A CHURCH ON ITS KNEES

What separates the church of Acts from the church of today? It is obviously its power. The church of Acts had it; today's church does not. From where did the church's power come? It came from prayer. The church of Acts is a church on its knees. Note how often prayer is recorded by Luke:

• 1:14 in the upper room
  
• 1:24 before selecting the replacement for Judas
  
• 2:42 after Pentecost
  
• 3:1 Peter and John go to the temple at the hour of prayer
  
• 4:24 response to the threat of the religious leaders
  
• 4:31 response of God to the church's prayer
  
• 6:4 the apostles priority is to pray
  
• 7:59 Stephen prays before death
  
• 8:15 Peter and John pray for the Samaritans
  
• 9:11 Saul of Tarsus prays after his heavenly vision
  
• 9:40 Peter prays before raising Tabitha from the dead
  
• 10:9 Peter is praying as God gives him a vision leading to the conversion of Cornelius and his household
  
• 12:5 the church pray for Peter's release
  
• 13:1-3 the church at Antioch prays and God sets apart missionaries
  
• 14:23 Paul and Barnabas pray as they appoint elders to the churches of Asia Minor
  
• 16:25 Paul and Silas pray and praise God in jail
  
• 20:36 Paul pray with the Ephesian elders
  
• 21:5 Paul prays with Christians at Tyre
  

 

At every turn, before every decision, at every fork in the road the church prays. They pray for wisdom, power, strength, help, and for God's will to be done in and through them.

These were no super churches as we see today. They were small. They were made up mostly of the undesirables of society: shepherds, tax collectors, harlots, and sinners of all types. They were misunderstood and persecuted. They were also powerful. Their power came from the time they spent on their knees in prayer.

Power is the primary by-product of prayer. But there are other benefits to the church as well. If a church is on its knees it will be focused. The church will know what is important and what is not. Also, and this is desperately needed, he church will be unified. Luke emphasizes that unity came from prayer in the first chapters of Acts (1:14; 2:42-7; 4:24).

If they were honest with themselves (and most won't be) most churches realize they are impotent but don't know why. The answer lies in their lack of prayer. The church can preach, sing, build buildings, create ministries, raise money, use Twitter and all the technowhizbang gadgets they think will reach today's generation, or think outside the box, but it doesn't pray very much. Until the church understands that and remedies it, all the other stuff will like filthy rags before the Lord of the Lord of the church. What the church needs today are fewer Bible studies (and I'm not against those) and more prayer meetings. Most Christians know enough about the Bible; in fact they need to apply what they already know. It is not more Bible knowledge that is needed; it is more power.

I've heard it said often that we need to go back to the church of Acts. Let's start at the altar!

The Prodigal and the Two Rules

There are two unbreakable rules in biblical interpretation. First is that genre determines interpretive method. As Stein has written, there are rules to the game and genre determines the rules. The second is context determines meaning. Preachers break both rules all too often. A simple lesson in the rules is found in Luke 15, a series of parables Jesus tells the most famous of which is the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Most people believe the primary point of the story is but miss Jesus' point. I'll get to that below. First let's deal with context. Remember there are three parables in the chapter. All three are told by the Lord against the background of vv. 1-2: Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, 'This Man receives sinners and eats with them.' Then Jesus tells three stories (parables): the Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and then the Lost Son.

Context determines meaning. Jesus is eating with undesirables and the pious religious establishment cannot believe it. In the first two parables Jesus plainly says that is why He came—to seek those who do not profess to be religious and lead them to repentance. There is joy in heaven when a sinner repents (there ought to be on earth). The third parable, the most famous one, starts out the same way. There is a son who is lost. However, the father does not seek him out as the shepherd and the woman seek out the lost sheep and coin. Instead he allows him to go out and experience what it's like to be on his own. He finds out to be sure. When the lost boy comes home his father is runs to meet him and throws a party.

Then we come to the part of the story that is not found in the other parables. The elder son who has stayed home and kept the father's commandments is upset that the prodigal is getting a party. He's never had a party. He's jealous. He's angry. Note the father's response: Son you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found. Why doesn't the parable stop with the lost boy coming home? Why is there a pointed conversation between the elder son and his father? Remember the context? The religious leaders are criticizing Jesus for fellowshipping with sinners. They can be found in the elder son. Jesus is telling them that they should be glad He is there to fellowship with sinners. In fact that's what they should be doing. They should be seeking the lost as the shepherd and woman sought the lost sheep and coin. They should be as joyful as heaven that a lost son comes home.

In fact the point of all three parables comes down to this final conversation between the father and his eldest son. This leads to genre, which determines the rules of interpretation. This is a parable. There are not many rules to this game, but one of them is the principle of end stress. In other words, like any good story, the point is found at the end. The primary purpose of all three parables is not to bless lost sinners (although they obviously do) but to confront self-proclaimed religious folks with their hypocrisy. The final plea of the father to the elder son I'm convinced is a plea from Jesus for the religious to see their hypocrisy and repent themselves.

Obviously the parables of Luke 15, especially the last one, have been a blessing to sinners. The Father not only waits for sinners, but runs to meet them. Indeed He even seeks them out. However, context and genre demand that the interpreter pay more attention to that last conversation. In fact, when we speak of the Parable of the Lost Son my question is which one is lost? Isn't it the elder brother?

In any biblical passage genre and context are keys. Preachers often do not understand the former and dismiss the latter. They do so to the detriment of the people in the pew. To preach in biblical authority means to keep both in mind. Only by doing so does one really preach God's Word.

Blessed Sarcasm

Over the years, and I know it's hard to believe, I was accused of using a bit too much sarcasm in the pulpit. Oh blessed sarcasm—it's one of the preacher's favorite tools. Most I know use it fairly regularly. When I did, I was just following the example of the Apostle Paul, who used sarcasm often. He was a master at it. I was reminded of how good he was at biting sarcasm when I was reading through 1 Corinthians recently. For example note 4:8-13 as Paul hits the church hard as it is more enamored with the wisdom of the world than the wisdom of God. The passage reads in part:

For you are already full! You are already rich! You have reigned as kings without me—and indeed I could wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you!...For I think God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored…

Of course Paul means just the opposite than his words indicate on the surface. He is using sarcasm. They aren't full. They aren't rich spiritually. They aren't wise, and they aren't strong. Instead they are empty, poor, fools, and weak. And that's the point of sarcasm. You mean the opposite of what you say. I doubt very much the Corinthians missed his point. Not many miss sarcasm today.

Sarcasm can be used in a destructive way, but when used rightly, it can challenge listeners to think and hopefully change harmful attitudes and actions. A preacher should not use it to be a smart aleck, but it is a legitimate rhetorical tool. When the wise preacher understands when to pull the trigger, sarcasm can be a helpful sermonic weapon.