Acts 12:1-17
Things have changed. It used to be that the disciples were generally tolerated in Jerusalem, but not anymore. A new King Herod is on the throne, and he is currying favor with the religious and secular elite. James has been murdered. Peter has been arrested and his situation is dire.
What should the church do? Tuck its tail and run? Keep their collective heads down and hope no one notices? Rise up in armed rebellion? March on the Temple and see who follows?
None of the above.
In times of difficulty and distress, the church should do what it does best. It should pray. It should pray fervently and without ceasing. It should pray that God will inspire them how to act. When life is hard and our faith is being tested, praying for God’s courage and guidance is the best response.
In this instance, someone does respond. An angel shows up in the middle of the night, leading Peter through the maze of corridors and finally through the eerily opened gate separating the prison from the city. Who is this angel? Is it a being from heaven? Is it someone who worked in the prison who knew when the guards would be asleep? Perhaps someone who had friends who opened and closed the gate?
Was the angel a being sent directly from God? Or was the angel a believer who also prayed fervently and on whose heart God laid a special message? We don’t know. All we know is that God acted decisively in human history.
Peter, by now fully awake and functioning. Makes his way to a place where he knows fellow believers will be praying for him. When he knocks and asks to come in the servant, Rhoda, is so amazed she leaves Peter outside while she announces his presence to the believers.
Why didn’t the believers believe her? Did they not believe in the power of prayer? Did they believe God would act but not by sending Peter to their doorstep? Were they such misogynists that they wouldn’t believe it if a woman brought them good news? (It wouldn’t be the first time. See Luke 24:1-11.) For whatever reason, they certainly failed to take God seriously and that had to have left a bad impression with Rhoda.
Life is not static. Things change. Sometimes a benign, or at least tolerable, situation changes for the worse. Everything seems to go south. The church finds itself in trouble.
In these situations, the best thing the church can do is not to sit back and meditate. Nor is the church to run away from its troubles or even try to force change. In these situations, the church’s most important job is to pray. Pray for God’s will to be done. And then act with God when God acts.
May we all let go of our preconceptions of how God will act and who God will send as a messenger. Instead, let us be open to how and when God will act. And through whom.
God’s peace to all of us,
Pastor Ken.