This week our readings are  Acts 4.5–12 and John 10.11–18.  We encounter Peter and John in the aftermath of the healing we were thinking about last week, and it's not looking good - they are on trial in front of the 'rulers, elders, and scribes' - and it must have passed through their minds how that finished for Jesus... Speaking of whom, in his words in John, we find the bold proclamation of his calling to 'lay down his life' for his sheep.  So, if there is a common theme to these readings, it could be something around readiness to face persecution.

It's always a relevant message - persecution of the church, and those who share the message of salvation found in Jesus is something that has been a part of its history through the ages, and continues to be to this day.  There's an interesting interactive map showing the different levels of persecution in countries across the world today on the website of Voices of The Martyrs, with an accompanying invitation to pray for those parts of the church in need.  It's worth a look, because sometimes it's easy to forget the realities that exist outside our own little bubbles of experience.

We are privileged, immensely so, in the freedom we generally have to express and share our faith (bans on playground prayers notwithstanding) - imprisonment, torture, and execution are not consequences of church attendance we need to worry about.  Yet there can often still be some hesitation to admit to those around us that we're Christian.

I hear an echo of one of the reasons that may be behind that in the words of Peter in this trial, '...if we are questioned today because of a good deed...'  Somewhere in the midst of his experience is a mismatch between what he believes he's doing and sharing, and the understanding of those same things by the culture and people around him.  For Peter what has happened is a good thing - a healing - in the name of Jesus; what has been perceived by others (particularly the Sadducees in this instance) is seditious teaching, and faleshoods.  The early Christians thought they were proclaiming salvation and healing. The world around them thought them revolutionaries, and heretics, out to redefine how people thought about themselves, society and God.  The irony, of course, is that from our point of view we can see they were both right!

Bizarrely if that were still the perception of the Christian faith, would we not be able to wear it with a badge of pride, rather than admitting it only when necessary?  Sadly, it seems to me, that the associations with our faith and church around us are something quite different, despite the good works that still continue in and through it.  Is it not more often linked with being small-minded, dogmatic, out of touch, hateful towards certain groups and peoples, and exclusive to a particular pattern of behaviour and acceptability?  All the ways of thinking and being, in fact, that Jesus, Peter, and John ruffled so many feathers by challenging!

It may be that at times we do need to listen to that criticism, and repent of where we fall short of the model of our Lord.  Nonetheless, our faith is still deeply revolutionary: in its invitation to escape the bondage of the narrative that we can save ourselves (through health, wealth, status, or politics); in its vision of a bigger picture and a bigger God that is reconciling all things and people to himself; and in its truly counter-cultural assertion that there is Truth with a capital T, that can be known, that transcends any self-proclamation that leads to a peace and joy that can last into eternity - because that Truth's name is Love. 

So let's be bold, in getting back to our roots; in disrupting the assumptions around us - about ourselves, society, and God; and in living lives - unashamedly Christian lives - that give glory to His name by revelling in His love.