Sometimes we don't know what we are doing. This does not necessarily mean that things will turn out badly. We cannot see the outcomes of our decisions. But we often try to project what will happen if we lay down principles or ideals in our lives, in our government and in our world. Thoughtful people ask questions like this: How does what we say and do today affect the future of the people in this world? In our work places? In our families?
In 1787 a room full of people set out to establish guidelines and principles that would point a new and burgeoning nation in the right direction. Some of them were religious refugees who had been oppressed by the British church and political system. They sought ways to find religious freedom. Some of them were merchants looking for a wide open marketplace where they could become rich and powerful. Some of them were political refugees, seeking asylum from the political systems that had pressed against them in Britain. All of them had come again to one room trying to set out the principles and ideals that would form a "more perfect union," ideals that would set the course of their human endeavors in good and strong ways.
What they came up with was what we know as the Constitution of the United States of America. For over 200 years it has been operating. Part of the American governmental system that was established included the right and privilege of amending it. Therefore, as the years progressed certain amendments were added. These amendments would bend the trajectory of our country in ways that had profound influence.
One of those amendments came at a critical time. Having come through one of the most desperate and brutal times in our nation, the Civil War had bled our country of brothers and countrymen fighting over the basic affirmation of all peoples. It was this crisis that brought our leaders to a critical amendment.
It was an amendment of equal protection. The Encyclopeadia Britannica here helps to inform of us of this effort. In essence it is the U.S. law, the constitutional guarantee, that no person or group will be denied that protection under the law which is enjoyed by similar persons or groups—i.e., persons similarly situated must be similarly treated ... In the United States, the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, one of three post-Civil War amendments, prohibits states from denying any person "the equal protection of the laws."[1]
And here is how this amendment reads: Amendment XIV [1868] Section 1: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States: nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
This amendment needed to be applied more purposefully in the early 1950's and in particular in relation to a landmark case called Brown vs. the Board of Education. On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that racial segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution . . . The 1954 decision declared that separate educational facilities were inherently unequal. Based on a series of Supreme Court cases argued between 1938 and 1950….the decision was limited to the public schools, but it was believed to imply that segregation was not permissible in other public facilities.[2]
From that point forward the 14th Amendment has had a plethora of interpretations and rulings. In the 1960s . . . the court under Chief Justice Earl Warren dramatically transformed the concept of equal protection, applying it to cases involving welfare benefits, exclusionary zoning, municipal services, and school financing. Equal protection became a prolific source of constitutional litigation. Under Chief Justice Warren E. Burger the court added considerably to the list of situations that might be adjudicated under the doctrine of equal protection, including sexual discrimination, status and rights of aliens, and legitimacy of birth. [3]
Today we live with the outcomes of not only the Chief Justices, but also those who fought for and framed our constitution. Little did that group of fifty-five people in 1787 comprehend the struggles of millions who came after them. But each person who struggled believed what was written in our Constitution—every citizen had a right to equal treatment.
Whether you agree that the results of Brown v. Board of Education have worked out well or not today; and whether you agree or disagree that Affirmative Action and the Civil Right Movement are good things is entirely up to you. Each person is entitled to their own opinion. But there is one thing as Americans we must affirm today—every citizen of the United States has a right to equal treatment under the 14th Amendment.
Did you know that God has a 14th Amendment? He does. Well, it's not really an amendment, and it came through to humanity long before 1868. It's more like a commandment or a commission. I believe that all truth is God's truth. So, if in some stuffy room in 1787 in Philadelphia someone stood up for the rights of their brothers and sisters of color—they were only acting on a Godly principle—whether they knew it or not.
God's principle is written throughout the entire Bible. It is reflected in verses like Micah 6:8: He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Then there is the passage that Jesus quoted in Deuteronomy and added one more thought to in Matthew 22:37-40. Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." But I really think the greatest "amendment," if you will, is found in Matthew 28:19-20 where Jesus said, 'Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
I think this is the greatest commandment if but for one reason. God loved us enough to send Jesus Christ to die and rise again for the whole world. We must be careful to comprehend what that means. It means that, just like the 14th Amendment, everyone should have equal access to the Good News of Jesus Christ.
In the first chapters of Acts we had seen the disciples filled with the Holy Spirit. Jerusalem was being taken by a storm with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. People were finding salvation through this Gospel by the thousands. Then the religious rulers began to crack down. Persecution broke out and the disciples were scattered throughout the region.
There was another problem. These new believers were for the most part Jewish. They had converted to Christianity—following Christ as the Messiah. However, they were not yet really in tune with the whole message. They did not quite comprehend the whole law fulfilled in Jesus Christ. It's one thing to talk with other Jews about Jesus, but it's quite another to try to communicate the Gospel if your audience speaks a different language, or has different cultural expectations, or doesn't eat the food you eat, etc. So, God helped them understand the full measure of his law. As their hearts were expanded by his love, they began to see people differently. No longer were the religious laws of exclusivity and exclusion relevant. The Gospel—the good news—was for everyone. So, Phillip explained Jesus to an Ethiopian, Saul saw the light and stopped persecuting Christians, Peter and John began preaching outside of Jerusalem—all because of God's "14th Amendment."
All over the region of the Holy Land people had started their new life in Christ Jesus. They felt the freedom from the guilt of their sins. They found hope for the future, comfort in the midst of trouble and peace, great peace. Then they started telling their friends about it. The story of what Jesus had done was traveling quickly and groups of Christians were popping up in towns all over. Just like the makers of the American Constitution had no idea how far-reaching their principles would be, the disciples of Jesus were just beginning to comprehend the breadth of the love of God through Christ Jesus.
We have seen miraculous healings before, both in Acts and in the Gospel writers. In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John we can note particularly that Peter was at each instance of Jesus bringing people back from the dead. We can understand that Peter had some idea of the power of God through these experiences. So, when he was confronted with the sorrow of illness and death on a particular day, he was used powerfully by the Holy Spirit, to let that current of life flow through him.
Read Acts 9:32-43
32 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. 34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. 35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.
36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. 38 Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”
39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.
40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. 41 He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. 42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. 43 Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.
What makes this passage unique is that these towns and regions—Sharon, Joppa and Lydda—were peopled with Samaritans, Gentiles and Jews. Peter was drawn to these places because he heard the wonderful news of groups of Christians. He wanted to visit them, encourage them and be encouraged by their growth in God. He found there the typical human things—life and death, illness and wellness. While we cannot begin to try to explain why some people are preserved and healed and others are not, we can know this—God heals us in many, many ways—the miraculous physical healing, the sustaining power to help us in our weaknesses, and the final healing of going to heaven.
And as powerful and as wonderful as these healings are we do not want to miss the evidence of the work of the Amender. Did you understand verses 35 and 42? All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw the Amender’s miracles and turned to him and the power of the Amender became known all over Joppa. The Amender was working himself out through the disciples, through the persecutions, the trouble in their own synagogues and through their weary voices as they traveled into places they had never preached or ministered before. The Gospel was spreading out from Jerusalem. Like fresh spring water pushing out through a delta into the great ocean of the world, the Gospel began to permeate regions further and further out. Like the Ethiopian eunuch carried the Gospel light to his country, the region from Galilee to the seaport town of Joppa and everything in between was being dramatically affected by the miracles done by God for one reason alone—so that others may know the wonder and power of God who loves and includes them.
The Gospel writer Luke does not want us to miss the point. The Amender, setting in place an amendment in place since Adam and Eve sinned, was grabbing hold of entire communities. Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, was walking among them, testifying to God's power and love. Tabitha, a woman whose life was spent taking care of the underprivileged, could continue her work while telling people about the power of God to transform their lives. These were striking proofs of the power of the Holy Spirit to change lives. And people all over the region—Jew, Samaritan, Gentile—all were given equal opportunity to respond to the great love and grace of God. In the midst of all of that was humble and willing Peter, dropping to his knees and praying for those in need—no matter what their race or language.
The Amender—the Holy Spirit himself—can make us more aware of the full measure of God's wonderful law of love and grace. May we pray that each one of us will be willing to share the love and grace which we have received from Jesus Christ.
Pray for the Amender’s healing, because perhaps there are some of us who need soul healing—we harbor deep prejudices and emotions against those of another color or language. Perhaps today we need to be amended by the Holy Spirit so that we can fully realize the commandment of Jesus Christ to take his Good News to every tribe and every nation. Who knows, perhaps today could be the day that your neighborhood will hear the truth about the Holy Spirit as the Amender.
Amen
© M.R.Hyde 2025
This lesson is a chapter from Who is the Holy Spirit? A Devotional Journey Through the Book of Acts found through most fine retailers.
