Gospel without Borders
Acts 8: 26 – 40.
I. Introduction.
Last year in May, I traveled with a group from Buckner International to Ethiopia. Through this trip, I learned a lot about the ministry needs within Ethiopia. AND, I learned a lot about the proud historical background of Ethiopia.
For instance, I had forgotten that the oldest human skeletal remains were found in Ethiopia and are on display in the Ethiopian National Museum. The skeleton is nicknamed “Lucy,” and is believed to be 3.2 million years old.
Also, did you know there is a significant group of history and archaeology scholars who believe the Ark of the Covenant is hidden in a mountain cave in Ethiopia? Legend has it that the Old Testament story about the Queen of Sheba is actually about the Queen of Ethiopia. The Old Testament tells us that the Queen of Sheba heard about King Solomon’s reputation as a wise and wealthy king. She did not believe the stories she had heard about Solomon, so she travelled to Israel to see for herself. When she arrived, Solomon taught her wonderful things about science and nature and quoted to her from his thousands of Proverbs. Then, Solomon gave her a tour of his treasuries. The Old Testament story ends with the Queen of Sheba returning to her homeland convinced that Solomon was the world’s wisest and wealthiest man.
Ethiopian legend adds more to the story. According to legend, the Queen of Sheba returned to Ethiopia pregnant with Solomon’s son. This son grew to be a king in Ethiopia and eventually returned to Israel to visit Solomon on his deathbed. Before he died, Solomon gave his Ethiopian son a gift—the Ark of the Covenant. He instructed his son to protect the Ark.
Today, there is a mountainous region in Ethiopia where military guards post twenty-four hour guard. They have been protecting this region for hundreds of years, and no one knows why. Some believe this is the final resting place for the Ark of the Covenant.
Another legend about Ethiopia intersects with our biblical story. It is the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. Ethiopian legend states that this eunuch returned to Ethiopia and led in a great revival. This revival established the Coptic Church, which continues to be the official religious position of Ethiopia.
Read Acts 8: 26 – 40.
Philip has just finished preaching the great Samaritan Revival. Persecution forced Philip out of Jerusalem, but it could not stop his desire to preach the Gospel. He crossed the city border of Jerusalem; he crossed the national border of Israel; and he crossed the ethnic borders of the Jewish race. He preached the Gospel to anyone who would listen…and to some people who wouldn’t listen.
After what must have been an exceptionally high spiritual moment, Philip heard an unusual command from an angel of God: “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
The best way to describe this road was to use the word “desert.” It was a desert road, because it led through the desert region traditionally known as the Negev. It was a desert road, because at certain times of the day it was deserted. Travelers knew to schedule their travel so they would not travel through the desert during the heat of the day. In the cool of the morning or the shade of the evening, this road would be populated by travelers. But, in the daytime, it would be mostly deserted.
Since Philip encounters a man who is reading the Bible, we have reason to believe this angelic command came to Philip during the daytime. This makes the angel’s words even more unusual. It must have sounded something like…Go to a place where no one wants to go, and go there now—even though it is too hot to be out in the desert.
Even though the Bible does not say this, I am certain Philip was surprised to find the desert road inhabited in the middle of the day. There was a chariot traveling along the desert road carrying a very important passenger. It was a government official from the faraway land of Ethiopia. This man is described as an “important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians.” We might translate this as the Minister of Finance or the Secretary of the Treasury.
This man was traveling home from Jerusalem where he had attended worship. Since the Christian movement had not yet spread beyond Jerusalem and Samaria, it is safe for us to assume that he had been worshipping at the Jewish Temple. However, we cannot assume this man was a Jew. More than likely, this man would have fit into the category of a “God fearer.” He worshipped the God of Judaism but could not become a full Jew because he was a Eunuch. In fact, his status as a Eunuch prevented him even from entering into the Jerusalem Temple. The Hebrew Bible clearly teaches that people with physical defects were not allowed full access to the Temple.
We didn’t laugh when we read this Scripture, but there is an element of humor here. The angel commanded Philip to run alongside the chariot. While running alongside, Philip overheard the man reading from the Old Testament book of Isaiah. I’m sure it must have been difficult for Philip not only to keep up with the horses, but also to speak while he was running. I imagine Philip gasping for air while he was speaking, “Do…You…Under…Stand…What…You…Are…Reading?”
We assume here that Philip got into the chariot. But the most important thing is that Philip used the Scripture from Isaiah to explain the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was no coincidence that the Ethiopian official was reading one of the classic Old Testament prophecies about Jesus. You and I recognize the significance of Isaiah 53, because it has been interpreted for us by the New Testament and modern-day preachers. The Ethiopian did not understand, because no one had ever told him about Jesus.
Jesus is the “Lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the world.” Jesus was silent as he stood before his captors. He was led to the cross, where he willingly offered his own life as a sacrifice for our sins. This is the Good News from Isaiah 53. It is Good News that Jesus gave his life so that you and I can be forgiven of our sins. It is Good News that God had planned this from the very beginning of time.
II. Ethiopian Eunuch.
The Ethiopian Eunuch demonstrates the classic characteristics of someone who is seeking after God.
First, he had done everything in his power to overcome the circumstances of his life, and—in the process—had created a pretty good life for himself. He had achieved an important position in the Queen’s palace. He controlled the entire treasury of the Queen and possibly controlled the finances of the entire government. People looked up to him. He was always surrounded by admirers and children who wanted to “grow up to be just like him.” BUT, when he read the Bible he could not understand what he was reading. This tells me that despite all his personal accomplishments, there was still one thing missing…Jesus.
Notice that the only thing the Ethiopian man was missing was Jesus. All Philip had to do to explain Isaiah 53 to the Ethiopian was to explain how the Scripture related to the story of Jesus. When that one missing piece was explained, the Ethiopian’s life was changed.
You and I share life with many people just like the Ethiopian Eunuch. We have friends with good jobs, adequate salaries, decent family life, etc… But they are still missing one thing. None of these earthly things can grant us ultimate meaning in life.
The Ethiopian Eunuch even sought ultimate meaning by attempting to convert to Judaism. He followed all the necessary steps to convert, but still found himself lacking in one area. Despite all his efforts to reach God, he fell short. He was excluded from true fellowship with God. He found what he was searching for, when Philip told him about Jesus. Jesus does not exclude.
You and I know people who are searching for ultimate meaning and might even experiment with other religious traditions. The Christian faith is the only spiritual path which does not exclude anyone on the basis of what they have done. The Christian faith is the only faith that does not ask people to work or achieve their way to a relationship with God. NO. God has already provided a path. All he asks of us is to place our faith in Jesus. It is not about human achievement. It is simply trusting what God has already done.
III. Philip.
The first thing that strikes me as significant about Philip is the way he fulfilled the prediction Jesus made in Acts 1: 8. Jesus told his followers to wait in Jerusalem until they received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Then Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” On one hand, this is a story about how the Gospel spread across all borders and fulfilled the prediction Jesus made. On the other hand, this is a story about how ONE MAN witnessed in all areas Jesus predicted. Philip preached in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Philip did not pick one area and say, “God has called me to stay where I am in Jerusalem. God will call other people to go to Samaria and the ends of the earth.” NO! I think Philip demonstrates how every Christian man and woman is supposed to engage the entire world with the Gospel.
Don’t forget that Philip was NOT one of the original twelve Apostles. More than likely, Philip did not have the same privilege of living physically with Jesus. More than likely, Philip became a Christian as a result of hearing the Gospel preached by the Apostles. In other words, Philip is a second-generation Christian—just like you and me. We became followers of Jesus Christ as a result of the Apostles’ testimony in Scripture—just like Philip. If Philip is a second-generation Christian who fulfilled Jesus’ prediction in Acts 1: 8, then it is possible for you and me to do the same thing.
Philip models openness, obedience and a method for sharing our faith with others.
1. Openness…We can make a really good argument that the Ethiopian Eunuch became a Christian because he was in the right place at the right time. But he was not the only one. Philip was also in the right place at the right time. You may be asking God to use you to serve him. But how are you living your life? Are you running away from God weekly or even daily? I realize that you are in church right now. But do you put yourself in places where God speaks on a regular basis? God speaks at church. (Take this as a warning if you don’t want to hear from God. But take it as a matter of fact, if you are willing to be open to what God is calling you to do.)
2. Obedience…Two times, Philip received a command from an angel of the Lord. First, the angel told Philip to go to the desert road. In verse 27, the Bible says, “So, he started out…” Second, the angel told Philip to chase down the chariot. In verse 30, the Bible says, “Then, Philip ran…” In both cases, Philip immediately did what the angel commanded. There was no bickering or arguing…Just obedience. Even when it did not make good sense.
3. Sharing Faith…First, Philip simply asked a question: “Do you understand what you are reading?” He did not get on the chariot with a pre-planned, packaged presentation of the Gospel. He answered the questions on the Ethiopian official’s mind. Philip did not set the agenda. He listened first, then answered a real question. Second, Philip spoke about Jesus. He did not expect the Ethiopian to watch him do good deeds. Good deeds might open the door for us, but we must speak about Jesus. Good deeds are not enough by themselves.
IV. God.
God is the main character in the story. BUT, God does not act in a direct manner. God does everything through three agents: an angel, the Holy Spirit and Philip.
Angel…The angel commanded Philip to go to the road and to chase down the chariot.
Holy Spirit…Do you know what a “coincidence” is? The dictionary definition is “events that happen at the same time by accident but seem to have a connection.”
When I read this story, I find five “coincidences.” (1) Someone was on the road the angel sent Philip to. (2) This person was a “God-fearer” with a foundational understanding of God. (3) This person was reading the Bible. (4) The Scripture passage he was reading was one of the prophecies about Jesus. (5) There was a pool of water in the desert.
I think there are simply too many coincidences for this to be an accident. Someone must have brought all these things together at just the right time. This is evidence of the Holy Spirit.
Philip…God sent Philip into a situation where God was already working. When the Gospel is spread, God is the one working…Not us. We are simply God’s agents.
V. Conclusion.
Can you find yourself in this biblical story?
Perhaps you are the person who has achieved a pretty decent life and the only thing missing is Jesus. You will never find ultimate meaning without Jesus.
Perhaps you need to become more like Philip. I believe God is already working in the lives of your friends and family members. Do you believe that? All God needs is your openness and obedience to tell others about Jesus.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008: Spirit vs. Spiritualism
Spirit vs. Spiritualism
Acts 8: 9 – 25.
I. Introduction
How do you know that God is real? I suppose we could appeal to the stories of the Bible, which tell of the many ways God has interacted with Israel and with the followers of Jesus throughout history. But this seems backwards to me. People who already believe in God read the Bible to learn more about God. People who do not believe in God, simply do not trust the stories of the Bible.
For hundreds of years, humans have formed philosophical arguments to appeal to a person’s intellect in order to prove the existence of God. Some of these philosophical “proofs” have become famous.
One famous argument is the argument which refers to God as the “First Cause.” Everything that exists was caused to exist by something else. The universe operates on the principle of Cause and Effect. Nothing can be both cause and effect at the same time. Since the universe exists, something must have caused it t exist. Therefore, there must be a First Cause. We call this First Cause, God.
One of my favorite arguments is the argument from desire. Every natural, innate desire corresponds to some real object that can satisfy the desire. Humans have a natural desire that time and earth cannot satisfy. Therefore, something outside of time and earth must exist that satisfies our desire. This is what we call God.
If you look closely at our culture, you will see people who have tried everything on earth to satisfy their desires. They have tried money, possessions, love, relationships, health, longevity of life… Now, our culture is beginning to search for something spiritual. People are turning to angels, crystals, transcendental meditation, an unnamed higher power… We live in an age of increased spiritual desire. People are very spiritual, but not necessarily Christian.
Read Acts 8: 9 – 25.
II. Explanation
Verses 9 – 11…Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the Great Power." They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.
This is a continuation of the story we read two weeks ago. The young church began to experience persecution from a man named Saul. Saul snooped around to find the houses where the Christians met for Sunday worship services. Then, he broke into Sunday worship services and arrested men and women; placed them in prison; and even had some of them beaten with 39 lashes. On one hand, Saul’s intention was to stop the spread of the Christian faith. On the other hand, he was actually doing everything in his power to erase Christianity from history. But Saul’s plan backfired.
Philip was one of the Seven deacons selected by the church. When faced with persecution, Philip left Jerusalem and started preaching the Gospel in Samaria. Do not overlook how significant this was. First, it was significant that Philip was following the prediction Jesus made in Acts 1: 8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” God used the persecution of the church to spread the Gospel beyond the walls of Jerusalem into the ends of the earth. Second, this is significant because the Samaritans were a hated race of people.
After the reign of King Solomon, the Jewish people divided into two kingdoms: the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Neither of these kingdoms followed all of God’s commands. However, Judah fared at least a little better. Judah continued to worship God in the Holy City of Jerusalem. The northern kingdom set up numerous holy sites. Both kingdoms had series of good and bad kings, but only Judah kept the kingdom under the reign of someone from the lineage of David.
When the two kingdoms fell—sometime in the eighth century B.C.—the northern kingdom was utterly and completely destroyed by Assyria. The southern kingdom was taken into captivity by the Babylonians. Both Assyria and Babylonia has aspirations of ruling the entire known world, but they each employed different strategies. The Assyrians destroyed their enemies and took over their land. The Babylonians took their enemies captive and allowed these people to live together in communities and maintain their own distinct cultures.
When Judah was taken captive by the Babylonians, some of the people were “left behind.” They only took the strong and healthy people into captivity, leaving the weak and sick behind to die. But that is not what happened. Some of these weak and sick Jews actually survived. They lived in their own land and intermarried with the surrounding peoples. So, when the people of Judah were released from their Babylonian captivity, they reentered their old land and found other people living there. These interracial people became known as Samaritans. The Samaritans were no longer considered Jews, because they had intermarried with other races and adopted many pagan religious practices.
Therefore, it is not enough for us to say that Philip preached the Gospel in Samaria. We should note that he actually moved into a different culture and preached the Gospel to people who were different from the group of Jewish Christians he left in Jerusalem.
The story of Philip’s preaching in Samaria gives us some insight into at least one cultural difference between the Jews and Samaritans. The Jewish faith inside Jerusalem was a pure expression of Judaism. They read and studied the Old Testament law. They even developed a class of religious experts to interpret the Law and apply it to everyday life. The Samaritans also read and studied the Old Testament. However, they did not keep their religion pure. They had taken the Old Testament and added to it many of the pagan practices around them. They were willing to try anything and everything their religious neighbors practiced.
This is why a man like Simon the Sorcerer became so popular in Samaria. This was a culture of people who once knew the Bible and still made claims to be God’s people. But in reality, they were easily duped by a man who claimed to have magical and spiritual powers. It’s obvious from the Bible’s description of Simon, that he did not just entertain the crowds of people with slight of hands tricks. No. Simon performed his tricks and told the people that he had mysterious powers from some supernatural force, known as “The Great Power.”
Verses 12 – 13… But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
On one hand, it is very easy for us to criticize the Samaritans for mixing biblical faith with pagan magic. They did not have a good foundational knowledge of Scripture, so they were easily drawn away from biblical faith. On the other hand, I think we can find some positive things to say about the Samaritans. In particular, we can say that the Samaritans were very “spiritual people.” They did not know the Bible. They did not know the story of Jesus—his life, crucifixion and resurrection. But the Samaritans were searching for something. They wanted to be spiritual and religious. They just needed someone to step into their culture and tell them the Good News about Jesus.
Into this spiritual context stepped Philip, a man full of the Holy Spirit and power. Of course, don’t know what Philip preached in Samaria. (I wish we did know.) All we know is that Philip preached the “good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus.” While we don’t know the words of Philip’s sermons, we do know that Philip preached the complete Gospel. Everything you need to know to be “saved” and to live a Christian life is contained in those two phrases: the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus.
While many of the First Century Jews considered themselves members of the kingdom of God by virtue of their race and / or religious heritage, Jesus taught something different. Jesus taught us that the kingdom of God is not something contained within geo-political boundaries. No, the kingdom of God is something all people can and must enter by becoming like a child. Jesus picked up on a theme taught by the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah that God would write a new covenant within the hearts of all who believe. This simple act of childlike faith in Jesus transforms our lives and hands over the controls of our lives to God as our sovereign king.
Philip also preached about the “name of Jesus.” Throughout the Bible the word “name” is typical used as a figure that represents a person’s character. I am certain that Philip used the five-letter name “Jesus” in his preaching, but this is not the point. Philip taught them about the character of Jesus. Jesus was born of a virgin woman, proving that he is in fact the Son of God. Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life, proving that patterning our lives after him leads us away from sin. Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice for the sins we have committed against God. And Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, proving that Jesus has the power to give us eternal life after our earthly death.
Verses 14 – 17… When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Here we encounter the first of two “problems” in our Scripture passage. The Samaritans heard the Gospel and believed. They were baptized and began to worship Jesus within a local community. However, they had not yet received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Does this Scripture make a case for two baptisms—a first baptism into Jesus and a second baptism into the Holy Spirit? I would believe that IF this were the norm. But this is not the biblical norm either within the book of Acts or in any other part of Scripture.
A careful reading of the biblical accounts of men and women who received the Holy Spirit shows us that this happened in every way possible. In some cases, the person was baptized and later received the Holy Spirit. In other cases, the gift of the Holy Spirit came BEFORE the person was baptized. In still other cases, the gift of the Holy Spirit came simultaneously with baptism.
I believe there is another issue at work here. Remember that Acts tells us Philip went into Samaria preaching the Gospel while the Apostle remained in Jerusalem. Evidently, the first wave of persecution only affected the Greek speaking Christians. For some reason, Peter, James, John and the other Apostles were not under attack. Therefore, Philip is preaching the Gospel in a foreign culture without the official sanction of the Apostles—the founders of the original church.
As a result, it was important for Philip to contact the Apostles and to seek their “official stamp of approval” on the missionary work he was doing among the Samaritans. I’m sure the Apostles were shocked when they first got word of Philip’s successful preaching. They believed in Philip—after all, they had ordained him as a deacon only two chapters previously. They just did not trust the Samaritans. So, Peter and John had to see for themselves. And they saw God was working in a foreign culture.
When Peter and John saw God at work in Samaria, they joined God in what he was already doing there. Two actions confirm this for us. First, they laid hands on these foreigners and gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit. Second, they started preaching to Samaritans… Verse 25… When they had testified and proclaimed the word of the Lord, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
Verses 18 – 19… When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."
Verses 20 – 24… Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin." Then Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me."
Here is our second “problem” in our Scripture passage. Just a few verses prior to this, we read that Simon the Sorcerer had believed and was baptized. Now we witness as Simon tries to purchase the power of the Holy Spirit and Peter rebukes Simon.
III. Application / Conclusion
1. Gospel and Culture…Magic and spiritualism is a “shortcut.” But the Christian life has no shortcuts…
2. Inverted Theology…God is the one who controls us, not the other way around. Simon was trying to control God…Peter and John were trying to control God…
3. Seeing God at work in other people changes us as much as it changes them…
Acts 8: 9 – 25.
I. Introduction
How do you know that God is real? I suppose we could appeal to the stories of the Bible, which tell of the many ways God has interacted with Israel and with the followers of Jesus throughout history. But this seems backwards to me. People who already believe in God read the Bible to learn more about God. People who do not believe in God, simply do not trust the stories of the Bible.
For hundreds of years, humans have formed philosophical arguments to appeal to a person’s intellect in order to prove the existence of God. Some of these philosophical “proofs” have become famous.
One famous argument is the argument which refers to God as the “First Cause.” Everything that exists was caused to exist by something else. The universe operates on the principle of Cause and Effect. Nothing can be both cause and effect at the same time. Since the universe exists, something must have caused it t exist. Therefore, there must be a First Cause. We call this First Cause, God.
One of my favorite arguments is the argument from desire. Every natural, innate desire corresponds to some real object that can satisfy the desire. Humans have a natural desire that time and earth cannot satisfy. Therefore, something outside of time and earth must exist that satisfies our desire. This is what we call God.
If you look closely at our culture, you will see people who have tried everything on earth to satisfy their desires. They have tried money, possessions, love, relationships, health, longevity of life… Now, our culture is beginning to search for something spiritual. People are turning to angels, crystals, transcendental meditation, an unnamed higher power… We live in an age of increased spiritual desire. People are very spiritual, but not necessarily Christian.
Read Acts 8: 9 – 25.
II. Explanation
Verses 9 – 11…Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the Great Power." They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.
This is a continuation of the story we read two weeks ago. The young church began to experience persecution from a man named Saul. Saul snooped around to find the houses where the Christians met for Sunday worship services. Then, he broke into Sunday worship services and arrested men and women; placed them in prison; and even had some of them beaten with 39 lashes. On one hand, Saul’s intention was to stop the spread of the Christian faith. On the other hand, he was actually doing everything in his power to erase Christianity from history. But Saul’s plan backfired.
Philip was one of the Seven deacons selected by the church. When faced with persecution, Philip left Jerusalem and started preaching the Gospel in Samaria. Do not overlook how significant this was. First, it was significant that Philip was following the prediction Jesus made in Acts 1: 8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” God used the persecution of the church to spread the Gospel beyond the walls of Jerusalem into the ends of the earth. Second, this is significant because the Samaritans were a hated race of people.
After the reign of King Solomon, the Jewish people divided into two kingdoms: the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Neither of these kingdoms followed all of God’s commands. However, Judah fared at least a little better. Judah continued to worship God in the Holy City of Jerusalem. The northern kingdom set up numerous holy sites. Both kingdoms had series of good and bad kings, but only Judah kept the kingdom under the reign of someone from the lineage of David.
When the two kingdoms fell—sometime in the eighth century B.C.—the northern kingdom was utterly and completely destroyed by Assyria. The southern kingdom was taken into captivity by the Babylonians. Both Assyria and Babylonia has aspirations of ruling the entire known world, but they each employed different strategies. The Assyrians destroyed their enemies and took over their land. The Babylonians took their enemies captive and allowed these people to live together in communities and maintain their own distinct cultures.
When Judah was taken captive by the Babylonians, some of the people were “left behind.” They only took the strong and healthy people into captivity, leaving the weak and sick behind to die. But that is not what happened. Some of these weak and sick Jews actually survived. They lived in their own land and intermarried with the surrounding peoples. So, when the people of Judah were released from their Babylonian captivity, they reentered their old land and found other people living there. These interracial people became known as Samaritans. The Samaritans were no longer considered Jews, because they had intermarried with other races and adopted many pagan religious practices.
Therefore, it is not enough for us to say that Philip preached the Gospel in Samaria. We should note that he actually moved into a different culture and preached the Gospel to people who were different from the group of Jewish Christians he left in Jerusalem.
The story of Philip’s preaching in Samaria gives us some insight into at least one cultural difference between the Jews and Samaritans. The Jewish faith inside Jerusalem was a pure expression of Judaism. They read and studied the Old Testament law. They even developed a class of religious experts to interpret the Law and apply it to everyday life. The Samaritans also read and studied the Old Testament. However, they did not keep their religion pure. They had taken the Old Testament and added to it many of the pagan practices around them. They were willing to try anything and everything their religious neighbors practiced.
This is why a man like Simon the Sorcerer became so popular in Samaria. This was a culture of people who once knew the Bible and still made claims to be God’s people. But in reality, they were easily duped by a man who claimed to have magical and spiritual powers. It’s obvious from the Bible’s description of Simon, that he did not just entertain the crowds of people with slight of hands tricks. No. Simon performed his tricks and told the people that he had mysterious powers from some supernatural force, known as “The Great Power.”
Verses 12 – 13… But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
On one hand, it is very easy for us to criticize the Samaritans for mixing biblical faith with pagan magic. They did not have a good foundational knowledge of Scripture, so they were easily drawn away from biblical faith. On the other hand, I think we can find some positive things to say about the Samaritans. In particular, we can say that the Samaritans were very “spiritual people.” They did not know the Bible. They did not know the story of Jesus—his life, crucifixion and resurrection. But the Samaritans were searching for something. They wanted to be spiritual and religious. They just needed someone to step into their culture and tell them the Good News about Jesus.
Into this spiritual context stepped Philip, a man full of the Holy Spirit and power. Of course, don’t know what Philip preached in Samaria. (I wish we did know.) All we know is that Philip preached the “good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus.” While we don’t know the words of Philip’s sermons, we do know that Philip preached the complete Gospel. Everything you need to know to be “saved” and to live a Christian life is contained in those two phrases: the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus.
While many of the First Century Jews considered themselves members of the kingdom of God by virtue of their race and / or religious heritage, Jesus taught something different. Jesus taught us that the kingdom of God is not something contained within geo-political boundaries. No, the kingdom of God is something all people can and must enter by becoming like a child. Jesus picked up on a theme taught by the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah that God would write a new covenant within the hearts of all who believe. This simple act of childlike faith in Jesus transforms our lives and hands over the controls of our lives to God as our sovereign king.
Philip also preached about the “name of Jesus.” Throughout the Bible the word “name” is typical used as a figure that represents a person’s character. I am certain that Philip used the five-letter name “Jesus” in his preaching, but this is not the point. Philip taught them about the character of Jesus. Jesus was born of a virgin woman, proving that he is in fact the Son of God. Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life, proving that patterning our lives after him leads us away from sin. Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice for the sins we have committed against God. And Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, proving that Jesus has the power to give us eternal life after our earthly death.
Verses 14 – 17… When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Here we encounter the first of two “problems” in our Scripture passage. The Samaritans heard the Gospel and believed. They were baptized and began to worship Jesus within a local community. However, they had not yet received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Does this Scripture make a case for two baptisms—a first baptism into Jesus and a second baptism into the Holy Spirit? I would believe that IF this were the norm. But this is not the biblical norm either within the book of Acts or in any other part of Scripture.
A careful reading of the biblical accounts of men and women who received the Holy Spirit shows us that this happened in every way possible. In some cases, the person was baptized and later received the Holy Spirit. In other cases, the gift of the Holy Spirit came BEFORE the person was baptized. In still other cases, the gift of the Holy Spirit came simultaneously with baptism.
I believe there is another issue at work here. Remember that Acts tells us Philip went into Samaria preaching the Gospel while the Apostle remained in Jerusalem. Evidently, the first wave of persecution only affected the Greek speaking Christians. For some reason, Peter, James, John and the other Apostles were not under attack. Therefore, Philip is preaching the Gospel in a foreign culture without the official sanction of the Apostles—the founders of the original church.
As a result, it was important for Philip to contact the Apostles and to seek their “official stamp of approval” on the missionary work he was doing among the Samaritans. I’m sure the Apostles were shocked when they first got word of Philip’s successful preaching. They believed in Philip—after all, they had ordained him as a deacon only two chapters previously. They just did not trust the Samaritans. So, Peter and John had to see for themselves. And they saw God was working in a foreign culture.
When Peter and John saw God at work in Samaria, they joined God in what he was already doing there. Two actions confirm this for us. First, they laid hands on these foreigners and gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit. Second, they started preaching to Samaritans… Verse 25… When they had testified and proclaimed the word of the Lord, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
Verses 18 – 19… When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."
Verses 20 – 24… Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin." Then Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me."
Here is our second “problem” in our Scripture passage. Just a few verses prior to this, we read that Simon the Sorcerer had believed and was baptized. Now we witness as Simon tries to purchase the power of the Holy Spirit and Peter rebukes Simon.
III. Application / Conclusion
1. Gospel and Culture…Magic and spiritualism is a “shortcut.” But the Christian life has no shortcuts…
2. Inverted Theology…God is the one who controls us, not the other way around. Simon was trying to control God…Peter and John were trying to control God…
3. Seeing God at work in other people changes us as much as it changes them…
Sunday, June 15, 2008: Lost and Found
Lost and Found
Luke 15: 11 – 32
I. Introduction.
Luke 15 is a very familiar passage of Scripture to many people. But there is a danger in becoming too familiar with something. The danger is that something can become so familiar that we can become desensitized. The initial “shock” of experiencing something for the first time tends to wear off the more times we experience it. For example, it was before my time, but do you remember hearing about the initial shock around the country when profanity was first used in the movies? And now, there is so much profanity in movies and even primetime TV that we are no longer shocked. Or, I can remember the first time I ran barefoot across my grandparents’ gravel driveway. I didn’t understand why it hurt. But, over time, I got used to the gravel, and it no longer hurt my feet.
In much the same way, when we are exposed to things repeatedly, we become desensitized. We can become desensitized to worldliness and sin. But we can also become desensitized to the stories and teachings of the Bible.
And I think Luke 15 has lost its “shock-value.” This is a story that we have heard so many times that it doesn’t shock us anymore. We know the ending before we even start reading the story. But when Jesus told this story for the first time, no one knew how it ended. Well, they knew how it was SUPPOSED to end, but they were SURPRISED by what Jesus said. I want you to join me as we attempt to hear this story as if it were the first time. Let’s listen to Jesus’ words…And let Jesus surprise us.
Read Luke 15: 11 – 32.
We normally refer to this passage as the Parable of the Prodigal Son. But do we really know what that means? The word “prodigal” is not a word that use in everyday conversation. But since I grew up hearing about the “Prodigal Son”—and since the Prodigal Son ran away from home—I naturally assumed that “prodigal” meant runaway. But I looked up “prodigal” in the dictionary. Did you know that “prodigal” actually means “wasteful?” So we have the “Parable of the Wasteful Son.”
And that made me wonder…Did Jesus really tell us a parable about a wasteful son? I don’t think that was the main point at all. In fact, if you read the first words Jesus spoke, I think Jesus tells us what the parable is all about: “There was a man who had two sons.” Jesus did NOT say, “There was a son who wasted his inheritance.”
I also think it is important to read this parable in its context. This is the third and final in a series of stories Jesus told about being lost and found. First, Jesus told a story about a good shepherd who paid a great price to search and find his one lost sheep. Second, Jesus told a story about a woman who paid a great price to find a lost coin. Finally, Jesus told a story about a father who paid a great price to find and forgive a lost son.
The story begins when the younger of two sons asked his father for his share of the family inheritance while the father was still alive. This is the first place where we have lost the initial shock of the story. For a son to ask for his inheritance while his father is still living is like saying, “Dad, I can’t wait until you are dead. In fact, I wish you were already dead, so I could have your money.”
In the ancient world, the oldest son would receive twice as much of the family estate as the rest of the sons. So, if there were two sons, the younger son would receive one-third of the estate. And the father gave it to him.
In verse 13, we read that the young man “got together all he had.” More than likely, this is an expression that means he converted everything to cash. He took one-third of the land, one-third of the cattle and one-third of the family valuables and sold it all to the neighbors.
Then, the young man took all of his cash and “squandered his wealth in wild living.” We don’t know exactly how to interpret the phrase “wild living.” The older brother assumed that his brother had been engaged in an immoral lifestyle—and that may be true. But “wild living” could also mean simply wasteful living, or a prodigal lifestyle.
Eventually this young man had spent everything—lost the family fortune. And it was at just that time that a severe famine came to the land where he was living. The son had no choice but to hire himself out as a common servant feeding pigs in a foreign land. Now, as you can imagine, this was the worst possible state a Jewish man could find himself in. Gentile country, broke, feeding pigs and so hungry that he waited every day for whatever food was left over when the pigs finished eating. Yet, even at this lowest possible state, he was not beyond his father’s love. Even when he came home smelling like a pig, his father welcomed him home as an honored guest.
In fact, when the son finally came home, the father killed the fatted calf. This was a big deal in the ancient world, because they weren’t like us. We eat meat every day, sometimes three times a day. Some of you are probably on the Atkins Diet, and all you eat is meat! But in Jesus’ day, meat was reserved for special events.
Have you ever wondered where this fatted calf came from? Of course, it came from the family farm. But remember what happened at the beginning of the parable. The father divided everything between his two sons. The younger son sold everything he had and wasted the money in a foreign land. So, everything that remained on the family farm ultimately belonged to the older son. This was the older son’s calf. No wonder he was so angry when he heard about the party. My brother is eating my calf!
The older brother was so angry that he disowned his family. Look at what he said in verse 30: “…this son of YOURS…” “He’s not MY brother…He’s YOUR son.” The brother even refused to go to the banquet. This is what sets this parable apart from the other two parables Jesus told. This is not a story about a father who lost ONE son. This father lost BOTH of his sons. It is possible for us to be lost in a foreign country, and it is possible for us to be lost without ever leaving home. Both sons turned their backs on the love of their father. One turned his back by leaving home and living a wild lifestyle. The other turned his back by being angry and self-righteous. I believe this describes the sins of Christian people and non-Christian people…church members and non-church members.
But notice the father. Normally, the father would just ignore his sons anger, go back to the banquet and deal with him later. But not this father, and not on this day. The father wanted both sons and the whole family together for the celebration. So he went out onto the porch searching for his lost son. The father treated both sons equally. Both sons disowned their father, and the father searched for both lost sons.
II. The Father Paid the Price for Forgiveness.
The original audience was very familiar with Jewish laws and the consequences required of a son. A Jewish son who lost the family fortune to Gentiles was to be “cut off” from his people. There was even a ceremony where the guilty son was brought before the entire village. They would take a large, clay jar filled with burnt corn and nuts. The jar was then held high in the air and smashed on the ground as the village declared, “This person is forever cut off from his people.” From that moment on, the family and village were to have absolutely nothing to do with this person as long as he lived.
But that is not what happened in this story. No. The father waited and watched for his lost son to come home. He probably stood at the town gate everyday, knowing and hoping that his son would one day appear on the horizon.
I don’t think we can overemphasize this point, because this is the Gospel! In verse 17, we read that the young man “came to his senses” and decided to go home. This is only half of the story. It was not enough that the son “came to his senses.” He had a father that loved him and wanted him to come home. This father was willing to pay whatever price was necessary to have his son again.
Most fathers would have done what was “acceptable” by disowning his son and forcing him to suffer the consequences. Everyone would understand. But this father had no interest in doing the “acceptable” thing. Instead, he took all of the pain and dishonor and embarrassment on himself to forgive his son and to welcome him home as a son once again.
Forgiveness always comes at a price. It is always the innocent party, the victim, who must pay the price. God has offered us forgiveness for our sins, but he first had to take the pain and dishonor and embarrassment on himself. It cost God his only Son. Jesus had to become human like us and offer his own life on the cross to pay the price of forgiveness. The innocent party suffered so that we might have forgiveness.
III. The Father Valued Relationships Over Rules.
There was only one character in this story who “played by the rules.” The younger son broke all the rules by asking for his inheritance early, leaving home and wasting everything. The father broke the rules by allowing his son to leave home in the first place and then allowing him to come home again as a member of the family. The older son played by the rules.
The older son kept all the rules to “the letter of the law.” But playing by the rules caused him to break his relationship with both his father and his brother. Sometimes it is wrong to be right!
The father’s actions toward his lost sons show us that he valued relationship more than rules. But don’t misunderstand me here. I don’t think we should completely discard the rules in favor of relationship. We need rules. Without rules we would promote and even encourage others to live sinful lifestyles. But neither do we need to enforce the rules so strictly that all relationships are lost.
But, let me say again that I believe we need rules. Rules give us an accountability to right and wrong. But when we emphasize relationships, we place value on people over anything else, including our desire to be right.
One of my seminary professors was a marriage counselor. He told us a story about a couple who were facing serious problems in their marriage to the point that they disagreed on everything. In counseling them he finally got to a point where he told them, “You have to make a decision. Do you want to be right, or do you want to be married?” This father didn’t want to be right. He wanted his son.
Perhaps we need to strike a proper balance between rules and relationship. I believe the story of Israel is a perfect illustration of what a balance of rules and relationship might look like. God gave Israel his law—the rules for living in this world. Israel continually broke God’s law. Yet, God continued to pursue Israel as his people. They broke the law, and God pursued. That is what the Old Testament was all about: God’s people broke God’s rules, and God continued to pursue a relationship with his people. Ultimately, this story was fulfilled when God took the initiative to send his only Son. God wants us to do what is right. But God gave his Son so that we might have a right relationship. Even when we break the rules, God still wants us in relationship. And God paid the price so that relationship can never be lost.
IV. The Father Was Motivated by Love.
At least five times in the story of the father and his two lost sons, the father acted contrary to the norm of the ancient world. Perhaps the most significant way is that the father showed an elaborate love for both his sons. This was not the traditional role for an ancient father. No. The father’s role was to provide for the physical needs of his family. The mother was supposed to nurture and love and otherwise rear the children. But this father acted more like a mother.
We might expect a mother to run out onto the streets of the town to welcome the lost son home. But not the father. We expect the father to remain in the house and make no attempt to initiate contact with him. In fact, the only contact the father would have would be like that of a judge who listens as the son “presents his case” for why he should be accepted back into the family. It was certainly not the father’s place to run out of the house and publicly embrace the one who had sinned against his father and his family. This father did what we would expect a mother to do.
This father was motivated by an intense love for both of his sons. He stood at the door watching for his younger son. He paced back and forth across the porch searching the horizon. He probably even walked to the city gates hoping to catch just a glimpse of his son coming home. And when the son finally did appear on the horizon, the father ran to meet him. He never even allowed his son to enter into the city limits. The father knew that if the son entered the town alone, the people would immediately try to start the proceedings against him. But NO. The father ran, embraced his son, made a fool of himself by kissing him and proudly accompanied him into the city.
Then the father ran out onto the porch in pursuit of his older son. This son who had disowned his own father and brother…And the father ran to him as well. He begged and pleaded for his son to come home. The father was once again watching and waiting and hoping that a lost son would come home.
But Jesus never told us what happened to this older son. Did he ever answer his father’s invitation? Did he go to the family banquet? Did he accept his father’s love? We don’t know!
It’s a story with no ending. It’s a story waiting for us to search for an answer in ourselves. What will I do with this extravagant love from my father who is begging and pleading and waiting for me to come home? What will you do?
V. Conclusion: An Invitation into the Family.
My oldest son, Collin, will be eleven in a couple of months. But when Collin was four, we taught him how to play the game hide-and-seek. You know the game. One person closes their eyes and counts while the others go and hide. When the person finishes counting, they try to find the ones who hid.
When Collin first learned how to play hide-and-seek, he would say, “Daddy, close your eyes and count to 18, and I will go hide behind the couch.” Or, “Daddy, close your eyes and count to 21, and I will go hide in the closet.” Or. “Close your eyes and count to 27, and I will go hide under the bed.” For Collin, hide-and-seek is only fun is he was found. It’s not fun to be lost.
And maybe that is your story this morning. Maybe you are lost, because you have been running away from God’s love all your life. But God is pursuing you. He is standing at the door watching for you and waiting for you to take just one small step to show him that you want to be found.
Or maybe you are already a member of God’s family, but you are just like that older brother. There is someone who ought to be your brother, but you have disowned them. You might even hate them or resent the fact that they can be included in God’s family. Your selfish attitude and self-righteous behavior has put you on the porch—on the outside, looking in. God is pursuing you as well. God is standing at the door pleading with you to come back inside. And God is waiting for you to take just one small step to show that you want to be found.
It’s no fun to be lost. And you don’t have to move to a foreign land to be lost. You may be right here in church this morning. Do you want to be found?
Luke 15: 11 – 32
I. Introduction.
Luke 15 is a very familiar passage of Scripture to many people. But there is a danger in becoming too familiar with something. The danger is that something can become so familiar that we can become desensitized. The initial “shock” of experiencing something for the first time tends to wear off the more times we experience it. For example, it was before my time, but do you remember hearing about the initial shock around the country when profanity was first used in the movies? And now, there is so much profanity in movies and even primetime TV that we are no longer shocked. Or, I can remember the first time I ran barefoot across my grandparents’ gravel driveway. I didn’t understand why it hurt. But, over time, I got used to the gravel, and it no longer hurt my feet.
In much the same way, when we are exposed to things repeatedly, we become desensitized. We can become desensitized to worldliness and sin. But we can also become desensitized to the stories and teachings of the Bible.
And I think Luke 15 has lost its “shock-value.” This is a story that we have heard so many times that it doesn’t shock us anymore. We know the ending before we even start reading the story. But when Jesus told this story for the first time, no one knew how it ended. Well, they knew how it was SUPPOSED to end, but they were SURPRISED by what Jesus said. I want you to join me as we attempt to hear this story as if it were the first time. Let’s listen to Jesus’ words…And let Jesus surprise us.
Read Luke 15: 11 – 32.
We normally refer to this passage as the Parable of the Prodigal Son. But do we really know what that means? The word “prodigal” is not a word that use in everyday conversation. But since I grew up hearing about the “Prodigal Son”—and since the Prodigal Son ran away from home—I naturally assumed that “prodigal” meant runaway. But I looked up “prodigal” in the dictionary. Did you know that “prodigal” actually means “wasteful?” So we have the “Parable of the Wasteful Son.”
And that made me wonder…Did Jesus really tell us a parable about a wasteful son? I don’t think that was the main point at all. In fact, if you read the first words Jesus spoke, I think Jesus tells us what the parable is all about: “There was a man who had two sons.” Jesus did NOT say, “There was a son who wasted his inheritance.”
I also think it is important to read this parable in its context. This is the third and final in a series of stories Jesus told about being lost and found. First, Jesus told a story about a good shepherd who paid a great price to search and find his one lost sheep. Second, Jesus told a story about a woman who paid a great price to find a lost coin. Finally, Jesus told a story about a father who paid a great price to find and forgive a lost son.
The story begins when the younger of two sons asked his father for his share of the family inheritance while the father was still alive. This is the first place where we have lost the initial shock of the story. For a son to ask for his inheritance while his father is still living is like saying, “Dad, I can’t wait until you are dead. In fact, I wish you were already dead, so I could have your money.”
In the ancient world, the oldest son would receive twice as much of the family estate as the rest of the sons. So, if there were two sons, the younger son would receive one-third of the estate. And the father gave it to him.
In verse 13, we read that the young man “got together all he had.” More than likely, this is an expression that means he converted everything to cash. He took one-third of the land, one-third of the cattle and one-third of the family valuables and sold it all to the neighbors.
Then, the young man took all of his cash and “squandered his wealth in wild living.” We don’t know exactly how to interpret the phrase “wild living.” The older brother assumed that his brother had been engaged in an immoral lifestyle—and that may be true. But “wild living” could also mean simply wasteful living, or a prodigal lifestyle.
Eventually this young man had spent everything—lost the family fortune. And it was at just that time that a severe famine came to the land where he was living. The son had no choice but to hire himself out as a common servant feeding pigs in a foreign land. Now, as you can imagine, this was the worst possible state a Jewish man could find himself in. Gentile country, broke, feeding pigs and so hungry that he waited every day for whatever food was left over when the pigs finished eating. Yet, even at this lowest possible state, he was not beyond his father’s love. Even when he came home smelling like a pig, his father welcomed him home as an honored guest.
In fact, when the son finally came home, the father killed the fatted calf. This was a big deal in the ancient world, because they weren’t like us. We eat meat every day, sometimes three times a day. Some of you are probably on the Atkins Diet, and all you eat is meat! But in Jesus’ day, meat was reserved for special events.
Have you ever wondered where this fatted calf came from? Of course, it came from the family farm. But remember what happened at the beginning of the parable. The father divided everything between his two sons. The younger son sold everything he had and wasted the money in a foreign land. So, everything that remained on the family farm ultimately belonged to the older son. This was the older son’s calf. No wonder he was so angry when he heard about the party. My brother is eating my calf!
The older brother was so angry that he disowned his family. Look at what he said in verse 30: “…this son of YOURS…” “He’s not MY brother…He’s YOUR son.” The brother even refused to go to the banquet. This is what sets this parable apart from the other two parables Jesus told. This is not a story about a father who lost ONE son. This father lost BOTH of his sons. It is possible for us to be lost in a foreign country, and it is possible for us to be lost without ever leaving home. Both sons turned their backs on the love of their father. One turned his back by leaving home and living a wild lifestyle. The other turned his back by being angry and self-righteous. I believe this describes the sins of Christian people and non-Christian people…church members and non-church members.
But notice the father. Normally, the father would just ignore his sons anger, go back to the banquet and deal with him later. But not this father, and not on this day. The father wanted both sons and the whole family together for the celebration. So he went out onto the porch searching for his lost son. The father treated both sons equally. Both sons disowned their father, and the father searched for both lost sons.
II. The Father Paid the Price for Forgiveness.
The original audience was very familiar with Jewish laws and the consequences required of a son. A Jewish son who lost the family fortune to Gentiles was to be “cut off” from his people. There was even a ceremony where the guilty son was brought before the entire village. They would take a large, clay jar filled with burnt corn and nuts. The jar was then held high in the air and smashed on the ground as the village declared, “This person is forever cut off from his people.” From that moment on, the family and village were to have absolutely nothing to do with this person as long as he lived.
But that is not what happened in this story. No. The father waited and watched for his lost son to come home. He probably stood at the town gate everyday, knowing and hoping that his son would one day appear on the horizon.
I don’t think we can overemphasize this point, because this is the Gospel! In verse 17, we read that the young man “came to his senses” and decided to go home. This is only half of the story. It was not enough that the son “came to his senses.” He had a father that loved him and wanted him to come home. This father was willing to pay whatever price was necessary to have his son again.
Most fathers would have done what was “acceptable” by disowning his son and forcing him to suffer the consequences. Everyone would understand. But this father had no interest in doing the “acceptable” thing. Instead, he took all of the pain and dishonor and embarrassment on himself to forgive his son and to welcome him home as a son once again.
Forgiveness always comes at a price. It is always the innocent party, the victim, who must pay the price. God has offered us forgiveness for our sins, but he first had to take the pain and dishonor and embarrassment on himself. It cost God his only Son. Jesus had to become human like us and offer his own life on the cross to pay the price of forgiveness. The innocent party suffered so that we might have forgiveness.
III. The Father Valued Relationships Over Rules.
There was only one character in this story who “played by the rules.” The younger son broke all the rules by asking for his inheritance early, leaving home and wasting everything. The father broke the rules by allowing his son to leave home in the first place and then allowing him to come home again as a member of the family. The older son played by the rules.
The older son kept all the rules to “the letter of the law.” But playing by the rules caused him to break his relationship with both his father and his brother. Sometimes it is wrong to be right!
The father’s actions toward his lost sons show us that he valued relationship more than rules. But don’t misunderstand me here. I don’t think we should completely discard the rules in favor of relationship. We need rules. Without rules we would promote and even encourage others to live sinful lifestyles. But neither do we need to enforce the rules so strictly that all relationships are lost.
But, let me say again that I believe we need rules. Rules give us an accountability to right and wrong. But when we emphasize relationships, we place value on people over anything else, including our desire to be right.
One of my seminary professors was a marriage counselor. He told us a story about a couple who were facing serious problems in their marriage to the point that they disagreed on everything. In counseling them he finally got to a point where he told them, “You have to make a decision. Do you want to be right, or do you want to be married?” This father didn’t want to be right. He wanted his son.
Perhaps we need to strike a proper balance between rules and relationship. I believe the story of Israel is a perfect illustration of what a balance of rules and relationship might look like. God gave Israel his law—the rules for living in this world. Israel continually broke God’s law. Yet, God continued to pursue Israel as his people. They broke the law, and God pursued. That is what the Old Testament was all about: God’s people broke God’s rules, and God continued to pursue a relationship with his people. Ultimately, this story was fulfilled when God took the initiative to send his only Son. God wants us to do what is right. But God gave his Son so that we might have a right relationship. Even when we break the rules, God still wants us in relationship. And God paid the price so that relationship can never be lost.
IV. The Father Was Motivated by Love.
At least five times in the story of the father and his two lost sons, the father acted contrary to the norm of the ancient world. Perhaps the most significant way is that the father showed an elaborate love for both his sons. This was not the traditional role for an ancient father. No. The father’s role was to provide for the physical needs of his family. The mother was supposed to nurture and love and otherwise rear the children. But this father acted more like a mother.
We might expect a mother to run out onto the streets of the town to welcome the lost son home. But not the father. We expect the father to remain in the house and make no attempt to initiate contact with him. In fact, the only contact the father would have would be like that of a judge who listens as the son “presents his case” for why he should be accepted back into the family. It was certainly not the father’s place to run out of the house and publicly embrace the one who had sinned against his father and his family. This father did what we would expect a mother to do.
This father was motivated by an intense love for both of his sons. He stood at the door watching for his younger son. He paced back and forth across the porch searching the horizon. He probably even walked to the city gates hoping to catch just a glimpse of his son coming home. And when the son finally did appear on the horizon, the father ran to meet him. He never even allowed his son to enter into the city limits. The father knew that if the son entered the town alone, the people would immediately try to start the proceedings against him. But NO. The father ran, embraced his son, made a fool of himself by kissing him and proudly accompanied him into the city.
Then the father ran out onto the porch in pursuit of his older son. This son who had disowned his own father and brother…And the father ran to him as well. He begged and pleaded for his son to come home. The father was once again watching and waiting and hoping that a lost son would come home.
But Jesus never told us what happened to this older son. Did he ever answer his father’s invitation? Did he go to the family banquet? Did he accept his father’s love? We don’t know!
It’s a story with no ending. It’s a story waiting for us to search for an answer in ourselves. What will I do with this extravagant love from my father who is begging and pleading and waiting for me to come home? What will you do?
V. Conclusion: An Invitation into the Family.
My oldest son, Collin, will be eleven in a couple of months. But when Collin was four, we taught him how to play the game hide-and-seek. You know the game. One person closes their eyes and counts while the others go and hide. When the person finishes counting, they try to find the ones who hid.
When Collin first learned how to play hide-and-seek, he would say, “Daddy, close your eyes and count to 18, and I will go hide behind the couch.” Or, “Daddy, close your eyes and count to 21, and I will go hide in the closet.” Or. “Close your eyes and count to 27, and I will go hide under the bed.” For Collin, hide-and-seek is only fun is he was found. It’s not fun to be lost.
And maybe that is your story this morning. Maybe you are lost, because you have been running away from God’s love all your life. But God is pursuing you. He is standing at the door watching for you and waiting for you to take just one small step to show him that you want to be found.
Or maybe you are already a member of God’s family, but you are just like that older brother. There is someone who ought to be your brother, but you have disowned them. You might even hate them or resent the fact that they can be included in God’s family. Your selfish attitude and self-righteous behavior has put you on the porch—on the outside, looking in. God is pursuing you as well. God is standing at the door pleading with you to come back inside. And God is waiting for you to take just one small step to show that you want to be found.
It’s no fun to be lost. And you don’t have to move to a foreign land to be lost. You may be right here in church this morning. Do you want to be found?
Monday, June 09, 2008
Sunday, June 8, 2008: Good from Evil
Good from Evil
Acts 8: 1 – 8.
I. Introduction.
For the past several weeks we have read the earliest history of the Christian church found in the New Testament book of Acts. We believe the book of Acts is the second and final volume of history written by Luke. His first historical volume was the story of Jesus. This second volume records the story of how the original 12 Apostles received the Holy Spirit and then told the story of their experience with Jesus so that others could have the same experience.
For Luke, this part of the story began when Jesus spent forty days with his Apostles after the resurrection. These men had witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus, so there was no doubt in their minds that Jesus had literally and physically died on the cross. Therefore, the Apostles were a little skeptical at first. Luke tells us that Jesus provided his Apostles with “many convincing proofs” that he was in fact alive.
After forty days with the Apostles, Jesus gathered the group together on the top of a mountain so he could do two things. First, Jesus reminded the Apostles of everything he had previously taught them about the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God cannot be contained in geo-political boundaries. Of course all good Jews of the First Century had difficulty understanding this. They thought the Kingdom of God was the same thing as the nation of Israel. They placed all their faith and hope in the conception of a Messiah who would become the military, political and religious leader for the people who lived on the patch of dirt known as Israel. But that is not what Jesus taught them about the Kingdom of God. On one hand, the Kingdom of God is bigger than Israel. It cannot be contained by any geo-political boundaries. It stretches across nations and oceans to include all men and women who place their lives under the sovereign rule of God as their King. On the other hand, the Kingdom of God is smaller than Israel. For the men and women who submit themselves to God as the Lord of their lives, the Kingdom of God exists within each of our hearts.
The second thing Jesus did on the mountaintop was to give his final instructions to his Apostles. In Acts 1: 4, Jesus said, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised…” Then, in Acts 1: 8, Jesus said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” We can paraphrase Jesus’ final instructions to his Apostles like this: “Stay in Jerusalem until you receive the Holy Spirit, then go tell the whole world.”
It is worth noting here that the book of Acts refers to Jesus’ original 12 followers as “Apostles.” That is not the only name for these 12 men. Sometimes, we know them as the 12 disciples. Disciple is the English translation of the Greek word that means “student,” “learner” or “apprentice.” At other times, we know these 12 men as the 12 Apostles. Apostle is the noun form of the Greek word apostelw, which means “to send.” Therefore, we can say that the very essence of their calling or purpose as Apostles is to be sent by Jesus. Sent people cannot stay in one place very long. Sent people must go somewhere…That is, if they are obedient to Jesus’ final instructions.
Until today, we have not witnessed the Apostles’ going anywhere. They have only followed the first half of Jesus’ final instructions. They stayed in Jerusalem and waited on the gift of the Holy Spirit. Once they received the Holy Spirit, they preached the story of Jesus within the city of Jerusalem. But they never ventured beyond the walls of the city. Today, we will watch as the Apostles go out for the first time.
Read Acts 8: 1 – 8.
This is the story about what happened after Stephen was executed for his faith in Jesus. Over the past several chapters, the violence and persecution against the church has escalated.
In Acts 3, Peter and John were arrested for preaching the Gospel in the common area of the Jerusalem Temple. When they were arrested, the police could not use force, because the common people loved what Peter and John were saying. It was only the religious and political authorities who had a problem with the message that Jesus is the promised Christ. After their arrest, the Jewish authorities released Peter and John with a simple warning: “Stop preaching about Jesus, and we will leave you alone.”
In Acts 5, Peter and John were arrested a second time. More and more common people had placed their faith in Jesus as Lord, so the authorities were once again afraid to use force to arrest them. Just like in the previous story, Peter and John stood trial in front of all the religious and political authorities. The authorities wanted to kill them and stop this threat to their power once and for all, but it would not have been popular with the common people. So, Peter and John were beaten with 39 lashes and released.
In Acts 6 – 8, another Christian was arrested. This time it was the Greek speaking Stephen. Stephen faced the same kind of trial Peter and John faced in front of the gathered Sanhedrin. He was falsely accused of blasphemy against God and preaching that the Jerusalem Temple would be destroyed. Peter and John were released with a warning after their first trial and were released with a beating after their second trial. Stephen was killed. There is one significant difference between these two different scenarios: the common people had changed their minds. While the people supported Peter and John, they joined with the religious authorities in condemning Stephen. The Christian church no longer had the support of the common people.
The violence against the church was not the only thing that escalated in this story. The anger of a man named Saul was also escalating. We watch him move from being a passive bystander to an active persecutor of Christians.
In Acts 7: 58, Luke introduced us to Saul: “Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.” We don’t know exactly what role Saul played in Stephen’s death. Was he the guy watching everyone’s coats while they stoned Stephen? Was he the cheerleader, who instigated the violence? Did he play some other significant role in commanding or orchestrating the execution? We don’t really know.
However, Luke intensified his comments about Saul. Acts 8: 1, “And Saul was there, giving approval to his death.” Then, Acts 8: 3, “But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.”
More than likely, the phrase “house to house” indicates that Saul made a habit of finding Christian house churches and disturbing their Sunday worship services. When he found a group of Christians worshipping in a house, Saul would break into the house and bring people before the Sanhedrin for a trial similar to the trial Stephen faced. The violence against the church escalated and Saul’s role in that violence intensified. He moved from being present at Stephen’s execution to become the chief persecutor against the Christian church.
After telling us about the death of Stephen, Luke introduces us to another Christian preacher: Philip. Just like Stephen, Philip was not one of the original 12 Apostles. And, just like Stephen, Philip was a second generation Christian who had been converted as a result of the preaching and testimony of the Apostles who had lived with Jesus. Philip was also one of the seven deacons chosen from among the Greek speaking Christians to serve the Greek speaking widows in the church. But, Philip’s ministry obviously entailed more than simply serving meals to the elderly women in the church.
Saul’s intense persecution of the church caused the early Christians to scatter. It was too dangerous for the Christians to remain in Jerusalem. So, Philip traveled into Samaria and began to preach the Gospel to the Samaritans.
This was an interesting move for the early church to make, but Philip was the right man for the job. It was interesting, because up to this point Christianity consisted entirely of Jewish men and women who accepted Jesus as the promised Messiah of the Old Testament. Even Stephen and Philip were Jews before they became Christians. They were more than likely Jewish proselytes, who had moved from their Greek speaking, Gentile homelands to live in Jerusalem so they could have access to the Temple and the Jewish tradition of festivals.
If Philip had been a “Hebrew of Hebrews,” he would not have wanted to have personal contact with the Samaritans. The Jews considered Samaritans to be an inferior class of people. They were considered racially inferior, because they were a mixture of several different races. They were considered religiously inferior, because they did not recognize Jerusalem as the Holy City.
Saul and the Jewish religious leaders thought that by killing Stephen, arresting Christians out of worship services, placing men and women in prison, and persecuting the church would stop the spread of Christianity. But it didn’t work! In fact, just the opposite happened. Persecution led to dispersion. Dispersion led to the fulfillment of Jesus’ final instructions: “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
II. Was Persecution God’s Will?
Since the persecution of the church led to the fulfillment of Jesus’ final instructions, there is a temptation for us to say that it must have been God’s will for Stephen to die and for other Christians to be beaten and placed in prison. But, we have to be very careful at this point. I don’t believe we should say that God is responsible for the suffering of the church or for Stephen’s death.
Read Matthew 6: 9 – 13
I want you to notice two things that Jesus taught us to pray for in verse 10. Pray that the Kingdom of God would come. Pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
We could debate all day about the prayer for the Kingdom to come. But at the very least, most of us would agree that Jesus’ prayer is for the reign of God to break into the earthly realm. In other words, our prayer is to be that God would give us just a taste of heaven while we are still on earth. This includes judgment for the wicked and vindication for the righteous. It means that we should pray for God’s sovereignty to be known right here and right now.
Then, we are to pray for God’s will. Jesus taught us to pray for God’s will on earth to be just like it is in heaven. Now that raises an interesting question. Is there a difference between God’s will on earth and God’s will in heaven?
In heaven, there is no sin. In heaven, there is no fallen creation. In heaven, all the human beings live in the fulfillment of what God created us to be. In heaven, there will be “no tears, no death, no mourning, no crying, no pain for the old order of things has passed away (Revelation 21: 4 NIV).”
Yes! There is a difference between God’s will on earth and God’s will in heaven. Heaven is the only place where sinful humanity and a fallen creation have no effect on God’s will.
III. Paradoxes of Christian Theology.
There is an interesting thing about God’s will. This is perhaps the only theological category we hold which does not live in tension. Everything else we believe as Christians is described as an irreconcilable paradox. For example:
What do we believe about Jesus? Jesus Christ is 100% God and 100% man. Now, I wasn’t a math major in college, but it doesn’t take a math major to know that it is impossible for anything or anyone to be 100% of two different things. How can Jesus be fully God and fully man? It is impossible! But I believe it.
What do we believe about the Trinity? God is One, and God is Three. How is it possible for the same person to be One and Three at the same time? It is impossible! But I believe it.
What do we believe about Salvation? The Bible tells us that Salvation is offered to us by Divine Election, AND the Bible tells us that Salvation comes to those who respond in faith. Which one is correct: Election or Human Free Will? Both are correct. How can Divine Election be possible in a world where humans are free to choose? How can humans be free to choose if God chooses us for salvation? It is impossible! But I believe it.
What do we believe about the Kingdom of God? Jesus said the Kingdom of God is here, but Jesus also taught us to pray, “Let your kingdom come.” Is the Kingdom of God a present, earthly reality, or is the Kingdom of God a future place in heaven. It is both. Again, that is impossible! But I believe it.
What do we believe about the character of God? God is Mercy, and God brings Judgment. Mercy AND Judgment. Impossible! But I believe it.
And what do we believe about Scripture? The Bible is the inspired Word of God, but it was written by sinful human beings. Is that even possible? Impossible! But I believe it.
The only way we can reconcile these IMPOSSIBLE paradoxes is through faith. It takes faith to believe that Jesus is God and man at the same time. It takes faith to believe that God is One and Three at the same time. It takes faith to believe that our salvation comes through both election and free will.
God’s will is perhaps the only thing we believe that does not require faith. It’s easy to say that “everything happens as a result of God’s will.” Where is the faith? Where is the tension? Why are we so certain about the will of God?
IV. The Nature of Faith.
I have shared this once before, but I think it fits so well in this topic. Anne Lamott is an author and a Christian. I wouldn’t go so far as to say she is a Christian author, but she does write about her faith. I have read her book Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith, and I went to a conference at Baylor where she spoke about expressing faith in art. This summer—I believe it was in June—I found a quote attributed to Anne Lamott that gave no reference to what work it came from. So I got on Google and looked up the complete quote.
The quote comes from salon.com, an online magazine that addresses politics, faith, art and a bunch of other stuff. She wrote an article about the Christian season of Advent. In it she tells a story about experiencing anxiety about taking her son to spend Thanksgiving with family:
…I prayed that I could just keep the faith. The thing is, I have a lot of faith. But I am also afraid a lot, and have no real certainty about anything. I remembered something my Jesuit friend Tom told me—that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty is missing the point entirely. Faith includes noticing the mess, and emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns. Faith also means reaching deeply within for the sense one was born with, the sense to go for a walk. (Anne Lamott, “Advent 2003,” on Salon.com [December 5, 2003].)
V. Conclusion.
The problem we have when we talk about God’s will is that we are often too certain. Anything that is certain requires no faith. And if there is no need for faith…There is no need for God.
Acts 8: 1 – 8.
I. Introduction.
For the past several weeks we have read the earliest history of the Christian church found in the New Testament book of Acts. We believe the book of Acts is the second and final volume of history written by Luke. His first historical volume was the story of Jesus. This second volume records the story of how the original 12 Apostles received the Holy Spirit and then told the story of their experience with Jesus so that others could have the same experience.
For Luke, this part of the story began when Jesus spent forty days with his Apostles after the resurrection. These men had witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus, so there was no doubt in their minds that Jesus had literally and physically died on the cross. Therefore, the Apostles were a little skeptical at first. Luke tells us that Jesus provided his Apostles with “many convincing proofs” that he was in fact alive.
After forty days with the Apostles, Jesus gathered the group together on the top of a mountain so he could do two things. First, Jesus reminded the Apostles of everything he had previously taught them about the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God cannot be contained in geo-political boundaries. Of course all good Jews of the First Century had difficulty understanding this. They thought the Kingdom of God was the same thing as the nation of Israel. They placed all their faith and hope in the conception of a Messiah who would become the military, political and religious leader for the people who lived on the patch of dirt known as Israel. But that is not what Jesus taught them about the Kingdom of God. On one hand, the Kingdom of God is bigger than Israel. It cannot be contained by any geo-political boundaries. It stretches across nations and oceans to include all men and women who place their lives under the sovereign rule of God as their King. On the other hand, the Kingdom of God is smaller than Israel. For the men and women who submit themselves to God as the Lord of their lives, the Kingdom of God exists within each of our hearts.
The second thing Jesus did on the mountaintop was to give his final instructions to his Apostles. In Acts 1: 4, Jesus said, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised…” Then, in Acts 1: 8, Jesus said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” We can paraphrase Jesus’ final instructions to his Apostles like this: “Stay in Jerusalem until you receive the Holy Spirit, then go tell the whole world.”
It is worth noting here that the book of Acts refers to Jesus’ original 12 followers as “Apostles.” That is not the only name for these 12 men. Sometimes, we know them as the 12 disciples. Disciple is the English translation of the Greek word that means “student,” “learner” or “apprentice.” At other times, we know these 12 men as the 12 Apostles. Apostle is the noun form of the Greek word apostelw, which means “to send.” Therefore, we can say that the very essence of their calling or purpose as Apostles is to be sent by Jesus. Sent people cannot stay in one place very long. Sent people must go somewhere…That is, if they are obedient to Jesus’ final instructions.
Until today, we have not witnessed the Apostles’ going anywhere. They have only followed the first half of Jesus’ final instructions. They stayed in Jerusalem and waited on the gift of the Holy Spirit. Once they received the Holy Spirit, they preached the story of Jesus within the city of Jerusalem. But they never ventured beyond the walls of the city. Today, we will watch as the Apostles go out for the first time.
Read Acts 8: 1 – 8.
This is the story about what happened after Stephen was executed for his faith in Jesus. Over the past several chapters, the violence and persecution against the church has escalated.
In Acts 3, Peter and John were arrested for preaching the Gospel in the common area of the Jerusalem Temple. When they were arrested, the police could not use force, because the common people loved what Peter and John were saying. It was only the religious and political authorities who had a problem with the message that Jesus is the promised Christ. After their arrest, the Jewish authorities released Peter and John with a simple warning: “Stop preaching about Jesus, and we will leave you alone.”
In Acts 5, Peter and John were arrested a second time. More and more common people had placed their faith in Jesus as Lord, so the authorities were once again afraid to use force to arrest them. Just like in the previous story, Peter and John stood trial in front of all the religious and political authorities. The authorities wanted to kill them and stop this threat to their power once and for all, but it would not have been popular with the common people. So, Peter and John were beaten with 39 lashes and released.
In Acts 6 – 8, another Christian was arrested. This time it was the Greek speaking Stephen. Stephen faced the same kind of trial Peter and John faced in front of the gathered Sanhedrin. He was falsely accused of blasphemy against God and preaching that the Jerusalem Temple would be destroyed. Peter and John were released with a warning after their first trial and were released with a beating after their second trial. Stephen was killed. There is one significant difference between these two different scenarios: the common people had changed their minds. While the people supported Peter and John, they joined with the religious authorities in condemning Stephen. The Christian church no longer had the support of the common people.
The violence against the church was not the only thing that escalated in this story. The anger of a man named Saul was also escalating. We watch him move from being a passive bystander to an active persecutor of Christians.
In Acts 7: 58, Luke introduced us to Saul: “Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.” We don’t know exactly what role Saul played in Stephen’s death. Was he the guy watching everyone’s coats while they stoned Stephen? Was he the cheerleader, who instigated the violence? Did he play some other significant role in commanding or orchestrating the execution? We don’t really know.
However, Luke intensified his comments about Saul. Acts 8: 1, “And Saul was there, giving approval to his death.” Then, Acts 8: 3, “But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.”
More than likely, the phrase “house to house” indicates that Saul made a habit of finding Christian house churches and disturbing their Sunday worship services. When he found a group of Christians worshipping in a house, Saul would break into the house and bring people before the Sanhedrin for a trial similar to the trial Stephen faced. The violence against the church escalated and Saul’s role in that violence intensified. He moved from being present at Stephen’s execution to become the chief persecutor against the Christian church.
After telling us about the death of Stephen, Luke introduces us to another Christian preacher: Philip. Just like Stephen, Philip was not one of the original 12 Apostles. And, just like Stephen, Philip was a second generation Christian who had been converted as a result of the preaching and testimony of the Apostles who had lived with Jesus. Philip was also one of the seven deacons chosen from among the Greek speaking Christians to serve the Greek speaking widows in the church. But, Philip’s ministry obviously entailed more than simply serving meals to the elderly women in the church.
Saul’s intense persecution of the church caused the early Christians to scatter. It was too dangerous for the Christians to remain in Jerusalem. So, Philip traveled into Samaria and began to preach the Gospel to the Samaritans.
This was an interesting move for the early church to make, but Philip was the right man for the job. It was interesting, because up to this point Christianity consisted entirely of Jewish men and women who accepted Jesus as the promised Messiah of the Old Testament. Even Stephen and Philip were Jews before they became Christians. They were more than likely Jewish proselytes, who had moved from their Greek speaking, Gentile homelands to live in Jerusalem so they could have access to the Temple and the Jewish tradition of festivals.
If Philip had been a “Hebrew of Hebrews,” he would not have wanted to have personal contact with the Samaritans. The Jews considered Samaritans to be an inferior class of people. They were considered racially inferior, because they were a mixture of several different races. They were considered religiously inferior, because they did not recognize Jerusalem as the Holy City.
Saul and the Jewish religious leaders thought that by killing Stephen, arresting Christians out of worship services, placing men and women in prison, and persecuting the church would stop the spread of Christianity. But it didn’t work! In fact, just the opposite happened. Persecution led to dispersion. Dispersion led to the fulfillment of Jesus’ final instructions: “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
II. Was Persecution God’s Will?
Since the persecution of the church led to the fulfillment of Jesus’ final instructions, there is a temptation for us to say that it must have been God’s will for Stephen to die and for other Christians to be beaten and placed in prison. But, we have to be very careful at this point. I don’t believe we should say that God is responsible for the suffering of the church or for Stephen’s death.
Read Matthew 6: 9 – 13
I want you to notice two things that Jesus taught us to pray for in verse 10. Pray that the Kingdom of God would come. Pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
We could debate all day about the prayer for the Kingdom to come. But at the very least, most of us would agree that Jesus’ prayer is for the reign of God to break into the earthly realm. In other words, our prayer is to be that God would give us just a taste of heaven while we are still on earth. This includes judgment for the wicked and vindication for the righteous. It means that we should pray for God’s sovereignty to be known right here and right now.
Then, we are to pray for God’s will. Jesus taught us to pray for God’s will on earth to be just like it is in heaven. Now that raises an interesting question. Is there a difference between God’s will on earth and God’s will in heaven?
In heaven, there is no sin. In heaven, there is no fallen creation. In heaven, all the human beings live in the fulfillment of what God created us to be. In heaven, there will be “no tears, no death, no mourning, no crying, no pain for the old order of things has passed away (Revelation 21: 4 NIV).”
Yes! There is a difference between God’s will on earth and God’s will in heaven. Heaven is the only place where sinful humanity and a fallen creation have no effect on God’s will.
III. Paradoxes of Christian Theology.
There is an interesting thing about God’s will. This is perhaps the only theological category we hold which does not live in tension. Everything else we believe as Christians is described as an irreconcilable paradox. For example:
What do we believe about Jesus? Jesus Christ is 100% God and 100% man. Now, I wasn’t a math major in college, but it doesn’t take a math major to know that it is impossible for anything or anyone to be 100% of two different things. How can Jesus be fully God and fully man? It is impossible! But I believe it.
What do we believe about the Trinity? God is One, and God is Three. How is it possible for the same person to be One and Three at the same time? It is impossible! But I believe it.
What do we believe about Salvation? The Bible tells us that Salvation is offered to us by Divine Election, AND the Bible tells us that Salvation comes to those who respond in faith. Which one is correct: Election or Human Free Will? Both are correct. How can Divine Election be possible in a world where humans are free to choose? How can humans be free to choose if God chooses us for salvation? It is impossible! But I believe it.
What do we believe about the Kingdom of God? Jesus said the Kingdom of God is here, but Jesus also taught us to pray, “Let your kingdom come.” Is the Kingdom of God a present, earthly reality, or is the Kingdom of God a future place in heaven. It is both. Again, that is impossible! But I believe it.
What do we believe about the character of God? God is Mercy, and God brings Judgment. Mercy AND Judgment. Impossible! But I believe it.
And what do we believe about Scripture? The Bible is the inspired Word of God, but it was written by sinful human beings. Is that even possible? Impossible! But I believe it.
The only way we can reconcile these IMPOSSIBLE paradoxes is through faith. It takes faith to believe that Jesus is God and man at the same time. It takes faith to believe that God is One and Three at the same time. It takes faith to believe that our salvation comes through both election and free will.
God’s will is perhaps the only thing we believe that does not require faith. It’s easy to say that “everything happens as a result of God’s will.” Where is the faith? Where is the tension? Why are we so certain about the will of God?
IV. The Nature of Faith.
I have shared this once before, but I think it fits so well in this topic. Anne Lamott is an author and a Christian. I wouldn’t go so far as to say she is a Christian author, but she does write about her faith. I have read her book Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith, and I went to a conference at Baylor where she spoke about expressing faith in art. This summer—I believe it was in June—I found a quote attributed to Anne Lamott that gave no reference to what work it came from. So I got on Google and looked up the complete quote.
The quote comes from salon.com, an online magazine that addresses politics, faith, art and a bunch of other stuff. She wrote an article about the Christian season of Advent. In it she tells a story about experiencing anxiety about taking her son to spend Thanksgiving with family:
…I prayed that I could just keep the faith. The thing is, I have a lot of faith. But I am also afraid a lot, and have no real certainty about anything. I remembered something my Jesuit friend Tom told me—that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty is missing the point entirely. Faith includes noticing the mess, and emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns. Faith also means reaching deeply within for the sense one was born with, the sense to go for a walk. (Anne Lamott, “Advent 2003,” on Salon.com [December 5, 2003].)
V. Conclusion.
The problem we have when we talk about God’s will is that we are often too certain. Anything that is certain requires no faith. And if there is no need for faith…There is no need for God.
Sunday, June 1, 2008: Living and Dying for Jesus
Living and Dying for Jesus.
Acts 6: 8 – 15 AND 7: 54 – 60.
I. Introduction.
The Bible has a lot to say about human suffering. And that is a good thing, because suffering is one of those things we all have in common. In fact, that is one of the messages the Bible teaches us about suffering. As long as we live on this earth, we will experience broken relationships, death, cancer and other general disappointments.
Another message the Bible communicates to us is the reality that Christians will suffer as a result of our faith in Jesus. In the Gospel of John, Jesus spent his last few hours with his disciples explaining to them that the world would treat them the same way the world treated Jesus. People who love Jesus will love the followers of Jesus. People who hate Jesus, falsely accuse Jesus and eventually crucify Jesus will treat his followers the same way.
This was reality for the first several generations of Christ followers. In the generations immediately following the New Testament period, Christians were falsely accused and persecuted for their faith. Christians were accused of cannibalism, because they viewed the Lord’s Supper as representing the body and blood of Jesus. They were accused of practicing incest, because they recognized each other as brothers and sisters through their relationship with Jesus. They were accused of being atheists, because Christians did not acknowledge the national gods of the Roman Empire. But the accusation that caused the most severe persecution was the accusation that Christians were not patriotic.
Everyone in the Roman Empire was expected to acknowledge Caesar as Lord. But the Christians refused to say this. If they would just say the simple three word phrase, “Caesar is Lord,” they could have lived. They didn’t have to actually mean it. They only had to say it.
In the year A.D. 155, an 86 year old church elder name Polycarp was killed, because he would not say the words, “Caesar is Lord.” As a young man, Polycarp had become a Christian under the teaching of the Apostle John. He eventually became a church leader in the city of Smyrna.
Polycarp was arrested by the Roman police and led into a stadium filled with Roman citizens. In front of the cheering crowd, the police captain gave Polycarp one last chance to save his own life: “Swear the Oath, and I will release thee; revile the Christ.”[1] Polycarp answered, “Eighty-six years have I been His servant, and He hath done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme the King who saved me?”[2]
He was tied up, burned at the stake and stabbed. All because he would not say the words, “Caesar is Lord.”
Have you ever wondered what you would do in a situation like that? Would you be willing to die as a result of your faith in Jesus?
The answer to this question is more than a simple “Yes” or “No.” The answer is found in examining the way we live our lives. People who live for Jesus are willing to die for Jesus. People who are not willing to die for Jesus are not willing to live for Jesus.
The Christian life is much more than simply knowing and accepting the truth. In 21st Century American Christianity, we place too much emphasis on knowing and acknowledging what is right and what is wrong. Jesus called us to live the truth, not simply to know the truth.
In the book of Acts, we have watched as the church grew. On one hand, the Jewish religious and political leaders resisted the new Christian movement. On the other hand, ordinary men and women were increasingly attracted to the teachings of the new church. Three thousand people were saved at the Day of Pentecost. Five thousand people were saved when Peter and John preached daily at the Jerusalem Temple. There were even a number of Jewish priests who became Christians. But the tides have now changed. The people are no longer impressed with the teaching and ministry of the young church. For some reason, the people have turned against the Christian faith, and we witness as an angry mob kills a Christian for the very first time.
Read Acts 6: 8 – 15 AND 7: 54 – 60.
Stephen was one of the seven ministers selected by the church and appointed by the Apostles to serve the physical needs of the congregation. The church selected Stephen, because he met the four qualifications: he was a Greek Christian, had a good reputation, was full of the Holy Spirit and was full of wisdom.
Immediately after Stephen’s selection, the book of Acts describes Stephen as “working miracles and wonders.” Up to this point in the story of Christianity, there were only three others who had done this: Jesus, Peter and John. And now Stephen is doing the same work of Jesus and his original Apostles.
This is significant. Stephen is not the Messiah. Stephen is not one of the original twelve Apostles. Stephen is a “second generation” Christian. He has a Greek name, and more than likely became a Christian as a result of one of the big revivals where Peter preached the Gospel. Another way to think about Stephen is to think of him as just like us. The Apostles lived and learned, ate and slept with Jesus. The Apostles were followers of Jesus as a result of their own personal experience in the physical presence of Jesus. You and I have never lived physically with Jesus. And neither did Stephen. Stephen is just like us, because he heard the Gospel and became a Christian without seeing Jesus in the flesh.
On one hand, this can be very encouraging for you and me. Stephen heard the Gospel and became a follower of Jesus. Stephen received the Holy Spirit as a follower of Jesus and was able to work miracles through the power of the Spirit. Since Stephen is just like us, this tells us the power of the Holy Spirit can work in us the same way it worked in Jesus and the Apostles.
On the other hand, this is not very encouraging. Jesus was falsely accused and eventually killed as a result of his faith in God. Later tradition tells us that eleven of the twelve Apostles were killed for their faith. And now Stephen—a second generation Christian just like us—is killed for his faith in Jesus. We ought to live out our faith with the knowledge that it just might lead us to our own death.
II. Stephen’s Trial, Parallels with Jesus.
If you are familiar with the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, then it is obvious how Stephen’s trial and death serve as a kind of parallel. There are numerous places where the two stories intersect.
Acts 6: 11…Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.”
Acts 6: 12…They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin.
Acts 6: 13…They produced false witnesses…
Acts 6: 13…This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the Law.
The “holy place” is a reference to the Jerusalem Temple. It was an important part of Judaism in the First Century. The Jews understood the Temple as the fulfillment of the promises God made to Abraham and the promises made through the Old Testament prophets. Stephen and the rest of the early church did not have the same understanding of the Temple. No. They understood that Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promises.
God fulfilled his promises in a person, not in a place.
Acts 6: 14…We heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs of Moses handed down to us.
While we don’t have any of Stephen’s previous sermons recorded in the book of Acts, I believe this is probably the only true witness against Stephen. I don’t know for a fact, but I believe the previous witnesses were false. Stephen did not blaspheme against God. Stephen did not preach against the Law of the Old Testament. Stephen didn’t even preach against the Temple. But I do believe he told people that Jesus would take the place of the Temple. Jesus said that himself. If Stephen preached that, he was only preaching the truth.
III. Stephen’s “Defense.”
There were basically two accusations against Stephen. The false witnesses stood before the high court of the Sanhedrin and told them Stephen spoke against the Temple and the Law. If you compare these accusations to the political climate of Jerusalem in the First Century, you can see how serious this would be.
The Jews no longer governed themselves. They were controlled by the Roman Empire and were assigned a Roman Proconsul to represent Roman interests within the city of Jerusalem. The Jewish people were suffering under heavy taxation and daily ridicule by the Roman military officers omnipresent in the city. The Temple and the Law were the only things they had left to identify themselves as Jews. And Stephen was accused of speaking out against their Jewish identity.
After hearing from the witnesses, the high priest gave Stephen an opportunity to speak in his own defense. We might expect Stephen to insist he is innocent of the false charges. We might expect Stephen to refute the false testimony with his own witnesses. But that is not what happened. Stephen never defended himself. Instead, he preached a sermon recounting the history of the Jewish people from Abraham through Jesus.
Stephen begins his sermon by describing God’s call to Abraham. Abraham was living in Mesopotamia when God spoke to him. Interestingly, at the time of God’s call there was no such place as the Temple. There wasn’t even a written Law for Abraham to follow. Yet, God spoke to him, and Abraham obeyed.
Stephen knew that the Jewish leaders accepted this fact. They knew it was because of Abraham’s faith and obedience that the Law and the Temple even became possible.
Then, Stephen turned his attention to a descendant of Abraham named Joseph. Joseph is significant in Jewish history for several reasons. First, he was one of the twelve sons of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. Therefore, Joseph was one of the recognized ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel. Second, Joseph was significant, because he served as one of many “redeemers” of God’s people throughout the Old Testament.
Joseph was a dreamer. And his eleven brothers resented him for this. In fact, they resented him so much that they sold him to slave traders, and Joseph found himself working as an indentured servant in Egypt. Much of the book of Genesis is devoted to telling the story of Joseph. God used Joseph’s past dreams to help him interpret the dreams of the Egyptian king. Through God’s help and wisdom, Joseph was eventually appointed the second in command over the nation of Egypt. In this position, Joseph devised a wise plan to store up food to prepare for a coming world-wide famine.
Joseph’s father and brothers found themselves in need of food during this famine and came to Egypt for help. In a twist of biblical irony, the brother they sold into slavery was the same man who provided food and salvation for God’s people in their time of need.
Joseph’s family lived in freedom and security in Egypt for hundreds of years. Then came a new king who felt threatened by the Israelites’ presence and conscripted them into slavery. Once again, God sent a “redeemer.” This time the redeemer’s name was Moses.
According to Stephen’s sermon, every time God’s people got into trouble, God sent a redeemer. But this story comes with a warning…Both Joseph and Moses were sent by God to redeem God’s people. Both Joseph and Moses acted in faith and obedience to what God had called them to do. Both Joseph and Moses were rejected by God’s people.
I’m certain the Sanhedrin made the connection Stephen was trying to make. Jesus was just like Joseph and Moses. He was faithful and obedient to God’s call. He came to be the redeemer for God’s people. But he was rejected.
Then, Stephen turned his attention to the Temple. When Moses brought God’s people out of slavery, they spent forty years in the desert before they finally reached the Promised Land. Again, during those forty years, there was no Temple. The people worshipped God in a tent—also known as a tabernacle. God’s people were on the move. A stationary Temple would have done them no good. They needed a portable and temporary place to worship God. In fact, the people had to wait hundreds of years before there was a Temple. Yet, throughout those hundreds of years, the people continued to worship God in ways that were pleasing and acceptable to God.
After hundred of years worshipping God in tents and tabernacles, Israel finally built a permanent Temple. When the Temple was built, a theological shift happened. Whereas the tabernacle was a place to worship God. The Temple came to be understood as a place to contain God. A place where God could be visited whenever they wanted to visit but didn’t have to worry about God’s interfering with daily life.
God cannot be contained in a Temple. The Christian life cannot be lived out fully in the church. God sent his Son, Jesus, to redeem God’s people and to be present in every aspect of our lives. Faith is not about knowing and believing the right things about Jesus. It is not about showing up to church once a week. Faith is experiencing God’s presence in every day living…To give over control of life to Jesus.
And that is why Stephen was killed. He had devoted his entire life to experiencing the Holy Spirit daily. He had given over control of his own life to the power of the Holy Spirit. He did not have to decide at the moment of death whether or not he would die for Jesus. He had lived for Jesus all his life, therefore he was willing to die for Jesus.
IV. Stephen’s Death, Parallels with Jesus.
We pick up here with the parallels between Stephen’s death and Jesus’ death.
Acts 7: 55…But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
Acts 7: 58…(They) dragged him out of the city…
Acts 7: 59…While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Acts 7: 60… “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
V. Conclusion.
I find it significant that Stephen’s trial and death paralleled Jesus’. That is only fitting, since Stephen’s life also paralleled Jesus’. At the moment of death, Stephen never proclaimed his own innocence. He preached about Jesus. This tells me that Stephen was not the one being tried and examined that day. Jesus was on trial. We see Jesus in both the life and the death of Stephen.
[1] The Martyrdom of Polycarp 9: 11 – 12.
[2] Ibid., 9: 12 – 13.
Acts 6: 8 – 15 AND 7: 54 – 60.
I. Introduction.
The Bible has a lot to say about human suffering. And that is a good thing, because suffering is one of those things we all have in common. In fact, that is one of the messages the Bible teaches us about suffering. As long as we live on this earth, we will experience broken relationships, death, cancer and other general disappointments.
Another message the Bible communicates to us is the reality that Christians will suffer as a result of our faith in Jesus. In the Gospel of John, Jesus spent his last few hours with his disciples explaining to them that the world would treat them the same way the world treated Jesus. People who love Jesus will love the followers of Jesus. People who hate Jesus, falsely accuse Jesus and eventually crucify Jesus will treat his followers the same way.
This was reality for the first several generations of Christ followers. In the generations immediately following the New Testament period, Christians were falsely accused and persecuted for their faith. Christians were accused of cannibalism, because they viewed the Lord’s Supper as representing the body and blood of Jesus. They were accused of practicing incest, because they recognized each other as brothers and sisters through their relationship with Jesus. They were accused of being atheists, because Christians did not acknowledge the national gods of the Roman Empire. But the accusation that caused the most severe persecution was the accusation that Christians were not patriotic.
Everyone in the Roman Empire was expected to acknowledge Caesar as Lord. But the Christians refused to say this. If they would just say the simple three word phrase, “Caesar is Lord,” they could have lived. They didn’t have to actually mean it. They only had to say it.
In the year A.D. 155, an 86 year old church elder name Polycarp was killed, because he would not say the words, “Caesar is Lord.” As a young man, Polycarp had become a Christian under the teaching of the Apostle John. He eventually became a church leader in the city of Smyrna.
Polycarp was arrested by the Roman police and led into a stadium filled with Roman citizens. In front of the cheering crowd, the police captain gave Polycarp one last chance to save his own life: “Swear the Oath, and I will release thee; revile the Christ.”[1] Polycarp answered, “Eighty-six years have I been His servant, and He hath done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme the King who saved me?”[2]
He was tied up, burned at the stake and stabbed. All because he would not say the words, “Caesar is Lord.”
Have you ever wondered what you would do in a situation like that? Would you be willing to die as a result of your faith in Jesus?
The answer to this question is more than a simple “Yes” or “No.” The answer is found in examining the way we live our lives. People who live for Jesus are willing to die for Jesus. People who are not willing to die for Jesus are not willing to live for Jesus.
The Christian life is much more than simply knowing and accepting the truth. In 21st Century American Christianity, we place too much emphasis on knowing and acknowledging what is right and what is wrong. Jesus called us to live the truth, not simply to know the truth.
In the book of Acts, we have watched as the church grew. On one hand, the Jewish religious and political leaders resisted the new Christian movement. On the other hand, ordinary men and women were increasingly attracted to the teachings of the new church. Three thousand people were saved at the Day of Pentecost. Five thousand people were saved when Peter and John preached daily at the Jerusalem Temple. There were even a number of Jewish priests who became Christians. But the tides have now changed. The people are no longer impressed with the teaching and ministry of the young church. For some reason, the people have turned against the Christian faith, and we witness as an angry mob kills a Christian for the very first time.
Read Acts 6: 8 – 15 AND 7: 54 – 60.
Stephen was one of the seven ministers selected by the church and appointed by the Apostles to serve the physical needs of the congregation. The church selected Stephen, because he met the four qualifications: he was a Greek Christian, had a good reputation, was full of the Holy Spirit and was full of wisdom.
Immediately after Stephen’s selection, the book of Acts describes Stephen as “working miracles and wonders.” Up to this point in the story of Christianity, there were only three others who had done this: Jesus, Peter and John. And now Stephen is doing the same work of Jesus and his original Apostles.
This is significant. Stephen is not the Messiah. Stephen is not one of the original twelve Apostles. Stephen is a “second generation” Christian. He has a Greek name, and more than likely became a Christian as a result of one of the big revivals where Peter preached the Gospel. Another way to think about Stephen is to think of him as just like us. The Apostles lived and learned, ate and slept with Jesus. The Apostles were followers of Jesus as a result of their own personal experience in the physical presence of Jesus. You and I have never lived physically with Jesus. And neither did Stephen. Stephen is just like us, because he heard the Gospel and became a Christian without seeing Jesus in the flesh.
On one hand, this can be very encouraging for you and me. Stephen heard the Gospel and became a follower of Jesus. Stephen received the Holy Spirit as a follower of Jesus and was able to work miracles through the power of the Spirit. Since Stephen is just like us, this tells us the power of the Holy Spirit can work in us the same way it worked in Jesus and the Apostles.
On the other hand, this is not very encouraging. Jesus was falsely accused and eventually killed as a result of his faith in God. Later tradition tells us that eleven of the twelve Apostles were killed for their faith. And now Stephen—a second generation Christian just like us—is killed for his faith in Jesus. We ought to live out our faith with the knowledge that it just might lead us to our own death.
II. Stephen’s Trial, Parallels with Jesus.
If you are familiar with the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, then it is obvious how Stephen’s trial and death serve as a kind of parallel. There are numerous places where the two stories intersect.
Acts 6: 11…Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.”
Acts 6: 12…They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin.
Acts 6: 13…They produced false witnesses…
Acts 6: 13…This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the Law.
The “holy place” is a reference to the Jerusalem Temple. It was an important part of Judaism in the First Century. The Jews understood the Temple as the fulfillment of the promises God made to Abraham and the promises made through the Old Testament prophets. Stephen and the rest of the early church did not have the same understanding of the Temple. No. They understood that Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promises.
God fulfilled his promises in a person, not in a place.
Acts 6: 14…We heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs of Moses handed down to us.
While we don’t have any of Stephen’s previous sermons recorded in the book of Acts, I believe this is probably the only true witness against Stephen. I don’t know for a fact, but I believe the previous witnesses were false. Stephen did not blaspheme against God. Stephen did not preach against the Law of the Old Testament. Stephen didn’t even preach against the Temple. But I do believe he told people that Jesus would take the place of the Temple. Jesus said that himself. If Stephen preached that, he was only preaching the truth.
III. Stephen’s “Defense.”
There were basically two accusations against Stephen. The false witnesses stood before the high court of the Sanhedrin and told them Stephen spoke against the Temple and the Law. If you compare these accusations to the political climate of Jerusalem in the First Century, you can see how serious this would be.
The Jews no longer governed themselves. They were controlled by the Roman Empire and were assigned a Roman Proconsul to represent Roman interests within the city of Jerusalem. The Jewish people were suffering under heavy taxation and daily ridicule by the Roman military officers omnipresent in the city. The Temple and the Law were the only things they had left to identify themselves as Jews. And Stephen was accused of speaking out against their Jewish identity.
After hearing from the witnesses, the high priest gave Stephen an opportunity to speak in his own defense. We might expect Stephen to insist he is innocent of the false charges. We might expect Stephen to refute the false testimony with his own witnesses. But that is not what happened. Stephen never defended himself. Instead, he preached a sermon recounting the history of the Jewish people from Abraham through Jesus.
Stephen begins his sermon by describing God’s call to Abraham. Abraham was living in Mesopotamia when God spoke to him. Interestingly, at the time of God’s call there was no such place as the Temple. There wasn’t even a written Law for Abraham to follow. Yet, God spoke to him, and Abraham obeyed.
Stephen knew that the Jewish leaders accepted this fact. They knew it was because of Abraham’s faith and obedience that the Law and the Temple even became possible.
Then, Stephen turned his attention to a descendant of Abraham named Joseph. Joseph is significant in Jewish history for several reasons. First, he was one of the twelve sons of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. Therefore, Joseph was one of the recognized ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel. Second, Joseph was significant, because he served as one of many “redeemers” of God’s people throughout the Old Testament.
Joseph was a dreamer. And his eleven brothers resented him for this. In fact, they resented him so much that they sold him to slave traders, and Joseph found himself working as an indentured servant in Egypt. Much of the book of Genesis is devoted to telling the story of Joseph. God used Joseph’s past dreams to help him interpret the dreams of the Egyptian king. Through God’s help and wisdom, Joseph was eventually appointed the second in command over the nation of Egypt. In this position, Joseph devised a wise plan to store up food to prepare for a coming world-wide famine.
Joseph’s father and brothers found themselves in need of food during this famine and came to Egypt for help. In a twist of biblical irony, the brother they sold into slavery was the same man who provided food and salvation for God’s people in their time of need.
Joseph’s family lived in freedom and security in Egypt for hundreds of years. Then came a new king who felt threatened by the Israelites’ presence and conscripted them into slavery. Once again, God sent a “redeemer.” This time the redeemer’s name was Moses.
According to Stephen’s sermon, every time God’s people got into trouble, God sent a redeemer. But this story comes with a warning…Both Joseph and Moses were sent by God to redeem God’s people. Both Joseph and Moses acted in faith and obedience to what God had called them to do. Both Joseph and Moses were rejected by God’s people.
I’m certain the Sanhedrin made the connection Stephen was trying to make. Jesus was just like Joseph and Moses. He was faithful and obedient to God’s call. He came to be the redeemer for God’s people. But he was rejected.
Then, Stephen turned his attention to the Temple. When Moses brought God’s people out of slavery, they spent forty years in the desert before they finally reached the Promised Land. Again, during those forty years, there was no Temple. The people worshipped God in a tent—also known as a tabernacle. God’s people were on the move. A stationary Temple would have done them no good. They needed a portable and temporary place to worship God. In fact, the people had to wait hundreds of years before there was a Temple. Yet, throughout those hundreds of years, the people continued to worship God in ways that were pleasing and acceptable to God.
After hundred of years worshipping God in tents and tabernacles, Israel finally built a permanent Temple. When the Temple was built, a theological shift happened. Whereas the tabernacle was a place to worship God. The Temple came to be understood as a place to contain God. A place where God could be visited whenever they wanted to visit but didn’t have to worry about God’s interfering with daily life.
God cannot be contained in a Temple. The Christian life cannot be lived out fully in the church. God sent his Son, Jesus, to redeem God’s people and to be present in every aspect of our lives. Faith is not about knowing and believing the right things about Jesus. It is not about showing up to church once a week. Faith is experiencing God’s presence in every day living…To give over control of life to Jesus.
And that is why Stephen was killed. He had devoted his entire life to experiencing the Holy Spirit daily. He had given over control of his own life to the power of the Holy Spirit. He did not have to decide at the moment of death whether or not he would die for Jesus. He had lived for Jesus all his life, therefore he was willing to die for Jesus.
IV. Stephen’s Death, Parallels with Jesus.
We pick up here with the parallels between Stephen’s death and Jesus’ death.
Acts 7: 55…But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
Acts 7: 58…(They) dragged him out of the city…
Acts 7: 59…While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Acts 7: 60… “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
V. Conclusion.
I find it significant that Stephen’s trial and death paralleled Jesus’. That is only fitting, since Stephen’s life also paralleled Jesus’. At the moment of death, Stephen never proclaimed his own innocence. He preached about Jesus. This tells me that Stephen was not the one being tried and examined that day. Jesus was on trial. We see Jesus in both the life and the death of Stephen.
[1] The Martyrdom of Polycarp 9: 11 – 12.
[2] Ibid., 9: 12 – 13.
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