Will You Go?

Have you ever had some really good news you just needed to share with someone else. Whether that’s a promotion, engagement, new grand baby, or even you’ve decided to retire. At different times in life, we all have reason to share some big news. But have you ever had news that you just wanted to tell the whole world about? Many of us feel that way when we first come to faith. We want to tell the world. Now with the invention of social media, the wider world is at our fingertips to do so. But what if you were told to keep the news to yourself. That most people don’t need to know or want to hear it, or maybe you just don’t feel qualified to share. Too often we feel this way and eventually become more silent about the gospel. That people don’t want to hear us or that someone else will do it.

This was the reality of the first church. Peter and John, who were two disciples of Jesus, began to share the good news of the gospel with everyone they came in contact with. They were excited and full of the Holy Spirit. They healed and saved in the name of Jesus. However, it didn’t make the religious leaders of the day too happy. They arrested Peter and John for what they were preaching and said they would let them go but they had to stop preaching about Jesus… Here is the greatest news in the world, and they are being threatened to keep it to themselves. Here is Peter’s response:

“Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being 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. Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” 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 (Acts 4:8-13 NIV).

You see, Peter and John didn’t have any real training in preaching or teaching. But they had real experiences and deep encounters with Jesus that they could share. They were just ordinary guys who had their life changed by Jesus and wanted to share it with everyone. That’s the call we have on our lives today as disciples. To go out and share our testimony and all Jesus has done in our lives. And the truth is, it may not make people happy at times. That was Peter and John’s experience. After a night in prison the religious leaders called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:18-20 NIV).

So which is right in God’s eyes? To listen to the world that tells us to keep it to ourselves or to listen to Jesus who tells us to go and make disciples. To go and be the witnesses of all we’ve seen and heard. Peter and John wouldn’t stop speaking about it. Have you been silenced?