Calvin Synod Herald, 1993 (93. évfolyam, 2-6. szám)
1993-09-01 / 5. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD- 7 -REFOMÁTUSOK LAPJA Decisions and Consequences: "We Must Obey God Rather Than Men" r---------------------------------\ Scripture reading: Acts of Apostles 5:17- 33. Text: "But Peter and the apostles answered, 'We must obey God rather than men. '"Acts of Apostles 5:29. It is interesting to read articles, published in newspapers and magazines, which deal with the churches beset by controversial issues. In one of the articles the author was so right: "What is the proper role of the church in a modem culture? Is it that of a prophet, like John the Baptist, calling an errant world to repentance and redemption? Or is it to swim in the mainstream where it can offer a helping hand to those who are in distress? Can the church effectively do both? U.S. News, vol. 11, no. 22, page 64. The Story of Scripture Reading in a Nutshell The success and popularity of St. Peter and the other apostles (Acts of Ap. 5:12-16) were not welcome by the officials. The tension resulted in a showdown and the apostles were put into jail. Through a miraculous divine intervention the apostles became free, 19th verse, and had resumed preaching the gospel boldly. The apostles were arrested again and The three capital "H" letters above appeared in the 4th Quarter Issue of 1989 of the Magyar Herald as a subtitle in these changing times. They accelerated into the principle title in the 1 st Quarter Issue of our Magyar Herald in 1991. The year of 1991 started the last decade of this century; the decade that has waged more wars than any former one before in the history by The Rev. Alexander Jalso Pastor of Calvin United Presbyterian Church in Brownsville, PA charged with inciting the people. In response to the indictment St. Peter presented these well-known words: "We must obey God rather than men." The theological explanation of this statement, verses 30-32, angered the officials even more, so "when they heard this they were enraged and wanted to kill them" that is the apostles, verse 33. The Exceptional Elements of this Episode Will Never Occur Again The good news will never be as new as it had been when St. Peter and his friends started to preach and the spiritual power will not be as readily available as it had been after Pentecost. To expect a miraculous escape today with the help of a divine messenger defies any rationale. There is no more fear that the officials will be blamed for Jesus' crucifixion. We are more knowledgeable about our Master's life, mission, teaching and atonement than the scribes, priests and Pharisees had been shortly after Christ's resurrection. Our judicial system would not permit the officials to incarcerate anyone without due legal process. The Reoccuring Motives in the Life and Service of the Church The conflicts between the teaching of the church and the policies of the world have changed but never ceased. Today the reason of the human race. Hungary is the example of the rebirth of a Central Europe that can bridge the ideological chasm between East and West. Most visionaries of 1956 may have died, but the ideas they fought for live on. Citizens free to choose their own course, within a Europe free to determine its own future. for disagreement might be completely different from that of the first century, like the prohibitive statements of the Ten Commandments and the liberal views of the situational ethics. Nowadays, the clergy should not be afraid of brutal force rather of financial and psychological pressure. The church members can withhold their contributions thus upsetting the budget and/or criticize the pastor so severely that he/she rather quits than will try to reason with the critics. The basic principle by which every church should serve has remained the same: "We must obey God rather than men", however, who can say with absoluet certainty that in this complex society coping with so many controversial issues what is the exact will of God? The public is divided, the people are demanding, and the clergy is doomed. It is true that the officials were jealous of and angry at the apostles but neither St. Peter nor St. Paul had to worry how the parish council will vote. "We must obey God rather than men" is still true today. If you agree then your primary concern should be on how YOU follow God's commandments and not how others, especially the church leaders, should meet God's expectations. Each group (biblical and modem", wants the other one to interpret the Bible according to its own conviction. When the "I" will be integrated into the "WE" and God's wish will become clear in a given predicament then we can say with St. John: "For whatever is bom of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith". 1 John 5:4. In the mirror of most recent researches there are 16 million Magyars on earth today, which paralels the number of Jews on this globe. Eleven million Magyars live in the homeland and five million are scattered outside of the nation. In comparison, out of the 16 million Jews, three-and-a-half million live in their homeland and twelve-and-a-half million are scattered in Diaspora. In sharp contrast, four million Magyars are still forced to live under unwanted succession state rules on territories, where their own forefathers lived for over one thousand years. Magyar migrations - indeed - have featured distinctive traits, dissimilar to any other in human history. Here is when HOPE comes into focus of recent HISTORY! p* Hungary, History and Hope Magyar-Hon,Történelem, Remény Rev. Alexander Jalso
