Who is at the Center?

Strengthening Connections—Who is at the Center?              

Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Decades ago I used a day-by-day devotional that introduced one entry by pointing out a device found sometimes in detective stories or Perry Mason dramas. It is when the case is not solved until one of the sleuths notices a photograph that has been in their hands from the beginning, and notices further something on the side or in the background of the shot. It could be the clock on the wall and the time pictured there, or an identifiable car, or a rare piece of jewelry. Just like that, the puzzle is solved.

The short reflection pointed out it can be useful, even if not the norm, for you or me to picture the scene we are in with the focus of importance elsewhere. We shift ourselves to the edge of the frame. This is practice for a person to leave the self out of center focus. It is a lesson we are someone, we are valuable, even though we are only one part of the whole.

I was applying this insight to the story from the Acts of the Apostles that comes up for us this Sunday. Peter and John were called before the big-wigs of the Temple authorities: The High Priest, Annas, Caiaphas, another John, Alexander, and others of the High Priest’s family. These, the leading members of the Council and the Elders and scribes were present. John and Peter were called on the carpet before them, as it were, over the matter of the beggar, lame from birth, who was healed and was now walking on his own. What a scene! The power structure brought these uneducated and untrained men before them, and they commenced with their attempt to intimidate them:

When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, "By what power or by what name did you do this?" Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. This Jesus is

`the stone that was rejected by you, the builders;
it has become the cornerstone.'

There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved."  —Acts 4:7-12

The authorities have themselves in the center of importance and have the disciples of Jesus brought to them to that center, putting them on the hot seat. Peter intentionally and boldly exacerbates the trouble for himself, by stating in effect, “We are not at the center, Jesus is: the power of the Name of Jesus worked this healing for the man trapped in weakness and dependency.” As the collector of these stories, Luke, seems always to do, there is woven in a touch of irony. Peter asserts to the rulers that Jesus, whom they thought they put out of commission permanently, is operating fully and putting the weak into full commission. He states adamantly that only by the name of Jesus are people saved, which is to say, healed.

Back to the original point: Luke, who preserved these stories in the Acts of the Apostles tells of Peter communicating to the leading members of the Council, “You are not center-stage, we are not center-stage, Jesus is at the center of all things.” A photo may have a very obvious subject, but it is the object over to the side, half out of focus that turns out to be of absolute importance. It may look as though Christ is nowhere to be seen, but Christ is, nonetheless the regulating principle of our lives. He is the principal actor of all the good that comes to human experience. We do best when we point not to ourselves but to the power of God, the Source, the Guide, and the Goal of all that is.