Are You All In?

Have you read Acts 5:17-42? If you haven’t, read it real fast!

Waiting…

Waiting…

This is not one of the famous passages of Acts. This isn’t Peter’s Sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2:14-41), The Fellowship of Believers (Acts 2:42-47; 3:32-37), Ananias and Sapphira (5:1-11), The Stoning of Stephen (7:54-60), Conversion of Saul (9:1-31), or any of the other passages that some of us were taught in Sunday School. This passage flies under the radar. This passage doesn’t have any miracles, martyrs, or conversions.

Yet this passage has three things that we could all learn to adopt: purpose, endurance, and wisdom.

First, how awesome is the resolve of these apostles? They have been given a purpose: Preach the Good News (aka the Gospel) of Jesus Christ! Nothing is stopping these apostles from preaching this good news! Getting mocked by their culture? Doesn’t stop them. Getting thrown in jail? Doesn’t stop them. Getting beaten multiple times? Nope, still going to share the good news.

They are united in the purpose of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, no matter the cost. Their endurance is unbelievable! Who in their right mind would keep preaching a message of love and hope if they are just going to get mocked, beaten, and thrown in prison? I’ll tell you who: people who have made Jesus their #1 priority.

Have you ever tried to train for something big? A marathon or ½ marathon? A huge certification test? Being a part of a sports team? I swam the 5k and 10k in the Gulf of Mexico in 2004. They took 2 hours and 4 hours, respectively.

My taste buds couldn’t get the salt taste out for a week.

If you have ever done something big you were proud of it wasn’t because you flippantly achieved it one day. It was probably something you worked hard for over a period of time. Swimming the 10k in the Gulf was the hardest physical endurance test I have ever tried to do. It is the one thing I brag about to this day (ß can’t you tell?). I brag about it because I went to hundreds of swim practices that shaped me to be able to complete that event. I worked hard to be able to achieve this. I was determined and that is what helped get me through so many practices that consisted of swimming back and forth in a swimming pool for hours. It was boring, it hurt, and I had to wear a Speedo.

I would never have completed this task if I wasn’t completely committed to the outcome at the end. In the same way, the apostle have a life purpose that made their trials worth it. They knew the outcome was greater than the cost. Can I say the same for my race of faith?

The last thing I loved in this passage is how the leader of the enemy of the Christians presents the greatest wisdom of the passage: if God is against it, it will fail; if God is for it, it will succeed.

Even though this came out of Gamaliel’s mouth, an enemy of early Christians, he gives the test of why this Christian race is from God. Gamaliel points out two other movements where the odds were completely against them and they subsequently failed and it burned out. He seems to then say, “The odds are so against this Jesus movement, that we can just let it burn out. Their leader Jesus, is already dead.”

Yet this Jesus Movement didn’t die out. It actually became the most powerful movement the world has ever seen.

Do you believe that God is behind you? Do you believe in this purpose? Do you believe in this Jesus Movement enough to make it your first priority over everything else you do? In the end, this movement will be proved true by two things: 1) Is God behind it? 2) Are you all in?

-Alex Berger, High School Pastor