It’s No Tea Party or Occupation, It’s A Resurrection Revolution -- Acts 5:17-32

Would you take a stand?  Revolutions happen when someone takes a stand.

In 1297, William Wallace and others took a stand against what they understood to be unfair occupation of Scotland by England and the tyranny with which the king ruled.

Almost 500 years later, folks began taking a stand from Boston to Alamance, from Philadelphia to Valley Forge took a stand against what they felt was unfair taxation by England, and thus began the American Revolution.

In the 1780’s a financial crisis and the separation of classes caused folks to take a stand in France.

In the early 1900’s, folks began to take a stand in Mexico against the concentration of power, wealth, and justice to a very few and the denial of such to the people of Mexico.

From 2011-2012, we have seen the people of Egypt, Lybia, and Syria, among others, taking a stand against what they felt were ruthless leaders, or unfair practices of the government, and seen resulting revolutions.

Our country may have escaped some of the violence, but we have seen folks taking revolutionary stands here as well, whether it was the formation of the Tea Party revolution in 2009, where its members sought to take a stand against what they felt were financial and constitutional violations of those in political office; or the Occupy Wall Street and the like Revolution begun in 2011 by those taking a stand against what they perceive as economic and social inequality in the United States and other nations.  (Mind you, I just lift these up as revolutionary acts, not advocating or disparaging either group.)

Yet, when we think of revolutionary acts when someone takes a stand, how often do we think of the empty tomb and the early church?

We don’t often picture it this way, but the empty tomb---the resurrection of Jesus, was the beginning of a revolution.  The silence of that empty tomb was a more powerful statement than William Wallace’s “…they may take our lives, but they’ll never take…OUR FREEDOM…” or Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death!”

If you have trouble believing in the Resurrection Revolution, let’s go back to Scripture before the empty tomb:

John 3:1-2a---Jesus had begun his ministry, and there were many who sought him out to talk with him.  Some approached Jesus during normal daytime hours.  Others, however, did not want folks to know they went to see Jesus:  “Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.  He came to Jesus by night…”

John 12:42-43---Much later on, Jesus had entered Jerusalem.  He spoke to the people about the coming death of the Messiah, many did not believe Jesus, but some did:  “Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him.  But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.”

John 18:15-18—Jesus had been arrested.  Peter was in the courtyard outside the place where Jesus was being tried by the Sanhedrin:  “Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. The woman said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing around it and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself.”

John 18:25-27---Not too much later, as they were bringing Jesus out of the building, we see one of Jesus’ closest followers again:  “Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.”

John 19:38-42—After Jesus had been crucified and they had pierced him with the sword to ensure that he was dead, “…Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.”

Before the Resurrection everyone around Jesus acted cowardly and in fear.  Leaders who thought there might actually be something to Jesus came to him under the cover of night…other leaders became disciples of Jesus, but only in secret…still others believed in Jesus but refused to acknowledge it because they did not want to become outcasts…and even Jesus’s closest disciples deserted him and refused to acknowledge they even knew him.

However, the Resurrection is a revolutionary act.  It calls the status quo into question and changes things.  All we have to do is look at Peter and the other disciples after the Resurrection…those who denied knowing Him, those who could not be found as he was being tried and many who hid away while he was in the tomb.

In Acts 4 we encounter Peter and John witnessing to those around them:  “While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them, much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead. So they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.”

The next morning when they were brought to trial, and those in authority asked Peter and John what they were doing, the two men declared to all who could hear that all that they had done and said was done in the name of Jesus Christ, who the leaders had rejected and crucified, but that God had raised from the dead.  The authorities did not know how to respond:  “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus.   When they saw the man who had been cured standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.”

There was also Stephen…Stephen, who the Scriptures tell us, was arrested after false charges were brought against him in an effort to silence him.  When put on trial, he was actually bold enough to witness to those trying him by sharing with them the story of salvation, beginning with Abraham…however, he did not mince his words and did not use honey as he concluded his speech:  “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it.”

When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen.  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.”

And then of course we come to today’s reading (which actually happens prior to Stephen’s arrest and stoning) in which the religious authorities, fed up with all of the attention and following that the apostles are drawing to Jesus, have them arrested…they are put in jail for bearing witness to Jesus…and during the night an angel frees them and tells them to continue to bear witness to Christ.  When the apostles emerged from the jail, they refused to go into hiding as most folks fleeing through a jail break would.  They went back to the temple and continued to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The apostles were arrested again and brought before the council.  The high priest addresses them directly, “Didn’t we tell you to be quiet and stop talking  about Jesus, yet you go on and on, telling everyone about it…on top of it all, you are making us look bad…making it look like we were responsible for his crucifixion.  Y’all need to stop.”

Peter, though, having three times denied knowing Jesus out of fear for his own life, put it simple and direct, “We must obey God rather than any human authority.”  My brothers and sisters, the Resurrection Revolution was well under way.

My friends, all too often when we think of the significance of the resurrection, we think about it meaning that we have the promise of eternal life with God through Christ.  And, you know, that is part of the significance of the resurrection…it means that those who have been joined to Christ, through the grace of God, have the promise that the will spend eternity in the presence of God…that when this life of flesh and blood shall come to a temporary end, we will continue on.

However, when we come face to face with the Resurrection it is much more than the promise of life after we die.  When we come face to face with the Resurrection, and truly understand its significance, the Resurrection Revolution will happen within us and we will find ourselves changed.  It has meaning for this life before death.  It delivers a message to us this side of the grave.  It call us to live with the boldness of Peter and the other apostles.

How often do we bear witness to Christ to those around us?  How often do we share with others the good news of Jesus Christ, what He has done in our lives and what He can do in theirs?  Do we proclaim the Gospel openly or do we remain silent, scared someone might think we are a nut or fanatic?  If we are quiet, then we do not truly understand the Resurrection Revolution!

Do we reach out to the untouchable?  Speaking to, shaking hands with, maybe even sitting down to a meal with those that others have deemed unworthy or filthy?  Maybe it is someone who is homeless, someone with AIDS, someone with a different skin color, someone from a different social class, maybe even an illegal immigrant?  Or do we distance ourselves, for fear that we might catch something or become ridiculed by our “so-called friends?”  If we distance ourselves, then we do not truly understand the Resurrection Revolution!

Do we give of, not only our resources but also our time and efforts where there is a need…feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the hospitals and prisons, helping recover from a disaster…or do we hold tightly to what we claim as our own, for fear we might have to do without?  If we hold tightly to it, then we do not truly understand the Resurrection Revolution!

Do we tell folks who make racist comments or spread gossip that they need to be quiet, for their words fuel hatred?  Do we refuse to do things for gain that we know are morally wrong or cause hurt to innocents?  Do we take a stand for justice or simply sit idly by, listening, refusing to get involved, taking what we can get, because we are afraid that we will be ridiculed, miss out, make someone mad, or not be able to survive?  If we are simply sitting by and taking what we can get, then we do not truly understand the Resurrection Revolution!

And my friends, these are all easy…what if we lived somewhere like China, India, Iran, or other places where we could be put to death for proclaiming our faith or living out what it means to be a Christian?  Would we have the courage that Peter, Stephen, and others had, to proclaim the Gospel with word and action?  We have it easy here, we don’t have that threat, but one day we could…we could be called by God to witness in one of these nations, or it may come to the point where one day it is illegal to proclaim “Jesus Christ is Lord” or “that He is the Way the Truth and the Life and that no one gets to God except through Him.”  We may think that would never happen, but we never know what might happen in the name of tolerance.  What will we do?  Will be become a full-fledged member of the Resurrection Revolution?

How can we stand firm…how can we act without fear?

Paul, perhaps, having been the persecutor at one point, then the persecutee, knew better than anyone the results of a Resurrection Revolution in his life, and in his letter to the Romans, he makes it very clear as to why we can act without fear:  “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 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.”

We are able to participate in the Resurrection Revolution because we know that through the Resurrection God has declared that no one is greater than He is…that no one has the final say of His children…that while things may seem harsh and terrible on this earth…that He is the one in control…

To flip William Wallace’s declaration on its head, Paul asserts, and any who are part of the Resurrection Revolution can assert:  “They may take our freedom, but they will never take our lives.”

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.