Pastor Slaughter
Easter 2
4-27-25
A Meaningful Mission
1)It’s not a mission that everybody is going to like to hear
2) It’s a mission that no one can stop
3) It’s a mission rooted in reality
Text: Acts 5:12, 17-32
I don’t know about you, but I have noticed (and maybe this is me just being a Millennial) that people want to be involved in some sort of meaningful service. I think some people genuinely want to make an impact in the lives of others. Volunteer their time at a food bank, or they find joy in helping make an impact.
In order to appeal to people’s desire to find meaning and impact in the lives of others, we see organizations make missions statements that strive to inspire the people within the organization, uniting them toward a common purpose, a common mission. I mean we have here, It reminds us what unites us and what drives us here at Trinity. It’s on the front of our bulletin, “We are a family, united and saved by faith in Christ, dedicated to praising God and sharing His love and Word with all people.”
Books are written on the subject. You can find all kinds off examples of meaningful mission statements online. But I can’t think of a better mission statement then what the resurrection of Jesus gives to us. I can’t think of a more meaningful thing or something else that would be more impactful than what witnessing the resurrection of Jesus gives to us. Our theme for today, “We have a meaningful mission. We are going to look at three things about our mission 1) it’s not a mission that everybody is going to like. 2) it’s a mission that no one can stop. 3) A mission rooted in reality.
What is our meaningful mission? Peter said in verse 32, “We are witnesses of these things…” Witnesses of what? Witnesses of Jesus resurrection, of the message of repentance, and forgiveness. What is our meaningful mission? To tell people about Jesus! Sharing his love and word with all people.
The message of Jesus is offensive. It cuts too close to the hearts of everyone out there. It attacks the things that the sinful nature of people love. It attacks the sin that people love. And if someone attacks something that you love…what can you expect? Not everyone is going to like.
In Acts we hear, about how the Sadducees, were filled with envy. The message of Jesus was spreading. The Holy Spirit was active in a very visible way. We hear in verse 12, “Many signs and wonders were done among the people through the hands of the apostles. With one mind they all continued meeting in Solomon’s Colonnade.” They not only were gaining popularity, but they were preaching that Jesus rose from the dead which was especially offensive to this group of religious Jews because they taught that there was no resurrection. Not only that, but by proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah, they are guilty of playing a part in his execution.
So what did they do? The High Priest along with the Sadducees arrested the apostles and put them in public prison. Their mission, telling people about Jesus…it’s not something that everybody is going to like.
We need to face this reality that the world in which we are living and the culture in which we are living is hostile to the mission that God has given to us. To say something is a sin, something that people may love. To call people to turn away from that, to call people to repentance, to speak to their conscience and to expose the guilt they maybe suppressing. Yeah…people may lash out.
So what keeps you from your meaningful mission? What keeps you from telling people about Jesus? We are truly blessed here that we don’t have the same fear of being put in prison for telling people about Jesus. If it is not being put behind bars, then what is it?
Why am I reluctant to share Jesus? It is easy for us to have a conversation at the grocery store, or with the waitress at the restaurant, or a conversation with our neighbors, but what keeps us from telling others? Is it embarrassment of the resurrected Christ? Is it worry that someone may lash out when we prick their conscience? Is it fear not of jail but of losing that relationship? If we are not carrying out our mission, is it because we do not fully grasp what it means that Jesus rose, that we are forgiven…what that means for us and others?
Satan is going to attack hard on this point because he doesn’t want that message of Jesus to be spread. We see him at work in our lesson with the leaders. They had all the apostles thrown into prison to try to stop this message from being spread. Like prison bars can keep gospel from being spread. What did God do? Sent an angel to unlock the prison doors, help them escape without the guards knowing and told them, vs 20 “Go, stand in the temple and keep on telling the people the whole message about this life.”
This meaningful mission is a mission that no one can stop. People tried. Early in acts they had Peter and John arrested and told them to stop telling others about Jesus. Then here they had all the apostles arrested and God sent his angel to free them and told them to keep on sharing the good news.
What’s fascinating to me about this section is that you would almost expect that God would want to send his angels to go and tell other people this good news. But God has given that responsibility to us, his people to share the good news about the message of the resurrection!
When you look at the apostles here in acts, what a difference then when Jesus appeared to them int he gospel where they were hiding behind locked doors out fear. Even after he appeared to them an told them to go, they still hid behind locked until Jesus appeared to them a second time and proved to Thomas that he was alive. Now fast forwarding in time. They prison bars can’t keep them from telling others about Jesus!
This makes the apostles a little more human. I think we elevate them (rightly so) but they are human who were not perfect. They were afraid which I think makes them more relatable. So what changed from time of gospel lesson to the Acts lesson? Because they understood that their mission is rooted in reality.
After the leaders found out that they were not in prison and found them once again teaching, they approached them and said in verse 28, “Did we not give you strict orders not to teach in his name? Look, you have filled Jerusalem with you teaching, and you are determined to bring this man’s blood down on us!”
Then Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.” This wasn’t simply about government overreach. This was about Satan trying to stop the message of the gospel through sinful people. The apostle’s response? We can’t stop. Why can’t they stop? Because it’s a message rooted in reality.
What they had seen, Jesus crucifixion dying for our sins… what they had witnessed, seeing the nail marks in his hands like in the gospel. How they saw Jesus ascending to heaven where as Peter says, “God exalted him to his right hand as Ruler and Savior.” What was the purpose for all of this? Peter goes on, “to give repentance to Israel and the forgiveness of sins.”
Verse 32, “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” The apostles were witnesses of these things. The forgiveness, the resurrection. They experienced Jesus forgiveness. And they couldn’t help but share this good news. This message was so important, they endured persecuted and became martyrs (or in John’s case exiled). It wasn’t a hoax or a lie they were telling because of what they went through. If it was lie, what would they gain from it? Fortune, fame, glory? No. They gained suffering and pain, and persecution.
You are witnesses off these things. There is no middle ground. No possibility of compromise. Because the opposition wants God’s kingdom destroyed. But we are not alone in our witness of these things. The Holy Spirit serves as a witness along with us. He is the one who works through the message. He is with us. He will strengthen us to proclaim the risen Christ.
When we see what Jesus’ death and resurrection means for us. When we full grasp the seriousness of our sins and see the forgiveness that Christ gives to us. When we see the power of the resurrection, which means that we have something more to live for then just this life. We have to tell people about this so they can repent and receive the forgiveness that Christ has won.
My family in Christ, I can’t think of a more meaningful mission then what is before us today. To tell people of Jesus because this mission has an eternal impact on those we tell it to. Lord forgive us for not taking the opportunity to tell others about you. Help us not to hide behind locked doors but to go and tell others that you died and rose! Amen.