No Retreat

Acts 1

“After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait there for the promise of the Father.” (Acts 1)

Why? Why? we asked ourselves. Why Jerusalem? Why the seat of power for our faith and our nation? Why the place where our Lord Jesus was arrested and brutally killed? Why did our witness need to begin in Jerusalem? Anywhere, anywhere but there!

None of us came from Jerusalem. Few among us even knew anyone who lived there. Don’t you remember? We were all simple men and women, mostly from Galilee, miles away from Jerusalem. To us, Jerusalem was a dangerous place, even a deadly place. But in Galilee, we would be safe. There, we had friends and family, and many followers of Jesus.

But let me back up a bit. I’m getting ahead of myself, and forgive me if it seems like I am starting to show my fears. Yes, fears. And let me ask you, if you’d witnessed what happened in Jerusalem, how our Lord and friend Jesus was rejected, brutalized and crucified, wouldn’t you have been afraid too?

I was there. I witnessed it all. But you won’t find my name in your Bible. Nevertheless, I was and am a disciple of Jesus, almost from the beginning. I walked with him all over Galilee, and then, along with the others, to Jerusalem.

Jesus, you may remember, began his ministry around the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Most of his disciples, including me, were from there. And you may recall his first miracle, how he turned water into wine at a wedding in Cana. He preached his first great sermon, what you call the Sermon on the Mount, on a hillside in Galilee, and he fed thousands nearby. He was transfigured into a vision of light on a mountaintop, also in Galilee.

But then, as your gospel writer Luke has written, Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9). That seemed to change everything. From then on, Jesus told us that he would be handed over and killed, only to rise again. He repeated it several times, yet we failed to understand.

But as his message began to sink in, we became increasingly fearful, not just for him, but also for ourselves. We tried to talk him out of going to Jerusalem. But Jesus was determined, and try as we did, we could not turn him away from this path. We reluctantly followed, our fears growing by the mile, as we traveled.

And then, of course, it happened, just as Jesus said it would. I can’t tell you how afraid we were. When Jesus was arrested, we ran and hid. And even after he was raised from the dead, we continued to hide in the shadows. Yes, we obeyed his command to stay in Jerusalem, but honestly, we did not know why. In short, we wanted to retreat. Yes, retreat to Galilee, where we would be safe. A retreat would be the sensible thing to do, wouldn’t it?

And what about the words of Jesus: to “wait there [in Jerusalem] for the promise of the Father.”

“The promise of the Father.” We had no idea what he meant. No idea, at least, until Pentecost.

You see, the events of Pentecost changed everything. Again, Jesus predicted it, the “promise of the Father” to send an advocate, a counselor to us. But as before, we didn’t listen. We huddled together in a dark cocoon of fear, not knowing exactly what we were waiting for, and when this mysterious “advocate” might arrive.

And then, Pentecost happened. As I said, Pentecost changed everything. From then on, there would be no retreat. Surely, that was the turning point for us.

And so, we emerged from our cocoon of fear. It was almost as if we had been bodily ejected from our hiding places, from the shadows into the light, and into the beginning of what you call the church.

Surely you remember the sermon that Peter preached to the crowd on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). It was wonderful, and we all felt so energized, energized by nothing less than the Holy Spirit of Christ. Our witness to Jesus was just beginning, and thanks to the Holy Spirit, that witness was already bearing fruit. The promised advocate had arrived!

Of course, coming out of the shadows and into the light also opened us up to the scrutiny of those who had opposed Jesus. And as you surely remember, these were people of power in our faith. They had used that power to arrest Jesus and brutally kill him.

We knew all of that, of course. But now that we were out from the shadows and into the light, there was no turning back, no retreat to Galilee.

You see, believers were being added, many each day. And the apostles were preaching and again, empowered by the Holy Spirit, they were performing miracles, just as Jesus had done.

And then, as you would surely expect, opposition came our way. First, Peter and John were arrested after healing a crippled man in the temple. They were warned against using the name of Jesus. You can read their response in your book of Acts (Acts 3).

Next, all twelve of the apostles were arrested and held overnight in jail (Acts 5). An angel released them, and they returned to the temple to preach about Jesus. The authorities, the same men who had condemned Jesus, warned them, just as they had warned Peter and John just days before. They were flogged before being released. And you know what? They rejoiced. Yes, they rejoiced that they had been dishonored and persecuted for the name of Jesus.

“As they left the council, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. And every day in the temple and at home they did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.”  (Acts 5)

Clearly, there would be no more hiding in the shadows. Clearly, our Father God did want us in Jerusalem, not in the backwaters of Galilee where we would be safe.

And then it happened. Stephen, one of the newly-appointed deacons, was arrested and brought before the council. And as had been done to Jesus, false witnesses were present to accuse him. Then, Stephen, “filled with the Holy Spirit” and with the face of an angel, gave a powerful witness to the highest authority in Israel.

I am sure that you remember what happened.

Stoning of Saint Stephen by Sant Joan de Boi circa 1100

“But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’ But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him, and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’  Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he died.”  (Acts 7)

Widespread persecution followed. Opponents of the Way, as our movement was called, now felt empowered to openly attack us. And Saul, later Paul, was chief among them. We could be arrested, imprisoned and even killed, just for the crime of following Jesus.

It seemed that now, after obeying the command of Jesus to stay in Jerusalem, we were literally being driven out, not in retreat, but to obey his command to evangelize elsewhere.

As a result, we scattered, leaving Jerusalem for Judea and Samaria. We could have retreated to Galilee, but we did not, choosing instead to obey the command of Jesus:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1)

It all happened, just as Jesus had said, starting in Galilee, and then, Jerusalem. And in fact, it was the persecution in Jerusalem that scattered us like seeds, in the surrounding countryside. We couldn’t understand at the time, but upon reflection, we could see that it was all part of God’s plan.

What did all of this mean?

For me, it meant that Jesus didn’t come just for the people of Galilee. No, he wanted us to witness further, in the heart of our faith, Jerusalem. But even Jerusalem wasn’t big enough for Jesus. He didn’t just come for the people of Jerusalem, he came for all peoples, even “to the ends of the earth.”  There would be no turning back and no retreat.

And what about you? Are you facing opposition? Are you afraid to witness to what Jesus Christ has meant to you? Do you wish to retreat?

If so, I pray that you will allow the Holy Spirit to empower you, just as happened to us. With the Holy Spirit in and around you, there is no need for retreat.