4^th August 2009

ACTS 4: 8-17: They had been with Jesus

Some years back I heard the great evangelist to Africa, Reinhard Bonnke, tell a fascinating story. He and one of his ministry team members had been in Johannesburg buying a new instrument for the music team. They placed their order and then left the shop. Bonnke said that the young salesman came running down the street after them calling, "Stop! I must talk to you". Bonnke thought maybe there had been an error in the paperwork but then the young man caught up to them and said, "You must help me. I need Jesus in my life and I need Him now." Right there, on the busy city footpath, the three of them knelt down and they prayed this young man into the Kingdom.

Bonnke said afterwards they asked the young man how he knew they were Christian ministers - it had not been part of the conversation in the shop. The young man said, "I saw Jesus in your eyes and knew He was what I needed."

When he got home, Bonnke said he prayed about what had occurred and said to the Lord, ‘What did that young man mean when he said he saw Jesus in my eyes?' Bonnke said the Lord replied, "When I live in someone, I like to look out the windows!"

Can people see Jesus in us?

Today's reading follows the familiar episode when Peter and John went to pray and met a crippled man begging outside the Temple gate. Peter said to him, "We have no money but what we do have we give to you - in the Name of Jesus Christ rise up and walk." Instantly the man was healed and went leaping and dancing into the Temple. Because of the kerfuffle and noise that the miracle created Peter and John were seized and, having been held in prison overnight, next day were taken before the Temple rulers. Along with the healed man they were then questioned by the Council and the High Priest.

Our reading today begins with Peter's bold response to the Council.

Then, in verse 13, comes one phrase which has enormous impact. It says (Acts 4:13)  "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus."

The previously crippled man was standing there - he had been a familiar sight outside the Temple gate for years so they rulers could not deny his evident healing. But verse thirteen says that the Council took note that Peter and John had been with Jesus. They may not have seen ‘Jesus in their eyes' like the salesman who met Reinhard Bonnke experienced, but their relationship with Jesus was obvious. Whatever had happened the ruling Council could not deny that two ordinary and unschooled men had performed a miracle of healing on a man crippled from birth - a man they knew and who was now standing before them. The only answer that was forthcoming was that the Name of Jesus was the power behind the event.

Do people take note that we have been with Jesus?

The reading goes on to show that - after discussing all that had occurred - the Council warned Peter and John to stop their preaching and to stop talking about Jesus, especially that He'd risen from the dead. Then, in Acts 4:19-20, Peter's final rebuff to this powerful ruling Council is recorded... "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."

Earlier this week when I read this verse the phrase I mentioned earlier really touched me. "... and they took note that these men had been with Jesus."

Are we noteworthy?

Do people notice Christ's influence in us?

I am greatly encouraged when I read passages like this one. It seems to me that Jesus does make an evident difference in the lives of those who draw close to Him. It's not just a matter of believing in Jesus, for many say they believe. The difference seems to be in those 'who have been with Him'.

I hope that our lives could be used that way. I hope that people will see something in all of us that makes them ask, "Can I meet Jesus through you?"

Not so long back I read an account of a Christian woman stopped in the checkout line of the local supermarket when a lady behind her tapped the woman on the shoulder. When she turned around, expecting to see a friend in the queue, she saw a stranger in tears. The woman who was crying said, "I need Jesus in my life. Can you help me? Will you pray for me now?"

Not wanting to cause a scene in the shop, or delay the others in the queue, the Christian lady asked the woman standing behind the one in tears if she would mind waiting while they prayed. That woman began to weep too and said, "No, I don't mind, but then please pray for me too." Two women entered the Kingdom that day. (I'm not sure of the checkout girl's reaction!)

Like in Bonnke's case, the Christian woman was a total stranger to the one in need but something about her prompted the request for prayer. Obviously the Holy Spirit was at work in the supermarket that day but maybe the woman in tears had noted that the other lady ‘had been with Jesus'.

Why would you ask a complete stranger to pray for you unless something made you aware they were close to the God you were seeking?

While we need to be open to the opportunities we might be given to share the gospel we must also be open to the fact that others may come to us because ‘we have been with Jesus.'

We can be alert to the need in others, and we can often bring a word of grace and love, but sometimes we might be approached - even by a total stranger - who will ask the God-question of us because we have been with Him and it shows.

AMEN.

Rob Tann, Minister at Unity Hill, Port Lincoln