"Obedience to God ..."

Peter's reply to the authorities, in the first reading for today from Acts 5:27-33, raises some concerns. When he is reminded by the Sanhedrin, the Jewish authorities at that time, that he had been warned not to preach in Jesus' name, Peter replies, "Obedience to God comes before obedience to humans." I am reminded of a good friend who had been detained and put into the Villawood Detention Centre awaiting deportation. I was part of the chaplaincy team back in the late 90s and early 2000s, that visited the centre each week and said mass. As she was preparing for mass, she said to me, "Jesus tells me that he wants me to stay in Australia." She had been an overstayer in Australia for a number of years. I said, "I am not always sure what Jesus might be saying. Unfortunately I know what John Howard is saying." John Howard was the Australian Prime Minister at the time and his government wanted to rid Australia of overstayers. She was deported some time later. While I have taken considerable risk in standing up for people's rights with the conviction that I am called by God to do so, I am always careful in deciding what is the right action to take taking such stands. When we recall some of the actions taken by weird religious cults on the basis of God's will which have resulted in tragic consequences, like Jonestown and Waco, it remind us that discernment requires careful consideration. Still, Peter was coming out of the Pentecost experience and that would have been very convincing. So he had the right to make this powerful assertion of faith, "Obedience to God always comes before obedience to humans."