The Ken Read Podcast

0415 RESOLVING CHURCH CONFLICT

BY GRACE. NO EXCEPTIONS.

You knew it was going to happen: The moment of heaven on earth has come to an end. There is division in the church, as groups arise with differing views. It’s going to split the church and hurt the cause of Christ, once this first faction arises. So it must be dealt with. 

Some of the Jewish believers could not fathom the idea that Gentiles got to enter the kingdom without submitting to at least SOME of the Laws that governed the Israelites. I mean, what’s the point of thousands of years of history if it’s all going to be thrown to the wind? It simply CAN’T be that easy, can it?

And so we find some men coming to Antioch–the church that served as a model for diversity and for having Gentile members. The men are from Judea–meaning, they come from the center of the Jewish faith. And they begin teaching the believers that it is not possible for Gentiles to get in so easily. Unless you are circumcised (as required by the Law of Moses), you cannot be saved.

The teaching makes sense, if you are Jewish. The salvation bus has always been Jewish, and you can’t find any Scriptures that say the Law is going to be abolished. Jesus himself said that he had not come to abolish, but to fulfill the law. Barnabas and Paul argue vehemently with these men, but the church has not yet established a central governing authority to define denominational (oops! There’s that word!) positions. So Paul and Barnabas don’t have enough authority to command them not to teach their views any more. At this point, there are no books to make up the New Testament yet, so there is no central written authority to resolve the disagreement. Notice that the disagreement is not explicitly because people didn't love one another. You can love someone and still disagree with them. So it is, here in Antioch.

How can the church make such a momentous decision? Take a vote? No. A congregational vote is a recipe for disaster. Have you discovered why that is so? Because when you have a vote, especially a secret ballot system, you are creating two groups, which forces some to be “losers”  and some to be “winners.” How long will unity prevail there? I know it’s the American way. But not so the early church, or many other churches and orders today. In the early going, they cast lots, of all things, and entrusted the outcome to God’s will, rather than to see who was most popular. A second system that works and still preserves unity, is to seek “consensus.” Or, this one uses a third option, which is to turn it over to a higher authority and submit to their decision. And now, this foundational truth sounds like a job for the apostles, who are still located in Jerusalem. So Antioch sends a delegation to Jerusalem, and the apostles discuss the topic civilly, and then submit to the final decision that James decrees. 

But not without a long discussion, which Luke conveniently records for us. Another group has arisen in the city, made up of Pharisees who have converted to Christ, but who still hold certain beliefs. “The Gentiles converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses.”

What evidence is admissible in this debate? Not Scripture. Not precedent. Not law or video. What they DO have is the Holy Spirit, and He will help to guide them into all wisdom. The evidence is in the experience itself. God has clearly been working wonders and doing miracles among Gentiles, the same way he did among Jews. “So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear?” Someone then shared a Scripture from the psalms that predicted this moment in church history. So James makes a declaration, and the matter is settled. 

There is one more disagreement in this chapter, and it is worth talking about for a moment. Paul and Barnabas split up before going on a second journey. The word for “split” is the same word in Greek as a Scripture that says the heavens will be torn asunder. Paul and Barnabas are torn apart, never to reunite. Paul takes Silas with him from now on. God can use even our mistakes and our splits and turn them into something positive for his kingdom, if we let him.

So, the church is no longer heaven on earth. But it is still the Bride of Christ, his body, and spotless and beautiful in the eyes of God. Behold, he makes all things new. Amen.

0416 THE MYSTERIOUS WILL OF GOD

THE MYSTERIOUS WILL OF GOD

There are several amazing stories in this chapter, and they all underscore the mysterious ways of the leading of God’s Spirit. 

Wouldn’t you like to know unmistakably what the will of God is for you? To know without a doubt that God sent you here, told you to say that, led you to do this? Not that it is easy–remember how we must go through hardship to follow Jesus–but it can be certain, even if it is unconventional.

Paul and Silas begin a second missionary journey. They start by revisiting a couple of cities they had been to before. The churches were strengthened in their faith and grew in numbers day by day. Must be God’s will. Then they moved on, but were not sure which way to go. Being experienced in the ways of God, they did not wait to know all–or any–of the details, other than to head north. They traveled for several days, not knowing where they were called to go; only knowing where they were NOT called to go, which was the province of Asia. Sometimes the will of God is not given as a green light (go here, do this) but rather as a red light (don’t go here, don’t do this). Somehow the Holy Spirit “prevented” them from preaching in Asia. So they kept moving, just not toward Asia. I’m guessing that Paul had it in his heart that Asia was, objectively-speaking, the next logical place for them to go with the gospel. But though his heart might have been set on it, the door was shut, at least for Paul, to be the one to go. 

So they kept moving. And now they came to another red light. Don’t go north anymore. So, they were not to go east or north. And they had come from the south. West seems to be all that’s left, so they head that direction, and go all the way to the coast, where there is nowhere left to go. Had the Spirit led them to this place? Seems awkward, especially after all the signs and wonders he had been doing through them to this point. But when the flow is not there, you don’t try to push it. And you wait for clarity.

And sure enough, that very night Paul has a dream. A Macedonian man pleads with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” So here is the amazing part: After that dream, “we” decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling them to preach the Good News there. Several things about this: 1. Paul has a short dream. That is enough to know it’s the call of God. Wow. 2. The others with Paul all conclude that God is also calling them to go with Paul to Macedonia, based on a dream that only one of their party had. No confirmation. No fleeces set out. Just a quick decision for the whole group to go. 3. Suddenly and subtly, Luke shifts from talking about “they” to saying “us.” He has joined the group, even though he never mentions his own name here.

Sure enough, they board a vessel and set sail by faith, knowing only one word: Macedonia. They go and stay for a bit in the town of Philippi, and while there they decide to go to the river, where they might find a prayer meeting going on among women. Sure enough, there they are. Which begs the question, was this the miraculous leading of God based on some prophecy? Or was this simply strategy for finding people, who just might be spiritual enough to have an interest and respond. And, sure enough, whether by leading or by logic, they find a woman who responds to their message right away, and she and her household are all baptized. God is good!

Then it gets confusing. They are doing their routine, when they get spotted by a girl who has a spirit of divination. In other words, she sees things in the spiritual realm through the influence of demons inside her. She calls out truth, but it is truth that was revealed by demons. It “irritates” Paul, until finally he casts out the demon. The girl is free at last! That seems a bit odd to do deliverance out of irritation. That doesn’t seem to be a mark of the Spirit of Jesus. But the result seems to show that this was God’s leading, right? And yet, it’s the very thing that gets Paul and Silas stripped, beaten and thrown into prison. Hold on! Are we still on the same page with the Holy Spirit here? God’s leading isn’t confirmed by blessing this time. What’s going on now?

Paul and Silas are undaunted by this turn of fortune. There, in spite of pain and open wounds, they pray and sing psalms until midnight. (Good thing they memorized those psalms, isn’t it? Hard to open your Bible when you are in stocks and chains.) And the other prisoners are listening. Their worship in the midst of trouble earns them an earthquake! And the doors fly open, and their chains fall off of all the prisoners! But no one escapes, because they are captivated by the worship of these two innocent men in bad circumstances. The jailer get converted because of all of them remaining. And he and his entire household are baptized that very night (remember, it’s after midnight by now).

Bottom line application from all this: How do you know you are in the right place, following the leading of the Holy Spirit? It is not because your path is smooth. It is not just because of conversions. It is not because you found it in your Bible. But there is something secret, something mysterious and mystical, and Paul and Silas seem unwaveringly willing to follow Jesus wherever he leads. Amazing! 

Red lights. Green light dreams. Increasing numbers. Healing and deliverance. Beating and arrest. It’s all God’s will. Just keep going, or you will analyze yourself to death.

May you sense the Lord’s pleasure and leading today, and may you say yes to it. Amen.

0417 KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

APRIL 17 = ACTS 17

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

Know your audience. That’s essential for any author or speaker or especially, as it turns out, evangelist. As any missionary could tell, part of the secret to success in sharing the gospel is to be able to say it in the other person’s language. I don’t just mean the sounds they make, but the cultural heart language of a person.

This chapter includes a couple of cultural adaptations that make a good study for us. Paul shares a brief account of Jesus with a Jewish audience, and then later in the chapter he does the same with a Greek audience of philosophers. What we find is that his approach is quite different for each group.

In a city where he could speak with an exclusively-Jewish audience, Paul’s message is summarized like this: “As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said.

He starts in the synagogue.

He waits until the Sabbath.

He reasoned with them from the Scriptures. (The Old Testament)

He was convincing them about the Messiah (his suffering and resurrection)

He concludes by saying that Jesus is the Messiah.

All five of these talking points indicate that Paul is addressing a group of listeners who are Jewish. I probably don’t need to explain further, but let me know if you are not making the connection.

Later in the chapter, Paul is speaking with Athenian philosophers. To be sure, these men are coming from a very different place with their logic. They aren’t in the synagogue. They don’t observe the Sabbath, either. Sharing Scriptures would not be a wise starting point with a group that has no knowledge of the Old Testament. And they certainly are not looking for the Messiah. So all of his talking points will go in the opposite direction as they went in the Synagogue.

 

And now we find Paul at the Areopagus, atop a hill just outside the city of Athens talking with Stoic and Epicurean philosophers. Here is how Paul shares with them:

He starts in the marketplace, not the synagogue.

He speaks day by day, rather than waiting for the Sabbath.

He still spoke about Jesus and the resurrection.

Some of the philosophers then took Paul to the meeting at the Areopagus, atop a hill, where philosophers of all stripes were practicing their logic and listening skills.

When he begins his message, “I see that in every way you are very religious.” Their religion may have been quite varied from one another, but Paul is finding a common ground with them.

“I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. . . . and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.” Rather than proving that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, he presents Jesus as the unknown god.

Now Paul must give some background information, because not everyone there acknowledges a single, all-powerful God. So he can’t start with the Athenians the same place he started with the Jews in the synagogue. He says, “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.” He goes on with some basic background information about who God is and what he has done. Such background information is not needed with a Jewish audience, of course. 

Now Paul begins to swing it around toward Jesus. He says, “God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.” 

Then Paul does something that is even more impressive. He is so culturally aware that he supports his message with quoting a secular philosopher. He says, “As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” What a great bridge to build, crossing over to their side, so that they can follow him back again.

Soon, Paul’s message calls for repentance. But it is not repenting for having put the Messiah to death on a cross, but repenting of the ignorance of making idols and worshiping them.

When Paul introduces Jesus into the flow of his talk, he says it this way: “he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed.” So Jesus is a just judge who is approved, rather than an anointed prophet. 

And, sure enough, Paul finishes with talk of the resurrection. But when speaking to these philosophers, he says that the resurrection is proof of his being the judge of all the earth “He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

May you and I know how to share Jesus with each person we meet, speaking in their heart language and starting with their cultural view. Amen.

0418 THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS PART 1

THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS, PART ONE

We know more about the history of the church at Ephesus over its first hundred years of existence than we do of any other church. We get little snapshots in Acts, in Paul’s letters to Timothy, and even in the book of Revelation. Beyond the years of the New Testament itself, we even have some written records of the church in the next generation after the book of Revelation. And we know what eventually happened to the church and the city a few hundred years after that. We even have a very strong archaeological record of the city and its church. 

Here in chapter 18 of Acts, we get our first small look at the founding of the congregation. Over the years, the church at Ephesus serves as both a model and a warning for us today. 

The city of Ephesus stands near the west coast of what used to be known as Asia Minor (now Turkey).  The city was constructed on a bend of the River Cayster, near its mouth, where it opens up to the Mediterranean Sea. It was a wealthy city, serving as an example of the height of Roman civilization and architecture. It was a cultural center, and it contained several temples for idols—most notably, “Artemis of the Ephesians,” as we shall soon see.’ Even at its beginning, the church has some doctrinal division and is tested. 

Paul is returning from his second missionary journey, back to the church at Antioch in Turkey, which had sent him out a few years before. But Paul is a man on a mission, and even on this short layover on his way back home, he heads for a synagogue to reason with the Jews there.

“They stopped first at the port of Ephesus, where Paul left the others behind. While he was there, he went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews. They asked him to stay longer, but he declined. As he left, however, he said, “I will come back later, God willing.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.”

So the first part of the story of the church at Ephesus is a very brief encounter as Paul meets with some Jews there in the synagogue. From what little is written here, we can assume that these Jewish men were not yet fully convinced about Jesus. But they were interested, and wanted to hear more from Paul.

The first year in the life of a church is important, because it sets the tone for the personality of a congregation. “What you win them WITH, you win them TO.” Will the church be zealous, conservative, loving, accepting, family-oriented, doctrinal or something else? It’s hard to know much about this church’s founding, because we are told so little about it. But what little we see might be significant. Paul went to the “synagogue to reason with the Jews.” And then he left. So we might assume that the church would be starting with a Jewish core that was somewhat “reason”-based, committed to knowing truth about Jesus as the Messiah. Hold on to that thought until tomorrow. In the meantime, here’s what came next:

Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

Apollos was a Jew, who was from another great cultural center on the northern coast of Egypt, in Africa. He was a deeply committed student of the Word and a follower of Jesus, as well as a bold preacher. But he had been a student of the early ministry of Jesus, and wasn’t up to speed on the new movements that had taken place; namely, that the Holy Spirit had been sent, that baptism for the Spirit, as well as the baptism of repentance,and the resurrection of Jesus so that he would send the Spirit from the Father for our behalf. That was all new to him.

Apollos moved on, and he was a better evangelist from this point forward. But there was still something of a mess to clean up among the followers. We will see more about it in the next chapter. In the meantime, let’s look at the wonderful response of Priscilla and Aquila to the incomplete teaching of Apollos. Notice that they recognize Apollos to be well instructed in the way of the Lord, and that he taught about Jesus accurately. So there was no need to confront him as a heretic or an enemy of the gospel. However, his message was incomplete, because he had not been caught up to speed on the doings of God since Pentecost. So they invite him to their home. What a great idea! There, possibly over a meal that they make for him, they can share with him privately, without dishonoring their new friend. 

There is a time for everything under the sun, as Solomon says. There is a time for angry confrontation, severe correction, public debate and strong arguments. But this is not one of those times. This is a time for private explanation and for asking and answering questions. Well done, team!

Paul told Titus, These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you. Later, he added, But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them.

May you know the ways of God fully, including when and how to confront or correct. Amen.

0419 THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS PART 2

THE CHURCH  AT EPHESUS, PART TWO

As I mentioned in yesterday’s podcast, the history of the church at the city of Ephesus in modern-day Turkey is going to be a focus when it comes up in the New Testament. Today, we have the second snippet of the church’s history.

There are several happenings in this chapter, so we’ll have to be brief with each part. Remember how Apollos had come to Ephesus, preaching powerfully, but with an incomplete gospel, not knowing about a baptism of the Holy Spirit? We might call that Little Problem #1. 

That leads to Little Problem #2. Paul returns to Ephesus, where he meets a dozen believers who had not heard about the Holy Spirit yet, having received only the baptism of John the Baptist, who of course was gone before the Spirit had been given to the disciples. They were baptized, then Paul laid his hands on them, which was a common practice among Old Covenant priests, and of Jesus himself. They speak in tongues and prophesy. Paul stays in the city, preaching in the synagogue for the next three months.

But as has happened often, there is controversy within the Jewish community, and some Jews oppose Paul’s message. Sounds like Little Problem #3 to me. So Paul moves over to the lecture hall of Tyrannus, an impressive building with space for plenty of people. And here Paul has perhaps his longest ministry, staying two years in this arrangement. And Ephesus, being an influential city, affects the region around it, as well. All’s well, in spite of a little controversy among the Jewish community.

Now we see Little Problem #4: the Seven Sons of Sceva. Scevas was a leading priest, and his seven sons were traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. We can assume that they did so in the name of God, and that they were having some success in using their prayers and incantations. But when they got to Ephesus, they saw powerful miracles being done by Paul in the name of Jesus, and they were impressed. So on their next exorcism, they used the formula, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” The evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” Then the man with the evil spirit attacked and beat all seven of them up, so that they ran out of the house, naked and battered.

So much to say about this story, but I’ll only ask one question from it: If I were to try such a thing, would a demon know my name? Or might that evil spirit say, “I’ve never heard of you, and I don’t have to obey what you command!” Know that in the hierarchy of spiritual power, demons are at least 7 times stronger than a human. But, thanks be to God, the name of Jesus is infinitely more powerful than that of any demon, including the prince of demons himself. And, best of all, any wholly devoted followers of Jesus tap into that same spiritual power. Just don’t try calling on the name without being fully committed to him, or what happened to the sons of Sceva could happen to you.

If you think that’s kind of scary, you are not alone. The whole city, Jews and Greeks alike, came for a spontaneous bonfire, just to burn any books of sorcery or with incantations. It turns out, many people who follow Christ also seem to have a second secret life. They want to follow Jesus and call upon his name, but they have backup plans of other sources of spiritual power. Suddenly, they realize that this is no game! The books were worth several million dollars in today’s currency. That’s a lot of side hustle for believers to engage in. In any case, they rid themselves of these forbidden things, and the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect. 

So Little Problem #4 was resolved, right? Well, you see, those books that had been worth several million dollars means there was some source of those books making good money. And the sellers of idols and incantation books were none too pleased to have their income disappear. They all get together and vilify Paul and the Christians, especially offended that their great temple of Artemis was being undercut. A riot broke out, to the shouts of “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” There was confusion as to what it was all about, or who the enemies were, partly because there was no sound system with technology to get the word amplified and broadcast. Anyway, a riot was breaking out. Happily, the mayor was able to quiet it down and disperse the crowd. It had been quite a day, but things are settled down for the moment.

Asking the question a different way: Does your god need you to defend it? Or is vengeance the Lord’s, and he will repay? Would you and I cause a riot because of our strong alignment with Jesus, or are we just nice people with a Bible?

0419B I HATE MUSIC TRILOGY (SONG OF THE WEEK)

I HATE MUSIC TRILOGY (SONG OF THE WEEK)

[I wrote this medley of songs as a sarcastic parody of the infighting within the church over styles of music. It has been through several arrangements over the last 30 years or so, but this is one. Please hear this to the end, or trust my heart to be making a very spiritual appeal to the church. Thanks to Margaret Cloud Searcy who encouraged the first line, "I ain't what You is," which led to the rest of the medley. I'm also grateful for the contributions of The Refreshment Company, which performed the medley live and broadcast at Music Minnesota many years ago.]

#1

Lord, you know my heart, You know every part of me

What I feel inside is clearly seen

So there's no need to say what I'm feeling deep inside

yet I'm telling you this secret and I hope You'll pardon me when I say

I hate

Country Gospel music

Country Gospel music

It just seems so shallow and so insincere

All that talk of by and by and some mansion in the sky

Well it sounds like broken records playing year after year

I hate

Country Gospel music

Country Gospel music

And I hope You'll pardon me this time

If I tell You from the start what I'm feeling in my heart

I hate Gospel Quartet southern country western gospel music

And I know you hear it sweetly if it's coming from the heart

and I know them good ol' boys have been around

But when we get our harps of gold and sing a brand new song

Please don't let them pickers start to make a sound

I hate

Country Gospel music

Country Gospel music

It just seems so shallow and so insincere

All that talk of by and by and some mansion in the sky how some day we're gonna fly and we're never gonna cry and we'll never never die favorite pronoun is an "I" so though I often try and I can't really say why

I hate straight-tone, harsh-R, modulating diphthong steel guitar pickin, banjo twanging Gosple quartet southern country western gospel music.

#2

Hour after hour day after day passes by

I look at my watch: it's 11:03 

another endless Sunday morning 

and the choir still sings another endless high church song

The kind where you could never sing along

Week after week year after year passes by

You've heard it before they'll sing it again

They say that it's a classic and I say it has no end

They say that it's been loved for years

that it's classical, it's classical

I hate I hate I hate I hate the classical

The high the high the high church classical

It takes.....

It takes.....

So long.....

It takes so long...

It takes so long...

Takes so long to say one sentence

And then.....

And then.....

Then they just

Then they just

Then they just repeat the whole thing!

And I know you hear it sweetly if it's coming from the heart

And I know those choir folks could be sincere

But if there is a message I can't reach up that far

It's only meant for high brow ears to hear

I hate I hate I hate I hate the classical

The high the high the high church classical

It takes so long...

 to say one sentence

the melody is sweet but still I must repeat:

I hate I really hate the

musically replete but spiritually void

composed by music masters who never knew the Lord

filled with convoluted obsolescent King James English stuff

All head no heart all milk no meat it's spiritual fluff

So though I hate to say it and don't mean to complain

I really really really really really really really really hate

I really hate the classical

#3

God's music is wonderful happy and gay

its melody thrills me each time that it's played

But there is a music I can't tolerate:

The music of Rock and Roll

It gets on my nerves with its primitive beat

I'm out of the kitchen yet still feel the heat

So if You'll permit me I'd like to repeat:

I hate the contemporary sound

Well you know the music of rock and roll

won't carry a message that will bless the soul

that's right, oh, that's right

Well, it's wholly unholy it's black and white

It's like using the darkness to carry the light

and that's not right

You know that's not right

Well if there's one thing I learned in school

It's that wisdom won't come from the mouth of a fool

Living water won't flow from a solid rock

and the traffic shouldn't go when the lights says, "STOP!"

So if you want to grow in Christ

stop listening to music that just ain't right

Say "I hate rock and roll"

Say "I hate rock and roll"

And I know You hear it sweetly if it's coming from the heart

and I know those tattooed freaks could be sincere

but they don't look like Christians before they even start

and their music's far too loud for human ears

Well you know the music of rock and roll won't carry a message that will bless the soul...

It seems so shallow... 

I hate the classical...

Well it's wholly unholy it's black and white it's like using the darkness to carry the light...

It sounds like broken records playing year after year...

It takes so long...

water won't flow from a solid rock and the traffic shouldn't go when the light says stop...

The melody is sweet but still I must repeat

And I know, You hear it, sweetly if it's coming from the heart

...I know, I know, I know...

#4

Why would the Spirit choose three words to reveal

what kind of music to use to teach, to admonish, to heal

he said "Psalms hymns and spiritual songs"

All kinds of music so all could sing along

It takes all kinds to win all kinds

with Psalms hymns and spiritual songs

 

0420 THE CHURH AT EPHESUS PART THREE

THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS, PART 3

Paul is traveling through the region, rushing to make it to Jerusalem in time for Passover. He had invested about three years of his ministry there, and they had gone through much together, but he didn’t have time to go back through Ephesus. Even so,  he is in the general region, so he sends for the elders of the church to come meet him at the ocean shore at Miletus. The elders all make the two-day trip, which is about 63 miles by land.

When the elders arrive, Paul reviews his ministry among them. He reminds them that he had invested many tears with them, having endured the trials from the plots of the Jews. He tells them that he never strank back from telling them what they needed to hear, both publicly and in their homes. All of these details and more underscore the credibility of his work, because it shows he did everything for them, not for himself. He says, “I declare today that I have been faithful.” 

Paul gives the center of his message. If you boil down all that he said into one word or phrase, what would that be? He had differing starting points when talking with Jews than with Greeks. But when he summarizes his message it is this: “the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.” Repentance and faith in Jesus. A bold but clear message.

Then Paul lets them know that jail and suffering lie ahead for him. The Holy Spirit has been warning him in every city. (We will see more about this soon.)

And then he gets to the center of his concern for the elders at Ephesus. I suppose it could be a universal message for all church shepherds, even though it is specific for them. But it has some very particular warnings, which we want to note and then see if these things came to pass, since we know something of the history of the Ephesian church.

“So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders. I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following. Watch out!” 

1. Guard yourselves. Watch your own heart first. It may be the very one most tempted to try to draw a following.
2. Guard God’s people. Monitor the spiritual hearts of God’s people. Protect them from being led astray.
3. Feed and shepherd God’s flock. This is the job of a shepherd: feed them (teach truth) and shepherd them (guide behavior).
4. The Holy Spirit appointed you as leaders. So if you are a leader, go in the right direction so that those who follow you will not go wrong.
5. False teachers will come in among you. They are teachers. They are spiritual. But they are false. A qualified elder is not an automatic lifelong role.
6. They will not spare the flock. This is the opposite of being a shepherd! Rather than guarding, you destroy, because you pursue your wants rather than what is best for them.
7. Some of your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following. This may be the central temptation: to distort the truth in order to draw a following. What?! You are supposed to be a leader, but not to draw a following? That’s right. You lead them to the Chief Shepherd, not to your own power base.
8. Watch out! This underscores how easy it must be to have this failure happen. He opens with guard yourselves and ends with watch out.

I have noticed  that church problems usually come down to control and power. Do you see how that is true, based on Paul’s warning? I will sacrifice the purity of my message in order to gain control. In some small way I begin to compromise my message to inject myself into Christ’s story. 

All of this is why Paul reminds the elders of his sufferings and his financial purity. There was nothing in it for him. Beware when someone gains from you. If they have no gain, they are doing it for your sake. But follow the money. If they have something to gain from it, they no doubt have mixed motives for all that they do.

This must be very subtle, possibly a gradual slippery slope in which we don’t realize that we have the disease until it has already taken over. We will take special note of it in our scrutiny of Ephesus. But I need to watch my own life and doctrine carefully, as well.

When he had finished speaking, he knelt and prayed with them. They all cried as they embraced and kissed him good-bye. They were sad most of all because he had said that they would never see him again. Then they escorted him down to the ship.

0421 GOD’S WILL BE DONE

THE LORD’S WILL BE DONE

Jesus taught us to pray, “May Your kingdom come. May Your will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven.” We always pray for God’s will to be done, just as we seek to fulfill the part of God’s will that is our individual role. But sometimes hearing and doing God’s will presents a conflict of interests. This chapter provides a perfect illustration of the conflict of interests that can come about from our pursuit of God’s will. Okay, let me just get into it.

First, we find a group of local believers in Tyre, who prophesy about Paul. They even prophesy “through the Holy Spirit,” which seems like a clear indicator of God’s will. So far, so good, right? Here’s what they said:

These believers prophesied through the Holy Spirit that Paul should not go on to Jerusalem. 

The group traveling with Paul moved on, stopping in Caesarea for some days.That’s when the prophet Agabus comes by. “He came over, took Paul’s belt, and bound his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, “The Holy Spirit declares, ‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.’” 

Now, if you were the one about whom this message was given, what would you conclude? Between the prophecy in Tyre saying that Paul should not go to Jerusalem, and this one from Agabus saying that he will be bound by the Jewish leaders and turned over to the Gentiles.”

I would suppose you and I would conclude what the group traveling with Paul did: When we heard this, we and the local believers all begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.

Seems like a perfectly reasonable conclusion to draw from these messages which come from the Holy Spirit, doesn’t it? If you go, you will not be able to further God’s mission on earth, so His kingdom will not come, and His will will not be done. The whole group heard Agabus and would have voted unanimously against Paul going to Jerusalem. After all, if Paul goes to Jerusalem, then God’s will is blocked from being done.

Right?

But here is Paul’s immediate response to the words from the Lord: he said, “Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart! I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.” 

Oops!

Maybe I got the will of God and my own wellbeing kind of mixed together. Paul’s response kind of puts a damper on that on/off switch that I think of as God’s will. I think Paul knew the key to discerning the difference between God’s will and mine. He had said it in the last chapter, but I skipped over his declaration then. Here is what he said:

I don’t know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

Oh, yeah! I remember now: it’s about the MISSION, not the SAFETY of the worker. God’s will can be advanced, whether or not I am the particular tool for God to use in carrying it out. Indeed. But after trying all of those arguments with Paul, the group resigns to let Paul have the freedom to mess up, or whatever.

When it was clear that we couldn’t persuade him, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

Yes! Let the Lord’s will be done. Let the apostle sacrifice himself, if that is what is needed for the kingdom’s advancement.

May you and I see it so clearly, and may we make advancing the kingdom of God our only priority. Amen.

 

0422 GOD MOVES IN A MYSTERIOUS WAY

GOD MOVES IN A MYSTERIOUS WAY

Paul is at the temple in Jerusalem, giving his testimony to an angry Jewish mob, presenting his background as a Pharisee and a persecutor of those who followed Jesus the Nazarene. They listen intently as he describes his zeal to destroy followers of Jesus, thinking maybe he was a good guy after all. They silently listen to the amazing vision, the conversation, the call from Ananias, his baptism and more. And then Paul turns a corner and includes this detail: ““But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!’””

Suddenly the crowd is offended again and they clamor to tear him apart for claiming that God would send anyone to the Gentiles. The Jewish people were the called-out nation, after all, and they had been persecuted and overrun by Gentiles for generations. They were a people bound together by a common experience, sharing a common enemy of anyone who was not Jewish. If anything, God would send a sincere Jew to go oppose Gentiles, not to reach out to them. This is how they know Paul is an evil man, worthy of death at their hands.

It is a brief moment, but it gives me pause as I reflect on the unexpected ways of God. Why would the God of Israel send ANY Jew to go talk to Gentiles, much less send A PHARISEE, of all people? That just can’t be right!

William Cowper captured the phrase in a hymn that said “God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform.” In the hymn, he makes the point that God’s will sometimes seems severe, but he is actually loving and is supportive of us through it all. “Judge not the Lord by feeble sense but trust him for his grace. Behind a frowning Providence he hides a smiling face.” It’s hard to fathom the mysteries of His ways, to be sure. We are far too trapped in time and space to understand the eternal.

In this case, I want to point out that it is not always easy to predict how God will guide a person’s ministry. The case in point today is that God called Paul to go to the Gentiles, while he used people like Peter and Matthew to reach the Jews. Did the Father not know that Paul was a Pharisee, fully educated in the Scriptures and in the nuances of Jewish faith and practice? Who would be better at knowing how to reach his fellow Jews? Hde certainly had the credentials. Wouldn’t the role of going to Gentiles be better suited to Peter or Matthew? Peter, the one who had denied Jesus before members of the high priest’s house. Peter, who had been harvesting grain in his hands as they passed a field on the Sabbath. Or Matthew, who had already compromised himself with his fellow Jews by being a tax collector, partnering with the pagan Romans and betraying his own people. Why not send those guys to the Gentiles, and leave the Pharisee to reach the Jews?

It sure seems like God would do it the other way around. But God knew from long before Paul shook the dust from his shoes as a sign against the Corinthians, saying, “Your blood is upon your own heads—I am innocent. From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles.” That was not just a spontaneous reaction from Paul, but the deliberate will and calling of God on his life.

Isaiah wrote this truth in chapter 55: For my ways are not your ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We might think we know where God is headed in a certain area. But we are stuck in a singular time and place, and we don’t see what God sees. So we are wise to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” For everything is subject to the will of God, whether it makes sense or not.

And so we find the Pharisee reaching Gentiles, and a publican proving to be very effective in reaching his fellow Jews. Who knew, huh? And we find the likes of you and me going places we never dreamed, and doing things we never would have done, if not for the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

If you find yourself called to something that causes you to say, “Why me? Why there? Why that?” Know that you are in good company. God moves in a mysterious way, indeed. Amen.

0423 A CLEAR CONSCIENCE AND A STRATEGY

HAVING A CLEAR CONSCIENCE

Paul, the Pharisee formerly known as Saul of Tarsus, stands before the Jewish high council with the leading priests. 

Paul knows about the high council. He was friends with several of them, studied under at least one of them, and he knows what this meeting is all about. He knows intimately what the Sadducees and the Pharisees believe, and what is of highest importance to them. Now the question is, who does Paul want to be the center of this trial? Is it him? Or is it Jesus?

So Paul decides on a strategy. He needs to establish that he is just as much on God’s side being a Christian as he had been when he was a Christ-persecuting Pharisee. His motive has always been to obey and serve God. That has remained the same, even though his opinion about Christ and his followers has made a radical reversal. He makes a declaration before the Jewish high council. 

“Gazing intently at the high council, Paul began: “Brothers, I have always lived before God with a clear conscience!””

That was a controversial statement, because Paul’s days B.C.  were very different from after he knew the Lord. For his words, the high priest has him slapped on the mouth. How could he possibly have a clear conscience after becoming a Christ follower? After all, it is those Christians who are undermining the Jewish faith.

Time to cut to the chase. Less than a minute later, Saul makes this statement, and it brings even MORE tension and anger in the room: Paul shouts, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, as were my ancestors! And I am on trial because my hope is in the resurrection of the dead!””

‭‭Wellsir, them are  fightin’ words in the Jewish community, because there is a strong division among the leaders of the movement. The Pharisees say, “Maybe God really DID show Himself to this Brother.” But the Sadducees believe that God does none of those spiritual things beyond the physical realm. Angels, afterlife, demons, the whole lot seems kind of like superstitions and wishful thinking to the Sadducees. And that’s why they are sad, you see?

Judaism was something like America today: we have red states and blue states. And various incidents serve to reinforce each group’s already-perceived ideas. The miracles from Jesus, and now from his followers, would not convince a Sadducee that Jesus was the Messiah, because they would explain it away. And the resurrection is the most unbelievable of all. 

So, the argument quickly escalates, the benches empty and the players rush the field to join in a no-rules game of capture the flag, with Paul as the flag. The Roman guards recognize that this is dangerous for their prisoner, so they rush in to rescue Paul and bring him out to safety.

What was accomplished by those two declarations of Paul? Did any of the Jewish leaders change their minds about Jesus? Had Paul made Jesus the center of the conversation? I don’t think anyone in that room changed their position about Christ. On the other hand, maybe the bigger strategy wasn’t to stand trial in Jerusalem—again. 

That night the Lord appears to Paul and lets him know that just as he has been a witness to Jesus in Jerusalem, so he must preach the good news in Rome as well.

So perhaps Paul’s strategy was to leverage his local trial into one that will enable him to share the good news with those who are high up in the Roman government. Sure enough, that’s what happened. Though Paul was a prisoner, he was going to testify before the most powerful people in the known world, and he did it by having his case brought before a higher court.

Later, we find Paul writing to the Philippians (4:22) that “the members of Caesar’s household” are sending their greetings to the church. Paul spent a long time under house arrest in Rome, which gave him access to the servants and family members of Caesar himself.

After all, Paul never had cared about his own safety, but only that Christ is preached. May you and I be so committed to the cause of Christ. Amen.