblical worldview.

But as the Parable of Wise Builder and the Foolish Builder reminds us, it’s no good to just listen to God’s Words. We must apply it, and we must obey it. I could say so much about that. Of course, if the Bible says do it, you do it. If the Bible says don’t do it, then don’t do it. If you’re unsure, consider doing whatever is counter culture. Sure, it might be sinful, Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians, that while it may not be sinful, we still need to consider if it helps or hinders our spiritual growth and relationship with God. Most often than not, when we choose to live counter-cultural to world around us, we grow spiritual and become closer to God.

Speaking of counter culture, one of the best way to continue the tradition of Biblical obedience that the apostles started in the 1st century and the Anabaptist forefathers continued in the 16^th century is to be a witness by your counter-cultural obedience. When we talk about being a witness, we usually think of Christians witnessing to non-Christians, and rightfully so, for this is where our priority should be. But I believe that Christian denominations can be witnesses to other Christian denominations that certain beliefs work. And what a witness the Mennonite church has been

Indeed, the Mennonites have influenced the church in the past, and the Mennonites are influencing the church in the present. Don’t believe me? In the United States of American, a majority of the churches (dare I say “most”) practice adult baptism; only a minority still practice infant baptism. Who began that? The Mennonites. In many American churches (dare I say “most” again?), if you ask the pastor about the church’s view of communion, or read the booklet or pamphlet on church beliefs, you’ll discover that they hold a symbolic view of communion, most similar to what the Mennonites belief. Who started that? The Mennonites. And the Mennonites died over such issues! Those other American churches didn’t start agreeing with the Mennonites until it was safe to come out of hiding.

But the Mennonites’ influence does not cease in the past. The Mennonite still witness to other denominations in the present day. As a seminary student, I try to stay up-to-date with what pastors and theologians. I can’t count the number evangelical pastors who are beginning to say, “You know what? Christians joining the military to fight in a war doesn’t make sense. I can’t see Jesus enlisting to fight, nor can I see any Jesus wanting anyone to enlist. It would contradict what Jesus preached on the Sermon on the Mount.” And these are the most patriotic evangelical pastors, the ones who preach from a pulpit that stands next to the American flag! I can’t help but wonder if the Mennonites gave these evangelical pastors that idea. I’ve read many emergent pastors talk about bringing about the kingdom of God with social justice and social reform. The talk and language they are using is very similar to what I heard Mennonite pastors preach decades earlier. I can’t help but wonder if the Mennonites gave those emergent pastors these ideas. And churches all around the nation are beginning to introduce foot washing into their church practices. It began sneaking in as something a couple would do in a marriage ceremony. But as the pastors would prepare for the wedding ceremony and the foot washing, they began reading John 13, and they realized that this was a practice everyone was involved in, right alongside communion. And so pastors are beginning to introduce this idea of foot washing into the church. Now, they have to introduce it slowly and safely. Some churches are doing hand washing instead of foot washing; other churches have only the pastor administer the washing to the congregation. Still, the Mennonite witness proved that this practice spiritual benefited the church, and now other churches in America are having the same experience.

And I believe the Mennonite church can continue to be that faithful witness. I am slow to mention on how we can because it is a hot topic issue, but it recently has become very relevant in the Mennonite church. The Mennonite church is become more divided over the topic of homosexuality. At the last national conference, the Pink Mennonites (pro-gay Mennonites) were aggressively pushing the Mennonite church as whole to accept homosexuality and reject the idea that homosexuality is a sin. And so Mennonite USA passed a forbearance resolution. If I may be so bold, let me boldly proclaim that I believe our Anabaptist forefathers would be embarrassed to see what we become. Honestly, if I woke tomorrow morning, and I heard the news say, “The federal government has passed a law requiring all church to practice infant baptism. Anyone found baptizing adults will be imprisoned, tortured and killed.”, I would have to pause and ask myself, “Is that really worth dying over?” Our Anabaptist fathers thought it was. They were willing to be imprisoned, tortured and killed in order to Bible exactly to the letter. And here were are, in the 21^st century, falling in and conforming just because we don’t want to be ridiculed, made of fun, or appear as unloving. We have a wonderful opportunity to be that witness again! What an amazing witness it could be, too. Imagine all the other Christian denominations looking upon us and thinking, “Wow, those Mennonites believe homosexuality is a sin, but they are still a loving people, being nice and kind to everyone, even the gays and lesbians. I guess you really can be loving and opposing homosexuality as sinful.” We can be that, but we must stand our ground, despite what our surrounding culture says, both Christian and non-Christian.

Lord, thank you for the Bible. Thank you for your Word. Thank you for wanting to talk to us. May we receive it and show how much we appreciate it. May we use your Word to love and uplift one another, and most importantly, may we use your Word to love you and glorify you. Amen.