“Can’t keep quiet about it”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Quiet Time – Saturday, April 23, 2022
Acts 4:13-21 (Forward, p. 84) CEV p. 1137
One of my previous neighbours, a long-time adherent of the Ukrainian Catholic faith, once said to me, “What every church needs is a bunch of brand-new converts to shake up the place a bit.” Along the same line of thinking, though expressed in a far different way, I once said, “All new converts should be locked up in solitary confinement for at least their first six months—that is, until they learn some tact.” What lies behind these thoughts is the fact that new converts simply cannot keep what has happened to themselves. They simply can’t keep quiet about it.
In a sense, this expresses vividly today’s story from the Acts of the Apostles. Peter and John simply could not keep quiet about Jesus and what He has done, particularly what He has done in the healing of the crippled man. And they are doing so, even in the face of threads and warnings from the established authorities. They felt that they had to do this, as if obeying a divine mandate, an order from God. As they boldly and blatantly said to these self-same authorities:
“Do you think God wants us to obey you or to obey him? We cannot keep quiet about what we have seen and heard” (verses 19-20).
There are several things about this that are quite incredible. Firstly, that they are standing up to the very authorities that only a few days earlier had left them huddling for fear behind closed doors (see John 20:19,26) and had actually crucified their Lord. Somehow, they had acquired a new boldness, a new power in being able to witness for Jesus Christ. Secondly, to the authorities it was quite obvious that they were ordinary and unlettered, uneducated men. And yet, here in them was this unexplicable eloquence. The third thing, and perhaps the only explanation the authorities could come up with, was that they had been with Jesus—in other words, they had learned from Him and had been His disciples. Somehow, something of Jesus had ‘rubbed off’ on them!
So, what about us? Where has this eloquence, this boldness gone—especially when our experience of salvation, of Jesus’ presence and intervention in our lives, is no longer quite so new or fresh? Let me suggest several things, several totally un-Anglican things. Firstly, that we revisit our earlier experiences, our experiences of God and His presence, His love and His actions, and write them out, and even share them verbally with someone else. Maybe having a segment in church where people can give their own experiences and share ‘what being a Christian means to be me’ might be a start. Or perhaps share ‘a time when God seemed especially close to me.’ Secondly, to take the risk of faith and be more specific in our prayer requests and be more expectant of receiving answers. And failing all that, finally, to have a few new converts around us to unsettle things a bit.
I am convinced that God does want us to share our faith, our experiences of Himself with others—not, perhaps, in any obtrusive or offensive way, of course, but in a natural, sensitive and caring way. My conviction is that people do want to hear stories, especially if they are ones of personal experience, and not in a coercive or manipulative or proselytizing way. I think that we can safely and sensitively share these with others, and then just leave the results, the consequences, to God. Amen.
Forward notes: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus” (verse 13).
“I do not have a college degree. For a long time, this felt like one of the most shameful aspects of my life. My shame stemmed not only from the lack of a degree but also that I had attempted to get one and failed. How I ended up in that situation is a perfect storm of immaturity, lack of a robust support system or knowledge of how to access support, and the complications of having Attention Deficit Disorder. It’s partly my fault and partly beyond my control. But the reality is that I was unprepared and did not have what I needed to complete the task before me.
“Ultimately, I have come to understand that God’s time is different than my own time. I was not prepared then but God has been preparing me for other things all my life. As a man who, by some standards, would be considered uneducated, I have a boldness. I am bold in my faith and in the gifts God has given me to serve the church and the world. And for that, I give thanks.”
Moving Forward: “Have you had an experience that you once considered a failure but now see redeemed and put to use by God?”