Didn't See That Coming: Price Tag
Streaming services have exploded in recent years, and they usually hook us in by offering the ever-popular “Free Trial Subscription.” However, if we saw the actual price tag for these services, we might be more inclined to make a different decision.
In the Book of Acts, a very real price tag is attached to a miracle. And we all know the tie between cause and effect. Something happens that impacts what happens next. For example, if you’re hungry, you get a snack, if you’re sick, you go to the doctor. There’s a relationship between events and things.
In the Book of Acts, Chapter 3 is the cause, and Chapter 4 is the effect.
Acts 4
1 The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. 4 But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.
5 The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. 7 They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16 “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”
18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
This is Peter's second time preaching a sermon, and there are consequences to this one. The story is a historical account, but it teaches us about the price tag for following Jesus. What is the cost for us to follow Jesus in our world?
The price tag for following Jesus is rejection. It’s true in Acts Chapter 4, and it’s true today.
The arrest is a manifestation, that’s what they do. What’s behind the action, underneath the arrest and the questions, is a rejection of the message. It says, “They were greatly disturbed.” Not by Peter and John’s preaching but “by the proclamation of Jesus’s resurrection from the dead.”
We might not be arrested for sharing Jesus today, but it could be different one day. If you’re going to follow Jesus in our modern context, the idea of who Jesus is will result in rejection.
So, why is there a rejection of who Jesus is?
It’s because of the implication.
The implication is that He is who He says He is. If Jesus is who He says He is, we must respond to that. It means we’re not the God of our lives. When we encounter the message of the Gospel, we have two options—we can accept it or reject it.
Rejection isn’t animosity. Rejection is passivity. While Christianity is no longer the dominant religion or worldview, most people don’t dismiss Jesus, they like Jesus.
Everyone likes their version of Jesus, they’re just not ok when He calls out their lifestyle.
What gets rejected is not the person or idea of Jesus. What gets rejected is the reality of His authority and the implications on our lives.
The rejection of who Jesus is and what that means in our lives is the price tag for following Him in our culture.
And the price tag of following Jesus comes in tension with the way we are wired as humans to want to belong and fit in. That natural tendency can quickly become a driving force in our lives to avoid rejection. People-pleasing is an exhausting existence that will never satisfy and always leaves us feeling empty.
However, the thing to remember about rejection is that although those around us may reject us because of Jesus, Jesus has already accepted us. So, acceptance, security, and the desire to fit in and belong were taken care of on the Cross.
Peter and John’s confidence and boldness in verse 13 aren’t coming from their own power. The power behind the words and actions is rooted in security within the message He’s declaring and being filled by the Holy Spirit. It’s coming from God's acceptance.
Rejection shouldn’t be taken personally. If it is, it’s because we’re insecure. We take things personally when we are insecure about what’s being rejected. We do the same thing in our spiritual journeys – we take a lot of things personally and make everything about us.
We’ve forgotten where our acceptance comes from, and we’ve developed this distorted view of reality where everything is targeted at us, and the world is out to get us. We embody this personal persecution complex.
When we’re insecure, we start looking for other things that will accept us or give us validation and power.
We look outside of Christianity for power and control because we don’t feel like we have it, and the structures and systems of our world offer us the quick fix of power. But do we feel better or more in control by going to these power structures?
No. These structures offer the illusion of power without the source of it.
So, where is our security found?
When we know we’re standing for something true, regardless of how others feel about it, we don’t take it personally the same way. For example, our reality will be different from that of our toddler. Regardless of how you interact with something, it doesn’t necessarily change someone else's reality.
Like Peter and John, we are witnesses to the reality of who Jesus is and what He’s done in our lives. The price tag for sharing that message might be a rejection of it. But as witnesses, our job isn’t to share things so that they work better for us, it’s simply to be witnesses.
Peter and John aren’t living towards an outcome, they’re being witnesses of God’s power and the power of Jesus regardless of the outcome. They’re stepping into sharing Jesus in the moment, and they can do that because of their confidence and power in the Holy Spirit.
This same confidence, security, and way of living is available to us today by shifting our perspective and showing up to the moment.
When we shift our perspective and see God as “God,” we change the way we live.
Peter and John asked God to enable them to show up to the moment. They shifted their perspective but then asked to live and speak boldly so they could represent Him in the moments He’d planned for them.
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Want to play catch-up, or are you looking for a specific topic? Check out our collection of sermons here.
In the Book of Acts, a very real price tag is attached to a miracle. And we all know the tie between cause and effect. Something happens that impacts what happens next. For example, if you’re hungry, you get a snack, if you’re sick, you go to the doctor. There’s a relationship between events and things.
In the Book of Acts, Chapter 3 is the cause, and Chapter 4 is the effect.
Acts 4
1 The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. 4 But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.
5 The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. 7 They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16 “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”
18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
This is Peter's second time preaching a sermon, and there are consequences to this one. The story is a historical account, but it teaches us about the price tag for following Jesus. What is the cost for us to follow Jesus in our world?
The price tag for following Jesus is rejection. It’s true in Acts Chapter 4, and it’s true today.
The arrest is a manifestation, that’s what they do. What’s behind the action, underneath the arrest and the questions, is a rejection of the message. It says, “They were greatly disturbed.” Not by Peter and John’s preaching but “by the proclamation of Jesus’s resurrection from the dead.”
We might not be arrested for sharing Jesus today, but it could be different one day. If you’re going to follow Jesus in our modern context, the idea of who Jesus is will result in rejection.
So, why is there a rejection of who Jesus is?
It’s because of the implication.
The implication is that He is who He says He is. If Jesus is who He says He is, we must respond to that. It means we’re not the God of our lives. When we encounter the message of the Gospel, we have two options—we can accept it or reject it.
Rejection isn’t animosity. Rejection is passivity. While Christianity is no longer the dominant religion or worldview, most people don’t dismiss Jesus, they like Jesus.
Everyone likes their version of Jesus, they’re just not ok when He calls out their lifestyle.
What gets rejected is not the person or idea of Jesus. What gets rejected is the reality of His authority and the implications on our lives.
The rejection of who Jesus is and what that means in our lives is the price tag for following Him in our culture.
And the price tag of following Jesus comes in tension with the way we are wired as humans to want to belong and fit in. That natural tendency can quickly become a driving force in our lives to avoid rejection. People-pleasing is an exhausting existence that will never satisfy and always leaves us feeling empty.
However, the thing to remember about rejection is that although those around us may reject us because of Jesus, Jesus has already accepted us. So, acceptance, security, and the desire to fit in and belong were taken care of on the Cross.
Peter and John’s confidence and boldness in verse 13 aren’t coming from their own power. The power behind the words and actions is rooted in security within the message He’s declaring and being filled by the Holy Spirit. It’s coming from God's acceptance.
Rejection shouldn’t be taken personally. If it is, it’s because we’re insecure. We take things personally when we are insecure about what’s being rejected. We do the same thing in our spiritual journeys – we take a lot of things personally and make everything about us.
We’ve forgotten where our acceptance comes from, and we’ve developed this distorted view of reality where everything is targeted at us, and the world is out to get us. We embody this personal persecution complex.
When we’re insecure, we start looking for other things that will accept us or give us validation and power.
We look outside of Christianity for power and control because we don’t feel like we have it, and the structures and systems of our world offer us the quick fix of power. But do we feel better or more in control by going to these power structures?
No. These structures offer the illusion of power without the source of it.
So, where is our security found?
When we know we’re standing for something true, regardless of how others feel about it, we don’t take it personally the same way. For example, our reality will be different from that of our toddler. Regardless of how you interact with something, it doesn’t necessarily change someone else's reality.
Like Peter and John, we are witnesses to the reality of who Jesus is and what He’s done in our lives. The price tag for sharing that message might be a rejection of it. But as witnesses, our job isn’t to share things so that they work better for us, it’s simply to be witnesses.
Peter and John aren’t living towards an outcome, they’re being witnesses of God’s power and the power of Jesus regardless of the outcome. They’re stepping into sharing Jesus in the moment, and they can do that because of their confidence and power in the Holy Spirit.
This same confidence, security, and way of living is available to us today by shifting our perspective and showing up to the moment.
When we shift our perspective and see God as “God,” we change the way we live.
Peter and John asked God to enable them to show up to the moment. They shifted their perspective but then asked to live and speak boldly so they could represent Him in the moments He’d planned for them.
For more LHC content, subscribe to our newsletter below or follow us on Instagram.
Want to play catch-up, or are you looking for a specific topic? Check out our collection of sermons here.
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