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DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Mothers of Children with Special Needs

Dear Father,
As we honor mothers this week in prayer, I pray today for mothers of children with special needs. The general responsibilities of motherhood are daunting on their own, but even more is required of moms raising children with special needs. Whether the needs of their children are physical, mental, emotional, or some combination thereof, give these mothers an abundance of strength and perseverance. When they are exhausted or near the point of breaking, generously replenish them with whatever they need. When their faith is tested and their days are filled with defiance or discouragement, lovingly remind them that your grace sees and is delighted with their faithful efforts. 

Graciously allow them to experience the many unique blessings that children with special needs demonstrate. Let their children exude a joyful innocence and bright smiles whenever possible. Let them show obedience, gratitude, and generous affection to their mothers. When such blessings are not able to be present in the child, let others take note of the hard work and dedication of these mothers, and express their appreciation and admiration accordingly. Finally, while no earthly recognition these mothers receive may ever adequately suffice, reassure them that their rich rewards of grace await them in heaven.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

Listen to the Shepherd’s Soothing Voice

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(John 10:22-30)

It may crack a little bit more frequently. It eventually becomes significantly softer. It struggles to convey the confidence, clarity, and coherence it did for so many decades. But even with those changes, whether drastic or subtle, you recognize your mother’s voice. It is so strongly imprinted on many of us that long after she may have passed away, you can still hear in your mind the unique sound of your mother’s voice.

For many of us, that special voice leaves or has left such an impression on us because we associate it with the characteristic care and compassion so often connected with mothers. They nurture(d) us, took care of our day-to-day needs, shuttled us here, there, and everywhere, and regularly check in on us to see how we’re doing. So when we hear her voice, we treasure it because it evokes all of those caring qualities. 

Yet not everyone can relate to this experience. For some, sadly, the voice of their mother, if ever heard again, would be too soon. It is a voice that evokes anything but pleasant emotions or memories. Abuse. Ridicule. Impossible standards. Never good enough. Or, it may be an unfamiliar sound altogether for those who never knew their mother after being given up for adoption, abandoned, or neglected in one way or another. To some, a mother’s voice is the sound of pain.

But there is another voice. There is a voice to be treasured even more than a mother’s voice. It is the voice of the Good Shepherd. Hear his voice on this Mother’s Day and always: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand” (v.27-28). What is so special about this voice? What is it that draws sheep to hear it? Why can we never get enough of it? 

Jesus says “I know them.” Think of how much that means to us. I was just reminded of this recently after worship. Extended family members had come along to church with one of our repeat guests. After I asked about how the family members felt about the service, guess what stood out the most? The music? Nope. The sermon? Nope. It was that I happened to remember their names after the service. It matters to us to matter to someone else that much, doesn’t it? When someone remembers our name, it means they took the time to know us. And who knows us better than the Good Shepherd? That’s part of why we long to hear his voice.

It’s also because “they follow me.” When you decide to follow someone (not in the social media sense), when really wanting to imitate or learn from someone or become like them – we are putting a lot of trust in that person. To willingly follow someone means I am trusting that person to not lead me astray or put me in harm’s way or lead me down some regrettable path. Since we don’t extend that level of trust to just anyone, it results in a deeper connection with those to whom we give it; those we willingly choose to follow. Since we trust the Good Shepherd enough to follow his paths for our life, we long to hear his voice.

And because we don’t just follow him for this life, but for eternal life, we long to hear his voice even more. “I give them eternal life,” Jesus said. We find that nowhere else! Search and study as much as we might, we will never find the guarantee or assurance of eternal life anywhere other than through Jesus. Why? Because only Jesus “give[s]” it. It is unearned. It is a gift.

We are naturally drawn to giveaways and to free stuff. Think of the last time you were at a community event or a farmer’s market. Your group split up and someone returned with a snack or a sample that they’re raving about. You ask how much it was and when they explain it was a free sample, a giveaway, you immediately ask where they got it from. We love free stuff! How much greater is the free gift of eternal life! And since it comes only through the Good Shepherd, we long to hear his voice.

But not everyone is interested in hearing that voice. Some wish to stifle it, as was the case on that winter day as Jesus walked in the temple courts. “The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly’” (v.24). To be sure, they did their level best at trying to mask their intentions, but Jesus saw right through them. He knew they weren’t curious seekers in search of salvation, but that their intentions were quite sinister. They weren’t looking to hear words of life from the voice of their Good Shepherd, but rather the incriminating piece of evidence to put the final nail in the coffin of their case. They wanted to hear Jesus plainly claim to be the Messiah so they’d have all they needed to justify their pre-determined conviction of blasphemy. 

It reminds me of a humorous clip I’ve used in our membership class before. In it, Rowan Atkinson, the actor who plays “Mr. Bean,” recounts an incident in which someone out in public approached him to tell him that he looked an awful lot like the actor who plays Mr. Bean. Well, the more Mr. Atkinson claimed to actually be the actor, the more the individual refused to believe him. While he couldn’t get over how much they looked alike, the fan absolutely refused to believe that he could in fact be the actor who played Mr. Bean.

Jesus’ Jewish enemies tried and tried to get him to plainly claim to be the Messiah, yet even as he pointed to all the evidence that supported and proved that he was actually the Messiah, they refused to believe it. Why? Why were they so indignant, so set in their stubborn refusal to entertain that Jesus could, in fact, be the Messiah?

Jesus explained it for them (and for us!). “Jesus answered, ‘I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep’” (v.25-26). The problem was not with the voice, or even the Good Shepherd who was speaking, as if he had been unclear or mumbled or anything like that; no, the problem was on the listening side of the communication. Unbelieving ears are uninterested in the Good Shepherd’s voice. They aren’t his sheep.

What would happen if you ignored your mother’s voice? Typically, it does not end well. Either we find out the hard way through personal injury or the trouble we end up causing that we should have listened to mom’s voice, or mom has her certain disciplinary consequences that later on underscore that we would have been better off listening to her voice. Either way, although some are slower to learn it than others, we grow up learning that it is generally unwise to ignore mom’s voice. 

What happens if you refuse to listen to the Good Shepherd’s voice? If we aren’t being led by his voice, then we’re being led by someone else’s. And, although some are slower to learn it than others, we find out the hard way that ignoring the Good Shepherd’s voice results in a lot of unnecessary pain and hurt in life. Addiction. Adultery. Divorce. Rage. Bitterness. We don’t arrive at these things overnight, but get there by listening to other voices. The voice might belong to the world. The voice might be my own internal voice. It doesn’t matter – if the voice does not belong to the Good Shepherd or echo his, it will lead us down the wrong path of sin, away from the Good Shepherd and into danger. Every. Time.

And beyond just the worldly, temporal consequences of refusing to listen to the Good Shepherd’s voice, there are ultimately even more significant consequences. What’s the opposite of what Jesus’ sheep receive, the opposite of being given eternal life? Eternal death. What is the opposite of never perishing? Perishing in hell. Isn’t that the fate of all who are not Jesus’ sheep? If only the Jews who had approached Jesus believed the eternal warning attached to the words, “you are not my sheep!” If only people today realized the eternal consequences of those words, “you are not my sheep!”

But hear the Good Shepherd’s voice shine through in these words to his sheep. His voice isn’t filled with ultimatums for his sheep. It does not include veiled threats. It isn’t the voice of a bully or a goon coming to shake you down or manipulate you through fear or intimidation.

No, it is the tender voice of reassurance for the sheep, reassurance that sheep not only long to hear, but need to hear, because sheep are, well… sheep.

What an accurate picture for us! Sheep. How dumb we are! How slow to learn! How ignorant to think we know better! How foolish to repeat the same mistakes over and over again! How lost we sheep would be without the voice of the Good Shepherd! 

He speaks to his sheep the words we hear nowhere else. “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand” (v.28-29). Perish? Never! Snatched out of his hand? No one can – not even the devil himself! . 

But don’t take this assurance as license to go back to being a dumb sheep who thinks there is no danger in running astray! No, stay by the Shepherd’s voice. Follow it. Be a smart sheep. Be a sanctified sheep that cares more about always being within earshot of the Shepherd, never too far away to hear his voice. Let his be the soothing voice of safety, security, and salvation.

Thank God for mothers who guided us to learn to hear his voice. Thank God for mothers who care enough – no matter how old we are! – to make sure we are still listening to the Good Shepherd’s soothing voice! 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For First-Time Mothers

Dear Father,
As we honor mothers this week in prayer, I pray today for first-time mothers. As they experience the mixed feelings of joy and fear over this new responsibility, free them from the worry and anxiety of feeling as if they have to have all of the answers. No mother has ever attained the status of perfection when it comes to motherhood, and no one ever will. There will be mistakes and things will go wrong, but remind them that you are able to provide and protect their child at all times.   

As they get more and more used to carrying out these new responsibilities of motherhood, alleviate their concerns and raise their confidence level. See to it that they have a network of support through family and friends who can help and assist when needed. Grant these new moms opportunities for rest and self-care. Let the husbands of first-time mothers be especially aware, both of the child and the mother’s needs, as they navigate this new chapter of their lives together. Lead them to be attentive to their child’s spiritual needs, prioritizing baptism, praying, and planning for continued spiritual growth.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For the Gift of Mothers

Heavenly Father,
Sundays are sacred. I have countless reasons for which to give you thanks, and on this Mother’s Day, I give you thanks for mothers and the irreplaceable role they play in families and homes. Of all the ways you could have chosen to bring up children, in your divine wisdom you established families, providing mothers to love and nurture their children. Thank you especially for mothers who prioritize bringing their children to Jesus. 

While no mother is perfect, they so often model selfless sacrifice in putting their children first. They reflect our Good Shepherd when they display gentle tenderness and patience. And, just as our Good Shepherd does, mothers lovingly discipline and correct their little ones, both to show them the right way and also to protect them from future harm. You have established motherhood as one of the most noble callings of all. Lead our society to uphold it as such, and see that mothers are respected and honored among us. Richly bless their labors of love, encouraging them with supportive husbands and rewarding them with obedient children who are a delight to raise.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Love My Next-Door Neighbor

Light of the World,
When you told us to love our neighbor, you were calling us to extend our love to all people in need. Yet, when we think about how to put this into practice, sometimes we forget about our physical neighbors who literally live next door to us. Some we know quite well; others we may not even know by name. Shift our perspective to view our next-door neighbors front-line opportunities to let our light shine and put love into practice.

Help me to be deliberate about building deeper relationships with my neighbors by meeting their needs whenever I can and being interested in their lives in general. When neighbors are without faith in you as their Savior, let me pay special attention to them so that I am very aware of openings to bring you into the picture in one way or another. Whatever it looks like in my context, however the chance arises, let me boldly love my neighbor – starting with the one next door. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Teacher Appreciation

Dear Lord,
Thank you for teachers. Thank you also for the extra opportunities during this Teacher Appreciation Week to let teachers know they are valued and that their hard work does not go unnoticed. They play a pivotal role in shaping how young people learn and think critically. They also face the challenges of teaching with limited resources, and make many sacrifices behind the scenes to educate their students.

When they have to deal with frustrating students or difficult home situations that creep into the classroom, provide them with the support and encouragement they need to address those issues. Fill them with the determination and resolve to push forward when dealing with discouragements. Grant them strong and reliable administrators who stand up for them and have their back. Create solid working relationships with colleagues and support staff. Bless them with opportunities to see their impact and influence making a difference in the lives of their students, both in the present and in the future. Bring them great fulfillment and joy in their work.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Love My Brothers in Christ

Lord Jesus,
In a world that is all too happy to tear down, use me to build others up. I know many brothers in the faith are struggling silently. While they may not be willing to speak up, give me the courage to check in on them by being willing to go deeper than just surface-level exchanges. Prompt me to ask thoughtful questions that open doors to more meaningful conversations. Let my words and body language clearly communicate that I am not seeking to judge or belittle them, but to listen, support, and encourage in any way I can.

So many battles are lost because of isolation and loneliness. Give me the social awareness to be able to identify when my brothers in Christ might be at risk. Make me bold to take the lead in normalizing this behavior, so that others may follow my example and such care and concern among brothers can become a much more common blessing. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

We Don’t Need to Drag Out Doubt

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(John 21:1-14)

There are certain doubts that are rather easily put to rest with a simple proof. Someone tries to convince you that a certain dessert is spectacular, but when they describe it to you, your face wrinkles up in disgust. Your doubt can be either confirmed or corrected simply by taking a bite of the dessert. You are at lunch with a friend and she is convinced she’s spotted a certain celebrity eating a few tables away. You doubt that it’s actually him. Your doubt can be put to rest by simply asking the individual. Your cousin says he makes a shocking amount of money on some side gig, but he’s always stretched the truth a bit, so you doubt him. He can prove it by showing you the direct deposits or his pay stubs. Some doubts can be rather easily be put to rest. 

Others demand more attention. We often want to see the same magic trick repeated a few times because we don’t believe that what we just saw happen, actually just happened. Someone familiar with a child’s history of bad behavior is likely to doubt that the behavior has suddenly changed overnight; they’d need to see the improved behavior consistently to believe it. If a rookie athlete about whom analysts are skeptical will succeed at the professional level has an outstanding game, a similar effort will need to be repeated with some frequency before analysts are won over. Some doubts require more extensive proof to be put to rest. 

I probably don’t have to ask under which of those two categories a resurrection from the dead would belong. People don’t normally rise from the dead, so when such a claim arises, it’s natural for people to expect to see multiple proofs. And the Jesus who knows us so well is aware that our doubt doesn’t always disappear so easily.

That’s why John’s introductory and closing words in the verses from chapter 21 carry so much weight. Don’t miss them: “Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples…” (v.1). “This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead” (v.15). What does John want us to take away from this account? This Resurrection stuff is not made up! Jesus had risen and appeared – and more than just once, you doubters! It’s the real deal, and Jesus went out of his way to make sure that was known by appearing on multiple occasions.

The Sunday after Easter always has the account of doubting Thomas as the reading for the Gospel (cf. John 20). Jesus appeared to the disciples in the locked upper room, but since Thomas wasn’t there to experience it the first time, he doubted Jesus had actually risen. So Jesus showed up a week later to the disciples again and who is there that time, but Thomas. Then – after seeing with his own eyes – the doubts erode and his confidence is boosted. Jesus didn’t show up to shame Thomas; he showed up because he wants to be found so that doubts can be put to rest.

Isn’t how Jesus still operates? He wants to be found. Do you hear that? Jesus wants to be found! How could we draw any other conclusion today? He hasn’t left it up to chance, basing Christianity on some spiritual experience that a person needs to seek out in hopes of finding him. He gives us his Word, where we can read, study, and learn about him for a lifetime. He has given us the visible sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, where the power of that Word can be seen at work.

And where is all of this done? We have churches, physical buildings all over the earth, built to facilitate the proclamation and teaching of Word and Sacrament in order to make him known and visible. We have believers, who make him known through the way we radically love others and allow his compassionate grace and forgiveness to be experienced through us. Jesus wants to be found. Why? To put doubts to rest. 

Perhaps in the past the church went too far on this matter of doubt. It seems to me that there have been too many stories from childhoods and upbringings in church where anyone who doubted was chastised for not having a stronger faith or being a more confident Christian. Sure, in some cases, that may have been more a matter of perception on the receiving end of some tender, guilty, conscience, than it was the message that was actually communicated. But I am also sure that there have been any number of times when any doubt was too firmly denounced as being incompatible with saving faith. That may have been overstating the case and going too far.

If we’re willing to look back and acknowledge that fault on the part of the church, then let’s also be willing to acknowledge the possibility that in the present day, we have may gone too far the other way. Have we given the impression that some measure of doubt is a good sign?

While I believe the intent behind that message is good (for example, when a believer reassures a fellow doubting believer that doubts are actually good, because they are evidence of faith, since no unbeliever would be concerned about any doubts), it may be contributing to an attitude that not only welcomes some measure of doubt, but actually embraces it as being a desirable thing. After all, in our culture, we are now skeptical of everything: science, politics, weather, government, medicine, technology – we have plenty of doubts about all of it, and the general sense is that we’d be silly not to, since none of it can be trusted outright.

What ends up happening then, is that those spiritual doubts lead us to pull back, and when we pull back we also hold back. We aren’t all in. We end up straddling the fence and kind of like the view from there. It’s one thing to have doubts and questions about the Christian faith, but we don’t want them to transition from being temporary guests into permanent residents in our hearts. That’s what happens when we don’t deal with those doubts or address them by seeking the necessary truth and certainty to dispel them. 

This can happen at times because we’re spiritually lazy or apathetic. Or, it can happen because we want to play both sides; we want to dabble a bit in the Christian culture, but also remain “relatable” and “in-touch” with unbelieving friends and acquaintances. But then we speak out of both sides of our mouths. We profess the faith and praise and thank God while around our Christian friends, but then nod in agreement and even freely offer up our own doubts and disbelief about certain teachings when around our unbelieving friends. That’s not being all things to all people as Paul encourages us to do; rather, it is deceiving yourself with a divided heart.

Do not let that attitude creep into your faith, as if a healthy amount of doubt is desirable or to be celebrated when it comes to Christ. Jesus Christ does not want you to doubt; he wants to be found so that your doubts can be laid to rest! Jesus Christ did not come to create doubt, but to crush it.

We want to have the same confidence the disciples did as Jesus appeared this third time to them. “None of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord” (v.12). We don’t want to be wrestling with the question of who Jesus is, but rather knowing that he is the Savior.

What happens when we deal with doubt and by addressing it, refuse to let it linger? We’re all in! What does that look like? Remember the apostles being thrown in the slammer and threatened, only to be released to point others to Jesus with as much zeal as ever?!? That kind of passion, that “all-in” attitude doesn’t exist while doubts are hanging around!

What does that look like? It looks like Peter, when the lightbulb went on and he realized who it was on the shore. “Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water” (v.7). Peter was literally all-in. Refusing to wait for the slow fish-towing boat to make it to shore, he dove into the water to swim and scramble his way to the shore and sprint to his Savior.

What would it look like today if we were deliberate about dealing with doubt? We’d have a lot more men engaged and active in the mission of the church, leading their marriages, their families, and their homes, instead of deferring that responsibility – the biggest one we have as men, mind you – to their wives.

If you disagree, just wait until Mother’s Day and then about a month after that and you’ll see. Why is Mother’s Day one of the most well-attended Sundays of the year? Because moms want their husbands and kids to come to church with them. In stark contrast, why is Father’s Day often one of the lowest-attended Sundays of the year? Because dads want to skip church to do something either by themselves or fun with the family. What’s wrong with that picture? 

More importantly, how do we fix it? We don’t. Jesus does. The same Jesus who appeared to his disciples again and again to put their doubts to rest. He had truly risen. He didn’t want half-hearted disciples, constantly questioning their cause. They needed to be sure. They needed to be all-in. So he showed up for them again and again.

In the activity of the early Christian church, we see the direct result of Jesus’ multiple resurrection appearances reflected in the preaching and teaching recorded in Acts. Again and again they point to the Resurrection. They don’t, perhaps as we too often do, stop with “Jesus was crucified and died to pay for your sin,” but rather allow his sacrificial death to serve as the foundation on which the mighty truth of the Resurrection is built. The Christian faith depends on it and also has something to deliver because of it! Jesus rose! Jesus lives! Jesus rules!

He’s still here, showing up again and again. He shows up in churches every Sunday with his Word. He shows up in churches to serve us himself in the Supper. He shows up in churches with an open invitation to become a part of his family through baptism. He shows up in weekly small groups that gather to build deeper connections within the body of Christ through the Word of Christ. He shows up through our hands and feet as we carry out works of service to each other and our community. He is still here, showing up again and again. He wants to be found, for wherever he is found, doubt departs. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Learn to Relax

Dear Rest-Giver,
In a culture that prides itself in productivity, busyness, and putting the pedal to the metal non-stop, some of us lack the ability to relax. We have hard-wired ourselves to either be on the go or on our phones, so that our stress and anxiety levels actually rise when we are faced with unscheduled time and/or detached from a screen. This behavior is not sustainable physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Help me break away!

You won rest for us, a real rest from the stress and worry of our wrongs and failed righteousness. Your gracious forgiveness calms us with a peace that cannot be found anywhere else. Let that peace flow into my daily routine and schedule, so that I can learn to relax in the rest I have in you. I don’t need to – nor can I! – control everything around me. Keep me from getting sucked back into the endlessly spinning hamster wheel of life, and lead me to lean into your rest and both embrace and excel in the art of regular relaxation.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

Don’t Miss the Mission

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(Acts 5:12, 17-32)

Unless you’re an employee showing up for your shift, when you make a stop at In and Out or Chick-Fil-A, you aren’t there to roll up your sleeves and get to work; you’re there expecting to be served whatever you ordered to eat. When you walk into Home Depot, you aren’t there to seek out customers who look lost and offer to help them find what they’re looking for, or to stock shelves with products; you’re there to grab what you need to start or finish that DIY project at home. The same is true of Target, Aldi, Best Buy, etc. – when we pull into the parking lots of these places, it’s because we’re there to get something that we want or need. We aren’t there to check in and see if they’re short-staffed or need a hand with anything. We’re there as customers, consumers who intend to pay for a product or service, expecting to get what we want. 

And there’s nothing wrong with that at all, as all of these places exist to provide you with a service or product. They want your business – in fact they need your business; they rely on it to stay in business themselves. They know that if they don’t provide the good service or good product you expect, then you’re likely to take your business somewhere else. They know there are plenty of other options you could choose, so they will do what they think they need to in order to keep you as a customer. 

Is it possible that our consumer culture could – or perhaps already has begun to – rub off on churches? More to the point, is it possible for similar expectations to drive the “bottom line” in our own congregations? It could if churches (including yours?) aren’t careful and lose sight of why they exist in the first place.

What we’re talking about could easily be caused by one or both of two things: 1) It could be driven by a consumer mentality of congregation members demanding to be served in the way that a customer expects, and/or 2) it could be driven by a the church leadership holding to a business mindset that is only interested in the bottom line and hitting the numbers to generate as many happy customers as possible. 

So how do we avoid either of these traps? How do we avoid being driven by a consumer mentality that views church as just another place that should be concerned with the customer’s happiness and meeting the customer’s needs as they determine them? How do we avoid becoming a business consumed with the bottom line and doing whatever it takes to get more people in the pew and get bigger and bigger with the goal of… getting bigger and bigger, as if that’s why churches exist?

We remember that as the church, the gathering of believers, we have a very special and specific mission. After the Holy Spirit had been poured out on believers at Pentecost, allowing them to perform miracles, signs, and wonders, “the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail” (v.17-18). The followers of Jesus were getting more attention than the self-righteous religious elite of the day, and they wanted it to stop, so they put them behind bars. But when the church is on mission, God isn’t going to hesitate to intervene and open doors – on this occasion, quite literally! “But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life” (v.19-20). 

The believers were carrying out their mission, and when arrested for it, what did the Lord’s messenger tell them to do as he freed them? There was no pivoting or plan B. His message was, “keep it up! Go right back where you were and tell everyone about the new life you now have in the crucified and resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ!” They were arrested for carrying out their mission, and then were not only directed to keep it up, but to keep it up in precisely the same place that would have put them most at risk – right back on the home turf of the religious leaders! 

But the most shocking part was not what the angel told them to do; it was that they did it! “At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people” (v.21). The apostles did exactly as they had been told! This would be the part of the movie where we cringe when we see something bad happen to the overmatched hero, and rather than taking his lumps and moving on, he gets right back up and after it again! It goes against common sense and wise judgment! There’s a fine line between being fearless and foolish, and it might appear initially that the apostles’ actions are closer to the side of foolish.

To provide context to their actions, let’s contrast the behavior of the apostles in Acts with the actions of the disciples from John’s Gospel. The difference? John records for us that the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked “for fear of the Jewish leaders” (John 20:19). Fear! They had locked themselves in out of fear.

In Acts, though, the very Jewish leaders they feared had indeed carried out exactly what the disciples were afraid of and put them in jail. But there was no fear! No hesitation. No trepidation. Why? What had changed?

Yes, some time had passed between that first night on the day of Jesus’ Resurrection and the early church after Pentecost, at least a couple of months. Nevertheless, self-imposed hiding behind locked doors versus breaking out of the very jail you once feared, to engage in the same behavior that put you there in the first place – that’s a pretty drastic change! What accounts for it?

They had been giving a mission, and a special one at that – a mission given to them by a guy who died and then came alive again! This was not your garden-variety mission by any means!

Neither is ours, for it is the same. We have been given a mission by a guy who died and came alive again! Is that any less impressive simply because more time has passed since the day it originally took place? It’s so easy to forget, isn’t it, even with Easter having taken place so recently – we worship someone who died and then came back to life!

If you heard a similar story today of someone being put to death and then buried – all with plenty of eyewitnesses – only to hear that he came back to life, the story would be everywhere! Every major news outlet would be running related stories 24/7 and social media would be blowing up over it. We wouldn’t be able to stop talking about it!

So why is it so easy to stop talking about the most prominent dead guy to ever come alive again? Because we assume people won’t believe us? That wouldn’t shut us up if something similar happened today, so why should it shut us up just because it happened over 2,000 years ago?

Some would say it’s because the church has neglected its focus on evangelism. Such a conclusion is the opinion of many who study church culture and metrics. They would say that one of the biggest struggles the church faces today is in the area of evangelism. Churches don’t prioritize it like they should. Members either aren’t equipped to evangelize or aren’t empowered or impassioned to do so. Might that be the case here? That’s probably a question for you to answer. 

Why are your church? Is it just the religious version of In and Out or Chik-Fil-A  – you’re there because it appeals to your personal preferences and does church the way you like it? Are you there as a customer to be served, or because you’re on a mission, looking to be serving others? Speaking of mission, do you know what your church’s mission or tag line is?

Ours is Seeking the Lost, Serving the Found. Notice what isn’t included there: Show up sometimes on Sundays when it’s not inconvenient and you’re good to go.

Obviously, Sunday morning worship is the heartbeat of what the church does – it is hugely important! But, just as a body has so many other essential and necessary functions than just the heart beating, so the church also has so much more going on than Sunday morning worship. Sunday morning worship isn’t the finish line to cross each week; it’s the starting blocks, where we position ourselves to get the best possible start to carrying out our mission each week!

To imagine it any other way is to not only redefine what church membership means and what the church’s mission is, but to blatantly disobey what God has commanded us to do as believers. It really is that simple. When the apostles were set free from jail, they were told what to do and they obeyed. Later on, as they found themselves in trouble once again for carrying out their mission, what was their response? “Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!” (v.29). They were obeying what God had told them to do. 

When we entirely disregard or are indifferent to what we have been commanded to do as believers, we are disobeying God’s direct orders and failing to carry out the mission he’s given us. And where does that leave us? It drags us back to Calvary yet again, prior to the empty tomb, right back to where we are forced to face the painful reality of our rebellious disregard of Jesus’ mission for his church. There, plain as day, as I scan the endless list of all my other sins for which my Savior was crucified, it is listed: disinterested, disobedient disregard for the very mission for which Jesus gave up his life.

And I am then instantly reminded of why I need to return here to this place – to church – as often as possible. Here I see the cross front and center, yes – but also to witness the white of Easter, the embrace the confidence of the empty tomb, to remember that the Resurrection means I am redeemed and restored from my rebellion. The very mission of Christ’s church that I so often think so little of is his mission to me, too, for I need to hear of my forgiveness. I need his grace. I need to be assured yet another week that no, God has not and will not forsake me, even in my most stubborn moments. So I need to hear his mission to me to renew the zeal of his mission for me. 

Starbucks used to want to be the “third place.” After home and work, they set out to be the third place people would gather at to spend time. A number of factors, like the convenience of mobile orders, led them to change their business model. Once they realized how quickly they could churn out more drinks and serve more customers, they were less interested in a cozy, welcoming lobby, and more interested in volume and speed: more drinks, faster drinks, would mean increased profit margins.

Meanwhile, as local coffee shops continued to pop up nearby, providing the comfortable make-yourself-at-home vibe that Starbucks used to be known for, and having baristas that got to know their customers, Starbucks had some serious competition. Suddenly, the short-term boom in business sort of popped like a pin-pricked balloon. For that reason, you may have noticed recent efforts to restore that “third place” culture that they first became known for. The tables and chairs that were removed from the lobbies, leaving them eerily vacant and open, have been returning. Free refills are being offered to encourage customers to hang around and linger for a bit while sipping their beverage.

So what happened? Some would say that they became more concerned about satisfying shareholders than caring for their customers. They lost sight of their mission.

May we never lose sight of ours. May we never lose sight of the mission Jesus gave us to carry out together. May we never miss out on our mission together, so that others don’t miss out on meeting the same loving Savior we know and love, Jesus Christ. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!