“Orthodox and Compassionate”

Acts 4:5-12

Acts 4:9, 10, 12: … if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you, to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead… There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among [men] by which we must be saved.

[prayer]

Have you ever heard the expression “no good deed goes unpunished?” Peter and John could easily have identified with that notion. They’d been arrested, and now as they stood before the Sanhedrin, the rulers, elders, and scribes of Judaism, they were asked to defend themselves. Their crime? Well, it all started with a good deed done in the name of Jesus. They had healed a crippled beggar. Then Peter had preached a great sermon to the folks who had witnessed the healing, moving 5,000 more people to become Christians. His sermon was built around the centrality of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

Problem: the Sadducees, some of the local political leaders, did not believe in the resurrection from the dead. They were highly offended by Peter’s witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Plus, along with the other elite leaders of Judaism in Jerusalem they were annoyed that Peter and John were publicly ministering in the name of Jesus at all, and really annoyed at the positive response Peter and John were receiving from the general populace.

Why were they annoyed? Mostly because they were threatened by this new thing breaking forth in Jerusalem. The response to the Gospel was undercutting their power and authority. It was reducing their status and prestige. This could not be tolerated. The old order of things had to be maintained. This new Jesus movement had to be stopped. So they had Peter and John arrested, and after a night in jail, hauled them into court.

What happened? Were Peter and John cowed in the presence of their high and mighty accusers? Did they stand there trembling with fear? Did they meekly apologize for the trouble they’d caused and promise to stop their ministry of healing and preaching? No. Empowered, encouraged, and emboldened by the Holy Spirit, they stood their ground.

Then Peter let those listening know that the crippled beggar had been healed by the power and in the name of the crucified and risen Christ. He then went a profoundly audacious step further when he said, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to [men] by which we must be saved.”

Let us note here that the same Greek verb is translated “to save” that is translated “to heal.” The cripple had been healed in the name of Jesus. Those who were saved were saved in the name of Jesus. Jesus saves. Jesus heals. It is by his authority and power that we proclaim the Gospel and carry out ministries of compassion.

Nothing has changed. There is no real healing - there is no salvation - apart from the name of Jesus. That is the undiluted, basic, down-to-the-bone orthodoxy that we are to believe, profess, proclaim, preach, and teach. There is no salvation outside of Jesus. Whatever ministry or mission God calls us to do is to be done in the name of Jesus. Our authority and power come from no one or nowhere else.

That’s biblical, theological orthodoxy. That’s good Reformed doctrine. We need to uphold it. We need to proclaim it. We need to defend it. We also need to live it. Our words must be accompanied by deeds. James tells us that faith without works is dead.

The orthodoxy of our theology can be above reproach. The purity of our doctrine can be unquestioned. But if all we ever do is believe it, preach it, and teach it – if all we ever do is defend it – then we are probably not living it. Let’s not forget that the Pharisees were the doctrinal purists of their day. Their orthodoxy was above reproach. But their lives were not what we would call Godly. And they weren’t overly fond of Jesus.

Peter proclaimed and defended the Gospel. He would eventually die for it. But in the name of Jesus he also reached out with compassion to a man crippled from birth. Even as he proclaimed a message of salvation he engaged in a ministry of healing. Orthodox theology and ministries of compassion: we can’t have one without the other. Faith without works is dead. Works divorced from true Christian piety are not of God.

The church has a dual mission. We are to proclaim salvation. At the same time we are to engage in ministries of healing, compassion, and charity. But always and only in the name of Jesus.

But as I observe the ongoing liberal-conservative debate in the PC(USA), the debate that feeds a false distinction between evangelism and social ministries, I often feel as if I’m listening to a debate between Republicans and Democrats. That concerns me. Sometimes it scares me. And I’m not alone in my concern.

In a recent letter to the PC(USA) from the Advisory Board of the Cross Cultural Alliance of Ministries, Jin S. Kim, a young evangelical Korean-American pastor – the former president of Presbyterians for Renewal - wrote, “A nostalgic conservatism disguised as theological orthodoxy will not renew our church. A narrow social activism disguised as “civil rights” will not promote justice… we cannot settle for a bipolar debate between white conservatives and white liberals.”

It a recent article by Ron Dreher, assistant editorial page editor of The Dallas Morning News, addressed the topic is global warming, a political hot-button issue if ever there was one. He wrote, “Earth Day is not my day... I’ve always seen it as a high holy day for hippies, Whole Foods devotees, spotted-owl fetishists and sundry crunchy-granola types who believe that “Think Globally, Act Locally” is the Eleventh Commandment. But you know, I’ve got to wonder how much longer we on the right can justify an environmental philosophy that amounts to little more than sneering at liberal tree-huggers.

Later he writes, “For too long, conservatives have ceded political efforts to care for creation to liberals. We Christian conservatives are finally recognizing that conservation is a matter of moral and spiritual integrity. And we’re learning that the challenge facing humankind from climate change dwarfs the narcissism of the usual left-right politics.”

One of the commentaries on today’s text contained these words: “… a good deed done to a cripple” is a sign of Jesus’ power to save the universe. There is salvation in no other name; there is healing in no other name. We need to detach ourselves from the ongoing and often hysterical left-right narcissism running rampant in our nation – and in our denomination. We must divorce true biblical orthodoxy from its unchristian partner, nostalgic social conservatism. We must strive for a compassionate Christian justice that is unpolluted by narrow social activism.

Reginald Fuller said, “The church offers the world that which can be attained through Christ alone.” Only in Christ can we offer the world any hope of healing and salvation. Only in Christ can we say what needs to be said and do what needs to be done to rid our culture of its filth and perversions. Only in Christ can we find ways to preserve, conserve, and restore God’s good creation. Only in Christ can we stand strong against the powers and principalities that rule to one degree or another every nation on earth.

Says Robert L. Maddox, “The world has never understood the power of the church. The world has never understood the power of even a handful of devoted followers of Christ.” And then he says parenthetically, “Unfortunately, most of the time the church itself has failed to recognize its inherent power.”

That’s what happens when we get overly caught up in either defending an orthodoxy that isn’t really orthodox or letting ourselves be seduced by the silver-tongued devils who are the proponents of worldly causes. That’s what happens when we forget the words Peter spoke to the Sanhedrin: “… let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead… There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among [men] by which we must be saved.” Amen.