Startled by God

Fifteen years ago a wonderful thing happened to my wife and I. Our first child was born. She was a beautiful, perfect baby girl. Up until that point I had always believed I would be a very good father. I loved children and seemed to do fairly well with other people’s kids. And so I figured this “parent-thing” would be a snap. No problem!

That is until the first night we brought her home from the hospital.

Something happened that night. For one thing my wife and I swapped sleeping patterns. Up until then my wife had always been a fairly light sleeper. I, on the other hand, couldn’t be awakened by an F-5 tornado. This all changed when we brought our daughter home. Suddenly my wife became the unmoved-mover, and I began sleeping so lightly I could hear grass grow.

Being rather astute, however, I quickly acquired the disease many young fathers catch during the first six months of a newborns life--pretendus snoozora. It’s symptoms are rather common including deafness, heavy erratic breathing, and the ability to stay completely still despite being wide awake.

There was so much I didn’t know about raising a child and to be honest it scared me half to death. One of the things I hadn’t realized was children are born with certain instinctive, God-given reflexes are designed to help them survive and protect them from harm.

For example, there is the sucking reflex. From the moment a baby is born they have the innate ability to nurse from their mother’s breast. Another reflex is the startle reflex. This is the reflex that causes us to jump whenever something happens our body isn’t prepared for.

I discovered this reflex in our baby daughter just a few days after she had come home. She was laying face up on my wife’s lap and I was sitting on the couch across the room. I crawled up behind her and casually looked down over her forehead to give her a kiss. I moved closer and closer to into her line of sight, when suddenly her startle reflex kicked in and she nearly leaped off the chair!

All of us have the startle reflex. It is our body’s way of protecting us from things we aren’t expecting. It’s the moment when we stop in our tracks, do a double take, and prepare for a surprise.

It happens in our spiritual lives too. Have you ever been startled by God? Have you ever been surprised by God? Have you ever been in a situation where you saw no way out. No solutions in sight. But somehow God intervened and rescued you and you could hardly believe it! You were startled that it happened.

If we think hard enough most of us can look back across our lives and remember moments when we were surprised by the activity and power of God at work in us. Maybe we didn’t see it in the middle of the crisis, but in retrospect we can look back and see God’s fingerprints all over the situation.

This story in Acts 12 is about the church being startled by God. Most of us have never experienced a crisis quite like Peter and the Early Church were facing. Being a Christian was not “PC” in the first century. In fact, it was so un-politically correct being a Christ follower turned out to be dangerous. The surgeon general of the day, whose name was King Herod, issued a statement that said: “WARNING: Serving Jesus Christ can be hazardous to your health.”

And to prove his point Herod began arresting and even killing those who were a part of the Church. By the time we pick up this story he’s already had James Zebedee, the brother of John killed. And now he has arrested Peter and thrown him in jail, with the only stay of execution being a Jewish feast celebration.

Peter is in jail--but not just in a cell--he is surrounded by guards. Verse 6 tells us: “He was surrounded by two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries outside the cell entrance.” Do you get the feeling Herod was being cautious?

Peter’s situation at the moment was at least as bad as any situation any of us are facing right now. Think about it. Stephen and James had already been killed. That’s not to minimize whatever you and your family might be going through at the moment--it’s simply to say the early Church’s predicament and Peter’s dilemma was at least as urgent and impossible as anything you and I are going through.

I don’t know everything you’re experiencing right now, but I do know a little. I know many of you are in the middle of job transitions. For some of you this past year has been a financial disaster, and simply living from week to week and keeping it together is a challenge.

There are some of you whose relational worlds are in total chaos. It seems like you’ve bent over backwards in your marriage simply to get along and keep the peace. For some it started that way from the beginning and now years later the relationship has grown cold and disinteresting and you’re wondering how much longer you can survive.

Others of you are scared to death about the future of our kids. Some aren’t sure if they’re going to be able to feel good about sending their kids to school for fear of their safety and what they’ll be exposed to. There are others whose kids are already grown and out of the house, and those kids are making decisions and choices against what they know to be the right way. But you feel as if it’s out of your control and you’re not sure how to respond to them.

You combine this with the physical issues many are facing and those whose family and friends are far from God, it almost feels, once in a while, like we’re in prison. We’re surrounded by guards, with our hands chained and unable to do anything about it. Some of you have gone beyond panic and desperation to the point of impossibility and feeling as if it’s futile to even hope for things to be different.

Locked up . . . in prison . . . helpless. What do you do when you feel that way?
It’s interesting to discover how the Early Church responded in that predicament. First, the Church goes to prayer. I’m not talking about one of those little: “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep” kind of prayers. Now if that’s you’re best shot, that’s okay. That’s better than no prayer at all.

But this was an earnest prayer. It was a prayer that came out of the depth of their being, full of urgency and passion. This was a fervent prayer. This was an earnest prayer. They were crying out for God to intercede for their leader. The Bible says: “The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.” That’s what the Church does when it feels locked up and in prison.

Some of you are saying: “Well I’ve got that one covered, Pastor. I have no trouble praying fervently when I’m in the middle of a crisis. In fact, my prayer life is never better then when I’m in trouble!” The first thing the Church does is pray.

But what else does the Church do when it feels surrounded and trapped? Well, look at what Peter does. If you were in a damp, dark dungeon, surrounded by surly guards, chained from hand to foot, knowing full well tomorrow morning you would be put to death, what would you do? Would you cry? Would you say: “Where are you God?”

Would you try and cut a deal with God? God if you get me out of this one I promise to start going to Sunday school and tithing 15 percent!

I don’t know what you would do, but I know what Peter did. Peter went to sleep. Not that I’m totally surprised. That was a pretty common posture for Peter. Every time you turn around Peter is at a big event stretched out on the ground catching some “zzz’s.”
So how do those responses grab you? How does the Church respond in crisis? Pray--sleep! Ask--rest!

And what does God do? The Bible says it so much better than I can say it. Look at verse 7. Get the picture--the Church is praying! Fervently, earnestly praying! Pouring out their hearts before God. Peter is asleep: “Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel tapped him on the side to awaken him and said, ‘Quick! Get up!’ And the chains fell off his wrists. Then the angel told him, ‘Get dressed and put on your sandals.’ And he did. ‘Now put on your coat and follow me,’ the angel ordered.”

I’ve just got to stop right here. This is unbelievable. Here’s a guy who’s a few hours from his execution. He’s chained between two soldiers. There’s an angel tapping him on the shoulder, waking him up, the chains fall off, and he still has to be coached: “Peter, put on your shoes . . . get your coat . . . come on!”

Look at verse 9: “So Peter left the cell, following the angle. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn’t realize it was really happening. They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate to the street, and this opened to them all by itself. So they passed through an started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him.” And Peter’s startle reflex kicked in!

What can God do? What can God do . . . ? Take coming to church this morning and put it out of your mind for a second. Take this being a sermon and put it out of your mind for a second. Take whatever it is your planning the rest of this weekend and put it out of your mind for a moment. Now ask yourself one question: Does God have the power to turn your situation around?

That’s a hard question, but I want you to think about it. Does God have the power to take the chains that bind our nation, our city, our marriages, our families, and loose them so we can be free?

You say: Oh Pastor, that’s just one guy in a prison a long time ago. I’ve got issues that have been problems for years. I’ve tried and tried to change them and it seems like it’s just getting worse! There are dynamics at work and barriers in our way that you know nothing about. And besides, God doesn’t do miracles like that anymore! That’s just the Bible. It can never really be any better!

I know about all of those doubts. But does God have the power . . . to enter into the fabric of our lives . . . and change it?

Most of us want to say: Sure He does! Of course He does! He’s God! In fact, if we were to take a vote right now most of you would say: Count me in! I believe! And yet deep down inside, where no one else can see, many of us really don’t believe. We’re not happy about that, but if the truth be told, we have our doubts about whether God can really make a difference.

And if you feel this way this morning, then you’re in good company. Good company? How does that put us in good company? Let me take you back to the story.

When Peter finally came to himself, he didn’t know what in the world was going on. And who really does know what’s going on when God is bringing deliverance? I mean chains fall off and eyes are opened and procedures change and we walk past one obstacle after another and we have no idea sometimes what’s really happening. And we say, if this is really real then somebody please pinch me. Isn’t that right? Because very often it’s only in looking back on a situation that we say: Oh yeah, that must have been God at work. It’s called the startle reflex.

And so when Peter finally gets over his startle reflex and reality begins to set in he immediately makes his way to the home of John Mark’s mother. He knows one of the house churches will be gathered for prayer. I can just see him running through the streets, cutting his way through dark alleys, hiding in the shadows until finally he gets to the house and begins to knock on the door. [knock . . . knock]

You say: Did he knock loud? I don’t know for sure, but I sure wouldn’t have. Don’t forget, this guy has just made a jail break. If it would have been me I think I would have done it like this: [tap . . . tap . . . whispering] “Hello? Anybody home?”

Well, whatever he did somebody inside the house heard him knocking. The church is so busy praying fervently inside, making a commotion, praying for God to deliver Peter, they send a servant girl named Rhoda to answer the door.

“Anybody home?”

“Who is it?

“Rhoda, it’s me, Peter! Open the door! Open the door!”

And when she heard that, she was so surprised, do you know what she did? She ran back to the prayer meeting and left Peter standing on the front porch!

Can you see the irony here? Here are the Christians inside praying their hearts out, deeply interceding for Peter’s deliverance and for an answer to their prayers. And all the while the answer to their prayers is standing at the front door!

Do you see what’s happening? The iron gate of the prison swings open by the power of God, but the Christians inside the house have got their door bolted shut. Peter can escape from prison, but he can’t get into the prayer meeting!

If you think I’m exaggerating, just look at the church’s response to Rhoda. Rhoda comes tearing into the prayer meeting screaming: “Peter’s at the door! Peter’s at the door!” And look at what they say in verse 15: “You’re out of your mind!” . . . Can’t you see we’re trying to have a prayer meeting here? Now go on and leave us alone so we can keep asking God to get us out of this mess!”

Their first response is just like our first response! They’re praying. How? Fervently and earnestly. Pleading with God to deliver them from this crisis and yet when the news comes back: “He’s free! He’s free! Your prayers have been answered,” their response is: “You must be out of your mind!”

But Rhoda kept insisting: “I know it’s Peter. I recognized his voice. I know it’s him. I just know it’s him!” So then they go to step two in the logical order of possibilities. “Since we know God probably hasn’t answered our prayers that Peter be delivered,” they decided, “It must be his angel.” “Peter’s already been killed and now his angel is at the door to tell us not to worry about him anymore.”

Does this sound familiar? You’re out of your mind. God doesn’t really answer our prayers, but maybe, just maybe, he’ll give us some little supernatural sign to make us feel a little better and build up our faith just a little bit. Maybe God could do that.

But Peter kept knocking. He just wouldn’t quit knocking. God’s answer still wants in the door.

And so, they finally answer the door. And the people who had been fervently and earnestly praying were astonished! They were startled by God!

To be perfectly honest, we probably would have to admit most often we’re more like the prayer meeting crowd than we are like Rhoda. We pray and search the Scriptures to discover God’s will, and when we finally see the fullness of His plan we are surprised.

Surprised the Creator of the universe has a perfect plan for us.

Surprised that we couldn’t see before now how He has been working in the details.

Surprised at how unaware we have been to His workings and that the answer is before us.

STARTLED BY GOD!