Untitled Sermon (2)

Title: A tale of what you worship: Contrast between Peter and Herod

Acts 12

HBI: Taking God seriously.

Have you ever had a surprise from God that was beyond anything that you could have hoped or imagined for? I remember when I was in high school and I was struggling with all of the subjects. I particularly found math quite difficult to understand and I didn’t know what to do. I knew that my parents really wanted me to do well in this subject matter but I just couldn’t and I could not even express that to my parents. You know, as a young kid at the time—I just didn’t want to face the wrath of my parents. So I prayed. I asked God to send me someone to help me learn math and most importantly I prayed that I would not have to ask anyone to help me learn math—that person would just come and help me. I think I prayed this prayer a few times and then I forgot about it for a while. A couple of weeks later, I remember distractively that someone from the church that I attended at the time asked my mother if I needed help in math. And this person started helping me and I was able to pass the math courses necessary to graduate. I’ll tell you something, that prayer changed my life. It changed the trajectory of my relationship with God because I saw that God answered my prayer. I have never forgotten this story and sometimes I share this story with my family too much as they keep telling me to tell other stories. But I think it is important because every time I tell this story, I am reminded of the goodness of God. I am reminded that our God listens to prayer. The book of Acts is also like this. The author of Acts (Luke) wanted to write down stories of God’s goodness through the early church. Luke wanted generations of believers like us to marvel in how much God cares for us and how much He answers our prayers. Luke also wanted to remind us of what the early church did in order to make the Gospel known more and for others to know more deeply about Jesus. Can I suggest that the stories that Luke tells us in the book of Acts and in this passage is about taking God seriously.

So let me read our passage today from Acts 12:1-19. “It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4 After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself,and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. 11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.” 12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!” 15 “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place. 18 In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there

So let me provide some context for our passage today. I think it is important for us to take a step back and ask ourselves why Luke (author of Acts) choose to include this story. I think NT Wright and Michael Bird summarize the theme of Acts best. They said “The church is called to messianic mutuality, tangible and visible expressions of partnership, taking an interest in one another’s affairs, laced with accountability and encouragement”. The theme of Acts is being the hands and feet of Jesus by bringing the Gospel to places where it has to cross some kind of barrier all the while encouraging others and reminding them of what God has done for them. And Luke did not just write this for 1st or 2nd generation believers – he wrote it for us as a reminder to keep telling stories of how God is faithful to us and how our trust in Him ultimately gives God glory. So when we look at this story, place yourself as an early church believer, perhaps as one the people in the household when Peter knocked on the door. What would you feel? How would you process your feelings? We’ll get back to that in just a few minutes but I want you to keep that in the back of your mind.

There is something else that we have to look at before we really get into our passage. Let’s talk about King Herod. King Herod is the elder Herod Agrippa, a grandson of Herod the Great (who was the one who killed all the baby boys when Jesus was born Matt 2:1-19). Many of his family was unpopular with the Jewish people but he wasn’t. Herod sought to win and retain their goodwill. A first century historian, Josephus said: “"He loved to live continually at Jerusalem and was exactly careful in the observance of the laws of his country. He therefore kept himself entirely pure: nor did any day pass over his head without its appointed sacrifice." Herod set himself continuously to win and retain favour with the Jewish people. Herod found that the best way to have peace in the region that he was ruling over was to ensure that he was well liked, particularly with pharisees. Let me try and translate this into something a little more modern for you. Imagine that you belong to a family who was ruling the country for many years and this family was very disliked by the people inside this country and you realize that it was better to not have riots and political uncertainty. What would you do? Well, if you were Herod Agrippa, you would make decisions that pleased the Jewish leaders (pharisees, teachers of the law) thereby creating a sense of security for yourself. Content people means no insurrections, no revolts that will threaten your rule. See, Herod trusted himself and he trusted his own ability to get people to love him.

So earlier I highlighted that we need to take God seriously and here is a grim situation. Let me paint the scene of what has happened so far. So earlier like I said, Herod trusted his own ability to get people to love him and he found out it was super easy, barely an inconvenience when he realized he could please them by either killing or humiliating the church leaders. He had the Apostle James killed and he was going to do the same with Peter. Peter was held during the festival of “unleaven bread” which is Passover and the duration is about a week. Herod has been quite paranoid in this passage because there are 4 squadrons of 4 guards on Peter. According to how the Romans calculate night watches, it is divided into 4 sections. (1) 6-9pm. (2) 9PM-Midnight (3) Midnight-3AM and (4) 3-6AM. So in short, Peter had a lot of people watch over him and by all accounts he was going to the trial that was set before him. But in the midst of all of this we see that the church was earnestly praying. They were taking God seriously by interceding on Peter’s behalf. Scripture tells us that they have probably been praying for a while now. The word earnestly translated to “stretched out” It gives the impression of wholehearted urgent pleading to God. Throughout the book of Acts, you notice that early believers pray lots. From the very beginning of Acts, we already see that the apostles were in continuous prayer (Acts 1:14) praising God and lifting up their requests to God. When the apostle James was executed and Peter thrown into prison, the church did not change, they just kept praying. As for Peter himself, he trusted God with either outcome of whether God frees him or lets him be executed at that moment. How do we know this? He was sound asleep in verse 6. Remember there were guards on either side of him chained with him. One commentator suggest that Peter had a clear conscience and quiet confidence in God allows him to sleep peacefully. He doesn’t have to worry, he trusts God with his life.

Peter was not the only one trusting in God. I think it is important for us to look at Mary. Many scholars agreed that Mary is the mother of the same John Mark that is referenced in Col 4:10, Philemon 1:24, 2 Tim 4:11 and the author of the second Gospel. It is quite unusual for women to hold property at that particular time. But she did and you know she is wealthy because the house that she has is described to have an outer courtyard and there were servants as well. With that kind of comfort, she could have chosen not to do anything risky that might involve Herod and his guards. Remember, he is persecuting Christians. He could have taken her property or her life. She could have used her comfort for her own enjoyment but she didn’t. She risked her own comfort to be a place where Christians can gather together. I am sure that she knew the potential danger yet she chose to do so.

When you take God seriously, you will find that no matter what circumstance you are in—you are able to trust Him regardless of the outcome to the situation that you are in.

Rhonda and the other people in the church.

Early church had peace Acts 2:47 & 9:31

1. In any case, the narrative bears witness to the delivering grace of God and to the power of believing prayer. That James should die while Peter should escape is a mystery of divine providence which has been repeated countless times in the history of the people of God. By faith, says the writer to the Hebrews, some “escaped the edge of the sword”; by faith others “were killed with the sword” (Heb. 11:34, 37).[1]

When you read about the early believers it is easy to say that maybe they didn’t trust God but I think they just like us are continuing to discover or perhaps even rediscover that God ‘is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine’ (Eph. 3:20).

Questions to ask:

Acts 12 is also about Encouragement. Think of it—one of their leaders (Apostle James) was executed and Peter was put into prison waiting to be executed but God delivered Peter from Herod’s plans and Peter proceeded to tell a house church that God delivered him from Herod. How do I encourage others? What stories do I tell to encourage others?

Conclusion

So as we look at this passage, we find that the early church was devoted in prayer and quick to encourage others. As you go about this week, reflect on how God has answered your prayers and we all have prayers that God is still answering. Encourage others. Tell each other of how much God has done for you. Take God seriously through praying and trusting in Him.

[1] F. F. Bruce, The Book of the Acts, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1988), 237.