Last Sunday we read from Acts chapter three of the healing of the lame man by Peter and John and the consequent clamour by the crowds to understand what they had done.  Peter had taken the time to stand in their midst and preach to them about the Christ in whose name they healed,  the One who had made such a difference to their lives.  The consequence of that was Peter and John were arrested and imprisoned , but in spite of that fact,  the power of their message,  the conviction of their preaching, the very sincerity of their faith continued to convince people, even as they languished in prison ans as a result,  the number of those who believed continued to grow.

 

As for John and Peter,  they found themselves before the leaders of Jerusalem and called to account,  but they held firm to the message.  They healed in Jesus name, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  The rulers were disappointed men – they had got rid of Jesus because he had challenged their authority and they had hoped that would be the end of it.  Instead where they had had one determined man to contend with,  they now had his band of followers and the thousands they were convincing.  They were angry men,  because those who were rising up as followers of Jesus were holding sway.  They were uncomfortable men,  because those followers of Jesus were teaching what he had taught – that things didn’t need to be done any longer, as they had always been done,  but that God had done a new thing and they were free to draw near to him for themselves.  So the temple and its trappings and law were no longer the things by which they were to be governed.  So that made the rulers frightened men,  because it threatened the power they held, the money they had made from the temple, the very fabric and wealth of their lives.  What was even more frightening to these rulers was that as they saw Peter and John stand before them ,  they saw two men when were unafraid of what they could do to them – imprison them, torture them, kill them.  They knew that these two men would stand firm because they believed in the name they spoke and they were unafraid of death.  The resurrection of Jesus has provided them with the confidence to understand that death, even violent death for their faith was not the end,  but the door to eternity.

 

Could you be that courageous?  That is the courage that is asked of us as Christ’s followers, to be brave and determined in standing up for God and what we believe he is calling us to be and do, regardless of the difficulties it may get us into,  the hurt that it may cause us,  the rejection we may experience.  To the world,  believing in God can often seem to be the easy way, a pathetic searching for a crutch to hold up weak people.  What they do not see and will never understand is that to truly live for Christ isn’t to hide from the harsh realities of the world but to engage with them, and challenge what is wrong and live with the consequences. To truly be a follower,  is to stand up and be counted, even when no-one seems to be willing to agree with you.

 

When I was called as minister of my first charge twenty five years ago,  I looked as though I had just left school.  It was only after I had been inducted that I discovered that one of the officebearers had his own agenda and had managed to convince the vacancy committee that they should appoint me because I was just a wee lassie and would do as I was told.  He wanted things to stay as they had always been.  The consequences of that was that in the early days of my ministry there I constantly found myself in conflict with him and because he was convincing and better known to the other office bearers,  they often found it difficult to know who they should trust.   Two months after my induction, I arrived in the Church to find him waiting for me at the front of the church.  As I walked down the aisle towards him, he pointed at me and said, “You!  In the vestry! Now!”.  I went to the vestry , he followed and shut the door;  then he lambasted me for not doing things his way.   When he left the vestry,  at my invitation,  he understood that my task was not to please him,  but to obey God and that when his demands and Gods did not coincide, I was quite clear where my duty lay,  no matter how much that might displease him.  I discovered very soon after that because I was clear whose voice I was to follow,  that life became easier and clearer,  but for a time it was painful and it left its mark.  But I learnt then that as a minister I had to be very careful in listening, to ensure that I wasn’t swayed by emotion or threat or good ideas,  but that I was to seek what God was saying and then be his voice to his people.

 

Our passage from John’s gospel presents Jesus clearly teaching his disciples whose voice they were to follow.  In the light of his death and resurrection, we must surely see this passage as a warning to those disciples that there would come a time when it would be confusing, when there would be people with differing messages,  perhaps even conflicting messages and they would have to make decisions for themselves about who they followed.  He taught them that sheep recognised their shepherd and dumb animals though they might seem,  they would not be taken in.  He taught them that some may pretend to be shepherds,  and perhaps even believe they were,  but when the time came for real leadership,  they would be found lacking and unable to follow through.  He taught them that the real test of the good shepherd was that he would regard the safety of the flock before his own life.

 

That is important for the church in our own day.  The world is becoming more and more secular and hostile to followers of Christ.  Atheists and secularists are challenging the right of Christians to wear crosses, to say prayers, to be a visible presence.  They want all the things of God to be hidden away.  What are we saying about it?

 

Just before Easter, Cardinal Keith O’Brien encouraged every Christian to wear a cross visibly, every day of their life.  That article hit the headlines,  but I haven’t actually heard many Christians speaking about it.  One elder of another church did tell me he was looking for a cross that he could wear,  but no-one else has mentioned it to me.  Perhaps it isn’t something you would be comfortable doing?  Perhaps if you are a man,  then you feel it is unmanly to wear jewellery.  If you would be embarrassed wearing a cross and feel that is too high a price to pay for your faith,  remember that the risen Jesus bore the marks of the cross in his hands and his feet, then tell me again that you shouldn’t wear a cross.  It doesn’t need to be round your neck,  I wear one on my wrist, it could be a key ring,  a sticker on your car, something that only occasionally becomes obvious but makes a plain statement, not about the fact that you go to church,  because anyone can do that, but that you are proud to declare yourself as a follower of Christ. 

 

Yet I have also heard it said that protestant Christians ought not to follow the cardinal’s advice because he is a catholic and catholics try to lead protestants into their false ways.  Let’s be very clear here.  Wearing or bearing a cross is not a sign of allegiance to any church however good or bad you believe it to be; it is evidence of our faith in Christ and our willingness to be counted and it’s the voice that matters. 

 

It’s hard,  isn’t it,  to discern what is the voice of God and what is the clamour of the world?  That is true when it comes to matters of great importance for the whole human race and when it is something only of significance to us personally.  What is God really saying in the life of our nation, of our community, of the Church of Scotland,  of our congregation, of our individual lives?  It can sometimes be so hard to understand what God is saying that we give up and go with the course of least resistance - that is wrong.  It can sometimes seem as though God is saying nothing – that’s not true. It can sometimes seem as though it doesn’t really matter – it always should.  You and I are called by God to follow him.  Yet we are not following his on a journey we know – it is known only to God himself.  If then we are to follow him,  we need to trust him to provide the directions.  How will he do that?  He will do it by providing others to point the way and show you where you should follow.  But as Jesus taught his first disciples,  there will be others who think they know better, who will tell you there is an easier route, or perhaps even that you are going to the wrong place.  Who will you believe?  Jesus was quite clear that God would provide the direction – your task is to listen and pray and then obey.