Most people are not aware that there is a city ordinance in Post Falls which says that children under 18 cannot be out at night between mid-night and 6 a.m.
Post Falls has a curfew law, and there is probably a similar one in the city where you live.
And I wonder if there was a curfew in effect in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago.
Remember this was a city ruled by a foreign government, so I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that no one could be on the streets between sun-down and sun-up without Roman permission.
And yet there was Peter dropped by the angel in the middle of Jerusalem sometime during the middle of the night.
Notice that verse 12 says that “when he had considered the thing,” he went to Mary’s house.
I thought about developing a message on “Consideration and the Thing Considered,”
He was probably in some danger roaming around the streets of the city that night.
But, it appears that he knew that there was a group of Christians meeting at Mary’s house praying for him.
So after CONSIDERING things he determined that it would be CONSIDERATE for him to announce his deliverance.
Traveling in the shadows as much as possible, like a common criminal, he made his way to Mary’s house.
Some might have been SO INCONSIDERATE as to just make their get-away without letting anyone know.
Some people actually enjoy making other people worry.
But Peter in this case CONSIDERED the feelings of the others.
At first he was quite quiet, but when there was no response he kept getting louder and louder.
When Rhoda came to the door and asked who was there, she recognized Peter’s voice.
But she didn’t let him in, and ran back into the house, so that Peter had to continue to knock.
In so doing he was risking re-arrest or even worse.
But out of CONSIDERATION he needed to tell the people inside that he had been released from jail.
If I photocopied a sheet of paper with all of our names on it and passed them out to everyone here.
And if I asked you to mark beside each name whether you considered that person considerate or inconsiderate, what would most people mark beside your name?
Christians ought to be the most CONSIDERATE people in the world; the most self-less; the most caring.
They are commanded to be concerned about the feelings and interests in their brethren in Christ.
But I have found that is not generally the case.
Most Christians are just as selfish and INCONSIDERATE as the average lost man.
That is just about as much as I could come up with for that sermon, so let’s move on to message number 2.
Let’s think about Rhoda and try to find a point or two from this young lady’s life to apply to ours.
We aren’t told her age, but the word “damsel” indicates that she was not an adult.
So my guess would be that she had come with Mary and John Mark to Jerusalem from Cyprus.
Because Rhoda might have been sent to them some time after they had arrived in Jerusalem.
I have an Hebrew name, but that doesn’t mean that I’m Jewish.
And that is amplified when we consider a couple of other things about her.
Judy and I have some friends and former church members, who nicknamed their daughter “Rhoda.”
From what I was told, when she was small, she loved to answer the door and the doorbell.
Someone called her Rhoda and the nickname stuck.
But “Rhoda” doesn’t actually refer to doors at all.
The name originated with the Greeks, migrated into Latin and means in both languages: “Rose.”
That may make “Rhoda.” one of the sweetest names around today.
A rose by any other name is just as sweet.
Judy has a lush, green, broad, thick-leafed bush in our front yard which is called a “rhododendron” – which means “rose-tree.”
Rhoda’s mother thought that she was a sweetie when she was born & named her after a beautiful flower.
Did you know that there are only two girls whose names are mentioned in the Bible?
There are several girls who are described in Biblical history, but only two are actually named.
One was named Rhoda.
Who was the other? Miriam.
Think about that: This was a very special young lady.
There are a lot people in our world who work very hard to make a name for themselves.
There are people who try to become famous.
A very small percentage actually do it.
Bonny and Clyde did it by becoming criminals and murderers, but there is a difference between fame and infamy.
Rhoda made a name for herself by becoming a part of three verses of scripture.
The Lord Jesus once said,
He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.
And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.”
There is no better way to be known before the throne of God than by serving the people of God.
Rhoda had a name.
The Greek word is found 13 times in our Bibles.
It is translated “damsel” 4 times, “bondwoman” or “bondmaid” 5 times; and “maid” or “maiden” 4 times.
In other words, Rhoda was a girl who was a probably servant, or a maid, in the house of Mary Mark.
And still she is honourable enough to have her name memorialized in the Scripture and before the Lord.
To be a servant is not a bad thing, but actually a very good thing in the sight of God.
Now think about this:
Some of the commentaries criticize her for not opening the door when she knew it was Peter.
Others say that she was very inconsiderate.
Those prayer-warriors in Mary’s house were in some danger as Christians in those days of persecution.
Would you throw open the door in at that time of night?
Or what if she was specifically told to find out who was at the door, but NOT to let that person in?
When there is an incessant knock on the door.
It’s ignored for a few moments and then Mary or John orders the servant girl to go and find out who it is.
Could it be that she was specifically told to find out who was there, but NOT told to open the door?
I think that was probably exactly what took place.
I don’t see any reason to laugh at her or to criticize her.
I see only reason to commend her for her exact and precise obedience.
Furthermore I see a little CHRISTIAN girl.
Now, I admit to knowing nothing about the domestic customs of that day, so I may be totally wrong here.
But what need did these people have of a servant in the middle of the night, if their only purpose was to gather together to pray?
And if that was the case, then why was this young lady up at all, if it wasn’t to join them in their prayers?
And if Rhoda wasn’t a Christian, what purpose would Luke have had to give us her name?
I think that the people who first received and read the Book of Acts, probably personally knew Rhoda.
She may have become the mother of one or two important servants of the Lord.
She stayed up that night to pray with the other Christians, but when the door-bell rang, it was her job to answer it.
She obeyed the command of her mistress, found out who was at the door and came back to give her report.
And that leads me to my last point.
But several people, who shall remain anonymous, said that she was crazy – “thou art mad.”
Some of the mature saints of the church in Jerusalem, refused to believe that Peter had been delivered.
And they resorted, kindly or perhaps unkindly, to calling poor Rhoda insane.
But she stood her ground, as much as her position and age allowed, constantly affirming that it was even so.
I think that there is a lesson here in this.
There are things that are true, which are denied by many other people.
But the unbelief or the denial of those other people doesn’t change that truthfulness.
And those truths need and deserve to be defended.
Here is, first of all, a little GIRL.
No, she’s not a great theologian; and yes, her faith may be simple and even simplistic,
She has ears and she has heard the voice of Peter many times.
So “she constantly affirmed that it was even so.”
Isn’t the truth worth fighting for?
Its worth being criticized for, laughed at and even being called “insane.”
When the Bible knocks and declares itself and we have ears to hear, then it is fact.
Let the world try to punish us, but the truth is worth being punished for.
Stand your ground, even if you are but a servant.
Don’t let that man with his PhD or his Doctor of Divinity degree try to deter you.
You have read the Bible and you know that what it says is the truth.
If you earnestly contend for the faith, even you might earn a name among the great saints of God.