Holy Boldness - Acts 5: 13-22 - June 20, 2010 - Cicero United Methodist Church- Everett J. Bassett

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            This opening story will be hard for anyone to identify with who never got a C on a
school paper. Did anybody here ever get a C on a paper? It does happen sometimes.  And when it does, you might assume it's because the subject didn't really interest the student, or the idea behind the project was faulty. You don't assume that the topic which got that mediocre grade would eventually be the basis of great success. But over thirty years ago, a student at Yale University named Fred Smith handed in a paper in a business class where he outlined what he thought would be a good new idea for business. The professor hated the idea, said it would never work, had nothing good to say at all, and gave the idea and the paper a C.

            Many people would have seen that as a sign of fate, and returned to the drawing board. But Fred Smith believed in his idea, and he had the gift of boldness. He talked a plan up with some investors, got enough money to start, and launched a business. It was hardly an overnight success - there were some pretty rough times. In fact there were years without profit. But Smith's boldness, and his vision, must have been contagious - because his workers had his back more than once. They sometimes paid expenses out of their own pockets. There were a couple periods of time that the workers actually allowed their pay checks to be deferred, in order to keep the company afloat.

            Persistence paid off. The idea Fred Smith turned in on that paper - the one the professor said could never work - was a vision of rapid turnover air delivery of packages. The company he formed was called Fed Ex. And Fed Ex today is a multi-billion dollar company, with almost 200,000 employees. It pays to have a vision; it pays to persist in what you believe in; it pays to be bold in going after your dream.

            You and I are here today because of people who boldly pursued their visions. We wouldn't have this nation, this church, and so many of the things we take for granted in life without some bold person casting a vision. Even the simplest things took some courage, if you stop and think about it. A comedian named David Brenner used to ask his audience who they thought the bravest man in the history of the world was. Then he gave his answer: it was the first person to milk a cow, and then to say, "I just got this out of that animal over there - I think I'll drink it."

            I see what he's saying - that was certainly a bold move. But I vote for the first person
who ate bleu cheese. "Oh look, the cheese is rotten. I'll put it on my salad." Or how about the first person to jump out of an airplane? Or the first person to give blood? The first person to propose bouncing TV signals off satellites? The list could go on and on. The point is, most of the elements that make up our lives were crazy ideas -- the results of someone making a bold move. We're here because of boldness. This church is an act of boldness on the part of many people. But even before that, our faith is an act of boldness.

            And Acts, chapter 4, is one of those places in the Bible where the boldness of God's people shines through. Those of you who were here over the last couple weeks will remember the whole story. Peter and John went to the Temple to pray, and they met a man who had been physically disabled his whole life, and in the name of Jesus they healed him so he could walk. Then they preached to the crowd that gathered about the grace and love of God through Jesus Christ. That drew the attention of the religious leaders, and they had Peter and John arrested. The problem was, 5,000 people embraced the message of Peter and John, so the religious leaders were afraid of a riot if they kept the two apostles in jail. So they released them, but ordered them not to preach any more.

            That sets up this verse, in Acts 4: 13: "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." In other words, Peter and John had no particularly special qualities - they were uneducated and ordinary men. What they had was boldness - so much so that people could conclude only one thing - they must be companions of Jesus. And filled with holy boldness, they continued to preach, and people continued to listen.

            Being bold doesn't appeal to many Christians. It conjures up a picture of drawing
attention to yourself for its own sake. Or being insensitive to situations where the last  thing that is needed is someone pushing religion in an inappropriate or abrasive way. That's not what this is about. In fact, boldness is mentioned two times in Acts 4 - the first does have to do with speaking out for faith - Peter and John boldly-seized the moment to teach people about Jesus. And there will be times when each one of us has the opportunity to speak up for Jesus - God give us the holy boldness to speak.

            But the second time in Acts 4 when boldness is mentioned has a much wider application - it is the prayer in verse 29: " ... grant your servants to speak your word with all boldness ... " and then, said the scripture, the place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, "and spoke the word of God with boldness" and here's the thing - not only did they speak with power, but their way of life became bold - they built a community boldly, they took care of the poor boldly, they sold their possessions boldly. Under the power of the Holy Spirit, they began to do things that other people didn't do. And that is the kind of boldness I think this scripture lifts up. We see a lot of boldness in the world today - we see famous people doing bold things. Outrageous things. And, of course, much of it is about getting attention for its own sake. And a lot of it is about being abrasive or insensitive - as if that is itself was a good goal in life.

            Christian boldness is something different - Christian boldness is about offering a radically different possibility in this world - the possibility of following Jesus. When we witness that kind of bold difference, it is a stunning thing. For example, by now most people know the story of the Amish response to a mass murderer. The gunman walked into the schoolhouse and killed five children, and then shot himself. The spotlight of the world was on the Amish community, to see how they would express their grief. The expression was overwhelming compassion for the gunman's widow and children. The Amish people set aside their own grief to help a neighbor in need. Certainly no one would blame the Amish for being angry, or accuse them of being abrasive, in-your-face Christians. And up until that point, the Amish were known for their quiet ways, but not so much for their boldness. But they were unbelievably bold in their forgiveness and kindness. That's the kind of boldness we're talking about in this scripture from Acts.

            And all across the Church you see people making bold choices that separate them from the path followed by so many. Many of them are youth and young adults. In a social scene that is more and more permissive, there are still young people who take the bold way of delaying sexual activity. In a culture that says party big, we see young people taking their spring breaks to go to Appalachia and build a roof over someone's house, or piling sand bags down on the Gulf. The rule of the world is to look out for yourself; but we have youth who make the bold move of sitting in rocking chairs for 24 hours, and raising $700 for Haiti relief. In work settings where hurtful ethnic humor is the way, there are people who simply say, "That's not for me." And in a profit-obsessed world, there are still bold people who say, "1 won't cut comers that way/' or, "I won't treat the customer that way." That's holy boldness, and everyone here can reflect on it, from these graduates who are choosing the path their lives will take, to fathers who decide to be a different kind of Dad, to teach their children about radical service and love, to all of us who long to follow more closely in the path of a countercultural Saviour - one who taught us to boldly love our enemies, forgive seventy times seven, and store up treasures in heaven rather than on earth.

            And, of course, who died for his boldness - but even turned that into an act of radical forgiveness, and salvation for us sinners in this world. How do you follow someone like Jesus, and let a little C on a paper stop you from doing great things? How do you wear the cross around your neck, and then live in the comfort zone, where no great ideas blossom, and nothing happens to change this needy world? How do you sing songs of praise to Jesus, and then not say his name when someone asks you what you believe, or speak up when someone is being oppressed or mistreated?

            In 1511, when Europeans had discovered America and were beginning to carry out what would be a shameful history of abuse and genocide of native-Americans - taking their land, making them slaves, destroying whole populations, claiming they were subhuman and should have no rights, in the name of getting rich and spreading Christianity - one unknown Dominican friar preached the following: "Are not these Indians men? Do they not have rational souls? Are you not obliged to love them as you love yourselves?" The response to his bold words was anger and rejection. No one wanted to hear those inconvenient words. But one person was stabbed in the heart by them. His name was Bartolome de las Casas - as a boy, he had heard the tales told by Christopher Columbus, and had traveled to America himself. But when he heard that sermon, and then witnessed himself the oppression and murder of the natives, his life was turned around. He released his own native slaves, and became a crusader for native rights, when nobody wanted to hear it. He was the voice of conscience, he was a prophet of God.

            And while other forces overrode his voice for centuries, and the shameful oppression of natives continued, las Casas still stands as an example of holy boldness, the same Spirit-filled boldness those disciples in Acts began to show.

            And great movements begin with that kind of boldness. Yesterday several of us were present for the birth of a new United Methodist Conference. I pray that that new Conference is filled with holy boldness, and ready to do great things. Our church here at Cicero is launching out in new directions - a new youth room (envisioned by our youth, including some of these graduates sitting here), a music room, resettling a refugee family, fighting poverty, embarking on mission trips, planning an expansion of our Stephens' ministry - and so much more. That's the kind of holy boldness I want to be a part of.

            So a word to all of us, from seven to 97, and every graduate and father and follower of Jesus in between - an invitation from the apostles in the Book of Acts: do something bold with your life; build something great for Jesus, for love, for justice. As one computer scientist said, "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." That's great for science, great for the computer industry - but I want my life to do it for God.

            What's your great idea? What's your next bold move to make a better world? God put you and me in this world with greatness built right in, and a vision for kindness and peace and salvation. All we need is holy boldness to live it out. Great things will happen. God is amazing; and those who live for Him live amazing lives.