Dialogue

Acts 4:1-22

A quick review:  John and Peter were going up to the temple to pray (a nod to the truth that the earliest Christians saw themselves as fully and faithfully Jewish).  They were about to pass through the Beautiful Gate (which is not so much a gate we can pinpoint with archeological accuracy today, but a foreshadowing of what is about to happen there).  They saw this man who was lame from birth being carried in by his friends (see Mark 2:1-12 to see a story from the life of Jesus that this passage echoes).

After the man was healed, Peter, John, and this man danced into church created quite a commotion because people were amazed that the man who was paralyzed from birth is now not only walking but leaping all around them.

Creating a scene in church...not something we've ever gotten used to.  

So in this passage the religious authorities want to keep things under control...something we are still used to. 

They question Peter and John about why they are trying to change things...something we are still used to.

Then they have a committee meeting (verse15)...something we are still very used to.

What pervades this passage is dialogue.  Dialogue between Peter and the council.  Dialogue between the council members.  More dialogue between Peter and the council.  Talk...talk...talk.

We do a lot of talking today.  We don't do much dialogue.  There is a difference.

The central difference is around receiving or listening.  What passes for most talk or conversation today lacks listening.  Really what we do is try to be quiet for long enough for the other person to say something before we chime back in with some sort of remark or picking up on some small piece of what the other person said or taking the conversation in the way we want to go.

I think one of the gifts of the church is more dialogue.  Notice that Peter and the council did not resolve anything!  They did not take a vote.  They did not propose a motion using Robert's Rules of Order.  They lived with ambiguity and with uncertainty.  That is one of the most powerful messages of Acts is the willingness to live in the present moment without holding onto the past or worrying about the future. 

That is easier to type than to live out...at least for me.

For today, I encourage you to try dialogue.  Listen to what the person is saying.  

This may mean after s/he stops speaking, you don't have something to say right away in response.  Listening may mean that you have to allow space for your mind and words to get on the same dance page.  Listening, I believe, is one of the best gifts the church can give the world right now and we can give each other.  

Because we worship a God who listens...and calls us to do the same.