Stand

It's difficult to take a stand.

It's easier to go along with others than to stand alone. Don't you find that to be true? It's true in marriage and in relationships. The Bible describes how men want to please their wives, and how women want to please men. In Proverbs the Bible describes how it's better to live on the corner of the roof or in the desert, than to quarrel with your wife. I'm not trying to ignite a firestorm, but isn't it easier to go along with others than to stand?

It's true in families. Parents want to please their children. In Proverbs, the Bible describes how kids cry out, "Give, give" and how parents are reluctant to say, "No" or to discipline their children. The husband's job is to please his wife. The parent's job is to please the child. It's easier to go along and keep the peace than it is to stand.

It's true in the classroom. It's better to sit quietly than to explain your convictions. On a team it's better to maintain the status quo. In the workplace it's better to maintain your job security. In politics it's better to be politically correct.

On Thursday I attended the governor's prayer breakfast. After a while I began to notice things. The choir was singing a song about clapping your hands. There was a reading from the Old Testament by a Jewish rabbi, a reading from the New Testament, and a reading from the Quran. The governor spoke vaguely about faith and spirituality and alluded to his social agenda. Finally, the speaker, a young marine who lost both his legs and suffered traumatic injuries in Iraq, fearlessly declared the name of Jesus, and spoke of Christ's power to give us all a hope and a future. A marine with no legs was teaching all of us how to stand. But he was a lone voice that morning, amidst the cacophony of political correctness.

It's not natural for us to stand alone.

The world is a conforming place. It's not natural for us to stand. In Luke 22 we read about the arrest of Jesus. As Jesus was led off, Peter followed at a distance until he found himself in the high priest's courtyard at night, warming his hands beside a fire. But a servant girl began to study Peter's face as he sat in the firelight until she finally announced, "This man was with Jesus." But Peter denied it saying, "Woman, I don't know Jesus." Three times Peter was confronted, and all three times he denied any association with Jesus. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

We see this in the wake of Jesus' crucifixion too, as the disciples huddled in the upper room with the doors locked for fear of the Jews. See John 20:19. It takes something special, something more, for us to stand.

One of my favorite movies is "Twelve Angry Men". It's a story of a lone juror who stands against eleven jurors who are eager to convict a young boy of murdering his father, without carefully weighing the evidence. Finally juror number 9 comes to the lone juror's defense. "This gentleman has been standing alone against us. Now he doesn't say that the boy is not guilty. He just isn't sure. Well it's not easy to stand alone against the ridicule of others, so he gambled for support and I gave it to him. I respect his motives. The boy is probably guilty, but - eh, I want to hear more. Right now the vote is ten to two."

On Friday night, a number of us attended a banquet for Palal, an indigenous missionary in Myanmar who our church has helped support. Palal was describing the pressure he was under to stop his work. They denounced him for being uneducated and for trying to impose Western beliefs on his people. Many would have caved to the pressure. But Palal wasn't deterred. He went to Lincoln Christian University, got a degree, and has continued to preach the name of Jesus.

But what comes natural to us is fear. Fear of rejection, ridicule, or reprisal. Fear of danger, of suffering, or of personal loss. What if I get a bad grade? What if I get demoted, or lose my standing, or get arrested? What if I alienate someone? What if my friends think I'm arrogant, or think I sound stupid? It's not that we're ashamed of Christ. It's that we're timid, weak, and apologetic. We're afraid to stand for anything, so we make it appear we're falling for everything. Two things transformed the early Church.

A clear conviction about Christ's resurrection transformed the early Church.

The reality of the resurrection transformed the Church from a community of fear to a community of faith. One moment they were cowering in the upper room. The next moment they were dancing and shouting in the streets. One moment Peter was melting in fear by a fire. The next moment he's standing tall before all the Jews, proclaiming the message of Christ's resurrection.

It's impossible for us to stand without some measure of conviction about Christ's identity. In Acts 2:36 (NIV) Peter says, "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this, 'God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.' "

In Acts 2:38 (NIV) Peter says, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

In Acts 3:6 (NIV) Peter says, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!"

In Acts 3:13-15 (NIV) Peter continues, "The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this."

In Acts 3:19 (NIV) Peter asserts, "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord..."

Acts 4:8-12 (NIV) continues the account. "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: 'Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today 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 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.' "

Acts 4:18-20 (NIV) says, "Then they called them in again 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 to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.' "

Without clear conviction, we'll never stand for Christ. The marine had clear convictions. Palal has clear convictions. The apostles, Peter and John, and the people of the early Church had clear convictions. What convictions do you hold about Jesus?

We need supernatural power to stand for Christ.

Last Sunday Jim Bettison talked about the passage in Acts 4:18 where Peter and John were commanded not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. In Acts 4:23 they report back to their own people, and in Acts 4:24-30 (NIV) they raise their voices in prayer to God. " 'Sovereign Lord,' they said, 'you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: 'Why do the nations rage and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.' Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.' "

They were praying for that which wasn't natural in themselves-- for boldness and for the ability to stand. Acts 4:31 (NIV) says, "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly."

This morning God is calling you to stand in a particular place, to proclaim a particular message, in the power of the Holy Spirit. You cannot stand without a clear conviction of Christ's resurrection. Nor can you stand in your own power. For both of these gifts, we must call upon God's holy name.