 |
Three thousand men and women said ‘yes’ to Jesus that day. Three thousand.
The increase to the small band of
Jesus followers went up by about 300 percent in one day.
300 percent!
It’s the kind of statistic that
can easily get into one’s head. Make one
feel like they are all that. Make them want to stay in that place, receive the
accolades for their successful service to God and bask in the glory for a
while. Try to manufacture the results, replicate the event so they can experience the rush again and again.
But, Peter and the disciples show
no sign of popularity fever. It’s as if
they’ve been inoculated... against fear, against craving for approval and peer praise. Finally secure and resting their full weight on who Jesus is and what He has done for them. For us. They remain in the Word of God. They remain in
prayer. They hang out with each other. Day
in, day out. Their success doesn’t make
them too busy or too important for simple life of devotional discipline. The hour of prayer. Having compassion for the lame beggar.
The next time a notable miracle is
accomplished by his hands, to the gawking audience Peter makes it clear:
Why are you amazed at this, or why do you stare at us, as if by
our own power or piety we had made this man walk? Acts 3:12
Peter knows it’s not his
power. And Peter knows it’s not his
super-spirituality.
Peter knows he is an empty, broken
vessel and apart from His Lord, he can do nothing.
Nothing.
Nada.
Nista.
Nicht.
And this is perhaps even more
incredible than Peter’s undaunted boldness.
For, last time we saw Peter on a mountaintop with Jesus, he wanted to stay right there, even contemplated
a building project.
But, the disciple of Jesus doesn’t
live on a mountaintop. The disciple is not an approval junkie. The disciple of
Jesus descends into demon-possessed valley, where he or she becomes broken
bread and poured out wine. Just like Jesus became broken bread and poured out
wine for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment