It takes courage to take a canoe up the mountains. In the town where I graduated from Charles M. Russell High School, the Missouri River has a series of waterfalls. These “great falls” freeze in the winter like frozen stalactites. Icicles extend for several feet from the top of the falls. A sign points out the spot where, near those falls, Lewis and Clark ran into a grizzly bear. Stephen Ambrose titled his book about their journey, Undaunted Courage.
When Peter and John told the Sadducees that the name of Jesus was the only way of salvation, these religious authorities did a doubletake. On the one hand, Peter and John had no great credentials. Unlike the leading Pharisees who had the equivalent of a Ph. D. in religious studies, Peter and John had no formal education. They still bore a faint smell of fish after three years with Jesus. They were ordinary, not extraordinary like the rising student of Gamaliel who was named Saul of Tarsus. Still, they displayed unmistakable courage. Where did they find it? The only way the Sadducees could account for the courage was the fact that these men had been with Jesus. Their time with Jesus made them fearless in the face of punishment from the authorities. Jesus had told them not to let their hearts be troubled and they had taken his words to heart.
Where do we find courage? Our world feels like a frightening place. I gave my oldest son a book called, “The Intentional Father: A Practical Guide to Raise Sons of Courage and Character.” The book had not been written when my sons were born. I thought it might help him as he tries to raise a young son in our strange times. But it will take more than a book. If Thomas is to become a man of courage and character, he will need to spend time with Jesus. Our world is more frightening than just trying to take a canoe up the mountains as Lewis and Clark did. Fiercer than a roaring Grizzly is our adversary, Satan. But time with Jesus fortifies our hearts. Sit in the citadel. Be with Jesus if you want to become like Jesus and do what he did. There is no other way.
