church

INI
Quasimodogeniti, the First Sunday after Easter
May 1, 2011
Ascension Lutheran Church, Tacoma WA
Paul Naumann, Pastor

In Matters of Faith
THERE'S NO RIDING THE FENCE
Acts 5:35-42

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus
our Lord, Amen. Today we consider the Word of God in Acts, chapter five,
beginning with the 35th verse, as follows:

And [Gamaliel] said to them: "Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you
intend to do regarding these men. 36 "For some time ago Theudas rose up,
claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about four hundred, joined him.
He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing. 37
"After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census, and drew
away many people after him. He also perished, and all who obeyed him were
dispersed. 38 "And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them
alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; 39 "but if
it is of God, you cannot overthrow it -- lest you even be found to fight against
God." 40 And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles
and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of
Jesus, and let them go. 41 So they departed from the presence of the council,
rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. 42 And
daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and
preaching Jesus as the Christ. Here ends our text.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, Who was bold and courageous on our behalf, Dear
Fellow Redeemed,

I was preparing my address for this morning, and was trying to remember
whether I'd ever heard the expression "riding the fence," used in a
complementary way. But I don't think I ever have. To ride the fence means that
person is in the middle, he is undecided, he may go either way on a particular
issue. Certainly, there is a proper time for prudence and caution, but in most
areas, "riding the fence" is a very pejorative term. It is something bad, and the
person who does it is seen as weak, vacillating, having no abiding values, being
subject to every wind of change. Is certainly not an asset when it comes to
political campaigns, as several of our presidential contenders have discovered
already. A candidate will go to almost any length to avoid being seen as one
who rides the fence.

I think most people, as individuals, would like to think of themselves as
confident and decisive. None of us would like to be characterized as a fence
rider. But there is one area in our life where riding the fence could be more than
just a character flaw. It could be eternally fatal. And that is in the area of our
spirituality and our faith. This morning we will consider one of the premier
fence riders of all time, a man named Gamaliel. From his bad example of
timidity and indecision, the Holy Spirit would direct us rather to a life of faith,
one which engages in decisive action for Christ. Join me this morning in
considering the theme:

In Matters of Faith
THERE'S NO RIDING THE FENCE
I. Faithless skeptics never cease to preach caution.
II. Faithful disciples never cease to preach Christ.

Gamaliel is an interesting character. He was a grandson of the great Jewish
scholar Hillel. He was the teacher of Saul, by the way, before he became the
Apostle Paul. He was one of the greatest scholars and most respected rabbis
among the leaders of the Jews. It is speculated that Gamaliel may have been
one of the doctors of the law who had discussed the word of God with the boy
Jesus, many years before in the temple. He was one of the sect of the Pharisees,
which meant that he put great emphasis on the strict outward keeping of Jewish
ceremonial law. When it came to this novel teaching going around about the
prophet Jesus from Nazareth, Gamaliel was strongly skeptical, to say the least.
And above all, he was a cautious man.

But that's only natural. For faithless skeptics never ceased to preach caution.
And that is what Gamaliel did. In this case, several of the disciples had been
arrested, after preaching in the name of Christ, and healing many sick people in
the Lord's name. The Sadducees, who often fought bitterly with the Pharisees,
would likely have put the disciples to death. But Gamaliel intervened. He
preached caution. He said to them: "Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves
what you intend to do regarding these men."

Then he brought two examples from the recent history of Israel, to show that
his wait-and-see approach to the apostles was the correct one. Both men he
spoke of, Theudas, and Judas of Galilee, were leaders of fringe religious
movements. Both men were quickly captured and killed, and their followers
were scattered. Their movements died away, leaving no trace behind. These
followers of this Jesus of Nazareth, Gamaliel speculated, might very well end up
the same way. His advice was to wait and see.

"Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these
men.. . . . And they agreed with him. The advice of Gamaliel was accepted by
the Sanhedrin. He convinced them. Did he convince you? I have to admit that
the first time I read this text, Gamaliel's advice sounded pretty logical to me. If
this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; It seems to make sense.
If a work or institution is of human origin, it will fail all by itself. You don't
have to help it along. And if a work or institution is from God, then clearly
there's nothing you can do to combat it, struggle as you may. It seems very
sensible advice. Indeed, it seems a model of tolerance and prudence. In fact,
tolerance was the subject of a sermon on this very text, which I happened to run
across on the Internet. The preacher, a woman, used these words of Gamaliel to
urge her hearers to be tolerant toward homosexuals in the church. We should
find out whether it was from God or from men, she said, before passing
judgment. The thought struck me that she could find out whether it was God
immediately, just by turning to the first chapter of the book Romans.

Actually, Gamaliel's advice isn't as good as it sounds. You don't have to dig
very deeply before the logic of his argument begins to break down. Just because
a religion or a movement has its origin in man, doesn't mean that it will quickly
die away, as did the two examples Gamaliel cited. Islam is an idolatrous religion
that comes from man, not from God. But one-third of the earth's population are
adherents of Islam. It has lasted for centuries, and appears as though it may
endure for centuries more. The same could be said of Buddhism, or Taoism,
The Mormons or the Jehovah's witnesses. They will all eventually come to
nothing, as Gamaliel promised, but that may not happen until the day of
judgment.

Even less logical is Gamaliel's second statement. 39 "but if it is of God, you
cannot overthrow it -- lest you even be found to fight against God." Which
raises a logical absurdity: who would want to fight against God? How silly for a
religious leader to be urging his hearers not to fight against God! If what the
disciples were doing - preaching the gospel, healing the sick, spreading the good
news of the kingdom - if what they were doing was of God, why wasn't this
leader of Israel urging his hearers to fight FOR God, to receive the Gospel, to
believe the good news and be saved?! But faithless skeptics never cease to
preach caution.

Take heed to yourselves, he told them. Be cautious. Take care what you do.
Let's ride the fence for a while, and find out what happens to these disciples of
Jesus. When all the evidence is in, then we can make an informed decision. It
sounded like words of wisdom, when in fact it was the height of folly.

In the beginning of the American Civil War, there were many people,
particularly among the border states, who were conflicted. They had loyalties on
both sides. A story is told about a man from Northern Virginia, who staunchly
refused to take sides. It is said that he showed up at the Battle of Bull Run
wearing a uniform that was half blue and half gray. It might have seemed like an
expedient measure at the time. However, he soon realized the folly of his
supposed solution, when he discovered that the Confederate soldiers were
shooting at his blue jacket while the Union Army was shooting at his gray pants.

In matters of faith too, there's no riding the fence. In the words of the old
phrase, he who hesitates is lost. Gamaliel hesitated. He preached caution. He
refused to receive or believe the good news of a Savior from sin. Yes, Gamaliel
hesitated, and as far as we know, was lost.

And what about you and me? We look at our lives and we have to admit that
we have far too often been timid and hesitant, when we should've been bold for
Christ. Those opportunities are so precious, and you never know when they'll
come, but sadly we often fail to take advantage of them. Very often we have a
chance at the office, at the club, or at family gathering, to speak a fit word -
where the gospel-would have a chance to really do some good. And we're timid.
We're cautious. We mumble something noncommittal, or keep silent altogether.
We sit on the fence. We need to wake up and realize that, in matters of faith,
there's no riding the fence. All it takes the snap us back to reality is to be
reminded of what God said to the lukewarm church at Laodicea. Remember
them? They were spiritual fence- riders. And God said to them in Rev. 3, "I
know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold
or hot. 16 "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will
vomit you out of My mouth.

To our shame, we have to admit that we, too, have all too often been guilty of
riding the fence in things spiritual. But before you get too discouraged, I'd like
to remind you about someone who never rode the fence. Someone who made a
right decision, and stuck to it. Someone who always fought the good fight, and
never vacillated. A man who, for your sake and mine, refused to preach caution
and rather preached the good news of pardon and peace. Jesus Christ refused to
ride the fence. Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He
suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges
righteously; 24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we,
having died to sins, might live for righteousness -- by whose stripes you were
healed. I Pet 2:23-24. Jesus, in His mission to bring you eternal salvation, was
not paralyzed by fear and inaction. He didn't take a wait and see attitude; He
dove right in. Our Lord was undaunted by suffering and shame. Look unto
Jesus, says the writer to the Hebrews, who for the joy that was set before him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of
the throne of God.

Yes, we are weak, but Jesus is strong. And Jesus, for the joy of delivering you
from eternal condemnation, went all the way to the cross. There on that cross,
he atoned for all your sins and transgressions, all your weaknesses, all your
failures, every dark misdeed of which you've been guilty, and every shameful
stain that lies upon your record. And when God raised Jesus from the dead at
the third day, he put his seal on your forgiveness. He set his ironclad guarantee
on your eternal salvation. As the Apostle Paul says, Jesus was delivered for our
offences, and was raised again for our justification. -Romans 4:25.

That being the case, we might well ask, "what can I now do for my blessed
savior, who has earned heaven for me?" And our text doesn't leave us in the
dark there, either. For while faithless skeptics never cease to preach caution,
faithful disciples never cease to preach Christ.

And when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded
that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 So they
departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted
worthy to suffer shame for His name. 42 And daily in the temple, and in every
house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. Poor
Gamaliel. In the end, the very thing happened to him that he was most afraid
of. He was found fighting against God. He whipped and persecuted the servants
of the True God, and charged them not to preach in the name of Christ. By the
way, we glibly rattle off that phrase, they beat them and let them go, perhaps
without understanding what was involved. The apostles were stripped to the
waist, right there before the council, and whipped with 39 strokes. It was very
public, and very shameful. It was the fulfillment of Jesus' previous warning to
his disciples, But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils,
and they will scourge you in their synagogues. Matt 10:17.

But how we see the apostles react? They rejoiced. They were actually proud to
be so publicly shamed, for the sake of their Lord. And when it came to the
Gospel, they did not equivocate, and they did not ride the fence. In fact, they
never ceased to preach Christ. They joyfully redoubled their efforts to spread
ever wider the influence of the saving Gospel. Likewise, we have work to do
here to do in Tacoma. When we completed the building of our church eight
years ago, it might have seemed as if our goal was reached and our work at an
end. But in reality, the real work - -the work our Lord put us here on this earth
to do -- that work goes on. It's more urgent now than ever before. Jesus words
to his disciples are words for us as well: But you shall receive power, after the
Holy Ghost has come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the
earth. KJV Acts 1:8.

For you, it might not be the ends of the earth. For you it might be your
next-door neighbor, or your co-worker, or your business partner. But in any
case, never cease to preach Christ. Like those faithful disciples, never cease to
tell others what great things God has done for you. You needn't be eloquent.
You needn't stand on the street corner and force your attentions on passers-by.
Just be ready. Be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you, a reason for
the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. As a friend of this congregation
once encouraged us, be ready for those divine encounters. And never cease to
preach Christ!

Riding the fence is an American idiom. In Germany they have an equally
colorful idiom: swischen zwei Stuehlen zu sitzen. It means literally, to sit
between two stools, to be caught between two positions -- to be neither in one
place nor the other. Clearly, it is not somewhere we want to be. And it's a place
where we Christians will not be, for we understand that you can't sit between
two stools. In matters of faith, there simply is no riding the fence. To the end of
the age, faithless skeptics will never cease to preach caution. God grant that we
may be faithful disciples, who never cease to preach Christ! AMEN.