Acts: The Spirit-Led Church Challenges the Status Quo

Elder Brian Haferkamp preaches through Acts 10-11. He reminds us that the Spirit-led Church shows no partiality because it is led by a God who shows no partiality.

In chapters 9 and 10 of Acts we see the beginnings of a new thing that God is doing in the world. The Gospel and Christ had previously been for the Jews. Now the message was being prepared to be taken to the Jews and to the Gentiles. This is significant because God was going to use the Jews to take the message to the Gentiles. He was going to use the Church to challenge the Jewish status quo.

Acts 10:9-16

9 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 11 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” 16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

Upon seeing this vision from God, Peter is perplexed, but it all becomes clearer when Cornelius sends his men to get Peter and bring him to Caesarea. Peter is obedient to God’s direction in his life, even as he wrestles with God’s challenge to his entire worldview.

Consider what God is asking Peter to do: to disobey the laws that God had explicitly set up through Moses; Laws the people of Israel had preserved for thousands of years. And now God is asking Peter to break these laws. Peter doesn’t have a lot of time to go over this before he’s faced with obeying or disobeying. 

One thing I think about here is that Peter is again challenged with something in a group of three. By this time, maybe Peter was being haunted by things in threes: three times he denied Christ, three times Jesus asked, “Do you love me,” and now he sees the vision of this sheet coming down three times. 

Peter is no stranger to his worldview being challenged. It happened to him before.

Matthew 16:21-23

21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Then again in John 18, when Jesus was arrested in Gethsemane:

10 Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) 11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

Two paradigms of Peter’s life as a Jewish man had already been challenged by Jesus: That the Messiah would die and that the establishment of Christ's Kingdom would not be the result of military conquest.

And in Acts we see God once again challenge Peter’s worldview. A good Jew never ate anything God himself had declared unclean or went into the houses of those who were not Jews. But now here God is commanding Peter to eat unclean things. 

When God challenges your paradigm, how do you react? Do you thoughtfully consider it? Does it send you into a tailspin of doubt and psychological darkness? Or do you listen and obey even when you don’t understand?

Peter gives us an example of listening and obedience. As he is pondering and going over what all this means, there is a knock at the door. Roman soldiers brought word that Peter was to come with them to Caesarea, meet a Roman centurion named Cornelius, and tell his family and friends whatever God has to say through Peter. 

The next day, Peter and several others begin the trip to Caesarea. Through his obedience Peter comes to realize what the vision means and comes to understand what God is doing.

Acts 10:34-44

34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.

God shows no partiality. Anyone from anywhere who comes to God through Christ is acceptable to him.

This is the beginning of taking the message of the Good News of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. Though the message had been preached before, this was the first time that the Jewish leadership acknowledged that this was a movement of God. This has particular significance for those of us in this room. This is the beginning of your salvation and mine.

After remaining with Cornelius for some days, Peter and his group went back to the Church in Jerusalem to report what happened. 

You can just imagine the criticism:

“God wouldn’t tell you to do that.”

“God doesn’t work like that.”

“What are you doing?! God wouldn’t lead you to disobey his Law.”

Acts 11:1-18

Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, 3 “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” 4 But Peter began and explained it to them in order: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. 6 Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. 7 And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ 10 This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. 11 And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. 12 And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house. 13 And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; 14 he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ 15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?” 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

The leadership of the Church in Jerusalem fell silent and then joined in with this new thing God was doing; this mystery that had been hidden in Christ for ages. 

Peter’s entrance into Cornelius’s house ended the Jewish phase of the Church and opened a new phase of the Church Age where Jew and Gentile would no longer be at odds and in hostility with one another. They would now be equally sons of God in God’s household through Jesus Christ.

The Gentiles could now come into the Church without going through the gate of Judaism. If all men shared in Christ's cleansing work, there was no need for keeping up the old Jewish restrictions, or insisting Gentiles first be received into the Jewish community before becoming a Christian.

This idea was a huge shift for the Jewish Christians.

Last week Brother Renke spoke about the Apostle Paul and his conversion. Like Peter, Paul's conversion represented a paradigm shift in his life and the life of the Church moving forward. He believed he was doing God's will by imprisoning and killing Christians, but Christ himself intervened and completely reformed his life. Instead of opposing Christians, he would be sent out to preach Christ. 

In Ephesians, Paul describes this new way--this new paradigm:

Ephesians 2:11-22

11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

The status quo of the Jews had been challenged by God. He would use the Church to usher in a new paradigm--the new paradigm that in Christ both Jews and Gentiles are one.

Reading later in the book of Acts, we see that there comes a challenge to this new paradigm shift--there always is when the status quo is being disrupted. At this point there was the danger of Christianity splitting into Jewish Christianity and Gentile Christianity.

In Acts 15 some men traveled from Antioch to Judea and they were telling the believers that they needed to be circumcised in order to be saved. Paul and Barnabas were part of a group that was sent from Antioch to Jerusalem to ask the elders and leadership of the Church about this question of circumcision. After much debate, Peter stands up and addresses the gathering:

Acts 15:7-11

“Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” 

Partiality had always been a part of the Jewish faith. God had instituted it long ago for his own purposes. But now he had lifted that veil and removed the barrier between Jews and Gentiles. They would now be one through faith in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit fell on both Jew and Gentile alike. 

But there were dissenters, those who would not accept this salvation by faith alone in the work of Jesus Christ. After all, Christianity had come through the Jews and those who would enter into Christ must come through the Jewish faith. That meant circumcision. 

Whether for comfort or legitimacy or power, this circumcision party wanted to make people go through Judaism first. For them it was "Christ and…" They were acting with partiality in their heart, but God was doing something new. 

Let’s bring this home a bit.

Is there partiality in your heart? In your heart is it "Christ alone" or do you hold people to the standard of “Christ and…”?

Do you add requirements to the Gospel that God never adds?

The Spirit-led Church does not show partiality because Christ shows no partiality. His Spirit falls on all who call upon the name of the Lord. They are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:27-28

27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:11

11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is equally for all mankind. Any prejudice based on race, ethnicity, language, economic status, cultural norms, or any other prejudicial barrier we care to erect has no place in the Body of Jesus Christ. We are one in Christ. We are unified parts of his Body. We share one Christ, one Gospel, one Lord and Father of all. This is our new culture. All of our cultural, political, economic, educational, and geographical barriers are removed when we accept the sacrifice of Christ for our sins and become a part of God’s family. It is true that we cannot escape living within those paradigms while we’re on earth, but the Church must choose, in faith and by sacrifice, to live beyond the status quo even while we live in the midst of it. 

A few years ago God spoke to my heart about this. Whatever is true of Christianity must be accessible for everyone--everywhere. The Christianity I call people to must be accessible to the rich, the poor, those with resources and those without, for Americans, Chinese, Filipinos, Ugandans, Russians, Europeans, and anyone in between. Your position, status, geographical location, physical stature, hair color, economic ability, or any other classification mankind has created must not be added to the Gospel.

There is no white Christianity. There is no black Christianity. There is no Latino Christianity. There is no Asian Christianity. There is no suburban Christianity. There is no urban Christianity. There is no Midwestern Christianity. There is no American Christianity. There is no African Christianity. There is no male Christianity. There is no female Christianity. There is no poor Christianity. There is no wealthy Christianity.  

There is only Christianity that finds its unity, expression, strength, and purpose in Christ Jesus. Period. Full stop.

Here are the requirements of God in Christ:

Romans 10:8-13

“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Let us not be in danger of boxing up the Gospel in our suburban American package and requiring that version of Christianity be accepted before we will accept the faith of our brothers and sisters around the world. I encourage you to ask God to give you a faith that crosses boundaries, barriers, cultural walls, racial and ethnic lines, and any other facades that we as mankind try to erect between one another. 

Ephesians 4:4-6

4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Amen.

Acts: The Spirit-Led Church Desires God

Elder Brian Haferkamp preaches on Acts 8:9-25 and encourages us to ask God to light the flame of desire for God himself.

What does your heart desire?

Maybe this question sounds too ephemeral. Maybe you've never really thought about it.

What is the motivation for our faith and practice? What is it that you desire?

This might seem like an elementary question. It is elementary, in fact. But it is elementary in the sense that it is foundational, not in the sense that it is trivial or trite. 

In our passage today we see the tale of two hearts. One heart desires God wholeheartedly and the other desires his own power, fame, and fortune, not God. 

The Spirit-Led Church desires one thing above all--God himself. He is our Chief End and Desire.

John Piper, in his book, Desiring God, writes:

[God] is the end of our search, not the means to some further end. Our exceeding joy is He, the Lord--not the streets of gold or reunion with relatives or any blessing of heaven.

Let's look at today's passage in Acts 8.

In verses 4-8 we read that Phillip is doing great and wonderful works among the Samaritans. They are coming to belief in Christ in large numbers. Even the local magician, Simon, has believed and has begun to follow Phillip. 

Simon the Magician was once held in high esteem among the people. They said of him, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.”

But along came something greater and the people of the region recognized it--the Gospel and the name of Jesus Christ. Even the Magician believed and was compelled to follow Phillip. No doubt he saw amazing things as he walked with this disciple of Christ.

Peter and John were sent from Jerusalem to lay hands on the people to receive the Holy Spirit. Simon the Magician saw that this amazing power--which he had previously only known Phillip to possess--was being given to the people. At this point he wanted the power to do that. 

Simon, who was once respected by everyone in Samaria, seems to have quite suddenly lost his position among the people. He was being overshadowed by these Christian disciples. His works were being overshadowed by God's works through the Spirit.

The Magician had believed but his heart and intentions were not right. Maybe they never were. Where others saw freedom and release from sin's grip, Simon saw an opportunity. He saw a chance to regain his former glory among the people. If they wanted this new power he wanted to be the one to give it to them. He needed to get it for himself.

As I've read and prayed through this I've been trying to discern Simon's intentions. It seems clear that the problem lies at the level of Simon’s heart. This is very similar to what we saw with Ananias and Sapphira in an earlier account in the book of Acts. It is the heart--the intention--that is wrong.

In this case, Simon sees an opportunity to possess a greater power than he had previously obtained. Imagine what would happen if he were able to possess and control this Spirit that can do so many amazing things. He would be the gatekeeper of the greatest power known to mankind. The rich and powerful would give anything to have this power and he would be the one who could give it or refuse to give it. His desire was to be like the Most High, not a desire for the Most High.

As the Apostles are laying hands on the people to freely give them God's Spirit, the Magician does a curious thing. Instead of taking the power being freely bestowed by the Apostles, he tries to buy this power with money. It was not God that he wanted. It was God's power that he wanted. He wanted to be a gatekeeper to God’s Spirit. The Holy Spirit revealed to Peter the Magician’s true heart--he was in "the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity." 

In this passage we have the dichotomy of two men--Phillip and Simon the Magician. The first was focused on Christ and Christ's Kingdom while the second was focused only on himself. Phillip preached the message of Christ and displayed God's power to heal and drive out evil spirits. Simon wanted to skip the part about the Gospel of Christ and go straight to the power. He knew from previous experience how that would affect his life. He would once again be esteemed by all men as important.

Purchasing religious power or spiritual influence is called simony. It is called that because of this Simon the Magician--often referred to as Simon Magus. Simony seems to be particularly prevalent in societies where the Church has a lot of governing power and influence. Consequently, it didn't really show up in the Church until the 4th century. Since then it has waxed and waned as the Church has accumulated and lost power in societies around the world. 

The practice of trying to buy religious power or influence is a little less straightforward as Evangelicals than it has been in the Catholic church. However, I do believe there is something at the core and center of this story that does affect us--it is a question each of us must answer. 

Before we get to the question we should clarify what desire is. We often hear it in different contexts, but I would say most of us don’t think much about it in our daily lives.

Desire is an intense longing for something; something that we want or hope for.  The philosopher Thomas Hobbes asserted that human desire is the fundamental motivation of all human action. When a person desires something or someone, their sense of longing is excited by the enjoyment or the thought of the item or person, and they want to take actions to obtain their goal.

So the fundamental question for us today is: What is your heart's desire? Is it God himself?

There is a singularity of desire that sets the child of God right. A person can only serve one master. The Christian's focus is to be first and chiefly on God himself.

Jesus himself said that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. (Luke 10:27). 

Matthew 5:6

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

It seems clear that our desire and focus is supposed to be on God himself, but I think the million dollar question is how do we do that?

Desire is more difficult to talk about than obedience or will. Those are things that feel a little more like they’re in our control. Desire, however, is like a flame. It is either lit or out. Once desire is lit, it will be fanned into a more intense heat or left to die out.

The only way I know to light the flame of desire for God within the heart of man is for God to light that fire. It is not a matter of obedience or the will. It is something that God must light within us. So if you don’t hunger and thirst for righteousness--if you don’t have a desire for God--I believe the first order of business is to ask God to give you a desire for him. 

If you are in a place today where you do not desire God then ask him for it. God is the giver of good gifts and he has created you to desire him. God has created you to live in a love relationship with him where your desire drives you to be with him and know him. 

If you are here today, and God has given you a longing for him, praise God! There are things you can do to fan and cultivate the flame once it’s lit. The most important thing is to spend time with God. We read the scriptures to know him, we pray, we repent of our sins, we serve others, and we ask him to continue to give us focus and keep our eyes on him. If you feel your desire for God waning, ask God to fan the flame of desire for him. 

Lately, I’ve come into an awareness of an area among Christians where the flame is flickering and dying out. It is an area I have struggled with at times in my own life. That’s the area of reading the scriptures and spending time with God in prayer. 

I work for a company that is trying some different approaches to solving the problem of Believers not reading the Bible regularly. For all of the products and programs and marketing, the one thing the Believer needs most is not being addressed. Not spending time with God or reading the Bible is a heart issue, not an issue of time management or the form of the Bible or even of the will. Many know in their heads they should be spending time with God, but they do not have an intense desire to read, pray, and listen to God. 

I told you that at times that has waned in my own life. If I find myself in those times I go to God and ask him for the desire to read the Bible and to be with him. I ask him for the desire to pray. God has always rekindled, or even re-lit, the flame of desire for him. 

We live in a world full of things other than God that would love to have our desires. Our hearts are easily entangled in the things of the world. Out of fear or practicality or from a lack of fanning the flame that was once lit, we find ourselves striving for and pursuing things other than God himself. His promise to us is that if we singularly pursue him he will give us all of the other things that we need. That pursuit of God and his righteousness begins with the flame of desire burning brightly within the heart of man.

Is your chief desire for the Lord Jesus Christ? Or have you let other desires take over? Where is your sense of longing and excitement? Where is your treasure? 

I encourage you to re-engage with God. Ask him to give you a desire for himself and not just for what he can give you; not just for what he can do to fulfill your selfish desires. I encourage you to read the scriptures and engage God in prayer. 

Phillip's heart desired God. He desired to see God glorified. Simon the Magician’s desire was for himself and his own selfish desires, not for God himself.

As you sit here this morning are you Phillip or are you Simon?

Amen.

Acts: The Spirit-Led Church Lives by a New Name

Elder Brian Haferkamp preaches from Acts 5:17-42. He reminds us that because the Church has been given Christ’s name, our mission and purpose are his mission and purpose.

In our passage today we witness the first wave of the Church to bear the name of Christ in the world. And it is here that we begin to see both the glory and the sobering consequences of bearing the name that is above all names.

In chapter 4, Peter and the other Apostles testified that it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom the council of elders crucified, that they are preaching and performing miracles. It was by that name that the beggar at the Beautiful Gate was healed, not by the power of the Apostles.

After their initial reprimand, they continued to preach in that name. They continued to heal in that name at Solomon’s Portico in the Temple. And the High Priest--out of jealousy of their power or jealousy of their fame or both--rose up and arrested them again for teaching and performing miracles in that name.

Notice that twice in chapters 4 and 5 the Council mentions the name by which the Apostles are teaching. In Acts 4:7, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”, and in Acts 5:28, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name… 

It is the name--the authority--the Council members were concerned with. They recognized that these Apostles were not the true Source of their power and teaching. The Council members were searching for the wellspring so they could put a stop to this insurrection.

Why were the Council members so concerned with this name?

The name Jesus was a common one in Israel in the first century AD. In the Hebrew the name is Yeshua, which means “Yahweh saves.” The Jewish historian, Josephus, mentions at least twelve different people he knew with the name Jesus, including four high priests.

Jesus was also given the title of Christ, or Messiah in the Hebrew. The Messiah was to liberate or save the people of Israel.

Pastor Kevin DeYoung writes:

[Names in the Bible] were more than badges of identification. They often told others who you were and what purpose God had for your life.

...More than a great teacher, more than an enlightened man, more than a worker of miracles, more than a source of meaning in life, more than a self-help guru, more than a self esteem builder, more than a political liberator, more than a caring friend, more than a transformer of cultures, more than a purpose for the purposeless, Jesus is the Savior of sinners.

If names denote who we are and what is our purpose, then Jesus Christ fully expresses the purpose and nature of our Lord and Savior.

A person’s name stands for the reality of that person. My name stands for me in situations where I cannot be there presently. The name of Jesus is the same. Jesus Christ has sent out the Church--the called out ones--in his name. To be sent out in the name of Christ means we are under his authority, speaking and acting on his behalf, and we are his possession.

The Apostles were teaching and performing miracles in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth; the same Jesus the Council thought they had just gotten rid of. And now here is this rag-tag band of uneducated men stirring up the same trouble in the same ways that Jesus had done. It was like Jesus was multiplying.

To the council’s charge to stop speaking in the name of Jesus Christ the Apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.” You see, they had a new name. 

What does it mean to have a new name? It means a new identity; a new purpose; a new mission. An encounter with the living God meant a new directive for their lives. It meant a new mission and purpose. There are times in the Bible that God reflected that new mission and purpose through the giving of a new name. In the scriptures we see many receive a new name: Abram becomes Abraham, Sarai becomes Sarah, Jacob becomes Israel, Simon becomes Peter, Saul becomes Paul. 

I had a family friend who died a couple of years ago. He was born with the name Greg. At some point, however, God revealed to him that he had a new purpose and mission for Greg. At that time the Lord spoke to Greg about changing his name. His new name was to be Gideon. So from that day forward, he was Gideon. In fact, I never knew him to ever go by Greg again. 

When we come to Christ as his disciples, we are given a new name. We are given the name of Christ. It is at Antioch that the Church members were first called Christians. Adding the -an or -ian suffix to a word means that one belongs to or relates to a person or idea. It can also mean the named is a type of that person or idea, an adherent to that person or idea, or someone who specializes in that person or idea.

This sounds like our new life in Christ. We belong to him, we are called to be a type of him, we adhere to his teachings, and we are to be so closely associated with him and his life that we are experts in Jesus Christ. Not experts in a heady, academic way, but experts in the same way that after 30 years of marriage a wife is an expert on her husband.

The Apostles had a new name and they were living and breathing and being directed by a new Authority. Their primary authority was no longer the authority of Rome or the Jewish Council. Their new authority was Christ, the King of Creation. They knew their citizenship was in heaven, where they awaited a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who would transform their lowly bodies to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Jesus Christ has made a way for us to join a new Kingdom--a Kingdom under his reign and rule. We have entered into the royal line of Jesus. He has given us his glory and we are perfectly one with Christ and the Father. We are joined to him in his death, burial, and resurrection. Baptism gives us a physical picture of that spiritual reality. And through that joining to him we will also enter into his Kingdom as his family and his subjects, taking the name of Christ.

1 Peter 2:9-10

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Our new identity is joined to Christ’s identity. We are princes and princesses in the Kingdom of God. We are God’s people; his subjects. We are the receivers of divine Mercy. We are ambassadors for Christ. We are heralds of the coming Kingdom and the coming King. We are the Light of the World. We are the bearers of the name that is above all names. We are a holy nation, set aside to do the will of the one whose name we bear. We are the Body of Christ living and being and working in the World until the fullness of this age is complete. When this age is complete every knee will bow to the name that we bear. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of all Creation. The darkness will be lifted. The veil will be removed. And we will behold the face of the One in whose name we have believed.

The response of the world to our new citizenship is hatred, contempt, and persecution. You see, the Prince of this World knows the scriptures. He knows his end. For a time he has authority in this world and he wields it against God’s children. He cannot strike God. He must go for those whom God loves. Our popular stories reflect this truth. Consider all of the movies you’ve seen or books you’ve read in which the enemy of the story takes a child or loved one as revenge. This is a metaphor of what the Enemy has actually done.

The Prince of this World is desperately trying to erase the name of Jesus Christ from history. He knows that this name is the New Authority in Heaven and on Earth. One day the bearer of this Name will bring all things together and destroy our Enemy--the Prince of Darkness.

We are ensnared in this world with snarling wolves surrounding us. We are on the run through the forest with the enemy chasing after us. Yet we stand in hope. Why do we hope? We belong to the victor. He will save us. We bear his name and he will come for us.

Romans 8:18-39

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of child birth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

...28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Brothers and sisters, bearing the name of Christ means that you are on the victor’s side--but you are presently living in territory controlled by the Enemy. We live like the Rebels inside the Empire; like Robin Hood and his Merry Men in Prince John’s false kingdom; like Spartacus in the Roman Republic.

Yet unlike these famous movie rebellions our insurrection is not consummated with weapons of steel, arrows, or even lasers. Our chief weapon is the name of Christ. It is our power, our refuge, our strength, our comfort, our hope. We remember. We pray. We tell others about the hope that lives within us even though we live in this world as sheep among wolves. Our insurrection does not rely on our force.

Instead, our insurrection is like the insurrection of the Dandelions. It seems like overnight your yard can be overtaken by them. It starts with one and then they multiply. You can crush them with your heel and they will come back. You can pull them and, if you don’t get the full root, they will come back. You can poison them but somehow more come over from another yard that is not as diligent in Dandelion control. We even contrive amazing instruments to insure that we get them up by the roots. Yet we cannot stop the insurrection of the Dandelions.

In bright sun the Dandelions spring forth and bloom into a beautiful flower. They stand as they have been created to stand: Bright yellow flowers against a field of green. Their mere presence is an offense to the diligent landscaper. On days of clouds and rain, the Dandelions transform into peculiar little fuzzy balls. And when the rain and the wind beat down and destroy what was once a beautiful flower, the seed is spread. One Dandelion in exchange for a hundred others. Though the inclement weather has destroyed them all there are more flowers than before. 

The Prince of this World is obsessed with controlling the Dandelions. The Prince of this World had no power to stop God from planting the first Dandelion: Jesus Christ. The Prince of this World tried--quite unsuccessfully--to eradicate this Chief Dandelion before it left behind its seed. In the seed was the DNA for more Dandelions. Dandelions from the Chief Dandelion continue, even now, to grow, and die, and leave behind the seed of the First.

We have a new name. As recipients of this new name we have been re-created with the DNA of the one who bears that name. At this Name every knee will eventually bow and every tongue confess that the bearer of that name, Jesus Christ, is Lord of Heaven and Earth. 

We live in the hope that one day the Prince of this World will be toppled.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us;

The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;

His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,

One little word shall fell him.

Until that Day comes, the Prince of Darkness will continue his barrage. He will do what he can to uproot Christ’s Dandelions. He will persecute, kill, disparage, insult, devour, and do whatever else he can do to separate us from the Love of Christ.

But he cannot do it. His rage we can endure. For the name that will fell him is the name that we now bear. In that name we live and have our being and for that name we suffer in this world. By that name we have a relationship with God. In that name we have an inheritance with Christ in God’s Kingdom as heirs of the Great Promise.

Amen.