Jesus-is-us

When my kids were young, we often went to toy stores. My kid’s favorite was “Toys-R-Us.”

 

In my usual nit-picking way, I would think to myself, “Toys-R-Us is not toys; they are a store that sells toys.” This does not make sense!

 

Of course, it is a great toy store. They usually had something for my kids. Failing that, they always had something for me!

 

Today’s reading, Acts 4:1-13. Peter and John, two of Jesus “go to” apostles, are before the Sanhedrin. They have just healed a crippled beggar. The Sanhedrin, concerned that a greater power is in their midst, wants to know on what authority they healed the beggar.

 

Peter replies it is Jesus, and in fact, adds that salvation is found in no one other than Jesus.

 

This is the first recorded miracle that the apostles did after Jesus died. It is the first recorded miracle that the church performed after Jesus died.

 

Jesus delegated his mission to Peter and John. He gave some of his powers to Peter and John. More profoundly, however, Jesus delegated his mission and gave some of his powers to his church!

 

Jesus is counting on his church – and that includes you and I!

 

I feel inadequate, to do Jesus work. Fortunately, there are others who can help me and point me in the right direction. However, Jesus is here, right in front of me, in the form of a Bible.

 

More importantly, Jesus is within me.

 

Jesus and the Holy Spirit are not powers external to me, that work on me. St. Paul tells us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are within me!

 

I may feel inadequate to do Jesus work, but God has given me everything I need in preparation. Better than that, Jesus is within me. I do not have to “go it alone.”

 

Like the toy store, it does not make sense.

 

Nonetheless, Jesus-is-us.

 

The commanding officer of my soul

“Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. ‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name’ he said.... Peter and the other apostles replied: ‘We must obey God rather than men!’” Acts 5:28-29

(To see today's entire text – Acts 5:27-32 – click here.)

Stop and think ... when is the last time you heard the word, “obey,” in conversation?

“Obey” is a tough notion for us, a concept progressively out of favor. Offensive ... humiliating ... oppressive ... that’s how our world sees it. Passé, really. Irrelevant. Ludicrous! For “obey” suggests that at least some aspect of our being is subject to the will of someone else; it leaves us something short of “I am the master of my fate...”¹  And ... we ... don't ... like it!

Instead, our human nature is a place where “I am the captain of my soul,”¹ and where “Feeling” ranks as first lieutenant. We rely on its counsel above all others, even when Feeling is openly insubordinate to our commanding officer, Truth.

There’s an interesting example in Mark 1:40-45. One day, Jesus cured a man from leprosy and then, curiously, “sent him away with a strong warning: ‘See that you don’t tell this to anyone.’” Instead, the man – understandably excited – “went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news.” Jesus had said “don't tell,” but this man told, his feelings dissuading him from the command of the One who had authority even over leprosy! And we might feel our way along to the leper’s justification! After all, spreading the news is a good thing, isn’t it? But there were lasting consequences to his disobedience that day: “As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places.”

Peter and the apostles were also under orders, two sets of them, actually. Jesus had told them to go out and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them all he had commanded. The religious leader’s imperative, however, was the opposite, charging them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus (see Acts 4:18). And now the apostles stood before the high priest and the Sanhedrin because they had obeyed the higher authority – the commanding officer – on the matter. “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name...” the rulers complained. The apostles’ response? “We must obey God rather than men!” And their obedience had produced results, for the Sanhedrin even told them, “... you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching ...” (Not bad!)

Both the leper in the first instance and the apostles in the second were under commands from Jesus. And being human, they all had strong feelings ... they were all enthusiastic. The difference was that the apostles, at least in this case, obeyed, aligning their will and their passion under the authority of Jesus, who is Truth.

Likely, we’ve all experienced both scenarios, frustrated at times and buoyed at others. So how do we consistently subject our feelings to God's truth and his authority? We stay close to him, talking with him in prayer and listening to him through his word. Then when we recognize that familiar voice of Christ in us, ours is simply to say, "yes." Day by day; moment by moment.

For as Peter told the Sanhedrin, God gives his Holy Spirit to those who obey him. And that includes us.

¹ From "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley