Accepting Sovereignty

Chapter 12

v.2 - James is martyred. This verse makes it seem so quick (almost insignificant). This is startling to us today, but I believe that those 1st century followers of Jesus knew good and well that if they aligned themselves with Christ (as opposed to the Jewish religious system or the Roman political system), they were risking it all. That's not to say it was easy for James to accept - just that it's not as big of a deal as it would be today in America. I'll never forget being at a party that one of my seminary prof's had at his house and hearing a Chinese guy tell us that he knew that if he made a decision to be a Christ follower, his life would be in jeopardy. He then went on to tell us that he weighed everything and decided, "I'll do it." He said this with a non-chalance in his voice that astounded me. My decision to be a Christ follower was on a Sunday night in my Baptist church with tons of support and no thought that it would cost me hardly anything. Since most Christ followers in America are not confronted with the possibility of the loss of their life at their decision time, it's understandable why American believers have such low commitment levels. Contrast that with how many Chinese Christ followers (they meet secretly in the underground church movement for fear) fall away from the faith or are lukewarm and it's embarrassing.

v.3- Herod, in an attempt to please the Jews, goes after the acknowledged leader of the Christian Jewish movement: Peter. Herod arrests him, puts him in prison, and then will make an example of him after the week long Feast of Unleavened Bread. Going after the head of a group is a common method for destroying a group (if you kill the head, the body will die). I bring this up to remind us to pray for and support our spiritual leaders - especially head pastors. Most of us will spend more time at Sunday lunch critiquing them than we spend Sunday morning praying for them. If we were trying to take down a church, our #1 target would be whom? Of course, the head pastor. Don't finish this blog without praying for whoever that is for you.

v.11 - Sovereignty - I discussed this some in previous blogs on Genesis and Exodus, but this aspect of God's character is very unsettling for us (if we're honest). Peter rejoices that God freed him from Herod and thwarted the plans of the unbelieving Jews - and he should. However, James was not spared. What gives? God takes one and leaves another. He has the authority to do that because He is sovereign. Boy, is that hard for us to swallow! Now read verse 19 where Herod puts to death a couple of guards who were supposed to keep up with Peter - these guys are killed as the result of a miracle God did. Hmmm. I made a friend in seminary named Wilfred. He was from Ghana, born with nothing, and was going to make a huge difference for Christ. I've never met a finer man or a man more focused on using everything he had and did for the cause of Christ. I received a page from a friend on a Tuesday, called her, and found out that he had been killed by a drunk driver the night before. It took me a while to accept God's sovereignty in that situation. At the end of the day, I'm not sure we're ever going to understand how God works (until we reach Heaven), but we're not asked to. This is where trusting kicks in - it's why it's called faith - choosing to believe God is right and good (at the same time). Easy to type, hard to do.

v.15- Hilarious! These people are praying "earnestly" for Peter (see v.5), then God answers their prayers, and they can't believe it. This begs the question, "When I am praying, do I really believe He is going to answer it?"

vv.21-23 - The 1st of the 10 commandments says "You shall have no other gods before me." I guess God was not kidding and Herod should've known this since he had some Jewish blood in him and he ruled the Jews. Herod was kind of a punk, but I stop short of saying he deserved it. Here's why: I think God wants us to worship Him all the time and especially when the Body is gathered corporately (i.e. Sunday mornings). Have I ever left church on a Sunday and failed to give God the praise He is due?