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Message for June 13, 2010
Posted on 29-06-10 |
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MCC: 06.13.10
Text: Acts 21.27-22.21
Series: Moving Forward
copyright, Timothy M. Brokaw. Permission granted for non-commercial purposes
Moving Forward—While Sharing Good News
Intro) A) A favorite story of mine tells of an abbot of a monastery who called a novice (a new monk) into his office and instructed him to give the homily (or message) at the next morning's chapel.
The novice was struck with fear. The next morning, chapel came. He stood in the pulpit. The brothers were there. His hands were trembling. His knees were knocking. His voice was quivering. There was a long pause before he first spoke, and then he asked a question. "Do you know what I'm going to say?" They had no idea, so all of their heads went back and forth almost in unison, as if it were choreographed. He said, "Neither do I. Let's stand for the benediction."
That didn’t fly with the abbot so he called the novice into his office and told him that he would need to give the homily the next day. The next day was almost an exact repeat of the day before. All the brothers sat there before him. His hands shook. His knees knocked. His voice trembled. Long pause. "Do you know what I'm going to say?" he asked. Well, after the previous day's experience, they had a pretty good idea. So all of their heads nodded yes. "Then there's no need for me to tell you. Let's stand for the benediction."
The abbot was angry beyond description. He brought the young man into his office and said, "If you do that again, you’ll be in solitary confinement and eat bread and water for thirty days. Tomorrow morning, give the homily; do it right."
The third day, chapel attendance hit an all-time high. Everyone was there to see what he would say, and it was almost an exact repeat. He stood, trembling, voice quivering, and after a long silence asked, "Do you know what I'm going to say?" After three days of this, about half of them had a pretty good idea and they nodded their heads yes. The other half weren't sure what to expect, and so they shook their heads no. The novice observed this and said, "Let those who know tell those who don't. Let us stand for the benediction" (Leith Anderson, Preaching Today #165).
B) We’re in a third week of a series of messages based on the final chapters of the book of Acts. We’re following the Apostle Paul as he moves forward from Asia to Rome. As a church, and as individuals, we’re going to see how we can all be “Moving Forward” in faith.
C) In last week’s message, we discovered how Paul and the leaders of the church of Jerusalem face a crisis which threatened to split the church. Instead, they moved forward with a spirit of unity by focusing on their common purpose, demonstrating concern for others, and paying the cost of unity. Paul ends up going with four Jewish believers to the temple as they complete a vow that they’ve taken. He also covers their expenses in order to prove that he is not telling Jewish believers to throw out their customs.
D) Have you ever done the right thing with the right motivation only to have it blow up in your face? That’s exactly what happens to Paul. Here is what happens in the final verses of chapter 21. Paul is seen at the temple and recognized by some Jews who are from Ephesus where Paul had lived previously. They erroneously believe that Paul has brought a Gentile into the inner court of the Temple. This is not only sacrilege; it is a crime for which the Romans allowed the death penalty. The mob grabs Paul, beats him up, and is on the verge of killing him. A Roman battalion comes over to arrest him and get him away from the mob. So what does Paul do? He asks to speak to the crowd in order to share with them the good news of Jesus.
Trans) This morning, we’ll use Paul’s message to learn three lessons about how we should act when we share the good news of Jesus with others. As believers in Jesus, we are those “who know” and we are called to “tell those who don’t.” How do we do that? First,
I) We Identify with our Listeners.
A) Listen to how Paul begins his message in verses 1 and 2 of chapter 22: 1"Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense." 2When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet.
1) Paul begins his message by addressing his hearers as “brothers.” This is typical Jewish language and it immediately serves to let his hearers know that Paul is one of them.
2) It doesn’t hurt that Paul also speaks in Aramaic, which is the language of his hearers. A few verses before these verses, Paul had surprised the Roman battalion leader by asking him a question in Greek. Paul made sure that he spoke the language of the persons that he was speaking.
3) Have you seen the trailer for The Karate Kid movie which is coming out? Will Smith’s son, Jaden Smith, plays the role of the street kid who learns Karate. He’s on a plane next to an oriental man. He speaks to him in halting Japanese. The oriental man looks at him and says, “Kid, I’m from Detroit” and Jaden Smith’s character immediately says, “What’s up?” He’s trying to speak the same language.
B) Metaphorically, we need to speak the same language as people with whom we’re sharing the good news of Jesus. We need to identify with them. One of the steps that we take is that we find common ground with others.
1) Often times we think, “I don’t share any common ground with non-Christians.” But that’s not true. I heard a speaker say years ago, “Of course, you have things in common with your non-Christian believers. You have a mortgage, they have a mortgage. You have kids, they have kids. You have a car, they have two.”
2) There are many ways that we can find common ground with others and identify with them.
C) This past week, John Wooden, the famed basketball coach at UCLA died at the age of 99. One of the first books that I remember reading as a teen-ager, and I still have it, was John Wooden’s biography, They Call Me Coach. John Wooden grew up in Indiana, like I did, and there the similarities between me and John Wooden as a coach end. My best record coaching was 9-14. Coach Wooden won ten national championships at UCLA.
One of the greatest players that John Wooden ever coached was a 7 foot black player from New York City whose name when he went to UCLA was Lewis Alcindor. He adopted Islam as his faith and changed his name later to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, though Coach Wooden called him Lewis to his dying day.
Coach Wooden was a middle-aged white man who grew up on a farm in Indiana. How could he possibly identify with Lew Alcindor, a 7 foot black teen-ager from New York City, living in the midst of the turbulent 60’s?
Rick Reilly is a sportswriter for espn.com. He wrote the following in memory of John Wooden: “I started noticing something on my visits (with Coach Wooden). The TV was never on. He was always reading. Poetry, history, the Bible. Never sports. Never novels. He knew hundreds of classic poems by heart. Yet when he found himself coaching a bookish 7-footer named Alcindor in 1966, he memorized the poems of Langston Hughes, the black modern poet. It didn't go unnoticed” (“Wooden Set the Bar High,” Rick Reilly, http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=5260677, June 7, 2010).
D) “It didn’t go unnoticed.” When we seek to identify with our listeners, our neighbors, or co-workers, it’ won’t go unnoticed. But we have to keep it real. Don’t fake it. Don’t try to be someone that you’re not. One of the reasons that John Wooden could quote Langston Hughes is that quoting poetry was part of who he was. He had been a high school English teacher.
E) Another way that we can identify with others is that we can view them positively. Look at how Paul continues in verses 3-5: "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. 4I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.
1) Paul continues to identify with his listeners but notice what he says of them. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. Do you remember what these people had tried to do to him? They had tried to KILL Paul! But Paul congratulates them for their fervor for the Old Testament.
2) We’re not going to get very far with sharing the good news if we look down on people. We need to view others through God’s eyes and throw the best possible light on their behavior. Years ago, I heard a story by Bruce Dunn, a Presbyterian minister. He told the story of an evangelist who was waiting in a bus station. A drunk was sitting across from him, drinking from a bottle. The drunk looked at the evangelist and asked, “Do you want a drink?” The evangelist said, “No, thank you.” Later, the drunk asked the same question and the evangelist gave the same answer. Then, the drunk looked at the evangelist and said, “You must think that I’m a terrible person.” The evangelist said, “No, I think that you’re a generous person.” If we identify with others, we’ll view them positively.
Trans) We identify with our listeners. Next,
II) We Share Our Personal Experience.
A) This is how Paul continues in verses 6-11: 6"About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. 7I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?' 8" 'Who are you, Lord?' I asked. " 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. 9My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. 10"'What shall I do, Lord?' I asked. "'Get up,' the Lord said, 'and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.' 11My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.
B) Notice what Paul does not do here as he begins his message. He does NOT go into a great theological treatise. He does not go back to the Old Testament and survey the history of Israel and the promise of the Messiah. There may be times to do that. Stephen does that in his message in Acts 6. But Paul doesn’t do that here and he serves as a model for us. Paul simply tells his story, the experience that he had with Jesus.
C) Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that we have to have all the answers down before we share the good news of Jesus with others. But it’s not true. In fact, people put up barriers when we try to overwhelm them with facts or reason. This past week, I’ve reread a book written by Rick Richardson entitled Reimagining Evangelism. Richardson writes in this regard: “People today tend to distrust logic and truth when it is expressed propositionally and dogmatically. But when our truth is enfleshed in the stories of our lives, people are interested” (Rick Richardson, Reimagining Evangelism: Inviting Friends on a Spiritual Journey (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 85.)
D) People will argue with us until they’re blue in the face about the Bible or God as Creator or Jesus as the Way. But they will at least be respectful if we say to them, “Listen, this is what God has done for me.” We’re not trying to jam Jesus down their throats. We’re simply sharing our experiences and telling them our story.
E) And stories resonate with people today. Richardson quotes Lon Allison who believes that stories are “the only containers big enough to carry truth.” Richardson adds, “We are a storytelling culture, in part due to the all-pervasive effect of the media. Movies and books tell the stories through which we carry on our cultural discourse about truth and values.” Some of you know this intuitively. You go to work and what’s the first question people ask on Monday? “So, did you see a movie this weekend?” Or, “did you rent a DVD?”
F) Stories resonate with people today and as followers of Jesus, we have the greatest story there is to tell. And the best part of it is we don’t have to have all of the answers. In fact, being a “know it all” is a turn-off to most folks. This ties in well to the first point. Listen to how Richardson puts it: “As you develop genuine friendships, you will probably be surprised by what your greatest asset is. It’s your humanity. It’s your weaknesses, doubts, and questions. Most people today are not interested in your answers. But they will immediately relate to and identify with your questions and struggles. Are your kids ever troubled? Do you ever have doubts about your own worth? Do you struggle with your body image or with feelings of failure? Do you have any regrets?” He summarizes: “These days, identification comes before influence. People aren’t interested in our answers unless they feel we have the same questions and struggles they do. Being human is much more important than being an expert” (ibid., 68f).
Trans) Isn’t that great? You have permission to be human when telling your story. We identify with our listeners, we share our personal experience, and
III) We Focus on God’s Initiative
A) Here is how Paul continues in verses 12-16: 12"A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. 13He stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very moment I was able to see him. 14"Then he said: 'The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. 15You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.'
B) We want to share our personal experience with others but we don’t save ourselves. Paul doesn’t talk about spending years searching for God and studying his Word. God sought Paul. Paul was saved due to God’s initiative. Paul told the story of how God had interacted in his life. Can we do that?
C) Some of our neighbors are earthbound. They don’t think about God and how God is working in their lives. Can we help them see what God is doing in their lives? Some of you know the Lord of the Rings books and movies way, way better than I do. The hero of the books is Frodo Baggins. Frodo goes on a journey to destroy the great Ring of Power—a symbol of the temptation to dominate and control others and our world.
Gandalf is a wise person who not only gives good advice and guidance but above all exemplifies a well-lived life. In one scene, Gandalf is leading the company of travelers through tunnels called “the Mines of Moria.” Frodo approaches Gandalf because he has seen a creature following the company through the mines. This creature turns out to be Gollum who held the Ring of Power for many years and fell into spiritual ruin as a result of his addiction. Gollum had lost the ring to Frodo’s uncle, Bilbo Baggins, and now spends his life trying to recover it. Frodo says to Gandalf, “It is a pity that Bilbo did not kill (Gollum) when he had a chance.” Gandalf answers, “Pity—it was pity that stayed Bilbo’s hand. Many that live deserve death, and some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death and judgment. Even the wise cannot see all ends.”
Frodo replies, “I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.” Gandalf responds, “So do all that live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, beside the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the ring, in which case you also were meant to have it, and that is an encouraging thought.”
D) Gandalf speaks just a few words, but throughout the rest of the journey, Frodo returns to these words. Do you understand what Gandalf is doing? He has seen God at work in Frodo’s life and he is pointing Frodo to God. He is focusing on God’s initiative in Frodo’s life. We can do the same in the lives of others. Perhaps we could say something like, “I wonder if your struggles and experiences are a clue that something bigger is going on in your life” (ibid., 19ff.).
E) Some of our neighbors distrust God. They’ve had a bad experience or they’ve had religion jammed down their throats. We can focus on building bridges of trust with them. When the opportunity to speak about God arises, we can speak of the God that we know. If they’ve suffered, we can share, gently, how Jesus suffered on a cross. If they view God as vengeful or hateful, we can share with them the well-known words that Bob read for us. “For God so loved the world.” Even if John 3.16 is the only verse in the Bible that you know, you know enough to be able to say to your friend or family member or neighbor, “God doesn’t hate the world. God loves the world and he loves you.”
Conc)A) We’re encouraging all of us to be about inviting ten people to join us in worship this year at Midlands Christian Church. That sounds intimidating. But, really, it’s about investing in the lives of others so that you can share good news.
B) When we read this story in Acts, it’s important to remember that Paul had one shot at sharing this good news with his audience. Unfortunately, if we were to continue reading, Paul doesn’t get the response he wants. Yet, for most of us, we need to remember that we’ll need to go much slower than Paul. We’ll spend weeks, months, even years, investing in relationships, and then inviting our friends into a relationship with Jesus Christ. Along the way, we’ll identify with our listeners, we’ll share our personal experiences, and we’ll focus on God’s initiative.
C) How many of you know how I’m going to end this message? It comes down to this: “Let those of us who know tell those who don’t.”
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