Second Sunday in Easter

To whom or to what do we submit?  As citizens of the United Kingdom we, quite rightly, submit to British law and, for the moment at least, to European law.  It is sound Christian teaching that the Church should fit into all aspects of civil and criminal law within the country where it is based.  But, what if that law contravenes God’s law?  Should Christians speak out, risk imprisonment and then be rendered impotent?  Or, should Christians be ‘wise as serpents’ and seek to influence things for good from within?  What does the Bible speak into this?  Well, of course, the Bible says many things but, in this week, the week following Easter week, the New Testament passage is highly informative.  The ‘council’ (ruling authority of the day) ordered the Apostles to stop telling the people in Jerusalem about Jesus.  The reply by the Apostles is simple and direct.  Peter replied: “We must obey God rather than human authority.”  Peter then goes on to spell out the facts, clearly and with respect to the high priest who is questioning him: “The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after you killed him by crucifying him.”  Extra-ordinary courage from Peter which incensed the high priest who wanted to kill them all.  However, that was not what happened.  Following the advice of a pharisee called Gamaliel, the Apostles were released.  The reasoning of the Jewish council was if Christianity came to nothing, then it wasn’t worth getting angry about.  If it flourished, then not even all the legal and spiritual leaders of Israel could do anything about it.  Of all the weeks of the year, Easter time is when Christians in the UK can speak out, even at the risk of upsetting people, if not (yet) breaking the laws of the land.