📖 Matendo ya Mitume — Somo la Kina — Sehemu ya 2: Ushuhuda wa Ujasiri Katika Yerusalemu (Matendo 3:1–6:7)📖 Acts Intensive — Unit 2: Bold Witness in Jerusalem (Acts 3:1–6:7)

I. Saa Tisa Katika Mlango Uitwao MzuriI. Three O'Clock at the Beautiful Gate

Pentekoste imepita. Umati umerudi nyumbani Parthia na Mesopotamia na Misri na Krete. Waamini wapya elfu tatu bado wako Yerusalemu wakijaribu kuelewa ni kitu gani ambacho wamekuwa sehemu yake hivi punde. Na katika alasiri ya kawaida mwishoni mwa majira ya kuchipua mwaka 33 B.K., mitume wawili — Petro na Yohana, wale wawili ambao Yesu aliwachagua kwa namna ya pekee wakati wa kugeuka sura na huko Gethsemane — walipanda kwenda hekaluni saa tisa, yaani saa tisa alasiri, saa ya kusali ya jioni.Pentecost is over. The crowds have gone home to Parthia and Mesopotamia and Egypt and Crete. Three thousand new believers are still in Jerusalem trying to figure out what they have just become part of. And on an ordinary afternoon in late spring of AD 33, two of the apostles — Peter and John, the same pair Jesus singled out at the transfiguration and Gethsemane — went up to the temple at the ninth hour, three o'clock, the hour of evening prayer.

Mlangoni pa hekalu uitwao Mzuri aliketi mtu aliyekuwa akichukuliwa na kuwekwa pale kila siku ya kazi kwa miaka arobaini (Matendo 4:22 inatuambia umri wake). Alikuwa kiwete tangu tumboni mwa mama yake. Mlango uitwao Mzuri ulikuwa mahali bora kuliko pote mjini pa kuombea sadaka — kila hujaji aliyepanda kwenda kusali alilazimika kuupita akiingia ndani. Aliwaomba Petro na Yohana sadaka. Kigiriki kinasema walimkazia macho. Mtu huyo akachangamka — lazima alidhani sarafu nono kweli inakuja. Kisha Petro akasema maneno ambayo yamevuma masikioni mwa kanisa kwa miaka elfu mbili: "Fedha na dhahabu sina; lakini nilicho nacho ndicho nikupacho. Kwa jina la Yesu Kristo wa Nazareti, simama uende" (Matendo 3:6, SUV). Naye akainama, akamshika mtu yule mkono wa kuume, akamwinua.At the gate called Beautiful sat a man who had been carried there every working day for forty years (Acts 4:22 tells us his age). He was lame from his mother's womb. The Beautiful Gate was the prime begging spot in the city — every pilgrim coming up to pray had to pass it on his way in. He asked Peter and John for an alms. The Greek says they fixed their eyes on him. The man perked up — he must have thought a really fat coin was coming. Then Peter said the line that has rung in the church's ears for two thousand years: "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk" (Acts 3:6, NKJV). And he reached down and grabbed the man by the right hand and pulled him up.

Kilichofuata ni mojawapo ya sentensi zenye furaha kuliko zote katika Agano Jipya. "Akaondoka upesi akasimama, akaanza kwenda; akaingia ndani ya hekalu pamoja nao, akienda, akiruka-ruka na kumsifu Mungu" (Matendo 3:8, SUV). Miaka arobaini alikuwa ameketi nje ya mlango ule. Sasa anaingia ndani kwa miguu yake mwenyewe, akiruka kama mtoto, na hakuketi tena mlangoni kamwe. Umati uliomtambua ulijaa mshangao na ajabu. Walikuja mbio kutoka kila upande. Petro, ambaye hakuwahi kupoteza nafasi ya umati, mara moja alihubiri mahubiri yake ya pili — na idadi ya wanaume walioamini ikafikia kama elfu tano (Matendo 4:4). Jinsi alivyoukwepa utukufu katika mahubiri yake inashangaza. Aliwatazama wale waliokuwa wakikodoa macho akasema, "Kwa nini mnastaajabia jambo hili? Au kwa nini kututazama sisi, kana kwamba ni kwa nguvu zetu wenyewe au kwa utauwa wetu tumemwezesha mtu huyu kwenda?" (Matendo 3:12, SUV). Ni jina la Yesu lililofanya hivyo. Petro anasimama imara juu ya jambo hilo, nasi tunapaswa kusimama hivyo pia. Dakika ile mjumbe anapopewa sifa, Bwana anaporwa.What happened next is one of the most joyful sentences in the New Testament. "And he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them — walking, leaping, and praising God" (Acts 3:8, NKJV). Forty years he had sat outside that gate. Now he goes inside on his own two feet, jumping like a child, and he never sits at the gate again. The crowd that recognized him was filled with wonder and amazement. They came running from all directions. Peter, never one to waste a crowd, immediately preached his second sermon — and the number of the men who believed came to about five thousand (Acts 4:4). The deflection in his sermon is striking. He looked at the gawkers and said, "Why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?" (Acts 3:12, NKJV). It was the name of Jesus that did it. Peter is firm about that, and we should be too. The minute the messenger gets the credit, the Master gets robbed.

II. Kukamatwa kwa Kwanza, na Msemo Ambao Ulimwengu Haukuweza KuusahauII. The First Arrest, and a Phrase the World Could Not Forget

Kufikia asubuhi iliyofuata Petro na Yohana walikuwa chini ya ulinzi. Mkuu wa walinzi wa hekalu, makuhani, na Masadukayo "walisikitika sana" — kauli ya Luka iliyopunguza ukweli kuliko zote za mwaka — kwa sababu mitume walikuwa wakiwafundisha watu habari ya ufufuo wa wafu, fundisho lile lile ambalo Masadukayo hawakuliamini hata kidogo. Waliwatia mitume gerezani hadi asubuhi. Baraza la Sanhedrini lilikutana siku iliyofuata, chombo kile kile ambacho chini ya miezi miwili kabla kilikuwa kimemhukumu Yesu. Waliuliza swali moja: "Ninyi mmefanya hivi kwa nguvu gani, au kwa jina la nani?" (Matendo 4:7, SUV).By the next morning Peter and John were in custody. The captain of the temple guard, the priests, and the Sadducees were "greatly disturbed" — Luke's understatement of the year — because the apostles were teaching the people the resurrection of the dead, the very doctrine the Sadducees did not even believe in. They threw the apostles in jail until morning. The Sanhedrin convened the next day, the same body that less than two months earlier had condemned Jesus. They posed one question: "By what power or by what name have you done this?" (Acts 4:7, NKJV).

Petro, akiwa amejaa Roho Mtakatifu, alitoa jibu la aya moja lenye mojawapo ya madai ya upekee kuliko yote yaliyowahi kutolewa katika dini za wanadamu: "Jueni ninyi nyote, na watu wote wa Israeli, ya kuwa kwa jina la Yesu Kristo wa Nazareti, ninyi mliyemsulibisha, ambaye Mungu alimfufua katika wafu, kwa yeye huyo mtu huyu anasimama mbele yenu, mzima… Wala hakuna wokovu katika mwingine awaye yote; kwa maana hapana jina jingine chini ya mbingu walilopewa wanadamu litupasalo sisi kuokolewa kwalo" (Matendo 4:10, 12, SUV). Soma hilo mara mbili. Hapana jina jingine. Si Buddha. Si Muhammad. Si Confucius. Si Krishna. Si Dalai Lama. Si uaminifu wako wa moyo, si matendo yako mema, si adabu yako njema. Ni Yesu peke yake.Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, gave a one-paragraph answer that contains one of the most exclusive claims ever made in human religion: "Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole… Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:10, 12, NKJV). Read that twice. No other name. Not Buddha. Not Muhammad. Not Confucius. Not Krishna. Not the Dalai Lama. Not your own sincerity, your own good works, your own decency. Only Jesus.

Baraza likastaajabu. Luka anasema waliona mambo mawili kuhusu watu hawa. Kwanza, walikuwa watu wasio na elimu, wasiofundishwa — hawakuwa na masomo yaliyofaa wala shahada zilizofaa. Pili, Baraza "wakawatambua ya kuwa walikuwa pamoja na Yesu" (Matendo 4:13, SUV). Ni baraka iliyoje kupokea maneno kama hayo. Watu waliokuwa wamekaa na Kristo hata kwa muda kidogo walibeba kitu chake walipoingia chumbani. Mungu na ajalie jambo hilo hilo lisemwe juu yetu.The council marveled. Luke says they noticed two things about these men. First, they were uneducated and untrained — they did not have the proper schooling and the proper degrees. Second, the Sanhedrin "realized that they had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13, NKJV). What a benediction to receive. People who had spent any time at all with Christ carried something of Him with them when they walked into a room. May God grant that the same thing be said of us.

Mtu yule aliyeponywa alikuwa amesimama pale pale — hawakuweza kuukana muujiza. Kwa hiyo walirudi kwenye silaha pekee iliyobaki kwa taasisi iliyooza hoja zake zinapokwisha: vitisho. Waliwaamuru Petro na Yohana waache kusema kwa jina la Yesu. Jibu lao limeiunda dhamiri ya Kikristo tangu wakati huo: "Kama ni haki mbele za Mungu kuwasikiliza ninyi kuliko Mungu, hukumuni ninyi wenyewe; maana sisi hatuwezi kuacha kuyanena mambo tuliyoyaona na kuyasikia" (Matendo 4:19–20, SUV).The healed man was standing right there — they could not deny the miracle. So they fell back on the only weapon a corrupt institution has when its arguments are gone: intimidation. They commanded Peter and John to stop speaking in Jesus' name. The reply has shaped Christian conscience ever since: "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:19–20, NKJV).

Walipoachiliwa kwa vitisho, mitume walirudi kwa watu wao wakafanya mkutano wa maombi. Hawakuomba usalama. Hawakuomba amri ya mahakama dhidi ya Baraza. Waliomba, "Basi sasa, Bwana… uwajalie watumwa wako kunena neno lako kwa ujasiri wote" (Matendo 4:29, SUV). Na jengo likatikisika. "Wakajazwa wote Roho Mtakatifu, wakanena neno la Mungu kwa ujasiri" (Matendo 4:31, SUV). Katika Matendo jibu la vitisho ni ujasiri zaidi, si kidogo. Kwa kiasi kikubwa tumepoteza silika hiyo. Mungu na airudishe.Released with threats, the apostles went back to their own people and held a prayer meeting. They did not pray for safety. They did not pray for an injunction against the Sanhedrin. They prayed, "Now, Lord… grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word" (Acts 4:29, NKJV). And the building shook. "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness" (Acts 4:31, NKJV). In Acts the response to threats is more boldness, not less. We have largely lost that instinct. May God restore it.

III. Hadithi Ndani ya Kanisa Ambayo Karibu Hakuna Mtu AnayeisimuliaIII. A Story Inside the Church That Almost No One Tells

Waamini walikuwa na vitu vyote shirika. Mtu mmoja aitwaye Yusufu kutoka Kipro — Mlawi — aliuza shamba akaleta fedha yote akaiweka miguuni pa mitume. Mitume walivutiwa sana hata wakampa jina jipya la utani: Barnaba, "Mwana wa Faraja." Kumbuka jina hilo. Atamwokoa Sauli wa Tarso sura chache kutoka sasa na kumpata kijana aitwaye Marko sura chache baada ya hapo. Kanisa linahitaji akina Barnaba.The believers held all things in common. A man named Joseph from Cyprus — a Levite — sold a field and brought the entire amount and laid it at the apostles' feet. The apostles were so impressed they gave him a new nickname: Barnabas, "Son of Encouragement." Remember that name. He will rescue Saul of Tarsus a few chapters from now and find a young man named Mark a few chapters after that. The church needs Barnabases.

Kisha ukaja upande wa giza. Mume na mke walioitwa Anania na Safira nao waliuza kipande cha mali. Walitaka sifa ambayo Barnaba alikuwa amepokea, lakini hawakutaka kutoa fedha yote. Kwa hiyo walipanga hila. Wangeleta sehemu yake na kuliambia kanisa kwamba ndiyo kiasi chote. Haikuwa sadaka ya sehemu iliyokuwa dhambi — Petro analiweka hili wazi: "Ilipokuwa ikikaa, haikuwa mali yako? Na ilipokwisha kuuzwa, haikuwa katika uwezo wako?" (Matendo 5:4, SUV). Wangeweza kutoa asilimia yoyote waliyotaka. Dhambi ilikuwa uongo. Walitaka sifa ya kujitoa kikamilifu bila uhalisi wake. "Hukuwaambia uongo wanadamu, bali Mungu" (Matendo 5:4, SUV). Anania alianguka akafa miguuni pa mtume. Saa tatu baadaye Safira aliingia bila kujua, akasema uongo ule ule, akaungana na mumewe. "Hofu nyingi ikawapata kanisa zima na watu wote waliosikia habari hiyo" (Matendo 5:11, SUV).Then came the dark counterpart. A husband and wife named Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of property too. They wanted the credit Barnabas had received, but they did not want to give all the money. So they cooked up a plan. They would bring part of it and tell the church it was the whole amount. It was not the partial gift that was the sin — Peter makes this clear: "While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control?" (Acts 5:4, NKJV). They could have given any percentage they wanted. The sin was the lie. They wanted the reputation of full surrender without the reality of it. "You have not lied to men but to God" (Acts 5:4, NKJV). Ananias dropped dead at the apostle's feet. Three hours later Sapphira walked in not knowing, told the same lie, and joined her husband. "So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things" (Acts 5:11, NKJV).

Hili ndilo tishio la kwanza la ndani kwa kanisa jipya, na Mungu alilishughulikia bila hata kikao kimoja cha kamati. Kwa nini kwa ukali hivyo? Kwa sababu saratani ya unafiki wa kidini huua ushirika uliojaa Roho haraka kuliko mateso yoyote kutoka nje. Kila mchungaji mwaminifu niliyemjua amelazimika kulilia kanisa ambalo halikuwa limekufa bali lilikuwa limepakwa dawa ya kuhifadhi maiti — likiendelea na taratibu za uhai huku maiti ikiwa ndani yake. Matendo 5 ni onyo kali kama lolote katika Maandiko: Mungu havutiwi na maigizo yetu. Anauona moyo, anaviona vitabu vya hesabu, anayaona mazungumzo ya kwenye maegesho ya magari. Tusije kamwe tukabadilisha uhalisi wa Roho kwa sifa ya kuonekana kuwa na Roho.This is the first internal threat to the new church and God dealt with it without a single committee meeting. Why so severely? Because the cancer of religious pretending kills a Spirit-filled fellowship faster than any persecution from outside. Every honest pastor I have known has had to weep over a church that had not died but had been embalmed — going through the motions of life with a corpse inside it. Acts 5 is a warning as fierce as any in Scripture: God is not impressed by our performance. He sees the heart, He sees the books, He sees the conversations in the parking lot. May we never trade the reality of the Spirit for the reputation of the Spirit.

IV. Mzunguko wa Pili na Baraza la SanhedriniIV. Round Two with the Sanhedrin

Ishara na maajabu viliendelea kutokea. Watu waliwaleta wagonjwa barabarani ili hata kivuli cha Petro kikiwaangukia kiwaletee uponyaji. Kuhani mkuu na Masadukayo, "wakijaa wivu" (kihalisi wivu — waliweza kuona hali ilivyo, na watu walikuwa wakiondoka katika kundi lao), waliwakamata mitume wakawatia wote katika gereza la watu wote. Usiku ule malaika wa Bwana aliifungua milango ya gereza akawatoa nje, akiwapa agizo: "Enendeni mkasimame hekaluni, mkawaambie watu maneno yote ya Uzima huu" (Matendo 5:20, SUV). Kulipopambazuka walikuwa tena katika nyua za hekalu, wakihubiri. Baraza likakutana. Watumishi wakatumwa. Watumishi wakarudi wakiwa wamechanganyikiwa — gereza lilikuwa limefungwa salama, walinzi walikuwa mahali pao, lakini chumba kilikuwa kitupu. Kisha mjumbe akaingia mbio: "Wale watu mliowatia gerezani jana usiku wamesimama hekaluni wakiwafundisha watu."Signs and wonders kept coming. People brought the sick into the streets so that even Peter's shadow falling across them might bring healing. The high priest and the Sadducees, "filled with indignation" (literally jealousy — they could read the room and the room was emptying out of their party), arrested the apostles and threw them all in the public jail. That night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, with marching orders: "Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life" (Acts 5:20, NKJV). At daybreak they were back in the temple courts, preaching. The Sanhedrin assembled. Officers were sent. The officers came back baffled — the prison was secure, the guards were at their posts, but the cell was empty. Then a messenger ran in: "The men you put in prison last night are standing in the temple teaching the people."

Walipoletwa mbele ya Baraza mara ya pili, mitume walitamka maneno ambayo yamejichora katika kiini cha historia ya Kikristo. Kuhani mkuu alisema, "Tuliwaamuru sana msifundishe kwa jina hili." Petro akajibu: "Imetupasa kumtii Mungu kuliko wanadamu" (Matendo 5:29, SUV). Maneno manane kwa Kiingereza. Sita kwa Kigiriki. Hilo ndilo agizo la kuandamana la Kanisa la Kikristo kwa miaka elfu mbili.Brought before the council a second time, the apostles delivered the line that has carved itself into the marrow of Christian history. The high priest said, "We strictly commanded you not to teach in this name." Peter answered: "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29, NKJV). Eight English words. Six Greek ones. There is the marching order of the Christian Church for two thousand years.

Ni maneno ambayo Tyndale aliyatii alipotafsiri Biblia akijua kwamba wangemchoma moto kwa ajili ya kazi hiyo. Ni maneno ambayo kanisa la Afrika limeyatii wakati washiriki wake walipokatwa vichwa na ISIS kwenye fukwe za Libya. Ni maneno ambayo kila mchungaji mwaminifu huyatii dhehebu linapomwambia ailainishe injili naye hailainishi. Petro na mitume waliiweka kanuni hiyo mbele ya mahakama ya kidini yenye nguvu kuliko zote katika taifa lao, na kanuni hiyo bado imesimama.It is the line Tyndale obeyed when he translated the Bible knowing they would burn him for it. It is the line the African church has obeyed when its members were beheaded by ISIS on the beaches of Libya. It is the line every faithful pastor obeys when a denomination tells him to soften the gospel and he does not soften it. Peter and the apostles laid that principle down in front of the most powerful religious court in their nation, and the principle is still standing.

Baraza lilitaka kuwaua. Lakini Farisayo mmoja aitwaye Gamalieli — mwalimu wa zamani wa Sauli wa Tarso — alisimama. Luka anamwita mwalimu wa sheria, aliyeheshimiwa na watu wote (Matendo 5:34, SUV). Alitaja vuguvugu mbili za hivi karibuni za kimasihi zilizoshindwa (za Theuda na Yuda wa Galilaya) na kusema, kwa maana, "Ikiwa jambo hili ni moto wa majani tu wa kibinadamu, litajizima lenyewe. Lakini likiwa ni la Mungu hamwezi kulizuia, na huenda hata mkajikuta mnapigana na Mungu" (Matendo 5:39, SUV). Ni msemo wa kumgandisha damu mjumbe wa baraza. Tahadhari ya Gamalieli ikashinda. Waliwapiga mitume mijeledi wakawaachilia. Nao mitume wakaondoka mbele ya Baraza "wakifurahi kwa kuwa wamehesabiwa kustahili kuaibishwa kwa ajili ya Jina lile" (Matendo 5:41, SUV). Mimi sijawahi kupigwa kwa ajili ya injili. Nimesoma shuhuda za wale waliopigwa. Karibu bila kubadilika wote husema jambo lile lile — furaha iliyoko upande wa pili wa utii haifanani na furaha yoyote ambayo ulimwengu huu unaweza kuitengeneza.The Sanhedrin wanted them dead. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel — Saul of Tarsus's old teacher — stood up. Luke calls him a teacher of the law held in respect by all the people (Acts 5:34, NKJV). He cited two recent failed messianic movements (Theudas and Judas of Galilee) and said, in effect, "If this is just another human flash in the pan, it will burn itself out. But if it is from God you cannot stop it, and you may even find yourselves fighting against God" (Acts 5:39, NKJV). It is a phrase to chill a councilman's blood. Gamaliel's caution carried the day. They flogged the apostles and let them go. And the apostles departed from the council "rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name" (Acts 5:41, NKJV). I have never been beaten for the gospel. I have read the testimonies of those who have. Almost without exception they say the same thing — the joy on the other side of obedience is unlike any joy this world can manufacture.

V. Kutoka Pearl Harbor Hadi KalvariV. From Pearl Harbor to Calvary

Inafaa kusimama kidogo juu ya onyo la Gamalieli, kwa sababu maneno "kupigana na Mungu" yanaeleza maisha mengi kuliko tunavyopenda kukiri. Kuna watu wanaopigana naye ambao hawajui hata kidogo. Kuna watu wanaopigana naye ambao kwa dhati wanadhani wanamtumikia — Sauli wa Tarso ndiye mfano ulio wazi kuliko yote katika Biblia.It is worth pausing on Gamaliel's warning, because the line "fighting against God" describes more lives than we like to admit. There are people fighting against Him who do not even know it. There are people fighting against Him who genuinely think they are serving Him — Saul of Tarsus is the clearest case in the Bible.

Kamanda Mitsuo Fuchida alikuwa rubani Mjapani aliyeongoza shambulio la anga dhidi ya Pearl Harbor tarehe 7 Desemba 1941. Baada ya vita alikuwa afisa wa zamani aliyeshindwa, aliyeaibishwa, asiye na kazi, akilima karibu na Osaka. Siku moja katika kituo cha treni huko Tokyo, Mmarekani mmoja alimpa kijitabu kilichoitwa I Was a Prisoner in Japan (Nilikuwa Mfungwa Japani). Kilikuwa ushuhuda wa mrushaji mabomu Mmarekani aitwaye Jacob DeShazer ambaye alikamatwa na Wajapani mwaka 1942 baada ya shambulio la Doolittle, akapigwa na kunyimwa chakula kwa miezi arobaini katika kambi ya wafungwa, na hata hivyo alirudi Japani baada ya vita kama mmisionari kwa sababu alikuwa amesoma Biblia gerezani na kuokoka kwa maneno haya: "Baba, uwasamehe, kwa kuwa hawajui watendalo" (Luka 23:34, SUV). Hadithi ya DeShazer ilimsumbua Fuchida kiasi kwamba alinunua Biblia. Alisoma maneno yale yale ya Kristo msalabani. Baadaye aliandika, "Papo hapo ilionekana kana kwamba nilikutana na Yesu kwa mara ya kwanza." Rubani yule wa mabomu alipiga magoti akamwomba Yesu yule yule aliyekuwa akipigana naye amsamehe. Kisha yeye na DeShazer — mtu ambaye jeshi la anga la Fuchida lilikuwa limemkamata, mtu ambaye Fuchida alikuwa amesaidia kumfunga — walihubiri injili bega kwa bega huko Japani, na Fuchida alitumia maisha yake yote yaliyosalia, zaidi ya miaka ishirini na mitano, kama mwinjilisti. Wengi walimjia Kristo kupitia ushuhuda wao.Commander Mitsuo Fuchida was the Japanese pilot who led the air raid on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. After the war he was a defeated, humiliated, unemployed ex-officer farming near Osaka. One day at a Tokyo train station an American handed him a tract titled I Was a Prisoner in Japan. It was the testimony of an American bombardier named Jacob DeShazer who had been captured by the Japanese in 1942 after the Doolittle raid, beaten and starved for forty months in a prison camp, and yet had come back to Japan after the war as a missionary because he had read a Bible in his cell and had been converted by the words "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34, NKJV). DeShazer's story so disturbed Fuchida that he bought a Bible. He read those same words of Christ from the cross. He wrote later, "Right at that moment I seemed to meet Jesus for the first time." The bomber pilot got on his knees and asked the very Jesus he had been fighting against to forgive him. Then he and DeShazer — the man Fuchida's air force had captured, the man Fuchida had helped imprison — preached the gospel side by side in Japan, and Fuchida spent the rest of his life, more than twenty-five years, as an evangelist. Many came to Christ through their witness.

Fuchida alikuwa amepigana na Mungu kwa miaka arobaini bila kujua. Sauli wa Tarso alikuwa amepigana na Mungu kwa miaka kadhaa bila kujua. Baraza la Sanhedrini lilikuwa limepigana na Mungu kwa karibu miezi miwili bila kujua. Gamalieli alijua vya kutosha hata akaogopa. Luka hatuambii kamwe kwamba Gamalieli mwenyewe aliamini; ushauri wake ulikuwa tahadhari ya busara, si imani. Neno la hekima kuliko yote ambalo Farisayo huyo mkuu aliwahi kusema lilikuwa, "Msije mkaonekana kuwa mnapigana na Mungu." Baadhi yenu mnaosoma haya sasa hivi mnapigana na Mungu kwa namna ambayo bado hamjaikiri. Acheni. Iwekeni chini. Mwacheni awasamehe kama alivyomsamehe rubani yule wa Pearl Harbor. Yesu yule yule ananyoosha mkono ule ule.Fuchida had been fighting against God for forty years and did not know it. Saul of Tarsus had been fighting against God for years and did not know it. The Sanhedrin had been fighting against God for almost two months and did not know it. Gamaliel knew enough to be afraid. Luke never tells us that Gamaliel himself believed; his counsel was prudent caution, not faith. The wisest thing the great Pharisee ever said was, "Lest you be found to fight against God." Some of you reading this right now are fighting against God in a way you have not yet admitted. Stop. Lay it down. Let Him forgive you the way He forgave the Pearl Harbor pilot. The same Jesus is reaching out the same hand.

VI. Tatizo la Kwanza la Ndani LatatuliwaVI. The First Internal Crisis Solved

Kanisa sasa lilikuwa likikua kwa kasi kiasi kwamba lilikumbana na tatizo lake la kwanza la kiutawala. Wajane wanaozungumza Kigiriki (Wayahudi wa Kiyunani, au Wahelenisti) waliona kwamba walikuwa wakisahauliwa katika mgawanyo wa chakula wa kila siku ukilinganisha na wajane wanaozungumza Kiaramu (Waebrania). Wale Kumi na Wawili waliita mkutano wa kusanyiko lote. Jibu lao lilikuwa hekima ya uongozi ambayo kila mchungaji anapaswa kuiweka mezani pake: "Haipendezi sisi tuliache neno la Mungu, tuhudumu mezani" (Matendo 6:2, SUV). Si kwa sababu kuhudumu mezani kulikuwa chini ya hadhi yao — Yesu alikuwa ameosha miguu — bali kwa sababu wito wa pekee wa mitume uliwataka wajitoe katika "kuomba, na kulihudumia lile Neno" (Matendo 6:4, SUV). Kwa hiyo waliliagiza kanisa liwachague watu saba wenye sifa njema, waliojaa Roho Mtakatifu na hekima, washughulikie mgawanyo wa chakula. Wale saba walichaguliwa, mitume wakawawekea mikono, na kanisa likaendelea mbele.The church was now growing so fast that it ran into its first organizational problem. The Greek-speaking widows (the Hellenists) felt they were being neglected in the daily food distribution compared with the Aramaic-speaking widows (the Hebrews). The Twelve called a congregational meeting. Their answer was a piece of leadership wisdom every pastor should keep on his desk: "It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables" (Acts 6:2, NKJV). Not because waiting on tables is beneath them — Jesus had washed feet — but because the apostles' particular calling required them to give themselves to "prayer and to the ministry of the word" (Acts 6:4, NKJV). So they instructed the church to choose seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, to handle the food distribution. The seven were chosen, the apostles laid hands on them, and the church kept going.

Hili, kwa kadiri linavyostahili, ndilo tukio la kwanza katika Maandiko la kile tunachokiita sasa huduma ya ushemasi. Angalia kwamba haikuanzishwa katika kikao cha mipango ya kimkakati bali kama jibu kwa malalamiko halisi ya kusanyiko yaliyohitaji suluhisho halisi na la haraka. Angalia pia sifa zinazohitajika: kujaa Roho Mtakatifu na hekima. Angalia zaidi kwamba wawili kati ya wale saba — Stefano na Filipo — ndani ya mwaka mmoja wangekuwa shahidi-mfia-dini wa kwanza na mwinjilisti wa kwanza wa kuvuka tamaduni katika historia ya kanisa. Mtu unayemruhusu agawe supu huenda amebakiza miezi mitatu tu kabla ya kuhubiri mbele ya Baraza la Sanhedrini au kumhubiria afisa wa Kushi.This is, for what it is worth, the first appearance in Scripture of what we now call the office of deacon. Notice it was created not in a strategic planning session but in response to a real congregational complaint that needed a real and prompt solution. Notice also the qualifications: full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. Notice further that two of the seven — Stephen and Philip — would within a year be the first martyr and the first cross-cultural evangelist in the history of the church. The man you let serve the soup may be three months from preaching to the Sanhedrin or evangelizing an Ethiopian official.

Luka anahitimisha sehemu hii kwa mojawapo ya kauli zake kuu za muhtasari: "Neno la Mungu likaenea, na hesabu ya wanafunzi ikazidi sana katika Yerusalemu; jamii kubwa ya makuhani wakaitii ile imani" (Matendo 6:7, SUV). Angalia msemo huo wa mwisho. Makuhani. Taasisi ile ile ya hekalu iliyokuwa imemkabidhi Yesu kwa Pilato sasa ilikuwa ikituma baadhi ya washiriki wake kanisani. Injili ilikuwa imeruka ukuta. Yerusalemu ilikuwa ikitikiswa kutoka ndani. Roho alikuwa amekuja, na hakuna yeyote — wala Baraza la Sanhedrini, wala mume na mke wanafiki kati ya waabudu, wala kizuizi cha kiutawala katika jiko la kugawa chakula — aliyeweza kuzima kile ambacho Mungu alikuwa amekianzisha.Luke wraps up this section with one of his great summary statements: "Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith" (Acts 6:7, NKJV). Note that last phrase. Priests. The very same temple establishment that had handed Jesus over to Pilate was now sending some of its members into the church. The gospel had jumped the wall. Jerusalem was being shaken from the inside. The Spirit had come, and nobody — neither the Sanhedrin nor a hypocritical couple in the pews nor a logistical bottleneck in the soup kitchen — could shut down what God had started.

VII. Maagizo Matatu ya KuandamanaVII. Three Marching Orders

Kutoka katika sura hizi nne chukua mafundisho matatu uende nayo nyumbani usiku huu. Kwanza, jina bado linafanya kazi. Kuponywa kwa kiwete katika mlango uitwao Mzuri bado ni kielelezo. Hatukuahidiwa fedha wala dhahabu ya kuwapa watu waliovunjika wa miji yetu. Tumepewa jina la Yesu, na jina hilo linatosha kabisa.From these four chapters take three lessons home with you tonight. First, the name still works. The healing of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate is still the pattern. We are not promised silver or gold to give the broken people of our cities. We are given the name of Jesus, and that name is more than enough.

Pili, utii kwa Mungu unashinda ruhusa ya wanadamu. "Imetupasa kumtii Mungu kuliko wanadamu." Serikali yako ikisema hubiri injili tofauti, kataa. Dhehebu lako likisema ulainishe msalaba, kataa. Utamaduni wako ukisema uandike upya maadili ya Maandiko kuhusu ngono, kataa. Kibali cha Baraza la Sanhedrini hakihitajiki kwa kazi ya Kristo.Second, obedience to God beats permission from men. "We ought to obey God rather than men." If your government says preach a different gospel, refuse. If your denomination says soften the cross, refuse. If your culture says rewrite the sexual ethic of Scripture, refuse. The Sanhedrin's permission slip is not required for the work of Christ.

Tatu, linda ndani, si nje tu. Kanisa lilinusurika Baraza la Sanhedrini. Karibu halikunusurika Anania na Safira. Matishio hatari kuliko yote kwa ushirika uliojaa Roho karibu kamwe si ya kutoka nje. Ni uongo tunaousema ili tuonekane wa kiroho zaidi kuliko tulivyo. Ishi maisha ya uwazi mbele za Mungu na mbele ya ndugu zako wa kiume na wa kike. Leta sadaka yote au usilete kabisa. Yeye anakuona ndani kwa vyovyote vile.Third, watch the inside, not just the outside. The church survived the Sanhedrin. It almost did not survive Ananias and Sapphira. The deadliest threats to a Spirit-filled fellowship are almost never external. They are the lies we tell to look more spiritual than we are. Live a transparent life before God and your brothers and sisters. Bring the whole offering or none at all. He sees through you anyway.

Bwana aliyetikisa milango ya gereza ni Bwana yule yule anayetikisa mikutano ya maombi hata sasa. Mwamini. Mtii. Na, kama mitume, ondoka mbele ya kila Baraza la Sanhedrini katika maisha yako ukifurahi kwamba umehesabiwa kustahili kulichukua jina lake.The Lord who shook the prison doors is the same Lord who shakes prayer meetings still. Believe Him. Obey Him. And, like the apostles, leave every Sanhedrin in your life rejoicing that you have been counted worthy to bear His name.

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