WEDNESDAY 21 April 2021 “Cancel Culture”

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Hello my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends around the world.

In these recent days we’ve been introduced to something called “cancel culture”, in many parts of the world. It’s the efforts of one group of people to intimidate and even silence another group of people, effectively cancelling their voice and their influence in society! In years past it was accomplished by thugs in the alleys or by gangs or by ‘cartels’, always with brute force. Sometimes it was political parties or hired guns or powerful labor unions. In recent years social media and peer pressure has been the weapon, attacking individuals or groups of people effectively silencing them. Join me please in Acts 4 as we see a ‘cancel culture’ attempt aimed at the closest friends of Jesus!

Here’s the scene… Peter is again speaking courageously, boldly in Jerusalem. He’s speaking to a crowd of mostly Jewish people who have gathered to see a man who has been crippled his entire life, now leaping and dancing and praising God for his miraculous healing. Now that’s something you don’t see every day, right? The healed man identified Peter as the man who healed him, but Peter is quick to say it was this man’s great faith in Jesus Christ which healed him. Peter has gone on to make quite a speech about Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension back to heaven and His power available to anyone who will believe in Him. Peter explained that many great things going on in Jerusalem in those days were due to Jesus unleashing the power of the Holy Spirit of God in that city, on the followers of Jesus, just as He had promised. As we can imagine the Jewish religious leaders are determined to ‘silence’ these followers of Jesus, even though in only a few days it has grown to a spiritual movement of several thousand people.

Luke writes: “They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. But many who heard their message believed, and the number of men grew to about 5000!” (Acts 4:1-4) In most parts of the world we are accustomed to large crowds… in open markets, or in stadiums for sporting events, or political rallies. Perhaps some of you have attended a Billy Graham or Luis Palau crusade or maybe one of the Promise Keeper men’s gatherings years ago. 5000 men, plus women and children is a lot of people in one city who are forming a movement, so we can imagine Roman soldiers and Jewish religious leaders were getting very concerned, maybe even frightened of what might happen. Imprisoning the leaders is a tactic which has been used for thousands of years around the world. In some places, no formal charges, not even a trial is required to detain a perceived troublemaker for a long time. Here, they hoped things would calm down overnight.

Word spread during the night to many other religious leaders in Jerusalem, and while Luke doesn’t tell us, it’s entirely possible Roman authorities called Jewish leaders in and warned them to control this movement or face the consequences. Meanwhile Peter and John spent the night in a public jail without formal charges, and probably without food or water. I wonder, what do you suppose these two disciples of Jesus talked about that night? How did they pray? What wisdom did the Holy Spirit give them?

Luke writes: “The next day the rulers, elders and teachers of the law met in Jerusalem…They had Peter and John brought before them and questioned them: ‘By what power did you do this?’ Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit replied: ‘If we are being called to account for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He (Jesus) is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.’ ‘Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.’

Let’s pause there just a moment, putting ourselves in the room with these religious leaders and two Galilean fishermen who had spent some months with Jesus. Peter had quoted from Psalm 118:22, a powerful and famous Old Testament passage that these religious leaders would have studied and they knew it well. The verse was a warning. The religious scholars would know that earlier in Psalm 118 the Psalmist writes “In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and He answered me by setting me free. The LORD is with me, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? The LORD is with me, He is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies. It is better to take refuge in the LORD then trust in man.” (Ps. 118:5-8) I’m confident the leaders are seething inside, desperately trying to find a way to silence these two men and their movement… but at the same time a healed man who’d been crippled his entire life was standing right there, jumping up and down every few moments! So let me ask… what would you have done?

Luke writes: “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say! So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. ‘What are going to do with these men? Everyone in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it! But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name.” (Acts 4:13-17) So, what do you think my friends? Do you see ‘cancel culture’ at work here? And look around your part of the world today, in April 2020. Are there people and forces determined to silence any voice claiming that the Bible is God’s authoritative word on TRUTH and MORALITY for life today? So, what should followers of Jesus do in the face of “cancel culture” or intimidation wherever it happens?

In closing look at what Peter & John did. The religious leaders “…called them in and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied ‘Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight for us to obey you rather than God. For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.’ (Acts 4:18-20) Throughout history such confidence comes from an authentic encounter with God, by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit! Peter and John knew what they had seen Jesus do and say. They knew the Holy Spirit of God had come upon them in great power. They knew what Jesus had commissioned them to do as His witnesses. For those reasons, we see no hesitation, no compromise, no fear… but rather courage!

Time stood still. Nose to nose they stood facing each other, refusing to back down. Finally these, the most powerful Jewish leaders in all Israel, the Sanhedrin, buckled. “After further threats they let Peter and John go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God…for the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.” (Acts 4:21,22) It’s hard to reject living evidence standing right in front of you, isn’t it? That my friends is why in these times of ‘cancel culture’ or intimidation against followers of Jesus and attempts in schools and courtrooms and political power rooms, those who are determined to push God OUT of society have nothing to stand on when faced with the undeniable, powerful evidence of a person rescued by Jesus Christ from the darkness which held them in bondage! Are you and I those types of people? Does our life silence the accusers, the opposition because they simply cannot deny the evidence of the power of Jesus which they see in our lives, in our marriages, in our integrity and ethics and values? Let’s spend the rest of this day pondering that?

Can it be said of you and me… “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized they were ordinary men, they were astonished and took note that they had been with Jesus!” Is the evidence undeniable, that you and Jesus have a very, very close relationship, that you spend time with HIM every day? Is it evident that the Holy Spirit of God empowers you, guides you, protects you? May I suggest you and Jesus have a conversation right now about this. Where does your help come from when you need courage and the ‘cancel culture’ movement is trying to silence you? Here’s a worship song to help you reflect and I hope gain courage:

Today’s Scripture is Acts 4:1-22.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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