Saturday of Easter Week

Lectionary: 266

Peter and John, however, said to them in reply,
“Whether it is right in the sight of God
for us to obey you rather than God, you be the judges.
It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”

Because it is the happiest book of the Bible, The Acts of the Apostles is also the most fun. Much of it sparkles with good humor, as, for instance, Peter and John’s reply to the Sanhedrin. These “uneducated, ordinary men” are, in fact, well-educated disciples of Jesus and extraordinary for their enthusiasm and holiness. They also have the skills and the wit to flummox their social superiors. Already we can see the Christian community is not going to fit within the Jewish religion.

Christians in the United States have an admirable history of challenging local, state and federal governments with this verse: “Is it right in the sight of God to obey you rather than God?” With any particular controversy, we might wonder whether the challenge is inspired by God or some other spiritual power, but it has certainly kept things interesting during our short history. As G.K. Chesterton observed, “America is a nation with the soul of a church.”

Their insistence that they must speak about what they have seen and heard also sets a tone for our discourse. We are a pragmatic people with little interest in eternal verities that a philosopher supposes underlie all reality. For better or worse, we prefer the wisdom of our own experience. Everyone is his own master theologian and doctor of philosophy.

Despite its hesitation, the Church should not feel so uncomfortable in this skeptical milieu. We have our own experience, like that of Peter and John, to rely on. The adult Christian who has paid attention to her life and reflected on it with prayer and the scriptures and "the saints" -- that is, with honest members of her worshiping community -- finds the truth of God's fidelity in her own experience.

She has come to believe in the name of Jesus and has often overcome her fears, doubts and temptations to evil with the power of that name. She knows that Jesus forgives her sins and loves her with tender, patient compassion.

Although this Church is two thousand years old, we can declare with the First Letter of Saint John:

What was from the beginning,what we have heard,what we have seen with our eyes,what we looked uponand touched with our handsconcerns the Word of life—for the life was made visible;we have seen it and testify to itand proclaim to you the eternal lifethat was with the Father and was made visible to us.

I might not have been born yet; nor you, my reader. But We were there. You joined that fellowship the day you were baptized and you were initiated into the Church through a lifetime of teachings. The Holy Spirit bound you through the Eucharist and Confirmation to those who saw the Lord's Resurrection on that first Easter Sunday. So, Yes! We have seen and we believe!