Scars
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Paintball Glory
Paintball Glory
Last week, Logan was invited along to Jake’s birthday party at Blitz Paintball
and because I am a man-child… I was right in there to play too. Do I want to get shot by 20 other people with tiny plastic pellets filled with paint while trying to get hold of a rubber ducky placed on an abandoned car? Yes, yes I do.
Do I want to shoot paintballs at my son and his friends. and maybe Levi? Yes, yes I do. (but never Abby)
And we are out there, 40ish people, playing games, capture the flag, hold the castle, all some variation of shooting one another.
AND IT HURTS! It hurts when you get shot in the fingers.
One shot hit me right in the faceplate, burst, shot paint right into my beard and mouth. Gross!
And I have welts and bruises all over my body, in places I can’t talk about in church!
We paid to get in there! Everyone in there paid good money for the PRIVILEGE of shooting one another and being shot.
Why do we do it?
Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory lasts forever!
It’s the story after the battle. Trading stories. “Did you see me...” “Did you see that shot?” “I grabbed the rubber duck and then I ran and I WON!”
Book
Book
The Kingdom Advancing
The Kingdom Advancing
Church is doing amazingly well. Peter and John boldly preaching the name of Jesus in the temple. They healed the crippled man. They were arrested but let go because the religious leaders were afraid of the people. And the church prayed for boldness.
Ananias and Saphira show that sin is still going to be a damaging factor in Christian life and Christian churches
But it doesn’t stop what God is doing, it doesn’t stop the kingdom:
Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico.
All were being healed
and wherever the name of Jesus is being truly and boldly preached, it will offend people. The name of Jesus is offensive. It is a threat to those in power, especially religious power. It is a threat to hypocrisy.
Jesus is always a threat to the status quo.
and so, at the name of Jesus, those in power are freaking out.
Second Arrest
Second Arrest
But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy
How amazing that the most powerful religious leaders in their world are “jealous” of these untrained, uneducated fishermen.
they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.
But that doesn’t last long
But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,
“Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.”
And that’s what they do. Right around, they go back to preaching, and not just anywhere, right back into the temple they were arrested in twice already. Right back into the temple.
Third Arrest
Third Arrest
And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.
But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported,
“We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.”
Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to.
And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.”
Love this. “Someone” came. Um… guys? Are those the guys you are looking for? Cause they’re right back preaching in the temple. are you sure you arrested them yesterday? They don’t look super arrested or anything.
Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.
Arrested again… but gently again because of fear of the people.
The authorities are a broken record, nothing new to say, same old threats as last time:
And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them,
saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”
and Peter (and the apostles) answered. Likely Peter is the spokesman here. Again he answers with PURE gospel, boldly, without reservation, he says:
But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.
God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
How amazing it is that Peter preaches repentance and forgiveness of sins before the very men most responsible for the death of Jesus only months ago. That is gospel. That is grace. That is beautiful. Here is repentance, forgiveness, even to you and to all Israel: we are merely witnesses to these things.
When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.
Wherever the name of Jesus is truly and boldly proclaimed, it is a threat to those in power. It will be grace and light to some… and a stumbling block to many.
But a wise man intervenes. A Pharisee, not strong in the political side, bu this guy is very famous as a scholar and theologian, highly respected… and rightly so. He gives fantastic advice.
But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while.
And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men.
For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.
After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered.
So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail;
but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice,
Wise advice. Something that should speak to all of us who are in power. Go humbly, go cautiously… don’t be arrogant in assuming you are on God’s side. Often you can sit back and measure the fruit.
But based on Gamaliel’s examples, what do you think his expectations are? This false messiah fizzled, that false messiah failed… this one will too.
Gamliel’s words carry the day… but they don’t just let them go this time.
and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
dero. Whipped. Flogged. Flayed. One of the standard punishments was 39 lashes. When this same word is used in Acts of Paul, he describes it later as “40 lashes - 1”.
Probably publicly, this is usually intended for humilation on top of pain.
How would the apostles react now that it’s more than just verbal warning? Now that they are beaten, perhaps bloody, certainly in pain. The threat has been made real upon their flesh.
Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.
They were Rejoicing! They were thrilled. Yes, we got beat. High fives all around! We got flogged.
“Rejoice” (chairo) means this: WOOOHOOO!
Hey guys, check out how stripes many Peter got.
They REJOICED! Specifically at their suffering. Not the fact that they were set free, the fact that they “were counted worthy to suffer dishonor”.
And not ceasing to teach. Not ceasing to preach!
Christian Masochism?
Christian Masochism?
The apostles had no assurance that punishment wouldn’t escalate. And, indeed, that’s exactly what happens. They arrest Peter and John, they arrest all the apostles, they arrest them again and this time they flog them… and execution and martyrdom is right around the corner.
But right back into the temple, preaching the name of Jesus.
Right back into the temple, proclaiming Christ crucified and resurrected.
Right back into the temple, pointing the finger at religious hypocrisy, speaking truth to power, calling out the very leaders who threaten them and saying “you killed Jesus, Son of God!”
They did not cease. Not just “in the temple” but house to house. They went viral. Grass roots marketing on TOP of the public theater, the biggest stage in the region. Right into the temple, right into peoples homes:
they did not cease teaching and preaching that Jesus is the Messiah.
Who does that?
Is this a kind of Christian Masochism? Do they just love the pain?
Who does that?
Christians do. Christ followers do.
I don’t know if chicks really dig scars. My chick was not-so-impressed by my welted and bruised body after paint ball.
But Christians’ Dig Scars.
The apostles were proud of their wounds, proud of their stripes, proud of their suffering.
What transformed their suffering into joy? What transformed humiliation into honor and glory?
The apostles had their eye on the glory of the name, that is, the glory of Jesus. It was all about the glory of Jesus.
“Did you see that, we got flogged like Jesus!” We got to suffer like Jesus because we were teaching like Jesus. I’ve never felt so close to my Master. I’ve never been so like Him.
Christians dig scars. Not because they enjoy the actual pain (masochism)… but because it all points to His glory.
We saw this last week with Shadrach, Meschack and Abednego. They didn’t know how the furnace thing would turn out.
Our God will deliver us… but EVEN IF HE DOESN’T we will praise Him!
It was much like paintball. The glory of the adrenaline, the glory of the win, especially the glory of the story afterwards… it transforms the small pain of the moment into joy and fun and glory.
Some of you don’t understand my paintball analogy.
Listen to a mother tell of the pain she went through in childbirth. There is a pride to that. “I did it for love” or “that’s how much I love you” or “and that’s why you owe me forever!!!”
Who’s glory is it for?
The size of the glory before you limits how much pain you are willing to endure.
Paintball? Small glory, little small pains. And you will see guys cowering at the back. For them, there isn’t much glory in grabbing the toy duck in the middle. Or trying to grab the shield in the center.
This idea that “Christians dig scars” or that they “rejoice in suffering” is threaded throughout Scripture.
Joy for Glory
Joy for Glory
Peter could have been looking back on this very moment when he wrote:
But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
Paul says it this way, looking at all the sufferings the later church would face and he himself, facing execution after a life of hardship… he saw the suffering this way:
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
Oh, this pain. A light momentary affliction. Who calls imprisonment “light” or being stoned to death (as Paul was once) or awaiting execution. “light momentary affliction...” because Paul has a vision of the glory to come.
In particular the “eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” How heavy is the glory, how big, how massive, how glorious???
Can’t compare it. It dwarfs anything you understand so far so much that it isn’t even worth coming up with an analogy. And in light of that… all of my sufferings are but “light momentary afflictions”.
And in the service of that name, of that glory? It can all be transformed into joy, transformed into victory.
Are my eyes so fixed on His glory? Am I so abandoned to the name of Jesus? Let it be so!
I want that reckless abandon!
I want that unwavering, uncompromising faithfulness!
I want that boldness for the gospel!
What if we were that bold? What if we were that reckless for the gospel of Jesus Christ. What if we taught and preached his name without ceasing. House to house. What if we entered our religious and cultural strongholds that fearlessly?
What if our eyes were so fixed on Jesus’ glory that the inconveniences of daily life fell away as considerations and obstacles.
The judgement of peers and colleagues was as nothing to us in service of the name of Jesus.
The caution of our fellow-Christians couldn’t possibly hold us back.
The inner voice that says “you can’t do that” was silenced.
That we would recklessly risk anything and everything for the name of Jesus.
Let it be me, let it be us, let’s go All the Way.