Mystery & Wonder | Spirit Filled Community, pt. 9.b

Mystery & Wonder | Spirit Filled Community, pt. 9.b

To read Mystery & Wonder | Spirit Filled Community, pt. 9.a CLICK

II. PETER AND JOHN STAND THE TEST

Peter and John are whisked away from the crowd before the altar call of 5,000 souls (4.1-3).

They’re set before the religious elite, the Sanhedrin: Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes (4.5-7). These are the ones who put Christ to death. Peter and John are questioned by these jealous leaders.

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel… Acts 4.8

the same Mysterious move of God begins again

Peter looks them in the eyes, as he had the lame man, and defends the Gospel (4.9-12).

The mystery is that God who makes the lame to walk, also guides Peter’s tongue: “Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost,” same word for filled in Acts 2.4. The Holy Spirit enables Peter to respond.

Peter and John do not back down against their threats

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
Acts 4.13-14

just like the crowds, the Sanhedrin is in Wonder

They “marvelled; and… could say nothing against it.”

They send them out of the room and take council privately (4.15-20). Because of this amazing miracle, they can’t do anything against it. They call Peter and John back in and threaten them not to talk of Jesus anymore.

Peter and John refuse.

So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done. Acts 4.21

the people still, “glorified God for that which was done.”

All the people were still praising God for what had happened (NIV)

When a mystery of God Almighty shows up, people can’t help but be lost in wonder. Those who choose to worship, can’t seem to stop praising God. Those who want to stop the praise can’t get in the way.

God is something other than us. He is a Divine mystery and He operates in mysterious ways. When we worship him, we recognize His separateness.

“Young evangelicals are tired of entertainment, self-focused, chorus-driven worship.  They want more.  They want mystery, awe, wonder, transcendence.”[1]

Again, mystery, wonder, and worship are all evident as PETER AND JOHN STAND THE TEST.

III. PETER AND JOHN SHARE THE STORY

They leave the Sanhedrin, return to the Christian community, and tell the whole story (4.23).

And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:
Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,
By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.
Acts 4.24-30

Mystery, Wonder, and Praise are just oozing from this prayer

They are caught up in the mystery of God.

The term “Lord” is translated Sovereign Lord in the NIV (4.24). He is the ruling Lord over all “heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is.” He is the mysterious Creator that all of creation gives an account to.

He is the “holy child Jesus” or holy servant Jesus in the NIV (4.27). “Holy” means set apart from. They recognize the mystery of the Godhead and are lost in the wonder and praise.

“The Pentecostal community in worship is really involving itself in a ministry to God that acknowledges His rule over the universe.”[2]

“God, if You rule over the entire universe, then You reign over our circumstances”

They ask God to manifest His mystery in tangible wonders. “Boldness” in 4.29 is what the Sanhedrin used to describe Peter in 4.13. We would call this the anointing. It’s impossible to describe to those who haven’t felt it. Those who truly have felt it, are left in wonder. The E.C. asks God to “heal” and to perform “signs and wonders” (4.30).

The mysteries of God revealed in indescribable ways leave us in wonder and worship.

“That shout proceeded from delight and great emotion. Such indeed are the prayers which do their work.”[3]

PETER AND JOHN SHARE THE STORY with the entire Christian community. Together they raise their voices in praise and prayer.

And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. Acts 4.31

God shows up and lets them know He’s here.

God is not just at work in me but in us, in mystery and wonder.

IV. MYSTERY AND WONDER MUST BE A MARK OF THE SPIRIT-FILLED COMMUNITY

Mystery and Wonder must drive our worship

“The truth is that when we lose mystery, our worship becomes merely a grocery list of actions and pronouncements.”[4]

If we open our eyes to the mystery of God, then we are captivated by wonder. We spontaneously worship.

Mystery and Wonder must drive our Theology

Some of the greatest Theologians of all time experienced childlike wonder.

“Repeatedly, individuals who exemplify the rational and philosophical aspect of the religion also demonstrate in their lives a consciousness of the radically mysterious, the ecstatic.”[5]

C.S. Lewis is known worldwide for his theology, but he is discussed around the family table because of his children stories. These stories made Scripture come alive to wide-eyed, wonder-filled children.

a sense of Mystery and Wonder must return to the Western Church

“If we live in Western cultures profoundly shaped by Christianity and Christian values over centuries, we can be startled to watch the transforming effects of the religion on a society, when so often this process is grounded in scriptural texts that have for us lost much of their power to surprise.”[6]

We watch in awe as the Global South, the Majority World Church now overtakes us.

They watch in awe as the pages of their Bibles turn.

What have we lost?

What have we forgotten?

pic credit: jaefrench | 01.03.17 | pixabay

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notes:

1. Robert E. Webber, The Younger Evangelicals: Facing the Challenges of the New World (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2002), 199.
2. Byron D. Klaus, “The Mission of the Church,” in Systematic Theology, ed. Stanley M. Horton (Springfield, MO: Logion Press, 2002), 587.
3. John Chrysostom, Homily XI on Acts IV.23
4. Ravi Zacharias, The Grand Weaver: How God Shapes Us Through the Events of Our Lives (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007), 134.
5. Philip Jenkins, The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), 192.
6. Ibid., 193.