Acts 20: Paul – lessons for the Church.
Now I know you folks have been going through Acts as part of a series so I am aware that I am preaching as part of a series, you’re probably well into the context. But as I picked up this passage my first reaction was: How alien is this reading?!
If were really honest. . .its just totally foreign. LP Hartley says ‘that the past is a foreign place, they do things differently there’. Well we are going back nearly 2,000 years and to a very foreign part of the world.
What are the ingredients: We have a Christian leader under mortal threat, ducking and diving to avoid capture. A Church that meets till sunrise, sleep deprivation and someone being raised from the dead. It’s pretty much out of the ordinary.
On top of all that: A model of Churches that simply pools their money to help the Church in Israel’s capital.
Maybe it sounds alien to us in the west but I think if you were reading this in the east? Different matter, if you were part of a Chinese underground church, or Christian worshippers in Sudan, Pakistan, Nigeria, Vietnam – persecuted leaders would be common. I hear stories of Chinese ministers conducting a public baptism and knowing that as a direct result they could land up back in jail.
The first fact we need to establish about the background is, what sort of Church do we hear of in Acts 20? A Persecuted Church.
You have heard of the phrase more tea vicar well today all the points are going to include the letter T.
T: So the threat of persecution.
I don’t know about you but I’m actually envious.
It may not have been an easy time for your faith but wow isn’t it action packed, isn’t everything clear cut?
Philip Yancey in his excellent book on prayer talks of some Russian Christians voting communist, because they knew the Church to be fitter and leaner whilst it was being persecuted! Now that may be misguided but it taps into the logic and evidence of the Church always growing under persecution.
So where does this neat thinking leave us? Well its then easy for us to sit here and feel rather inadequate, because were so comfortable.
But actually what we need to do is simply replace the frameworks of the threat at Paul’s time to threats in our time. Issues like being money rich but time poor. Communism told us that Religion was the opiate of the masses – not any more, I’d like to suggest its consumerism. Thinking about these two frameworks helps us to bring this passage right up to date.
Guess what people are people, or as
Ecclesiastes 1:9
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
Same Gospel, the challenges remain, but they are different challenges, different threats.
As the early Church and the persecuted church faced hostile governments and violent opposition. So we face consumerism and you could add to that cynicism and indifference. Sound strange? Each of these saps the strength from the Church if we are not careful. The tricky bit is that in some ways these threats are more subtle, more insidious. Consumerism and aspirirational living means that we work longer hours to get the toys and the trinkets that are fashionable, we are so often money rich and time poor. When I was an RE teacher I taught A level, one of my students was not attending some classes and not completing coursework. I asked her why. She describded how she had to go out to work. Why did she have to work I asked, ‘I’ve got to pay for my car”. ‘why do you need a car?’ I asked. ‘Because I’ve got to get to work!’ she said, exasperatedly. In a very simple way she was showing the hamster wheel that we can so quickly get ourselves onto, but to what end. In the film ‘Alfie’ the successful lead character describes how they have been able to have their fill of all the pleasures of life materially and physically and yet he has no peace.
What do we make of the recent images of people looting the container ship off Boscombe? The salt water thirst of consumerism the empty hunger of material acquisition met for a brief moment.
Consumerism a creeping rot that can insulate us from truly depending on God in faith. It can give us a default setting, even in the Church of if’s something wrong – throw some money at it – that’s not always the answer. Perhaps to be prophetic in such a culture is to be actively downwardly mobile – Sound strange? Christ was, just think of the incarnation. The riches of heaven swopped for the dirt of a cow shed in Bethlehem! Perhaps as Christians we should be modelling a call to simpler living.
Consumerism a religion, can’t be.
But just think about those shopping centres with their stained glass and vaulted ceilings. And idols? Just look at the doyem of consumerism – the uber brands of materialism – Posh and Becks. Victoria Beckham ex Spice girl and David Beckham former England captain.
Think back to their wedding, are we not slightly shocked by the fact that when they married they arranged themselves on thrones? In the wedding services I conduct, the couple kneels before the altar cross, Posh and Becks – they sat on a throne! Surely there’s some self enthronement there.
I would like to suggest that one of the genuine threats to the Church today is the creeping rot of materialism. At whatever stage of your life that you are you must determine whether to lead the ‘good life’ or life in all its fullness as you work out your salvation in fear and trembling or the ‘good life’ as promoted by flashy adverts and glossy magazines. They don’t properly fit together, (0 *) we have to make a choice.
So in Acts 20, we have a persecuted church, a strange context, but a threatened church just as we are threatened, today.
My first point is The Threat of persecution as opposed to the Threat of consumerism.
But, there are still crucial lessons for our Christian walk – what sort of lessons can we learn?
Before we move on, one thing to note, a survey of Christian leaders asked how they saw the future of the Church in this country – they differed on some issues but unanimously they predicted that the Church would suffer persecution. Unlikely, we see glimpses of it with some of our Christian unions at colleges and Universities, having all sort of troubles. So be aware, be on your guard.
Lets look at the passage:
2nd point: Tithes and travelling.
The first few verses of acts 20 shows us how much Luke has abbreviated Paul’s ministry as in verse 2 talks of Paul going through Macedonia and reaching Greece, one verse is actually covering a whole year of Paul’s ministry. Paul’s stay in Greece would have been in Corinth – that place famous for receiving his letters (1st and 2nd Corinthians) and it is while he’s wintering here that we believe he wrote the book of Romans! Romans: Paul’s major manifesto of the Christian life and faith.
The following verse tells again of his travelling companions and how Paul was under constant threat of death. Paul always travelled with others – he was into teams, he missed human companionship and wrote so when he was on his own. What about the plot in verse 3: he avoids a ferry that was most probably had been a regular charter for the Passover. Paul could have been identified at the Port and those who wished him dead could have easily had him tipped over board and the matter concluded. Rather than sail off for Passover in Jerusalem we can do a bit of joining the dots and it could be that he celebrated the Christianised Passover in Philippi. In other words, Paul celebrated ‘Easter’ with the Philipian Church.
‘Paul’s travelling companions being delegates from the different churches looking to take their gifts to Jerusalem, it was a manifestation of unity. The need of one church becoming the opportunity for the other Churches.’ I don’t need to point out the weaknesses of the Church of England to you, their well known. But one thing that I do find humbling is our Parish share. As a relatively comfortably well off Church we had a significant share of our money over to the diocese this to an extent subsidises parishes in areas of Portsmouth where there is profound need and social deprivation. As Churches we need to be looking outwards with our money, as you probably well know.
By Verse 5 we have moved from the general to the first person again so it is safe to bet that Luke has joined Paul at this point.’[1]
A hallmark of Paul’s ministry – 'a hands' on ministry
Well we then get an insight into an early church service; there is the reference to the breaking of bread. Lets not assume that Paul preached on and on, there was teaching, fellowship and discussion, but Paul knew he was not going to return and I guess he wanted to pack in the last few gems for his flock before his departure. The day was most likely a Sunday, the true first day of the week and this is really our first account of the early Church.
Jim Wallis the evangelical activist has said:
The greatest need in our time is not for Kerygma, the preaching of the gospel; nor for diakonia, service on behalf of justice; nor for charisma; the experience of the Spirits gifts; nor even for propheteia, the challenging of the King. The greatest need of our time is for Koinonia, the call simply to be the church, to love one another, and to offer our lives for the sake of the world. The creation of living, breathing, loving communities of faith at the local church level is the foundation of all the other answers. The community of faith incarnates a whole new order, offers a visible and concrete alternative, and issues a basic challenge to the world as it is. The Church must be called to be the Church, to rebuild the kind of community that gives substance to the claims of faith.[2]
The call to be a living church, but what about the incident with poor old Eutychus, was he just a sermon sleeper who got his comeuppance?
A story: A wealthy man comes to the Vicar, I want to send you and you wife away on for a 3 month cruise to the Mediterranean.
Wonderful the vicar said, marvellous.
They went off on the cruise and when they got back they found out that the rich man had built a brand new church.
The vicar walked up to it, ‘Wonderful and marvellous’.
‘It’s state of the art’ says the rich man, ‘no expense spared.’
‘Wonderful’ the vicar said, ‘marvellous.’
‘Only thing there’s only one pew’, ‘oh yes’ said the rich man, ‘just wait till Sunday, you’ll see.’
Sunday came an the congregation came in and sat on the pew at the back of church. There was a whir of cogs and the pew moved to the front of the church only to be replaced by another pew. The vicar was delighted, ‘Wonderful’ he said, ‘marvellous’.
The Vicar was full of enthusiasm and led the service with a new skip in his step. He preached his heart out.
But then clock reached 12, there was a whir of cogs and a bell sounded. A trap door from behind the pulpit opened and down went the vicar.
‘Wonderful’ the congregation said ‘marvellous!’
Back to the incident with Eutychus. The service appears to have happened at night. This would have been when the slaves would have been able to attend enjoy the Christian fellowship. At the end of a hardworking day, the warmth of the room from the bodies and the lamps, Eutychus must have nodded off. Perhaps he was trying to benefit from the cool of the window seat but instead he falls through the lattice and drops three stories to the ground below.
In the midst of this tragicomedy of the guy falling from the balcony there is a truly extraordinary miracle. ‘Into the immobile deadness comes a tender embrace’.[3] Paul says there is life in him yet but the young man is dead, Luke was an eyewitness and a Doctor but Paul prostrates himself and the mans life is returned to him. This is a bit more than hands on ministry. We have seen Jesus do this as you know well, with the widow’s son and Jairus daughter but before Christ, there too you have Jesus almost making light of the situation saying that the young girl is merely sleeping! But the reality is that we have very few examples of someone being raised from the dead. There is the Great Prophet Elijah who heals the widow’s son at Zarephath or Elisha and the son of the Shunammite woman. In Jewish eyes-only a true great prophet could do such a deed. As we think of Paul’s tremendous intellect, his bold journeying and his sufferings let us not forget what a mighty man of God he was, a miracle worker, even in the mould of Elijah.
Like the prophets before him, Paul has demonstrated an alternative reality that destabilizes our expectations for the way the world ought to work. Where we expected the embrace of death, we encounter the embrace of life. Where we expected a church service to turn to a funeral, Paul confidently breaks bread, eats, continues to talk ‘until daybreak’.[4]
V13 – 16:
It may sound strange that Paul decides to walk rather than sail, but it was actually a 20 mile walk, whereas the ship would have to travel 30 miles: the sea journey would involve rounding Cape Lectum against strong prevailing winds. Perhaps this journey also gave Paul alone time, to pray to the Father.
Do we actively plan in alone time with the Father?
One: Threat of persecution then, threat of consumerism now.
Secondly: tithes and travelling
Third point: Teaching (more teaching) and tears.
We hear of Paul rejoining his companions and after some brief stops they arrive in Mitylene. He may have bypassed the Ephesian Church but he sends for them.
V18 It is upon their arrival that we hear one of the first sermons that Paul gives to Christians - the first sermon to the Christian church; normally we have him addressing a crowd of unbelievers but here we get a rare insight and listen to Paul speaking to the Churched. John Stott points out with interest how his speech chimes in well with a number of the themes he has written about in his letters:
The grace of God (24,32)
The kingdom of God (25)
The purpose of God (27)
The redeeming blood of Jesus (28)
Repentance and faith (21)
The Church of God and its edification (28,32)
The inevitability of suffering (23-24)
The danger of false teachers (29-30)
The need for vigilance (28-31)
Running the race (24) Philippians
Our final inheritance (32)
As the Master gives his farewell address the questions of his disciples are like those of children as their parents are going out for the evening – where are you going? What is going to happen? Who will stay with us?
Paul’s address takes three parts: he addresses the past, the present and the future.
Paul refers his audience to his past witness amongst them, his life witness in their midst. He says
‘You know. . .’. You know. . .’.
A good example is the greatest sermon.
Paul refers to his preaching and teaching, the humiliations he has suffered, the witness of his life amongst them.
Another hallmark of Paul: a ministry of example.
How important are our examples?
Without our examples Christians have very little to offer the world. Jesus did not come teaching and preaching a new philosophy. He came preaching a new way of living and dying. Holy ideas were not his main concern. . .Holy people were the subjects of his teaching and witness, Holy people, people who in the words of Paul had been built up and sanctified. (v32). It is the examples of Holy living and dying that make the truly great difference in each generation.
Paul’s ministry: a ministry of example.
Paul then addresses what the Lord is speaking to him about his present situation, the coming sufferings and his separation from them. When he talks about this he is not worried about his own survival but simply that he will have run his race, that the Lords work is achieved in him.
But he then looks to equips them for the future: ‘be alert, be on your guard’, he says.
Paul exhorts the Ephesians Pastors to take care of their flocks but first they have to look after themselves = cold and not stopping for 6 weeks!
After speaking of the flock which Paul points out as being bought by God’s blood he then warns of being alert for wolfs trying to devour the flock. Pastors had the double duty of feeding the sheep – providing good teaching and guarding against wolfs – protecting against false teaching.