Scripture Readings for April 30, 2025

Acts 5:17-26, Ps 34:2-9, John 3:16-21

Today’s readings are all about escaping the fear and judgments that keep us from being ourselves, good and holy people.

We begin with Luke’s story in the Acts of the Apostles that tells of the Apostles being put in prison because the authorities were jealous of all the good things they were doing. That same night an Angel comes, let’s them out and tells them to go to the Temple and preach about the good life that Jesus has brought.

Our Psalm acts as a perfect summary and interpreter of God’s action in similar situations in life. The response is simply, “The Lord hears the cry of the poor.” Followed by “I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” No wonder the psalmist blesses and glorifies the Lord throughout these verses. Our fears and the judgments of some people can be a jail that imprisons us. Only a sense that we are loved and not judged can set us free.

Love and empowering non-judgment are exactly what Jesus is explaining to Nicodemus in John’s Gospel. You may well have heard this line quoted in television ads for various Christian groups. It is the core of the Christian message: “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” This is almost a repeat of the verse that precedes it, “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” This is followed by a pretty simple statement of how people can choose Jesus and light or evil and darkness. This statement about believing in Jesus or not, seems to be at odds with the prior verse that says the Son didn’t come to condemn the world.

 Yet the Psalm says, “Look to him that you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame. When the poor one called out, the LORD heard, and from all his distress he saved him.” Also when the temple guards go to get the Apostles out of prison to face the judgment of the Sanhedrin, the Apostles are gone. They are gone even though the doors are still locked and prison guards still on duty. There’s no logical way they could have gotten out. However, they did.

 I don’t want to dismiss this as an obvious miracle that God performed a long time ago. I believe this incident is meant to send us a message now. No matter the prison we’re in, not matter whether we’ve chosen the light or the dark at this point. Situations and attitudes can change with no logical explanation. Sometimes there is no logical explanation for what God does. Why? Because I’m not sure God looks at the light and dark of this world the way we often do. I think God simply loves us and acts out of that love.