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  • September 7, 2026 – Make up your mind, Paul! — Acts #56

    September 7, 2026 – Make up your mind, Paul! — Acts #56. Acts. 15:36-40

    To review, in Acts 15 the church leaders in Jerusalem met to answer the question: Do these Gentiles who want to follow Jesus need to be circumcised? What they are really discussing is:  Should gentile followers of Messiah Yeshua be required to become Jews? It was the act of circumcision for males that marked a person as abandoning their gentile identity and instead taking on a new Jewish identity.  And the answer they reached was, “No, Gentiles, like Jews, are saved by grace, not by any action of their own.

    After that, Paul and Barnabas have a sharp disagreement about John Mark that they refused to resolve.  God did not author this disagreement, but as we have discussed, God uses all things, even our sin, to work for good.  From this disagreement, God produced two missionary journeys instead of one.

     Barnabas and John Mark return to Cyprus.  That is where Paul’s first journey with Barnabas began.  The Bible gives no details about Barnabas’s second trip there.  Early Church history says Barnabas was martyred in Salamis, Cyprus, likely sometime after 56-57 AD.1

    Paul and Silas head north by land to Cilicia, then return to Galatia, visiting the community of Jesus followers they started about 2-3 years earlier in the towns of Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe.

    You may wonder how these followers had done over the past several years.  Can you imagine traveling to a place in, say, Africa, that had never heard of Jesus?  You stay there for a month or so, teaching them about Jesus, and then you leave.  But you leave no preacher in charge and no copy of the New Testament for them to study. They are just on their own.  How do you think they will be doing after several years?  

    Well, this isn’t a fair comparison, because the communities of Jesus’ followers that Paul and Barnabas started already knew God and understood the idea of a messiah.  They met in synagogues that, for their whole lives, had prayed that God would send the Messiah, so when Paul and Barnabas explained that Jesus is that Messiah, they weren’t confused about what to do. 

    They were doing what they had always done.  They were worshiping the same God they had always worshiped.  They were reading the same scriptures that they had always read.  They continued to read what we call the Old Testament, as they always had.  There were no other scriptures.  And Paul, who would become the writer of about 1/3 of our New Testament, told them that these scriptures they had were sufficient.  He later tells Timothy that these scriptures (our older Testament) were:

    2 Timothy 3:15   Holy Scriptures are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” 

    Paul says the Old Testament reveals the truth about salvation through Jesus.   So I am sure these communities in Galatia were searching their Scriptures for references to the Messiah so they could better understand Jesus.   Paul tells them that the Scripture they already have is sufficient.  Paul continues in his letter to Timothy:

    2 Timothy 3:16-17    All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

    In other words, they had all the Scripture they needed to understand salvation through Jesus, to teach and correct each other’s errors, and to equip them for whatever God wanted them to do. 

    Knowing how Paul felt about the Scriptures (our Older Testament) it is a shame that so many people feel the first 2/3 of the Bible is non-essential.  So much of what we know about God comes from part one of the Bible.  Now don’t get me wrong.  I am very grateful that we have part two, the Newer Testament.  It gives us much more information about Jesus, how to follow Jesus, and the life to come.  All of Scripture is essential.  It is all the word of God, and we should study it all. 

    So Paul and Barnabas didn’t leave these people in Galatia without guidance.  They had the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit.  They had all they needed.  So when Paul returns 2-3 years later, he finds a thriving community of Jesus followers.  

    Jews and Gentiles both worship God together, celebrating their Messiah, Jesus.  The Jews are still Jews.  They didn’t check their Jewishness at the door.  They still follow the same laws they did before.  Now they don’t have to do animal sacrifices anymore, and Jesus has solved the problem of ritual purity.  But otherwise, they are still just as Jewish, following their Jewish Messiah.  

    And the Gentiles are still Gentiles.  They didn’t have to become Jewish to follow the Jewish Messiah.  And in case you missed it, that was the whole discussion about circumcision.  Circumcision was the final step in becoming a practicing Jew.  You accepted God and agreed to follow the Jewish laws and then (if you were male) you were circumcised.  So when the council reached its decision in Acts 15, it said you don’t have to become Jewish (that is, be circumcised) to follow Jesus. 

    And they worship together as they are one in Christ Jesus.  They both come to God the same way: by God’s grace and faith in Jesus. This is what Peter says in Acts 15:

    Acts 15:11  But we believe that we [Jews] will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they [Gentiles] will.

    So Paul and Silas travel through Cilicia and then to Galatia and the towns of Derbe and Lystra.  You will recall that Lystra was the town where Paul was stoned to the point that they thought he was dead.  They dragged him out of the city and left him there.  But he wasn’t dead, and he got up and went right back into the city.  And that brings us to our scripture today, where Paul is entering Lystra again:

    Acts 16:1-5   Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium well spoke of him. Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.

    In Lystra, Paul and Silas meet Timothy.  This is the Timothy that Paul addresses in two books of the New Testament.  And all the followers of Jesus in Lystra speak highly of Timothy.  He is well respected in the fellowship.  So Paul decides to take Timothy on the journey with them. But first he has Timothy circumcised.

    Wait a minute!   Stop!  Did we not just spend a month talking about how they had this huge meeting of all the leaders of the Jesus movement in Jerusalem for the sole purpose of determining if Gentiles needed to be circumcised?  And didn’t we learn that the answer was “No, they did not need to be circumcised”? No, they do not have to become Jewish. Silas is with Paul on this journey because he is an official representative of the Jerusalem council, there to tell people this is not necessary.  Look at verse 4:

    Acts 16:4  As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem.

    Silas is there to go around telling everyone that it is official: circumcision is not necessary for salvation.  So why is Paul circumcising Timothy?  I can hear Paul now:

    Hello everyone, this is my friend Silas.  He is here as a representative of the leaders of the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem, and he is here to report that the council has officially decided that circumcision is not necessary for salvation.  Now I’ll be right back; I have to go with Timothy to be circumcised.

    This is the same Paul who said this in Galatians:

    Galatians 2:3   But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.

    We learn in Galatians that Titus accompanied Paul and Barnabas on the journey to the Acts 15 council.   Paul says no one forced Titus to be circumcised.  So, let me understand: Paul didn’t circumcise Titus, but did Timothy.  Is Paul being inconsistent?  And does circumcision matter or not?   What is the difference between Titus and Timothy?

    The difference is that Titus has a Gentile father and mother, so he is a Gentile.  Timothy has a Gentile father and a Jewish mother.  Wait, is this allowed?  Mixed marriages were against Jewish law in Exodus and Deuteronomy, and would have been scandalous in Jerusalem. In Galatia, it was more commonplace.  Mixing with Gentiles was much more accepted there.  

    And it is important to see the difference between Timothy and Titus if we are to understand the Newer Testament.  So let’s spend a minute on this. 

    First, Timothy has a Gentile father and a Jewish mother.  So is Timothy considered Jewish or Gentile?  Jewish heritage is based on the mother; that is called matrilineal descent.   So if a son of the tribe of Judah married a daughter of the tribe of Benjamin, the child would be considered part of his mother’s tribe: a Benjaminite.

    Just because in our time, in our part of the world, we see descent as coming from the father, don’t think the Jewish method is unusual.  That is the way it was in much of the world in Paul’ day, and still is in much of the world today.  In fact, before Europeans arrived in North America, pretty much our whole continent observed matrilineal descent—that is, almost all Native American tribes.  

    So Timothy is Jewish, and Paul’s actions are consistent with Scripture and the council’s ruling in Acts 15.  Titus was a Gentile.  There was no need to circumcise him.  He did not need to become a Jew to accept Jesus.  Timothy was Jewish, but had not been circumcised at 8 days old per the wishes of his Gentile father.  

    Timothy is circumcised in obedience to his Jewish heritage.  It has nothing to do with salvation.  He will not be ‘more saved’ by this procedure.  But it will help him better witness to the Jewish communities he will be going to.  Luke tells us Paul’s reason for this:

    Acts 16:3   [Paul] took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

    Paul didn’t want the Jewish people in the synagogues they would be visititing to disqualify Timothy and refuse to listen to him because he wasn’t an “observant Jew”.  Paul could have decided not to have Timothy circumcised, and when people complained that Timothy was not obedient to God, he could have explained his reasoning and tried to convince them to listen to Timothy.  But Paul decided that it was better to avoid the conflict.

    Would Paul have been right to refuse to circumcise Timothy?  Yes.  But as we said in the last few weeks, sometimes being right is not enough.   Let me give you an example:

    Let’s say you are reading Facebook and one of your friends comments that they feel there is nothing wrong with smoking Marijuana.  You disagree, so you start typing your reply, explaining why you think they are wrong.  You say, “It is illegal, and it causes lots of problems.”  Now I would tell you that I agree with you; I think marijuana smoking is wrong for several reasons:  Yes, it is illegal, but more importantly, as a doctor, I can tell you the dangers of marijuana use are increasingly backed up by science every day. So if you send your scathing comment to your friend, is the comment right?

    Yes, it is.  And it’s your right to post your comment.  You have the right to respond.  But is it the right thing to do?  Is it worth alienating a friend?  Is it worth losing that friendship?  Is it worth losing the opportunity to influence your friend over much more important matters like salvation?   Is this the hill you want your friendship to die on?  Paul would tell you that sometimes we give up our freedom to do things to retain the possibility of influencing someone for the gospel.

    Let me give you another example.  Suppose I am invited to preach at a church out of town. I do a little reconnaissance and discover that everyone dresses up for services at this church.  All the men wear suits and ties every service.  So when I go, you can bet that I will be wearing a suit and tie.

    Not because I think it’s required.  I personally don’t think God cares nearly as much about what we wear to church as we do. The gospel is the same whether you are wearing a suit or jeans and a T-shirt.  I think God cares much more about our hearts than our clothes.  And I don’t really like to wear suits.  But I would at this church because they expect it, and I wouldn’t want to do anything that might be a stumbling block for them.  I don’t want them thinking about my clothes while I am trying to teach them about Jesus.

    But say I find out that this church has a by-law that says you can’t be a member unless you wear a suit and tie to all services.  According to them, saved people wear suits.   And say a young man comes down front during the invitation and wants to join the church, but he is not wearing a suit and tie.  I will do everything I can to help the church accept him.  I would likely come the next night without a suit and tie and talk about how all God requires to be saved is faith in Jesus.  There are no other requirements: nothing we do, nor wear, nor say.

    This is the situation with Timothy and Titus.  Paul has Timothy circumcised even though he knows it does not matter for salvation, but because he doesn’t want Timothy’s perceived disobedience to be a stumbling block for others.  But Paul would never allow Titus to be circumcized because that would be saying that the council was wrong, that circumcision was required.  Paul later says this in his letter to the Jesus followers in Corinth:

    1 Corinthians 9:20-23  To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

    Paul is willing to bend on cultural issues to get along better with the people he is trying to share Jesus with.  This does not mean:  “I don’t really believe anything, so I’ll become whatever everybody else wants me to be.”  Paul had very strong convictions.  Rather, he understood that not every issue is equally important.

    There were things Paul would never compromise:  The gospel of Jesus Christ,  salvation by grace, the resurrection, the lordship of Jesus, and the truth that Gentiles don’t have to become Jews to be saved.  But there were other things that he was willing to bend on:  Circumcision, Jewish cultural customs, personal freedoms, or his rights as an apostle.   Paul could say: “I will not compromise the gospel. But I will gladly inconvenience myself if doing so removes an unnecessary barrier between someone and the gospel.”  That’s the principle behind Paul’s decision about Timothy and Titus.   You can’t witness to someone about Jesus if they find you offensive.

    For example, the Bible tells us again and again to praise the name of our God and lift up His name.  We are commanded to mention His name.  And you know I am convinced God’s name is Yehovah, so I mention it often.  But I refrain from mentioning His name when I am talking to my Jewish friends, because they feel that it is disrespectful, and if I used God’s personal name, they would not listen to anything else I said.

    How else do we apply this principle of Paul’s – to be willing to compromise preferences but not compromise the Gospel?  Take, for example, church music.  You might imagine a church where the congregation prefers traditional hymns. For this congregation, those hymns speak so well to their souls.   But what if community dynamics change and the congregation’s composition begins to shift?  The church may need to alter its music to best reach people in the community with different tastes.    Paul’s principle would cause us to ask:  “Is this music preference important enough for us to create a barrier between someone and Jesus?”   The question isn’t, “What music do I like?”   The question is:  “What will help these people hear the gospel?”

    We faced this issue in my previous hometown when we started working with a mission church in our community, sponsored by a large church where we were members.  And I ended up in charge of the music for the mission church.  Now, you know my preference is hymns, but our target group for this mission was people who had left the church because they felt the church didn’t care for them, people who felt hurt by the church, and people who had never attended a church.

    Many were in recovery from drug or alcohol abuse, and most of our attendees were younger adults.  What I love about hymns- the familiarity, the memories they stir- did not reach this group.  So at the mission, we did a lot of the more contemporary Christian music, but we also did some popular songs from the 70s and 80s (Journey, Kansas, Billy Joel) with altered lyrics to fit a gospel message. It was music they could identify with so they could better hear the message about Jesus.  You should have heard 100 people belting out U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” or  Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” with redeemed lyrics. 

    Let me give you another example from this mission church:  Several young couples from the host church began to get involved with the young adults who were joining the mission church.  They included them in social outings and made them feel welcome and involved.  That was great.  Until we found out some of the young men were inviting several of our mission members to their house to watch ball games with the group.  That wasn’t a problem, but they were serving beer, and both of these mission members were alcoholics, struggling with alcohol abuse. 

    Now I don’t drink.  I have seen what alcoholism can do to individuals and families, and after two of my best friends were killed by a drunk driver in high school, I decided I would never drink.  But if you ask me to use the Scriptures to say someone should never drink, I can’t do it.  The Bible says a lot about being sober and not drinking to excess, but that’s it.  So we had to explain to our friends that while the Bible did not condemn their responsible drinking, it certainly did condemn them drinking in front of 2 men who were in a tremendous struggle with alcoholism.  

    We have been talking about this issue of circumcision for Gentiles for 5 weeks.  But you have to understand that this is a major issue for these Jesus followers.  That word is used over 100 times in our Bible.  And Paul feels that it is critical for these people to understand that it is not necessary for salvation.   For there were people in Paul’s day who thought their relationship with God was secure, and their place in the world to come was set because they had been circumcised, because they were obedient Jews.

    Paul had to refute the idea that salvation comes through obedience; instead, it comes only by grace through faith in Jesus.  And we have a similar problem.  Today, there are professing Christians who are prone to think they are right before God because they go to church, or because they were baptized.  Some believe that their children are guaranteed a place in heaven if they were baptized as an infant or if they are raised in a Christian home.   But baptism, just like circumcision, is only a sign.  Church attendance, or giving to the church, is a sign that someone is a Christian, but those things don’t make someone a Christian. There is only one path to God: personal acceptance of Jesus as Savior and Lord.

    External conformity to God’s laws will never save anyone, because no one besides Jesus has ever been able to keep God’s laws without fail.   But we must also understand this: While there are no other requirements to come to Christ, people who accept Jesus as their Lord definitely act a certain way. It is less about requirements after you are saved than about wanting to please Jesus, who loves us and does so much for us.   Jesus said this:

    John 14:15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

    And John defined love for God this way:

    1 John 5:3    For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

    We should not use our morality in such a way as to isolate ourselves from the very people God came to save.  We must never confuse our preferences with the gospel.  And finally, we should be willing to sacrifice our preferences for the gospel.  We are in the world but not to be of the world.  We are obedient to God, and our obedience may cause us to act differently than the world.  

    Sometimes we may be so different we stick out like a sore thumb.  But if we ever give anyone the impression that we think we are better than them because of our behavior, then we have lost the gospel.   We are not better because of our behavior.  Our obedience does not save us.  The impression we should seek to give the world is that we’re not better; Jesus is better. 

    1. When Paul was writing 1 Corinthians, Barnabas is mentioned as if he were still alive.  “Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living?” (1 Corinthians 9:5-6 ESV)

  • September 14, 2026 – Paul’s Error— Acts #55

    September 14, 2026 – Paul’s Error— Acts #55

    Acts. 15:36-40

    Acts 15:36-41   And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

    Last week we talked generally about how the Bible views conflict and conflict resolution as an introduction to this disagreement between Paul and Barnabas.  I wanted to discuss the details of the conflict without losing the tremendous emotional effect it had on Paul especially.  So this past Sunday I did a 20-minute dramatic monologue of Paul looking back on this part of his life.  I followed the details from Scripture, but filled in the gaps from early church historians.  

    By the way, if you ever make it to Rome, Italy, make it a point to see the Mamertine Prison where Paul (and Peter) were held before their execution. From this dark dungeon, Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy.   It is not on most tours, but it is easy to find near the Roman Forum.  Visiting there was a profoundly emotional experience for me.

    A twenty-minute dramatic monologue. 

    Paul, near the end of his life, is in the dungeon of the Mamertine Prison in Rome.  Luke is paying him another visit, but he is unseen and unheard by the audience. Paul has been telling Luke the stories that will become the book of Acts, and here he recalls his disagreement with Barnabas.

    Oh Luke, thank you for coming to see me today.  And you brought some food!  You are too kind to an old man.  Can you stay a while?  Sorry, this prison is so cold and damp, and I can feel winter coming soon.  I do enjoy your visits.  Let’s see, last time we were talking about the early years of ministry.  

    He pauses as if Luke is talking to him.  

    I think we were up to the time after the Jerusalem council’s decision.  Yes, we celebrated in Antioch for some time, but then I knew it was time to head out on another journey.  We needed to go back and check on those communities in Galatia where we baptized so many.

    His head drops and his tone changes.

    Yes, that’s when Barnabas and I had that disagreement about John Mark.  I was thinking about that just yesterday.  I have had a lot of time to think, sitting in this prison.  It’s been two years since I learned of Barnabas’s death.  Barnabas and I spent so many years together.  I suppose there are some people who become so much a part of your life that you don’t realize how much space they occupy until they’re gone. Barnabas was one of those people.  And then we couldn’t agree about John Mark.

    You know John Mark had left our first missionary journey only halfway through.  Those were difficult times, and the persecution was only increasing. I told John Mark to stick with us and that God would give us the strength to see the journey through.  But he was determined to quit on us.  I remember being very disappointed in him and very angry with him.  I spoke harshly to him.  I told him he had no faith.  I told him that if he was going to follow Jesus, he couldn’t turn back when things became difficult. Then he just walked off.

    So when we were planning our next journey, Barnabas insisted that John Mark go with us.  I quickly shouted, “No!”  He said that John Mark was just young when we made that first trip.  He said John Mark had made a mistake, but he had matured since then.  He believed that he was now ready to face whatever trials this journey would bring.  

    But I wouldn’t listen.  I told him he just favored John Mark because he was his cousin.  I said, “We have to be realistic. This trip will be dangerous.  We can’t afford to take someone who might leave again when the going gets tough.” I said, “We don’t need a quitter.” 

    Barnabas then told me something I now consider a great truth, but at the time I did not accept it.  He said we just needed to show John Mark some grace, just as God had shown us grace. Grace.

    (Paul lets the word hang in the air.)

    I told him I agreed that grace was important.  Of course it was.  I had been preaching on the grace of God for years.  But this was a dangerous mission, and we had to be practical.  John Mark had his chance, and he failed. I said, “No way is he going with us!  Then I said something I wished I could take back.   I told Barnabas he was just being a sentimental old softie, afraid to face the truth that his cousin was not fit to go with us.   And I saw the hurt in his eyes.

    Paul closes his eyes and looks up.

    Oh, Barnabas.  I am sorry.  I am so sorry.  Those were the last words I spoke to you on this earth.   Not “thank you.”  Not “God bless you.” Not “I love you, brother.”  Not “Let’s talk about this again.”  We should have parted after praying for each other, but instead those awful words still ring in my ears.

    He left, and he took John Mark with him to Cyprus.  I took Silas north to Cilicia and Galatia.  And the work continued.  Many new followers of Jesus were baptized.  New communities formed and existing communities strengthened. God blessed the work. And because God blessed the work…I suppose I thought that proved I had been right.

    That’s how we can fool ourselves, Luke.  I mistook the blessing of God for the approval of God.  Our work didn’t prosper because I was right.  But God made it successful despite my sin.  That is what God always does.  He takes the bad things we do, or that other people do, and makes good out of the bad.  

    The days were hard then.  The travels were hard, the persecution was intense, and I was in and out of prison for years.  And through it all, God kept expanding His kingdom as the gospel message spread.  I was so busy that I didn’t think about Barnabas.  Now and then someone would ask me about him, but I would just change the subject. 

    Years passed. And then the news came.  Barnabas was martyred in Cyprus by an angry mob. And hearing that, I broke inside.  And I was consumed by the thought that I would never have the chance on this earth to make it right with him.  Never.  You know, that word doesn’t mean much when you are young, but when you are nearing the end of your life, “never” becomes a difficult word.  

    And now, Luke, I must say that this time of my life is very difficult.  Of all the places I have been imprisoned, this Mamertine dungeon is the most cruel.  Not just because it is cold and damp, though that is hard on these old bones, and it is not because the only natural light is from the hole in the floor above me.  But here, as you well know, they severely limit my visitors.  Oh, now, when I was on house arrest in Rome, I could have all the visitors I wanted.  We could study the Scriptures and worship together anytime. But now I have no one but you, Luke.  If you didn’t bring me food, I would starve.   But the worst part is that I know my time on this earth is very short, and there are so many people I would like to tell about Jesus, and so many places I would like to carry the gospel.  But… I will likely be here until Nero decides to end my life.  So all I can do now is write letters like the one we have been working on for Timothy.

    Oh, but Barnabas….Since I heard of his death, I have spent many days thinking of him.  I thought back to the first time I met him. It was some time after my experience with Jesus on the Damascus Road.  I traveled to Jerusalem to meet the disciples of my Messiah. There was much I wanted to discuss with them.  But when I arrived, they went into hiding.  They were scared of me.  Of course they were.  What did I expect after I had spent that time hunting them down, dragging their friends out of their homes to face punishment for following Jesus?  Some were beaten.  Some went to prison. You see, they thought I was just pretending to be a Jesus follower so I could infiltrate their meetings and then arrest them all.  I had almost given up any hope of being accepted by them when who should come to me but Barnabas.  

    Barnabas greeted me with that smile of his that just made you feel welcome.  He was willing to take the risk to give old Saul of Tarsus a second chance.  A second chance that I didn’t deserve.  He gave me that grace when no one else would.  And Barnabas was the first to forgive me, as God had forgiven me for my actions against the faith.  And then Barnabas told the apostles about my experience with Jesus, and he convinced them to meet with me.  I owe so much to him.  

    Then, when Barnabas was in Antioch, ministering to the Gentile followers of Jesus there, he traveled all the way to Tarsus to find me and invite me to join him.  It was Barnabas again who opened that door for me and gave me a place in the ministry there.   He believed in me.  

    And we really became so close on that first missionary journey.  You and I talked of that yesterday.  Full of highs and lows that brought Barnabas and me closer together.   He was a brother to me.  I thought nothing could separate us.  

    Oh, many were coming to accept Jesus as their Messiah, but many others called us blasphemers.  We were run out of one town and left another under threat of death, and finally in Lystra I was stoned and dragged outside the city, left for dead.  But God wasn’t done with me, and when I regained consciousness, who was right there with me but Barnabas, caring for my wounds.  He was so faithful.  He never left my side. 

    Then, when we returned to Antioch, some Pharisees from Jerusalem came and told our Gentile followers they weren’t really saved.  They told them they had to be circumcised to be saved.  Well, Barnabas and I just looked at each other speechless.  We had seen God’s Holy Spirit fall on those Gentiles just as He had on us.  So we went up to Jerusalem to meet with James, Peter, and the elders.  Ah, and that is as far as I got telling you the story yesterday.

    After the council had reached its decision, we came back to Antioch together with the good news that the Gentiles, just like us, were saved by grace, not by works.  It was always about grace.  Soon after, Barnabas asked me to show grace to John Mark.  But I refused.  I refused.  Do you see the irony?  I had traveled hundreds of miles preaching about God’s grace.  But I couldn’t practice grace toward others.  I understood the theology of grace, but Barnabas practiced the heart of grace. I could explain God’s grace, but Barnabas knew best how to demonstrate God’s grace.  

    It took God years to bring me to understand my error with John Mark.  I remember the first time I saw John Mark after that argument with Barnabas.  It was many years later, and he came to visit me while I was under house arrest in Rome.  He held no grudge against me, even though he knew I rejected him back then.  He greeted me warmly and told me about his journeys with Barnabas and all the people who decided to follow our Messiah, Jesus.  He spoke of the dangers, the persecution, and the suffering.  And through it all, John Mark stayed with Barnabas.  He had learned, he had grown, and he had become a faithful servant of Jesus. 

    He was young when he left us in Perga, and he made a mistake. And somehow…I had confused a mistake with a person’s character.   I had taken one moment in his life…and turned it into a definition of his entire life.  How could I have been so wrong?  And looking at John Mark in that moment, I could almost hear Barnabas saying, “Paul, he just needs another chance.”  And again it washed over me how wrong I had been.  Who was I to refuse to give someone another chance?

     God had given me more chances than I could count.  I deserved a second chance from God less than anyone on earth. I watched in approval while Stephen was stoned to death; I tracked down Jesus’ followers like they were animals and had them arrested.   I had made myself an enemy of the very people Jesus had died to save.  And what did Jesus do with me?  He didn’t cast me aside, but he met me on the road.

     I can still hear those words from Jesus just as if it happened today.  “Saul, why are you persecuting me?”  Luke, I deserved for God to strike me dead, but instead, he poured out his grace on me and struck me temporarily blind so I could see the truth.  I got another chance.  I got another life.  I got another ministry.  I got another purpose.  And then…when John Mark needed that second chance… I couldn’t find it in my heart to give it. Barnabas was right.  I was wrong.  And Luke, that isn’t easy for an old Pharisee to say. 

    A faint smile.

    You know me well enough to know that.  I’ve spent my whole life arguing.  I’ve stood before kings, Governors, Philosophers, and Religious leaders.  I’ve defended the gospel.  I’ve fought for what I believed was true.  And I still believe truth matters.  It does. But I’ve learned something else.  Sometimes being right isn’t enough.  Sometimes you can win the argument…and lose something far more important — the relationship.  

    I get that now.  The whole story of the Bible is God seeking a way to restore a relationship with us, even though we are wrong. 

    Barnabas knew that, and perhaps that’s why his name fit him so well.  You know, his given name was Joseph.  Barnabas was just his nickname, Son of encouragement, a fine choice.  He encouraged me when nobody else trusted me.  He searched for me when I was forgotten. He stood beside me when the work was hard.  He defended the Gentiles and stood with me before the apostles. And when I wanted to write John Mark off…Barnabas wouldn’t do it.

    He saw something in Mark that I couldn’t see, perhaps because Barnabas knew better than I how to see through God’s eyes.  For God doesn’t look on our faults; he looks on our needs.   He doesn’t focus on our past, but on our potential.  And I think God remembers us for our best day, not our worst day.   

    Paul looks down at his hands.

    I wonder what Barnabas thought after we separated.  Did he talk about me? Did he tell Mark not to be bitter?  Did he pray for me?   Did he wonder whether we would ever work together again?   I wish I knew.  I wish I could ask him.  But he is gone. And I’ve spent years wishing I could have one more conversation with him.  One more walk. One more meal.  Perhaps even one more argument.

    He smiles sadly.

    I would gladly have that argument in Antioch again.  Only this time…I’d listen.  I would say: “Barnabas, tell me again.”   And when he told me that Mark needed grace… I would say:  “You’re right.”  I would say, “Let’s give him another chance.” But then I didn’t say that then.  And now I can not.

    Long pause.

    I’ve learned something else in these last years.  Grace isn’t cheap.  It cost Jesus everything.  But grace is not ours to hoard.  God gives grace to us… so that grace can pass through us to everyone else. That’s what I missed.  I thought grace was just something God gave to sinners like me. I didn’t realize that grace was supposed to change the way I treated sinners like me.

    John Mark didn’t need me to pretend he hadn’t failed. He had failed. He knew it. I knew it.  Barnabas knew it.  Grace doesn’t mean pretending the failure never happened.  Grace means the failure doesn’t get the final word.

    And even though I sinned in not showing Mark grace, Grace still got the last word.  Do you see, Luke, how God worked this out?  He took my sin, and He made something good of it.  He made two mission journeys instead of one.  And He used us all.  He redeemed John Mark.  The man I once refused to take with me became one of my fellow workers.  That is how good our God is.

    And I tell you, John Mark is going to do something special. Mark my words.  God has even greater plans for him.  You know, all that time he spent with Peter, he was taking notes on all of Peter’s stories about Jesus.  Who knows, maybe Mark will put those stories in a book one day for everyone to read.  Wouldn’t that be something?

    He prays

    God, thank you so much for John Mark.  And for Barnabas.  And again for giving me grace and teaching me that grace is not to be held onto tightly but to be freely shared in our world.  Amen.

    Speaking of writing, you are working on your own account, aren’t you, Luke? Good. Write it carefully. People will need to know. Tell them about Jesus. Tell them about the cross. Tell them about the resurrection. Tell them about grace.

    And if you tell them about Barnabas and me…tell them the truth. Don’t make it seem that we were perfect. Instead, tell them we loved Jesus. Tell them we tried to serve Him. Tell them we sometimes disagreed.  Tell them sometimes we were right… and sometimes we were wrong. But tell them that no matter what happened, God worked it all out for good.  Tell them God can use people who aren’t perfect…. Because that’s the only kind of people He has.

    Paul laughs softly.

    I am definitely proof of that.

    Pause

    Luke…have you sent off that second letter to Timothy? Can you add something for me? The closing part.  I need to encourage Timothy to come to Rome and to bring someone with him. 

    Good, now write this down exactly.

    “Do your best to come to me quickly, Timothy, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me.” And then add this: “Get John Mark and bring him with you…”

    (He smiles.)

    Yes. That’s important.  “Get John Mark and bring him with you…”

    Because…

    (Paul pauses, fighting emotion.)

    “…because he is helpful to me in my ministry.”

    He looks up

    Yes, Barnabas, he is.    Thanks be to God for you, Luke. And thanks be to God for John Mark, for Barnabas, and for Jesus and His grace.

  • September 7, 2026 – Conflict in the Bible— Acts #54

    We just wrapped up our multi-week discussion of the controversy in Acts 15, and now we run right into another conflict.  And this conflict is between the two missionaries, Paul and Barnabas.

    Acts 15:36-40   And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.

    You remember that on their first journey, John Mark, Barnabas’ cousin, joined Paul and Barnabas.  They started in Antioch, then sailed to Cyprus, traveled the length of the island, and headed north to Perga.  And Luke explains:

    Acts 13:13-14   Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia.

    Luke doesn’t say why John Mark left, but Acts 15 shows that Paul apparently felt John Mark had deserted them in Perga.  From there, Paul and Barnabas continued on to start Jesus communities in Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe.  And it was a difficult journey.  They were run out of town, and their lives were threatened.  Then Paul was stoned and dragged out of the city and left for dead.  John Mark wasn’t there for any of this.  

    So in Acts 15, Paul has no room for a deserter on his next mission trip.  And these two men, who had risked their lives for the gospel together, who had seen great success together despite many hardships, who had shared all these experiences, have such a “sharp disagreement” that they have to go in different directions.

    First, let me ask: Why did Luke include these details? He is covering much of the history of the Jesus movement over 35-40 years, so he can’t put everything in his book.  He has to leave a lot out. So why didn’t he say that they decided to go on different journeys with different partners?   Why did he feel the need to add the verses about this conflict when most people would have likely just skipped over anything like this?  

    The Bible doesn’t hide the faults of its “heroes.”  It doesn’t conceal their sins or shortcomings.  And there is an important reason. This book was not written to serve as a tribute to its characters.   The goal is not to show how great people can be, but to show how great God is and how God is always at work in people’s lives to make them better.   That is why Scripture does not sugarcoat its heroes.

    So a harsh, bitter conflict arises between Paul and Barnabas.  And they can’t resolve it, so they part ways.   But before we can discuss this situation with Paul and Barnabas, we need to put it in context.  And the context is all of Scripture — how does the Bible talk about conflict resolution?

    Let’s look at the first conflict in the Bible:  Cain gets angry with Abel.  You know the story.  They both make offerings to God, but Abel’s was accepted, and Cain’s was not.  And the Bible tells us:

    Genesis 4:5  So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

    His brother was accepted, but he was not.  (Someone is jealous of their brother.)  What does God do about this first conflict?   He comes to Cain and asks him What is the reason for your anger? Don’t you know that if you do the right thing, you will be accepted?   God tells Cain he is on the verge of a horrible sin; he says, 

    Genesis 4:7   Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.

    “Sin is crouching at your door.” There’s a picture.  Cain needs to drop this jealousy and anger and reconcile with his brother.  But Cain just opens the door wide to that sin and kills his brother.  In case you are wondering, assassination is not a good plan for conflict resolution.1   So this conflict is never resolved.  

    Let’s look at another famous conflict in the Bible.  How about Joseph and his brothers? Joseph and his brothers were in constant conflict as they grew up.  It got so bad that when they had the chance, they threw him in a pit.  They thought about killing Joseph, but then decided it was easier just to sell him into slavery and tell their father that a wild beast killed his favorite son.  (Oh yeah, that’s a lot better.)  That is some pretty serious conflict. 

    But Joseph wasn’t completely innocent, and neither was his father.  Animosity grew from the favoritism shown to Joseph through the fancy coat his father gave him, and from Joseph telling his brothers he had dreams in which they would all bow down to him.  I’m not sure what the Hebrew equivalent of ‘Little Brat’ is, but I’m sure they said it.   This is a story where conflict resolution takes a long time.

    You know the story: Joseph ends up, through a series of miraculous events, as the number 2 guy in Egypt, the most powerful country in the world.  Not bad for someone who entered the country as a slave.  (We call that upward mobility.)  And because God gave Joseph insight about a seven-year famine, they were able to store grain and save many lives, not just in Egypt, but in much of the known world.

    When Joseph spoke to his brothers after his father’s death, he came not with revenge in his heart but with forgiveness.  He said this:

    Genesis 50:20   You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.

    And finally, the beginning of conflict resolution for these brothers.  And it began with the innocent one forgiving the guilty.  You see, it wasn’t a matter of who was most wrong; it was a matter of who was most filled with grace, who was most willing to forgive.

    As with Cain and Abel, an unresolved conflict between the brothers grew until it became murderous.  But God took that evil and worked the events of the world so that great good came from their evil action.   And God used all this to finally bring about the reconciliation of these brothers.  These guys who sold their brother into slavery and told their father that a beast killed his son — it is these brothers who would be the head of the twelve tribes of Israel.  It was their names on the breastplate of the high priest.  And Revelation 21 tells us the names of these brothers will be carved on the 12 gates of the New City of Jerusalem in the world to come.  

    You see, God wants more than just conflict resolution.  He wants reconciliation.  For God, it is more than just agreeing on a specific dispute; it is restoring a relationship… as much as possible.  This is why Paul said….

    Romans 12:18  “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

    It is not always possible.  Ask Abel.  It is hard to reconcile with someone who wants to kill you.  You can restore the relationship only if both parties want to.  And some relationships should not be restored unless the guilty party undergoes a miraculous change in life.   But if the relationship can’t be restored for these reasons, we are still obligated to forgive and show love (even to enemies).  Why do we have all this conflict in the Bible?

    From the beginning, God chose to work with people.  A holy, unfailing, faithful God continues to choose to work with humans who are prone to failure and faithlessness. Why?  Because he wants a relationship with us.  Even though he knows that we will make a mess of things, he still chooses to bring us beside him to do the work.  Again, it’s like the grandmother who asks the 5-year-old grandchild to help make cookies.  She doesn’t need the help.  It will be messier and more difficult if she helps, but she wants not the help but the relationship that grows from working together.

    And our Bible is story after story of how God chooses people for a task, how they fail to do as they are told, and how God has mercy and gives grace to these people.  It is a story of how God pursues us and then returns our unfaithfulness with His faithfulness.   And God reacts to our failure in the same way every time.  He takes the mess we make and works it for our good.  There is my theme verse for the year again: Romans 8:28.

    Romans 8:28  “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

    God causes all things to work together for good.  And these things that God is causing to work for good- – they are bad things.  Because it takes no special skill to cause good things to work for good; that just happens.  But to cause bad things to work for good, that’s harder.  That’s what God does.

    How many of the bad things in your life is God working to make good?  All of them.  How about all the mistakes you’ve made and sins you have committed?  How many of those is God working in the background for you to work for good?   All of them.  This is what Joseph understood 1500 years before Paul wrote Romans.  Remember, he told his brothers:

    Genesis 50:20   You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.

    Joseph said, “You planned bad things, but God turned it all to be a great thing.”  This is how God works.  God hasn’t changed the way He works from the Old Testament to the New Testament.   Now let me show you another way God works:

    Let’s say you run a company and you decide to retain a firm to do your staff recruiting and hiring.  You interview several firms, and a representative for one of them sits with you and says, “Let me tell you how our company does staff acquisition:  We gather a list of available people and then narrow the list to people who are unqualified and likely to fail. In fact, we choose people with a history of failure.  Then we place them in a position they can’t possibly do by themselves.”  (I don’t think you are retaining this company.)

    But this is the way God works.  God chooses people whom He knows will likely fail, and then he gives them tasks to do that they can’t possibly do by themselves.  Why does God work this way?    So that we will learn to have dependence on Him, so that we will see, over and over, how much He loves us and is constantly working even our errors to work out for good.Paul and Barnabas chose to go their separate ways.  Did God want this to happen?  I don’t think so, because I don’t think God was the author of this sharp disagreement.  God is not the author of conflict.  He is the author of reconciliation.  But there is a failure here.  Paul and Barnabas failed.  They decided to go their separate ways.  But look what God does.  He takes this error and turns it for good.  Now there are two missionary journeys instead of one.  And next week we’ll see God arrange it so John Mark is redeemed and reconciled with Paul.  God took Paul and Barnabas’ error and used it for good.  This is the story of the Bible.

    Let’s look at one more Old Testament story of conflict.  Abraham and Lot.  Lot was the son of Abraham’s brother, Haran.  When Haran died, Abraham took young Lot with him on his journey to wherever God would show him.  

    Genesis 13:1-7   So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb.  Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of Yehovah.
    And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.

    So God has blessed these nomads greatly.  So great that their flocks are too numerous to be together and the herdsmen are in constant conflict.  So let’s keep reading and see how Abraham and Lot will resolve this conflict.

    Genesis 13:8-13   Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.”
    And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of Yehovah, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before Yehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against Yehovah.

    So what do you think of Abraham’s solution to this conflict?  Was it a good one?  Did God approve?  I’ve heard people talk about Abraham’s generosity in offering Lot whichever portion he wanted.  Of course, Lot took the one that looked the most fertile.  So they separated.  Conflict resolved, right?  But wait, remember that God is more interested in reconciliation than in conflict resolution.  God wants preservation of relationships.

    To God, peace is more than the absence of conflict; it is the presence of good relationships.  That is the concept of Shalom. It is a Hebrew word we translate as ‘peace,’ but it means more than we think.  So while many applaud Abraham for this decision, I think he missed it.  What would you have done if you were Abraham?  What is the original problem?  Go back to the Scripture:

    And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, and there was strife.

    So what was the problem?  Too many sheep.  If the problem is “too many sheep”, why would the answer be “break up the family”?   The answer seems simple to me: get rid of the excess sheep that are causing the problem.  You can talk about Abraham’s generosity, but I want to point out that their many possessions caused the problem.

    Greed led to this parting of the ways.  God did not want this.  And we know what happened: Lot ends up in Sodom, which was an awful place for him and his family.  Lot gets kidnapped there, and Abraham has to go to war to rescue him.  And then Sodom is destroyed, and many, including some of Lot’s family, died in the destruction.  This was not the right way to resolve this conflict.

    Paul and Barnabas both thought they were right.  And their need to be right was apparently greater than their need to be in relationship with each other.  They valued their “rightness” over their relationship.   We will look at this specific conflict next week, but this week we have been discussing the context: how the Bible deals with conflict. 

    Why is there conflict in church? Because there are people in the church.  And we are all failures. If we only allowed perfect people in churches, then there would be no churches.  So every church is full of sinners.  Now we are sinners that God has forgiven, but guess what?  Have we stopped sinning?  I don’t know about you, but I’m not there yet.  So you mix all these sinners together who are constantly making mistakes, and then you ask how in the world God could ever expect any church not to devolve into conflict that ends the fellowship?

    All these people fall prey to the sins of selfishness, pride, greed, anger, hypocrisy, and judgment. How could this ever work?  How in the world?  Well, not  “How in the world,” but “How in God’ could this ever work?  Because God has something that the world finds tremendously lacking: love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness.  

    So conflict is inevitable.  We will have conflict because we all sin.  And it is very hard to stop sinning.  But why does so much conflict remain unresolved?  Why does it just continue?  Why do people go 30 years refusing to speak to a friend or a family member?  Why does conflict persist?   You know the answer.  If the problem that causes conflict is sin, tell me what the answer to sin is?  Forgiveness.

    So much conflict remains unresolved because we fail to extend grace and forgive our brothers’ sins.  This is our failure.   Joseph was willing to forgive his brothers’ sins.  They tore him from his family, and he was carted off to a foreign country where he spent years as a slave.  But he was willing to forgive them, and that is how God redeemed this family and why it is their names on the gates of the New City in the life to come.

    We commit the sin that ensures conflict will persist when we fail to extend grace and forgiveness.  Oh, we want God to give us grace and forgiveness.  We pray to God for his grace and forgiveness.  But we don’t think we are responsible to extend that same grace and forgiveness to others.  But guess what Jesus had to say about that?  

    Matthew 6:14-15   For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

    That is what we pray in the prayer Jesus taught us.  We pray, please God, forgive us in the same way we forgive others.  If you are a person who holds grudges, I would not recommend praying this prayer.   

    Then Jesus tells an interesting parable in Matthew 18 about a man who owed a large sum of money but could not pay it.  But his debt was forgiven.  And then he refuses to forgive others for their debts to him.

    Matthew 18:34-35   In anger, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should pay back all he owed.
    “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

    This is harsh.  How we extend grace and forgive others is a reflection of our standing with God.

    So often, the church is known for what we stand against rather than who we stand for. According to the media, the Catholics are against contraception; the Baptists are against alcohol and dancing, oh, and women preaching; and some of the Methodists and Presbyterians are against homosexuality.  It seems the church is always in the spotlight for what or who it opposes..

    Why aren’t we known for being people of grace and mercy and love?   We will discuss this a lot more later, but the bottom line is that we profess a God of grace and forgiveness, but we, who are supposed to be the image of God, reflecting his character, are often just seen as judgmental.  Meanwhile, our God is in the business of reconciliation.

    Colossians 1:19-20   For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him [Jesus], and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

    God, through Jesus, is reconciling all things.  He is redeeming the world that mankind has contaminated by sin and death, and He is redeeming all of the people who will let Him redeem them.  Jesus is making peace (Shalom) and restoring our relationship with God.  And as we have been discussing, God chooses us to partner with Him in this work….

    2 Corinthians 5:17-19   Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.

    God has partnered with us in this ministry of reconciliation.  The message is that God, through Jesus, for those who accept him, is not counting people’s sins against them.  This is how Jesus is the prince of peace, the prince of shalom, giving people peace with God and peace with people.

    God has committed the message of reconciliation to us.  We are not called to be the judge.  That’s God’s job.  We need to present a different message.  Now it may be hard to present a message of God not counting people’s sins against them if the church is constantly known for counting people’s sins against them.   

    We have seen many types of reconciliation in our ministry to people without homes in Alabama.  We see people who come to accept Jesus for the first time and begin a relationship with God.   We also see people who have wandered far from God return to him and restore the relationship.  We see people who have felt wronged by the church being restored to fellowship with local churches.  And we have seen people who had not talked to family members in years restored.  Let me conclude with one such story, as told by my wife.

    Bill arrived at Room In The Inn one snowy afternoon in a white work van with Kentucky plates. His traveling companion continued on, but Bill registered and loaded up with the other neighbors to go to St. Paul Methodist Church, which was hosting for their very first time. St. Paul had their team in place and a wonderful meal prepared. Bill fixed his plate and sat down at a round table with a gentleman from St. Paul named Charlie. 
    Charlie was not part of the Room In The Inn team that night, but had come by to see “what his church had gotten mixed up in.” Charlie and Bill struck up a conversation about fishing – favorite fishing holes, favorite fishing buddies. Bill had been living in Kentucky but was actually born and raised in Marshall County. As it turned out, Charlie’s favorite fishing buddy was Bill’s uncle. Bill explained that he had left Marshall County 25 years before, a very angry young man, and he had not been back since. Charlie asked Bill if he wanted his uncle’s phone number. Bill reluctantly took it. 
    The next morning Bill came back to the day program and into my office. He described the incident with Charlie and asked if he should call his uncle. I encouraged him to do so. He said, “Mrs. Chupp, I haven’t talked to anyone in my family in 25 years. I said a lot of awful things when I left, and I haven’t been back, even when family died.” I listened as Bill called his uncle, who then gave Bill his mom’s phone number. The second call from my phone that morning was to Bill’s mom. In the time it took to drive from Boaz to Guntersville, his mom was there. And we all watched as this 70-year-old mom embraced the son she had not seen in 25 years! 
    Bill could not wait to go back to St. Paul to tell Charlie. But what none of us knew was that Charlie had passed away two days after he sat at the table with Bill. God is a God of reconciliation, that is what the cross is about. But He also makes us ministers of reconciliation. Charlie had a divine appointment two days before his death, an appointment to reconcile and restore a family.

    1.  Nor is character assassination, by the way.

  • August 30, 2026 – Something is Missing— Acts #53

    August 30, 2026 – Something is Missing— Acts #53

    Acts. 15:22-35

    We spent the past 3 weeks looking at the controversy in Acts 15.  The leaders of the Jesus movement in Jerusalem determined that the Gentiles did not have to be circumcised in order to be saved.  Salvation comes throughout the Bible only by the grace of God.  We have faith to believe that God will deliver us from our sins through what Jesus did for us on the cross, not by anything we do.  

    But there were some requirements for these Gentiles after they decided to follow Jesus.  The requirement was to follow through with the decision to follow.  They were to go only where Jesus led them.  And one place that Jesus would never lead them was to a pagan temple.  They had to give up any practices of idolatry.  And they were to study the scriptures to learn even more of what God would have them do

    We spent 3 weeks on this because it is important for us to understand that we come to Jesus the same way.  There is nothing we do for salvation other than accept the free gift that God gives us.  But accepting the gift comes with responsibilities.  We commit to follow Jesus as He leads us.  This is the conclusion of the meeting in Jerusalem, and the information was transmitted to the followers of Jesus in Antioch by a letter from the council and by two church leaders who traveled to Antioch to deliver the message.

    But wait a minute.  How carefully do you read the Bible?  Do you really pay close attention to what you are reading?  Because take a look again.  This section, chapter 15, verses 30-35 is copied from the ESV.  Check the verse numbers….

    What happened to verse 34?

    There is a footnote there.  #5 in the ESV.  And it says:

    And here is the King James Version:

    There is your verse 34.    So why did the ESV remove a verse from the Bible?   or… Why did the KJV add a verse?   Does this happen often in the Bible?  If so, how do we know we can trust our Bible?

    Now I could have just read right past that missing verse in the ESV translation and kept going, and none of you would have noticed.  I could have just pretended this issue didn’t exist and saved myself the trouble of talking about it.  But this issue matters to me because the Bible matters to me.  It is how I learn of God and of His character, how I find instruction for how to live my life, and how I know that God loves me and sent His Son to bear the burden of my sins.   

    It is too important to just gloss over things.  If we base how we live our lives on this book, we must approach it honestly and have confidence in what Scripture says. First, in case any of you aren’t going to make it through this blog, let me give you the answer you’ll reach in about 10 minutes.

    Bottom line: Our scripture is reliable.  You need have no doubt that this is the Word of God. You can have confidence in these words. 

    First of all, lets look at this particular instance.We are told in verse 22 that the gathering of the leaders sent Judas and Silas back to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas to ensure the followers of Jesus there understood the meeting’s decision.  Remember that the controversy began when some leaders in Jerusalem came to Antioch insisting the followers there be circumcised.  So sending some delegates from Jerusalem was important.  Then verse 33 tells us that after they spent some time in Antioch, they were sent back to Jerusalem:

    So it seems that Silas and Judas return to Jerusalem.   But then, Luke says, “after some days”. on down in verse 40 we read:

    Acts 15:40-41   Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.”

    Now we have Paul choosing Silas and leaving Antioch to begin his second missionary journey.   If Silas left Antioch and went back to Jerusalem in verse 33, then how is he back in Antioch in verse 40, leaving with Paul?

    This is solved by the verse in the KJV, verse 34:

    Acts 15:34   Notwithstanding, it pleased Silas to abide there still.”

    So now we have Silas staying in Antioch, where he can then leave with Paul in verse 40.  Problem solved. We will talk about where verse 34 came from in just a moment.  But was it really necessary?

    We read the Bible at times without realizing there can be a long gap of time between verses.  Sometimes entire decades pass from one verse to the next.    When Luke says “After some days,” we think he means “in a matter of days,” a time you would count in days, not in weeks or years.  But the Greek phrase here can mean any amount of time.  So we don’t know how long Paul and Barnabas preached and taught before we get to verse 40.  

    Really, should we care whether Silas stayed in Antioch or went down to Jerusalem and then returned?  Does it make a difference?  No.  It doesn’t really matter.  But if we are going to discover the answer to the verse 34 issue, we have to realize that it did matter to someone…

    Remember that we don’t have Luke’s original handwritten copy of the Acts of the Apostles.  It would be almost 2000 years old, and unfortunately, not many originals of any writings last that long.  What we have are copies of copies of copies.  And those copies were produced by hand.  That means we should expect differences.  Have any of you ever been given a hand-copied recipe only to later discover that an ingredient was left out or a measurement was changed?  Has this ever happened to you?  It turns out that cookies are not nearly as delicious if you leave out the sugar. 

    Imagine that I give ten people a paragraph and ask each of them to copy it by hand.  Then I give their copies to ten more people; then they all give their copies to ten more.  After several generations, you will discover some errors.  And of course, earlier copies will be more likely to be accurate than later copies.  The more copies, the more errors produced:  a word spelled differently,  a word accidentally skipped, or a sentence repeated.  You might even find a word added for clarification, or a marginal note copied into the text.

    That’s exactly the sort of thing that happened with biblical manuscripts. There are several times that someone made a note in the margin of a scripture copy, much as you would make a note in the margin of your Bible.  Now when the next scribe is making a new copy of the scripture, he sees that note in the margin and says, “Oh, they left this verse out and had to write it in the margin.  So I will put it back in the text.”  And now it becomes a verse.  In the case of Acts 15:34, at some point, someone, disturbed by Silas moving around, just added verse 34.

    And that actually gives us an important insight:  The existence of textual variants isn’t evidence that the Bible is unreliable. It shows the Bible was copied and transmitted by human beings.  As we discussed last week, God partners with us to do ministry.  Even though he doesn’t need us, even though he could do everything himself, he chooses to involve us in His work. Why?  So our relationship with Him will grow.  God could have dropped an English version of the Scriptures out of the sky one day, but that is not the way He works.  He partners with us.

    This is where the discussion becomes important.  Some people hear about textual variants and immediately conclude:  “Then we don’t know what the Bible says.”   But that’s not what the evidence shows.  We have thousands of Greek New Testament manuscripts, along with ancient translations and quotations of Scripture in the writings of early Christian authors.  And because there are so many witnesses, scholars can compare them.  This discipline is called textual criticism.

    It doesn’t mean criticizing the Bible.   It means comparing surviving manuscripts to determine, as carefully as possible, the original wording.  And here’s the remarkable thing:  The enormous number of manuscripts, rather than making the task impossible, gives us an enormous amount of evidence to work with.

    Think About It Like a jigsaw puzzle. Suppose you have a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle, but as you assemble it, you discover that you are missing more than a few pieces.  But suppose you have ten different copies of the same puzzle. One copy is missing the right top corner, and another is missing three pieces from the middle.  Another puzzle has some damaged pieces on the left edge.   But when you put all the copies together, you can reconstruct the original picture. That’s a little like textual criticism.  We don’t have the original manuscript sitting in a museum.  But we have many witnesses to what the original said.  When we compare those witnesses, we can often determine the original wording with remarkable confidence.

    Now let’s look at today’s passage in Acts 15 through the lens of textual criticism .

    Why is verse 34 in the KJV, but not in any of the more modern translations?   Remember, the KJV translation was done in the early 1600s, using the accepted copy of Scripture available at the time.   The Greek New Testament they used, which we call the Textus Receptus, was published in 1516.  Let me quote New Testament scholar Daniel Wallace: 

    “The man who edited the text [Textus Receptus] was a Roman Catholic priest and humanist named Erasmus. He was under pressure to get it to the press as soon as possible since (a) no edition of the Greek New Testament had yet been published, and (b) he had heard that Cardinal Ximenes and his associates were just about to publish an edition of the Greek New Testament, and he was in a race to beat them. Consequently, his edition has been called the most poorly edited volume in all of literature! It is filled with hundreds of typographical errors, which even Erasmus would acknowledge.”1

    And besides all the errors in this hastily produced text, Erasmus only had 6 Greek manuscripts available to him to use for his work.  None of his available manuscripts contained the last 6 verses of Revelation, so he just back-translated from the Latin Vulgate Bible back into Greek, making up his own Greek version that matched none of the manuscripts found since then.   But all he had were these 6, and they were all fairly recent copies.  The earliest copy he had was from the 10th century, 900 years after they had been written.

     But since 1510, thousands more Greek versions have been discovered and studied.  We also have Greek New Testament copies hundreds of years older than the ones used to produce the KJV, some produced only 50 years after the original.   And you do not find Acts 15:34 in any of the older versions.  In fact, you don’t find it in most of the copies since then.  It just happened to be in the one that Erasmus had available to him, so it was inserted into the KJV.

    And as we have discussed, errors can be introduced with copies, so the older documents are usually closer to the original than later copies.  That is why the King James Version, which I often reference and from which I memorized many scriptures, is not the best version available today for study.  It is good, and its translation of the Psalms is often beautiful poetry, but you just need to understand it is not the most accurate version.

    Now, this verse, Acts 15:34, is a wonderful example of these differences in translation because, like most variants, it really doesn’t make much difference.  Whether Silas remained in Antioch at this particular moment does not change the Christian gospel.  It doesn’t change the deity of Jesus, the resurrection, salvation by grace, or anything. If Acts 15:34 is omitted, nothing essential about Silas or the story disappears.  And that’s true of the overwhelming majority of textual variants.  Let’s look at another: in a story we talked about a few months ago, the man from Ethiopia whom Philip witnessed to. This man was reading the book of Isaiah.

    Now, perhaps you are looking more closely and noticed something was missing. There is no Verse 37.  (Again, you will notice there is a footnote there.)

    But it is in the KJV:

    Acts 8:37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

    This verse contains a beautiful confession of faith: “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”  But removing that verse doesn’t remove the doctrine that Jesus is the Son of God. The doctrine is found throughout the New Testament.  Having it present or absent does not change the message of the Bible.  That’s one of the reasons we should be cautious about claims that Christianity depends upon one particular disputed verse.  Christian theology is built on the broad witness of Scripture, not isolated verses.

    And notice that our Bibles are very transparent of these differences.  There is always a footnote, not hiding uncertainty, but being transparent about the evidence.  And that should actually increase our confidence.  Now these two examples are minor differences, just a single verse.

    But there are some larger textual questions.   There are the last 11 verses of the book of Mark, and the story in John 7:53-8:11, the story of the woman caught in adultery.  Neither of these two passages is in the oldest manuscripts. This is more than we can cover in this blog entry.  And, by the way, I love the story of the woman caught in adultery.  But even if it is not an original part of the Gospel of John, it is still a great story consistent with how Jesus treats people.

    And that is important: none of these verses change our theology.  Removing these verses doesn’t remove the doctrine the Bible teaches us.  But this is one reason we should be cautious about building theology on one verse.

    Shirley and I were in a church one evening in Kingston Ga that had one of the verses in the end of Mark displayed prominently in the church.  

    Mark 16:18 “they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”  

    And that one verse became a regular important part of their worship.  Picking up snakes.  That’s another story for another time.  Christian theology is built on the broad witness of Scripture, not isolated verses.

    So the Bible we have today isn’t the Result of one perfect copy.  The fact that we can see the Bible’s transmission history is not evidence that God failed to preserve His Word.   It is evidence that God preserved His Word through real people, real manuscripts, real copying, and real history.   The Bible didn’t fall from heaven as a bound English book.  God worked through human authors, human languages, human history—and even human copyists.

    Sometimes Christians unconsciously imagine that the Bible was transmitted like this:
    Original → perfect copy → perfect copy → perfect copy → our Bible
    That’s not how it happened.  It was more like:
    Original → many copies → many more copies → many manuscript traditions → comparison of those witnesses → reconstructed text → translations
    That looks less tidy.  But it is actually much more robust.  Why? Because we’re not dependent on one chain of transmission, but many, individuals in many locations all transmitting the scripture as best they can.

    So, Can We Trust the Bible?

    We need to answer that question carefully.  If by “trust” we mean:  “Can I prove that every modern English translation contains every letter exactly as it appeared in every original manuscript?”  No.   But if we mean: “Do we have sufficient manuscript evidence to know what the New Testament authors wrote, and can we trust the Bible’s message?”  The answer is yes.

    The manuscript evidence allows scholars to reconstruct the New Testament text with a very high degree of confidence.

    But there a deeper question underneath this question.  Ultimately, we’re asking: Can we trust the God who gave us the Bible?  And this brings us back to the very passage we’ve been studying. Acts 15 is about God’s faithfulness.  The apostles are trying to determine what God requires of Gentiles.  Peter says:  “We believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” The entire story is about a God who keeps His promises.  And that same God is the God who gave us Scripture.

    Christian faith isn’t: “Don’t ask questions.”  It isn’t:  “Ignore the evidence.” It isn’t:  “Just believe because someone told you to believe.”  It is not about ‘blind faith.’  The Bible itself invites examination.  Luke begins his Gospel by explaining that he carefully investigated the events.

    Luke 1:3    I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning

    The apostles appealed to eyewitness testimony.  Christianity is rooted in events that happened in history.   Jesus encourages inspection.  Thomas doubted, and Jesus invited him to feel his scarred hands and put his hand into his side.  Paul encourages us not to take what some preacher (even himself) says, but to study Scripture and see whether what he says is true.

    Acts 17:11 “Now these [Berean] Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”

    That is the way we are to listen to sermons. Investigate.  Study the Scripture.   And that brings us back to Acts 15.  They told these Gentile followers of Jesus in Antioch that there were two things they must do. Two major requirements for being a follower of Jesus.   First, follow Jesus, and he will never take you to pagan temples to partake in idolatry.  Secondly, study the Scriptures.  By these you will know God and know how best to follow Him.  

    This is the message to us today — Are you following, only going where Jesus goes?  And are you studying His book, carefully reading and meditating on it and letting it speak to you?

    1. Wallace, Daniel. Article “Why I Do Not Think the King James Bible Is the Best Translation Available Today” from Bible.org.

  • August 16, 2026 – Controversy, Part 3— Acts #52

    August 16, 2026 – Controversy, Part 3— Acts #52
    Acts. 15:1-21

    For the past two weeks, we have been discussing the controversy in Acts 15 that arose a mere 12-15 years after Jesus ascended to heaven.  Suddenly they had a new problem.  

    When Jesus came, some of the Jewish people recognized him as the Messiah their ancestors had prayed for over a thousand years.  For them, following Jesus meant two major changes in the way they practiced their religion.

    First, because Jesus’ sacrifice covered all sin for all time, there was no further need for temple sacrifices for those who accepted Jesus as their sacrifice.  Barnabas tells us in Hebrews:  

    Hebrews 7:27  Jesus has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

    So they no longer need to offer sin sacrifices on the Temple altar.  Not only was Jesus’ sacrifice good once for all time, but it also covered sins that Temple sacrifices could never atone for.  Temple culture revolved around these sacrifices.  This is a huge change. 

    The second change concerned ritual purity.  Because of ritual purity laws, there were times when you could not enter God’s presence.  Ritual impurity, caused by childbirth or by coming into contact with leprosy, bodily discharges, or a dead body, would render people unfit to enter the Temple.  For most young women, over 1/3 of the days of their life they were ineligible to be in God’s presence in the Temple due to ritual impurity. 

    But Jesus overcame this.  Jesus touched the leper; he touched the dead body of Jairus’ daughter. And he did not become ritually unclean. Instead of the impurity contaminating Jesus, holiness went out from Him and cleansed the impurity before Him.  The leper is healed, the dead are raised.   Jesus said this:

    Mark 7:14-15  “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.

    So these Jews who decided to follow Jesus had these two changes in their religious practice.   The death and resurrection of Jesus overcame all moral uncleanness, and the presence of Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the world overcame all ritual uncleanness.  Other than these two changes, Paul, the disciples, and the other Jewish followers of Jesus continued in the practices of their Jewish faith as before.  They had not formed a new religion, but were still practicing Jews who found their Messiah.

    But in Acts 15, we have a new problem.  What about these Gentiles that want to follow Jesus?  Did they need to become Jewish to follow Jesus?  So the laws of sacrifices for sin and for ritual impurity are over, but what about all the others?  Did they need to be circumcized and follow all of the other Jewish laws?   That is the reason for this meeting of the leaders of the Jesus followers in Jerusalem in the mid-40s AD.  And we are spending a lot of time on this part of the book of Acts because it is not just important for these Gentiles but this chapter answers the two important questions for us.  

    1.  What is required for salvation?
    2.  What is required after salvation?

    And let’s deal with the first question first, because it’s one we absolutely must not get wrong. What is required for salvation?  The question is not:  What must I do to be saved?  For we discussed how Jesus answered that question.  Twice, first the expert in the law and then the rich ruler asked Jesus this question.  And this is how the conversation went both times:

    Rich Ruler and the Lawyer:    “What must I do to be saved?”
    Jesus:   “Let’s talk about the commandments.”

    Jesus brings up the commandments not to promote a works-based righteousness, but to show them how futile that is.  He forces them to admit that they have not kept the commandments (the rich ruler by failing to share his wealth with the poor, and the lawyer by not treating his neighbor (including his enemy) as himself).  Jesus shows them that salvation is not obtained by anything we do.  It is all the work of God through the grace of God.

    Paul explains this concept to the followers of Jesus in Ephesus.  We read in Ephesians 2:8-10

    Ephesians 2:8-10   8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  10 …

    I left out verse 10 here, but we will come back to that.

    We accept God’s gift of salvation by accepting Jesus.  We accept Jesus’ sacrifice for the atonement of our sins; we accept the gift of Jesus’ righteousness; and we accept Jesus as Lord.   But some gifts come with a responsibility.  If someone gifts you with a free puppy and you choose to accept it, then you accept the responsibility of caring for that puppy.  And as my dad was recently reminded, the responsibility of caring for a puppy is hard work.  If you choose to accept God’s gift of salvation, then you have the responsibility that goes with that gift.  That is why Paul tells the people in Philippi this:

    Philippians 2:12-13   …work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

    Don’t misunderstand Paul. He says ‘work out’ your salvation, not ‘work for’ your salvation.  We don’t work to earn it; we work because we have received it. Paul is saying we weren’t just saved from something; we were saved for something:

    And it is God, through His Holy Spirit, working in us.  Because when you choose to accept Jesus, He only comes one way.  He comes as Lord and King or not at all.  He doesn’t come to be your genie in a bottle that you can pray for 3 wishes whenever you need to.  He comes as your King, and you agree to be his loyal, obedient servant.  You choose to follow Jesus; you don’t choose for Him to follow you.  So you go where Jesus goes.  

    I know this sounds simple, but many miss this theological point.  And we can’t afford to let anyone misunderstand this.  There are many people whose names are on church rolls who may believe that they are saved, but are going to be very surprised one day to find out they never were.  I have seen estimates from well-known preachers and theologians that anywhere from 1/3 to 3/4 of people who believe they are saved have never really made the decision they needed to make.  I don’t know the exact percentage, but I am very sure it is not a small number.  Why?  Because Jesus said so.

    Matthew 7:21-23   Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

    On that day, ‘many will say’. Many.  Jesus will send many away.  This may be one of the saddest passages in the Bible.  People who thought they had been saved, but never really had a relationship with Jesus, are cast away from God’s presence.  We should pay attention, because this is a heaven or hell difference.  

    The heaven-or-hell difference is not saying “Lord, Lord”.  Just saying it is not enough.  Walking down an aisle is not enough.  Confirmation classes, baptism, or joining a church are not enough either.  But what is enough?  Whom does Jesus say will get in?   

     “The one who does the will of my Father.”  Notice, it is not just doing good things.  Look, there are preachers, exorcists, and miracle workers in the group who are cast out.   Doing good things will get you nowhere, but doing the will of the Father is what is required.  

    Imagine I am eating lunch with someone and I mention that I need to cut my grass, but my lawnmower is in the shop.  So my friend says, “Hey, just bring your truck to my house, and you can pick up my mower to cut your grass.”   I say, “Thanks, I really appreciate your kind offer, but I don’t know where you live.”  “No problem,” he says. “Just follow me when we leave here.”  So we finish lunch, both get in our trucks, exit the parking lot, and he turns right, headed to his house.  But I look over and see a Dairy Queen on the left, so I turn the other way to get ice cream.

    My friend is gifting me the use of his lawnmower.  I agreed to accept the gift and follow him.  But instead, I decide not to follow him and instead go to the Dairy Queen.  As a result, I don’t get the gift.   It sounds silly, but listen: this is how many people are when they decide to follow Jesus.  They want the gift.  They tell Jesus they will accept the gift.  But they never follow Jesus.  Jesus goes one way, and they go another way of their own choosing.

    Matthew 9:9  “As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.”

    Twenty times in the gospels, Jesus asks someone to follow him.  That is what Jesus asked of his first disciples, and that is what he asks of us today.  But following Jesus is not just an intellectual agreement.  It is a commitment to go where Jesus goes.

    These people that Jesus says are cast out did good things, but they did not do what God wanted them to do.  When you choose to follow Jesus, you don’t just commit to do good things; you follow Jesus where he leads.  You don’t just decide on your own what good things you want to do, stop following Jesus on His path, and make your own.  If you are following Jesus, you aren’t just making it up as you go; you are taking only the steps He tells you to take.

    Paul understood this so well.  If you read about Paul’s missionary journeys, you see there were some things Paul wanted to do, some places he wanted to share the gospel, and they were all good things, but he didn’t go there or do that because that was not where the Holy Spirit led.  And Paul wanted to follow.  So now let’s go back to Ephesians 2 and let me show you the verse I left out.

    Ephesians 2:8-10   8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

    In this passage, Paul summarizes the council’s decision in Acts 15 that we have been discussing.  We are saved by grace, not by works (not by circumcision, not by baptism)… so that we can do the good works which God has created us to do. Verse 10 tells us that we were all individually created to do specific things.  God planned it all out ahead of time.  He gave us just the talent, knowledge, and ability to fit certain tasks.  Why would we ever say, “Well, God, I know you have this particular assignment for me, and I know you designed me and put me in just the right place at the right time to do this task, but I think I would rather do something else.  

    But that is exactly what the preachers, exorcists, and miracle workers said back in Matthew 7, before Jesus refused them entry to the kingdom.   And that is exactly what we are saying when we walk through life, making our own decisions as if we think we know best what our path should be, rather than following Jesus.  

    You can do good things, but God didn’t save us just to do good things.  Look, God can do all the good things without you.  He didn’t need me to buy lunch for that guy he led me to this week.  God could have rained down fried chicken from heaven.  He didn’t need me, but he wanted to partner with me.  The work isn’t the goal.  For God wants the relationship with us that comes from working together.  Again, that is the whole story of the Bible: God pursuing a relationship with us.  It is when we join God in a work that our relationship grows.  

    It is like one of you asking a 6-year-old grandchild to help you make cookies.  Look, you can make the cookies yourself.  You don’t really need their help.  In fact, it will probably take longer and make a bigger mess if they help you.  But you don’t really want the help; you want the relationship that grows from sharing the experience.  

    But say your grandchild says, “No thanks, but I will sweep the porch while you make the cookies.”   Sweeping the porch is a good thing.  But there is no working together, no growth in the relationship.  What God wants is the relationship. That is why just doing any good thing doesn’t count.  

    So the council in Jerusalem concludes that these Gentiles do not have to be circumcised or become religious Jews to follow Jesus.  But they did have requirements that we looked at last week.  James says this:

    Acts 15:19-21 “Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. 

    As we discussed last week, James lists four things that were all part of the festivities and rituals at the local pagan temples.  These Gentiles, as part of their culture, regularly went to the festivals at the local pagan temples.  So the council says, you can’t go there anymore.  If you have decided to follow Jesus, guess where you will never end up?  Jesus will never lead you to partake in idol worship or festivities.  That won’t happen if you are following Jesus.  So the council answers both questions: “What is required for salvation?  Not circumcision.  You do not have to become Jewish to follow Jesus.”  And “what is required after salvation?  First follow Jesus and then….”

    James continues…

    Acts 15:19-21 “Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.

    So stop participating in pagan temple activities. And then…read the scripture.  Jesus’ followers are required to pay attention to scripture.  The Bible tells us how to live.  It gives us real-life stories about how to live in tune with God.  How to repent when you fail.  There are examples of what to do (like what Jesus does) and what not to do  (Samson, for example).   So read the book.   This is what Paul tells Timothy:

    2 Timothy 3:15-17   …from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Old Testament Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

    Of course, when Paul says “Holy Scriptures,” he is referring to what we call the Old Testament, for the New Testament doesn’t exist yet.   So let me make this translation more like Timothy would have read it…

    2 Timothy 3:15-17   …from infancy you have known the Old Testament Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Old Testament Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

    Notice that Paul says this Scripture is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.  So you want to know how to walk in God’s path?  Paul says to study the Word, and it will equip you for all those good works God has designed you to do.  But wouldn’t it just have been easier if the council in Acts 15 had given these Gentiles a list of do’s and don’ts?  Studying all those scrolls seems like a less efficient way to learn how to act and what to do.  Wouldn’t it have been better if God just gave us a list?  Why didn’t God just do it that way?

    There are several reasons that we have just discussed.   First of all, God desires a personal relationship with us.  He wants to communicate with us constantly and consistently.  He wants a relationship like that of a Father to a child, not like that of an employee reading an HR manual.  Also, a checklist would not capture the part of the task that God considers most important: the motive for doing it.   A checklist can be cold and distant.  The whole story of the Bible is God seeking relationship with us.   That is why he placed His Holy Spirit within us.   

    God gave us the Scriptures so we can check what we think we are hearing from Him against His character and the way He works.  A check and balance.

    Secondly, God doesn’t tell everyone the same thing.   God knows all of us and deals with all of us individually.  Remember that He created us all specifically to do certain good works that He has prepared for us in advance.  Look at the gospels.  Jesus often gave highly individualized instructions to specific people.  Jesus only told one person to sell all he had and give it to the poor.  He had many followers, but he only asked a few to give up their jobs and be full-time disciples.  He didn’t tell everyone to go fishing and find money in a fish’s mouth.  He has as many different tasks as there are different followers.  

    We all come to God the same way, as sinners who decide to follow Jesus.  But Jesus leads us all to do different tasks.  And since we are all individually following Jesus in different directions every day, there are bound to be disagreements among followers or groups of followers about how we follow.  For example, God put a concern for the homeless on my heart and on Shirley’s heart.  We have poured a lot of time into developing a ministry and gathering support for that ministry. 

    But not everyone we talk to decides to support that ministry.  Some churches don’t want to be involved and some individuals who have the means don’t want to financially support it.  And we had to understand that just because it is our passion, it is not everyone’s.  There are so many good things God is leading people to do in our world.  If everyone poured into our homeless ministry, then so many other things would be left undone.   We are all called to serve in different areas.

    And we all may worship God differently.  There are many styles of worship and we need to understand that God leads people in different ways.  And there may be differences in how we interpret certain scriptures.   Paul and Barnabas had differences of opinion, so they went separate ways, but they both served the same God. 

    For example, there are some congregations following Jesus today that believe they still need to follow all of the Levitical laws and some that insist on circumcision for Jesus followers.  Now, that is not the way I understand the Scriptures.  But it is not my job to judge them.  I think whenever we see people who are honestly trying to follow Jesus but doing things very differently than us, our first reaction to them should be one of grace.  Different doesn’t necessarily mean evil.  But it is evil for us to judge and condemn.

    Even when people choose things I see as contrary to Scripture, I still think our proper response is grace.  After all, how did God respond to me in my sin?   God came to me with grace upon grace.  Why can’t we respond to each other with that same grace?   The early church leaders had the same problem: people thinking they had the right to judge, so you see these verses:

    James 4:12  “There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?”
    Romans 14:10  “Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

    The Bible is clear that it is not our responsibility to judge.  This is a lesson our world desperately needs to learn.  This is a lesson our organized churches desperately need to learn today.  We need to put all of our energy into making sure we are following Jesus on our right path and let Him deal with others.  This is our final lesson from Acts 15.  There was disagreement about what God required, but it was a healthy disagreement.  One group did not demonize the other group.  There were so many ways that these new Gentile followers were behaving that the Jewish Jesus followers saw as against Scripture.  They could have generated a very long list.   But they did not attack them with what they considered the truth.  They gave them grace.  They gave them a starting point and then trusted God to lead them on the right path.

    So let’s answer the Acts 15 council questions as they apply to us:  “1.  What is required for salvation?  Accept the free gift of forgiveness as you accept Jesus as your lord and king.”  “2.  What is required after salvation?  Stay away from idolatry (follow Jesus) and study the Scriptures.”

    We must each develop our relationship with God and our ability to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit so that we can better follow Jesus step by step along the path he leads us.   Each morning we should wake up and say. “Good morning, Jesus. Where are we going, and what are we going to do today?”  This is how you follow Jesus.  May we all follow well. 

  • August 16, 2026 – Controversy, Part 2— Acts #51

    August 16, 2026 – Controversy, Part 2— Acts #51
    Acts. 15:1-21

    Last week we began to look at a controversy in the early years of the church.  It had only been about 12 years since Jesus ascended to heaven, and there was already a heated debate over a critical issue in Acts 15.  The disagreement is about what is required for salvation — do you have to be circumcised and follow the Jewish ceremonies and laws, or is salvation by grace alone?  Let’s re-read the scripture we covered last week:

    Acts 15:1-5   But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.
    So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”

    These men came from Judea because they wanted these new Gentile followers of Jesus to do the right thing.  They were concerned about their salvation.  All of these Gentiles in the church had accepted Jesus, but they didn’t think that was enough.  They wanted them to be truly saved, which, in their minds, meant they had to adopt the Jewish faith.  If they didn’t become practicing Jews, were they really saved?  Did they need to be circumcised, wear tassels and phalacteries, and follow the laws of ritual purity to have eternal life?  

    They were so convinced of this that they traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch to convince these Gentiles, about 350 miles.   And it is such an important issue that the Antioch church sends a delegation with Paul and Barnabas back down the 350 miles to Jerusalem to discuss it with the elders of the church there.  Listen, I don’t travel 350 miles unless it’s for something very important, and for me, that is 6-7 hours of driving.  For them, this is a 2-3 week journey.  This debate is that important.  The question is:

    What is required for Jesus to save you?

    This is the question in Acts 15 that sparked the huge debate.  A very important question for them and for us also. So all the church leaders met in Jerusalem as a council to decide what God requires.  

    Last week I showed you a pattern that runs throughout the Bible of how God delivers people.  So we went through the Old Testament, and we found this consistent pattern:

    First, Deliverance —God delivers or saves people only because of grace.  
    Then, Instructions — After God delivers, He gives instructions on how to live.  

    We saw this over and over in the Bible.  Adam and Eve did nothing to earn the right to live with God in the garden.  Abraham did nothing to become the one God called to be the father of the nations.  Israel did nothing to merit salvation from Egypt.  It was God’s grace that led Him to deliver the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt. They did nothing to merit God saving them from the Egyptian army by dividing the waters of the sea.  They did not earn it; it was only Grace.  

    Then, after God saves them, he takes them to Mt Sinai, where he gives them instructions on how to live.   If you want to live in the Kingdom, you have to follow the laws.  There were certain expectations for how they were supposed to act, among them the Ten Commandments.  But the most important expectation was to know that there was only one God and no others, and to worship the true God rather than idols of their own making.   These rules were the rules of the kingdom.  This is what God expected of them if they were going to live in his kingdom.

    But first comes the deliverance, the salvation, then the instructions.  This is a consistent pattern.

    But this group from Judea in Acts 15 wanted to impose requirements for salvation, even though that is never the way God has worked with people. You see, the missionaries, Paul and Barnabas, told these Gentiles that this was the path to salvation.  

    Accept Jesus as your Lord  —> God saves you.

    But this group in Jerusalem said that God’s act of grace wasn’t enough.  You had to join the Jewish faith.  You had to follow the rules.  They said the way to salvation was more like this:

    Accept Jesus as your Lord, get circumcised, and follow all the rules  —> God saves you.

    It is as if they had forgotten that God rescued the children of Israel before he even told them what the rules were.   But they felt the Gentiles had to meet this standard before they were saved.  And this council in Acts 15 will conclude that salvation is based on grace alone.  

    We are going to read what Luke tells us about their discussion, but first you need to know that, since the days of Deuteronomy, Jewish thought has held that any serious matter requires the evidence of two or three witnesses.

    Deuteronomy 19:15  Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.

    So Peter stands up in this court and calls a witness to testify.  Look at Peter’s speech in Acts 15 and see if you can identify the witness.

    Acts 15:6-10  The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.  And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

    So the first witness is God Himself, who sends the Holy Spirit to the Gentile believers.  The gift of the Holy Spirit is God’s stamp of approval on these Gentiles. Peter argues that God would not have sent the Holy Spirit to them had they not been truly saved.  Peter continues:

    Acts 15:10-11  “Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.

    What is the yoke Peter says this group wants to place on the necks of these Gentile believers?

    (For you city-slickers, a yoke is a heavy wooden beam used to join a pair of work animals so they can pull a heavy load together, or plow.)  The yoke is the burden of believing you have to do all of the law perfectly to be saved.   This is important.  There is nothing wrong with all the laws in the Old Testament.  The laws were not bad.   The Bible testifies that the law is good; it is perfect.  The problem is that no one could keep it.  

    Adam and Eve only had one law in the garden, and they couldn’t keep it.  The law in the garden was good. “ Don’t eat the fruit that represents disobeying God by deciding right and wrong for yourselves.”That is still a good law.  God gets to decide what is good and what is evil. That is still not our business.  (But people are still breaking that law of the garden.)   So Peter calls them out and says that the yoke of the law is too heavy to bear.    No one could keep it.  Paul said it this way in Romans 3:23  “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”  Again, there is nothing wrong with the law, just with our ability to keep it.  So Jesus comes along and bears the burden of the yoke for us.

    Jesus carries the yoke with us, but he bears all the weight.  He can carry the yoke.  Jesus kept the law perfectly and carries the weight of our sins for us. 
    Jesus tells us:

    Matthew 11:30   For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

    So Peter asks them why they would want to put this heavy yoke back on the neck of the Gentiles when they couldn’t even keep it themselves?   He continues:

    Acts 15:11 “But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.

    Listen, my Jewish friends, says Peter, we are all saved not by the law but by grace through Jesus.  And the Jewish people for thousands of years have always known that they have had to depend on the grace of God, because they had all committed sins for which there was no sacrifice.  They have always depended on the grace of God.  Peter says these Gentiles, like us, could never do anything to earn their salvation; it is only through grace.  And the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles is God’s “amen” on their salvation.

    Then James, leader of the group in Jerusalem, speaks up and calls the second witness:

    Acts 15:12-18  “And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:
    After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’”

    James is quoting from Amos. (Amos 9:11-12 LXX).  Most of the book of Amos is a prophecy of God’s judgment first on the nations and then on the Northern Kingdom of Israel.  It is a bleak book full of God’s wrath and judgment until the very last paragraph, where there is a prophecy of hope that after God’s judgment, he will one day restore.  He will restore the house of David that fell.  The kingdom ruled by a descendant of David will be rebuilt.

    And James sees that Jesus is that messiah who restored the rule of the house of David.  And the surprising part of this prophecy was that when this messiah comes, even the Gentiles will seek him.

    James brings the second witness to this controversy.  The first witness was God, as he sent His Holy Spirit.  The second witness is the Word of God.     Having presented the necessary two witnesses, James summarizes the judgment.

    Acts 15:19-21  Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.

    James refutes the idea that anything further is required for salvation.  God saves based on grace alone. Aren’t you glad about that?   If works were the way to God instead of Jesus, we would be singing “Amazing Circumcision, How Sweet the Sound”, or “What Can Wash Away My Sins, Nothing But the Law of Moses”.  You enter the kingdom of God solely by the grace of God through the work of Jesus. This will be the council’s decision.   But remember the pattern,

    After deliverance, instructions are given for how to live as a member of the kingdom.

    You don’t have to do anything to be saved; only accept the free gift God has for you.  But what do you do after you are saved?  This is another very important question the council deals with.   Let me give you a couple of other ways to think about this:

    We don’t obey Jesus in order to become His people; we obey Jesus because we have become His people.
    Grace gets us in the door.  Discipleship teaches us how to live in the house.

    Look at the instructions James gives:

    Acts 15:19-21 “Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.

    To us this seems like an odd list.  Avoid these four things:  things polluted by idols, sexual immorality, things strangled, and blood.  We easily understand staying away from sexual immorality and idols.  But what about the other two?  There is an important reason James includes these four things, but it only makes sense if you understand the culture these people lived in.  What these four things have in common is that they were all things done in pagan temples.  It was commonplace for all Gentiles to participate in pagan temple celebrations and feasts.  It was the socially acceptable thing to do, and in many places, socially required.  

    The whole town would go to these temples and feast on the food offered to the idols.  Every pagan temple had temple prostitutes, and the Greek word James uses for sexual immorality in this passage refers specifically to these pagan rites.  What about “that which has been strangled, and from blood”?  We have evidence from papyri that in many pagan temples of the day, they would attempt to choke the animal sacrifice in front of the idol to transfer its life-breath or vitality into the idol, or use the blood of the sacrifice similarly to give life to the idol.  So these four things are all about taking part in pagan temple rites.

    The Gentiles are being told that they need to give up something that has been a regular part of their lives. Every holiday celebrated one pagan god or another.  Participation in these pagan temple celebrations and rites was important socially.  Giving this up will cost them.  They may lose friends.  They may not be invited to other parties because others feel they look down on them.  It may cost them financially, as they will lose business contacts.  People in the community would worry that the gods would punish their town because the Jesus followers were rejecting their gods. If there were a bad harvest or a lack of rain, these followers of Jesus would be blamed for angering the gods.  And in Roman cities, failure to pay homage to the gods and the emperor could be considered treason, punishable by death.  This is not an insignificant requirement the council has made.  

    It is interesting to notice what James didn’t say.  He doesn’t say, “Now that you are saved, keep the Ten Commandments.”  He doesn’t give them a long listing of Levitical laws.  He gives them a starting point.  These Gentiles have turned to the true God; they must then turn away from idolatry and the associated acts of immorality.  They must begin by following the first and greatest commandment: there is only one God, and you only worship him.   That is the first rule that every Jewish child learned, the first rule that Joseph and Mary taught Jesus, the Shema.   

    “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one.  He alone is God.”

    That is where every young Jewish child started.  That is where we should start.  

    In John 17, Jesus gives what many call his “in the world but not of the world” speech.    He means that while his followers live on Earth and participate in daily life, they should not adopt the corrupt values, selfish habits, or ungodly systems of human society.    Our daily choices- the places we go, our conversations, the way we treat others, and how we spend our money should all be different once we place our lives in Jesus. If we speak and act just like others who are not followers of Jesus, then we aren’t doing it right.  That is why I don’t often use the term ‘believer’ and rather use the term ‘follower.’   Because following Jesus literally means going where Jesus goes, talking like Jesus talks, treating people like Jesus does, and doing the things Jesus does.  It is becoming more like Jesus.  When you decide to follow Jesus, then your tomorrow will not look like your yesterday.  

    So James gives them this starting point: Now that you belong to Jesus, don’t continue acting as if you belong to the world you came out of.  If you have been saved, act like it.  First, stop going to pagan temples.   Now for the rest, James says this:

    Acts 15:21  For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.

    They have Moses’ books read every Sabbath in the synagogues.  What does James mean by that?  Remember that these Gentile followers are primarily meeting in local Jewish synagogues to worship the Jewish messiah Jesus.    There they will take part in the regular synagogue service, just like Jesus did.  There will be readings from the Scripture. (Remember:  The only Scripture these Jesus followers have at this point is what we call the Old Testament.  None of the New Testament books have been written yet.  We think 1 Thessalonians was the first one written, but in Acts 15, Paul hasn’t even been there yet.)   

    So every Sabbath, every Saturday, they will gather and read the Scripture and pray the same prayers Jesus prayed.   James says they will have plenty of opportunities to discover their next steps in following Jesus by reading our Old Testament.  So the Gentiles, just like the Jews, are saved by grace, through faith in Jesus.   And then come the instructions.  The first step is to change your life to avoid any connection with idols.  And James says the next steps will be revealed through their study of our Old Testament.

    But what does that mean for us?  We came into the kingdom of God just like they did, by grace through the work of our Messiah Jesus.  But what are our instructions?   First, avoid connections with idols.   We aren’t typically tempted to go into pagan temples and participate in strangling and blood sacrifices, but we are tempted by idols just the same.  There are plenty of socially acceptable forms of idolatry today. 

    Celebrity culture is a very common form of idolatry, with musicians, athletes, and internet personalities elevated to a revered status.  Physical comfort or financial security becomes an idol for some who devote their entire lives to it.  Individualism and self-worship is another common form of idolatry, where some people’s primary goal in life is their appearance, their public image, their social media following, or their personal autonomy.  And these are just a few.   But like in the days of Paul and Barnabas, it may cost you socially if you don’t participate in our society’s forms of idolatry.  

    To sum it all up, this is the pattern of how God saves people in the Bible.  There are no requirements for us to be saved except to accept the gift God gives.   But after we are saved, we receive instructions on how we are to live as followers of Jesus.   We first must make sure we don’t participate in idol worship.  And like the followers in 45 AD, the next steps will be revealed as we study the Scriptures.  And that is the topic for next week.

  • August 9, 2026 – Controversy, Part 1— Acts #50

    August 9, 2026 – Controversy, Part 1— Acts #50

    Acts. 15:1-5

    It seems we are living in a time of much controversy among the organized churches.   The United Methodist Church has had a long-lasting controversy over the issue of sexual sins.  The same issues currently face the Presbyterian Church USA.  The Southern Baptist Convention and the Assembly of God denomination have faced controversy recently on their handling of sexual abuse cases.  The SBC is now also facing controversy over the issue of women in leadership roles. Our study in Acts brings us to a controversy in the early church.  So it is very timely for us to take a look at this controversy over the next several weeks to understand how it arose and how it was handled at the time.

    Acts 15:1-5   But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”

    In this passage, there arises a difference of opinion in the church.  And Luke describes it as “no small dissension and debate.”  So how big of a controversy was this?  Luke uses this phrase, “no small…” or “no little…”, several times in this book.   Let’s look at another time Luke uses this phrase and see if we can better understand what he means.

     It is back in Acts 12.  Remember Herod had imprisoned Peter and had him chained to two guards.  But the people prayed, and an angel brought Peter out of prison.  And when the soldiers discovered Peter had escaped from prison under their watch, Luke says:

    Acts 12:18   Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.

    “No little disturbance.” If a guard in those days let a prisoner escape, they were punished by receiving the sentence the prisoner would have received.   And Peter was to be killed the next day.  Some soldier is going to die for letting Peter escape, so “no little disturbance”  is Luke’s way of saying this is a huge deal, a life-or-death matter.  

    So in our passage this morning, “no small dissension and debate” means there was a major disagreement in the church.  This is a very serious problem.  So let’s understand the problem.

    For the past year or more, Paul and Barnabas have been in Antioch and then on a missionary journey to Crete and Galatia, taking the message of the gospel of Jesus to Jews and Gentiles.  And these Jews and Gentiles have been worshipping together in synagogues and elsewhere.  And then some “men from Judea” come to Antioch and are teaching the Gentiles that if they really want to be true followers of the Jewish Messiah Jesus, they must become Jewish.

     Can you imagine what happened?  Some very religious people from the center of Christianity come and say,  “Well, it is so good that you decided to follow Jesus.  Of course, if you really want eternal life, if you really want to be saved, then you guys need to undergo a surgical procedure (without anesthesia), oh, and all of you need to stop eating bacon and shrimp. You also need to follow all the Old Testament laws and rituals.  Then you will be saved.   Again, as Luke says, this is a really big deal.

    But remember, Peter had encountered the gentile Centurion who accepted Jesus, and Peter did not require him to be circumcised.   Paul and Barnabas did not require any of the Gentiles they led to Christ to be circumcised.  Are Paul and Barnabas going to have to go back to all the places they went on their last journey and say, “Well, I know you accepted Jesus as your lord and king, but there is one more little thing you must do if you really want to be saved.”

    What is required for Jesus to save you?

    This dissension is all about what is required for salvation.  So what I want to do this morning is to go back through the Bible and see the pattern of how God works with people.   Today we are stepping back to get the big-picture look at the Bible. And as we look through the Bible, we will see that God has a consistent pattern for dealing with people.  We see this pattern over and over when it comes to requirements for salvation and requirements for deliverance.

    In the beginning, God created a world where he and his creation, humanity, could live together on God’s land, in God’s kingdom.  God put them in His special garden.  Let me ask you a question: What did Adam and Eve do to earn the right to live in the garden with God?  They didn’t do anything to earn the right to live there with God.  He chose them and allowed them to live with HIm in the garden out of his grace.    So it all begins with grace.

    But all kingdoms have rules, and the rule for the garden in Eden was to let God decide what is good and what is evil.  Don’t take and eat from the tree that represents who gets to decide what is good and what is evil.  That is not for us; that is God’s prerogative.  But they decided to take it anyway, because they wanted to make their own decisions about right and wrong.  And when they decided not to follow the rules of the kingdom, they were not allowed to live in the kingdom.

    God chose Abraham.  What did Abraham do to earn the right to be chosen by God? Nothing; it is God’s grace.  And God’s rule for Abraham was to follow Him.  Go to a land that I will show you.  Follow me, and I will make you the father of many nations. Of course, Abraham didn’t always follow, but God kept giving grace and kept his promise to Abraham.   Same pattern.  Grace, then instructions again.  And from Abraham comes the nation of Israel. 

    Israel was to be God’s special people.  But they ended up as slaves in Egypt for 400 years.  And in a display of 10 great miracles in Egypt, God rescued them from slavery.  What did the slaves in Egypt do to earn the right for God to save them from slavery in Egypt? God chose to save or deliver Israel from slavery out of his grace.  It was nothing they did.

    And He gave them instruction at the foot of Mt Sinai to teach them how to live His way.   All kings have laws and ordinances.  If you want to live in the Kingdom, you have to follow the laws.  There were certain expectations for how they were supposed to act.  Like “don’t kill other people,”  “don’t steal,” “honor your mother and father.”  But the most important one was to know that there was only one God and no others, and to worship the true God rather than idols of their own making.   These rules were the rules of the kingdom.  This is what God expected of them if they were going to live in his kingdom.

    But notice the order of events is always the same:  God gives grace and delivers them from Egypt first, then he tells them how they are to live.  God didn’t say, “Hey, if you follow my rules, then I will deliver you from Egypt.”  They didn’t earn the right to be delivered from Egypt.  Why did God deliver them?  It was grace, God’s unmerited favor towards them, that led to their deliverance.  They were delivered even before they had the list of rules to follow.

    And He teaches them about sin and about the requirement for atonement.  Whoever sins is responsible for paying the price for atonement.  There was no remission of sin without the shedding of blood.   But did they live by God’s rules?  No.  Along the way, Israel wandered off of the path.  

    And God sent a king to them to show them how to live and to lead them to follow God.  But this king also failed to follow God.   And God told them one day he would send a Messiah to teach them how to live. They turned aside from God and worshipped idols, so God sent prophets to admonish them and to put them back on track.  But they wouldn’t listen, so God had to choose another nation to serve as a means of discipline for them.

     And so Assyria came and conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel, scattering its people.  And the Babylonians later conquered the Southern Kingdom, and then the Greeks, and then the Romans.  But still they did not follow His ways.   And all these times, after breaking God’s rules for how to live, how does God react?   Does He wipe them off the face of the earth?  No, a remnant survives.  That is grace. The pattern persists.

    And then God shows his greatest outpouring of grace as he sends his only Son to bestow the greatest grace and to give the ultimate deliverance from sin. When Jesus was born, the angels came and announced the birth to the shepherds.  Now you know this passage from Luke 2 well, but there is something we need to see there.

    Luke 2:8-14   And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
    Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,  “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

    Peace on earth.  That is the Hebrew word Shalom, which refers foremost to Peace with God.  You don’t have to have a broken relationship with God anymore.  God is making a way for all sins to be forgiven and the relationship to be unbroken. But who gets this peace with God?

    “To those on whom his favor rests.”  To those on whom his grace rests.  And who are the people on whom God’s grace rests?   Who gets this peace? The angels have already told us this. They had “good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”   God’s grace is given freely to all people.  All they have to do is accept the gift.

    Again, God is bringing deliverance. And the prerequisite to receive God’s deliverance through Jesus is only … Grace.  Humanity did nothing to deserve Jesus.  In fact, mankind did everything that should have disqualified us from receiving Jesus.  But God said, there are no qualifications.  It is all Grace.  I give this gift freely to all who will accept it. 

    And Jesus came in the spirit of the grace of God, demonstrating God’s grace and deliverance wherever he went.  Look at what Jesus did.  Did the blind man do anything to deserve Jesus’ mercy and the deliverance from blindness?  Did Mary Magdalene do anything to deserve the deliverance from demons?  Did the lame man earn his healing?  Jesus came and healed all who wished to be healed, and he shocked the religious scholars of the day by also declaring that their sins were forgiven.  Wait!   How could he do that? 

    Shouldn’t they have to sacrifice something on the altar?  Isn’t there a process to go through?  Aren’t there some requirements for forgiveness or deliverance from sins? Shouldn’t they have to say certain prayers or perform certain tasks?  Jesus demonstrated that it was all grace.  He forgives with reckless abandon.  But the same pattern persists.  After grace and deliverance come instructions.  So after deliverance, Jesus sees the man he healed at the pool of Bethesda again and tells him:

    John 5:14   “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

    Do you see the pattern?  First, the man is delivered from his blindness – through grace alone; then he is given instructions. Or the woman caught in the act of adultery that people wanted to stone.  Remember, Jesus tells them, “Whoever is without sin, cast the first stone.”  Then he tells the woman this:

    John 8:11   “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

    Jesus could have condemned her.  She deserved it.  She was caught in the act.  And Jesus was the only one without sin who could have carried out the listed punishment: stoning.  But he did not.   He gave her grace.   Then he gave her instructions for living. There is the same order. Deliverance based solely on grace, and then instruction on how to live.  This is how God consistently operates.

    In Acts 15, the question is,  “What is required to be saved?”   Two people in the gospel of Luke ask Jesus the same question, “What must I do to be saved?  One story is in Luke 18

    Luke 18:18-27  A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
    “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”
    “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
    When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
    When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
    Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”
    Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

    The ruler comes to Jesus believing that eternal life can be earned by doing the right things. “What must I do?  I will take care of it, Jesus, just tell me what I need to do. Jesus’ first response is very telling. “No one is good – except God alone.”  You can’t be good enough; only God can be good enough.  

    But Jesus can see that the rich ruler doesn’t get it, so Jesus says, “Well, how about the commandments?” And the rich ruler says, “Oh, those, yeah, I keep all of those.”  So this guy sees himself as perfect.  He has kept them all.  But Jesus knows better.   So he challenges him with the commandment that the ruler has to admit he has not kept.  It is the one Jesus listed in with the greatest commandment.  Love your neighbor as yourself.

    Okay then, if you have kept all the commandments, then keep this one — treat the poor around you as your neighbor.  Sell all you have to feed them.  And he goes away sad.  

    The rich ruler comes to Jesus and asks how to be saved, and Jesus begins by talking about the commandments.  Jesus is not teaching the concept of works-salvation; through this rich ruler, he is showing the impossibility of saving oneself by good works.  No one is good but God.  Even this man, who claimed to follow all the commandments, has to face it.

    He is asking the wrong question.  Salvation is not about what I must do.  The right question is:  What must I let God do to save me?

    Jesus tells them it is easier to shove a camel through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.  Jesus is telling them that even if you have all the money in the world, salvation is not something you can accomplish on your own. “Who then can be saved?” Jesus’ answer:  being saved is impossible for people to do themselves; only God can do that. Works will never suffice.  Only God’s grace will be sufficient.

    Let’s look at another one:

    Luke 10:25-29   On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
    “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
    He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
    “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
    But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

    A similar question and a similar answer.  Again, “What must I do?”  And Jesus asks about the commandments.  Jesus points him to the commandments just as with the rich ruler, and says, all you have to do is keep them all.  But the lawyer senses a problem.  He knows he hasn’t treated everyone with love.  There are people he has not treated well.   So he seeks to exclude them from the list to say he kept the commandment. 

    It is here that Jesus tells the story of the good Samaritan.  And the answer is that everyone is your neighbor, so Jesus tells the lawyer to treat your enemy as you would your neighbor, again pointing out that the lawyer has fallen short.

    Paul said it this way:

    Romans 3:20   Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
    Ephesians 2:8-9   For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves; it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

    And that is exactly what Jesus was showing the two men in these examples.  

    Now what may surprise you is that Paul believed these two verses even before he met Jesus.   Paul, the Jewish rabbi, would have no trouble saying this in the synagogue before he met Jesus.  Paul never thought he could be saved by following the law perfectly.  Because he knew he was not perfect. 

    He was well aware of all the sacrifices in the Scriptures that accounted for sins he had committed.  But he was also well aware that some sins had no sacrifice.  Any sins committed with forethought, knowing they were a sin but doing it anyway, had no associated sacrifice.  The only hope of forgiveness for these sins was that God would show grace and somehow atone for them.  They didn’t know how God would provide, but they counted on him to do it.

    It has always been all about grace.  If someone tries to tell you the Old Testament is all about law and the New Testament about grace, they haven’t read the Old Testament.

    And then Paul met Jesus.  And he discovered that Jesus is the way God could atone for all sins, even those for which there was no Old Testament sacrifice.  Jesus was the method of grace.  This grace was just a promise to Abraham and Moses, but it was realized in the time of Jesus.   

    But in Jesus’ day, and in the time of Acts, some people believed that God’s grace was not enough to save.  That men had to do certain things, specifically be circumcized, and follow all the Levitical laws.  And that is the controversy.

    There is only one God, and there is only one Bible.  God is consistent in how he deals with people.  From the very beginning, he has come to us with grace.  Freely bestowing his gifts on us.  That is the way he has treated everyone from Adam and Eve to Abraham to Moses to today.

    In other religions, we see people always trying to do things to appease their God.  The Canaanites would present offerings or perform acts of service to bribe their god into bringing rain for their crops or giving them children.  The Greek gods were always asking for more gifts or sacrifices, or they would withhold rain or punish the people. But the God we worship is different.  He comes to us with love.  We enter into his kingdom out of grace, not a list of requirements.   The blessings of rain fall on the just and the unjust.  The only requirement for deliverance is that we allow Him to deliver us.

    The pattern persists. From Adam and Eve to Abraham and throughout the entire Bible,  this pattern persists.  Grace is how we enter the kingdom.  Then, once we are in the kingdom, we are given instructions on how to act as members of the kingdom.   We call this discipleship.    Then, if we break those rules, if we sin, God gives grace again as forgiveness and then gives us further instructions, like he told the adulterous woman in Luke.  Go and sin no more.

    The people in Acts 15 thought that the Gentiles had to be circumcised.   Circumcision was a sign of the covenant with God.  Today, our sign of the covenant with God is baptism.  And just as in Paul’s day, some people today say that if you are not baptized, you are not saved.   This is the same attitude of Acts 15.  But the only requirement for salvation is God’s grace through Jesus.  And neither baptism nor church membership nor anything else.  Whenever we add a human requirement as necessary for salvation, we alter the gospel.

    Salvation is through grace, through the work of Jesus, not anything we do.  Anytime someone tries to add any requirements to salvation, they have missed the point of the Bible.   But after Grace comes instructions.  How shall we live? Max Lucado said it well:

    “God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus.”1

    We are saved by grace, and then we grow in discipleship.

    So the council in Acts 15 will eventually determine that circumcision and following Jewish laws are not required for these Gentiles to be saved.  Those who insisted on circumcision to be saved were wrong.  But this is not the end. After they are saved, should they follow God in obedience as part of their discipleship, be circumcized, and follow all the Levitical rules?   That is the question we will look at next.

    1. Lucado, Max. Just Like Jesus, A Heart Like His. Nelson. 2012.

  • August 2, 2026 – Commitment, Courage and Community— Acts #49

    August 2, 2026 – Commitment, Courage and Community— Acts #49
    Acts. 14:1-7

    There are moments in life when we discover what we are really made of.  Do you remember the name Arland D. Williams Jr.?

    Arland D. Williams Jr. was a passenger on Air Florida Flight 90 that crashed into a bridge on the Potomac River in 1982, carrying 74 people.   When the helicopter came to try to pull people from the wreckage in the icy river, he grabbed the lifeline five times and passed it to someone else.   Those 5 were the only ones who survived.  Arland Williams drowned because he let everyone else go before him.

    Perhaps you remember: Rick Rescorla.  He was the head of security for Morgan Stanley, whose offices were in the South Tower of the World Trade Center.  When the North Tower was struck, Rescorla ignored the advice to stay in place and ensured that the workers under him escaped before the South Tower was hit.  He got his people out, but Rescorla stayed behind and swept the floors for anyone left, and thanks to his efforts, over 2700 people were saved.  He was last seen on the 10th floor of the South Tower, headed upstairs shortly before the tower collapsed.

    You could probably tell many other stories of people who reached a moment in their lives when their commitment was tested.  You see, it is easy to be committed when everything is going well.  It is easy to have courage when there is nothing to fear.  It is easy to enjoy community when everybody agrees with us.  But what happens when things go terribly wrong?

    What happens when the people who once applauded us suddenly turn against us?  What happens when doing the right thing becomes painful?  What happens when the road God has called us to travel becomes much harder than we expected?  Acts 14 gives us one of those moments in the life of the apostle Paul.

    Paul and Barnabas have been traveling through Asia Minor preaching the gospel. And they came to the town of Lystra, where Paul healed a man who had never been able to walk. The crowd was so amazed that they decided Paul and Barnabas must be gods who had come down in human form.  They wanted to worship them.  Paul could hardly get them to stop.  But then everything changed.

    Acts 14:19   But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.

    People came from Antioch and Iconium.   These were the two cities in Galatia that Paul had just left.  Remember, he was run out of town in Antioch, and Paul and Barnabas left Iconium after discovering that the people in Iconium wanted to stone them.  And it is these people who find Paul in Lystra.  The people from Iconium traveled 21 miles on foot to find Paul, and the people from Antioch traveled 95 miles to find these missionaries.  They went a long way because they wanted to see Paul dead.  And they convinced the people of Lystra to stone him.  

    Why would these people travel for days to attack Paul?  How were they able to convince the people of Lystra to move from worshipping Paul and Barnabas to wanting to stone them?  As we mentioned last week, stoning was a usual punishment for blasphemy in many cultures of the day.  These people, who worshipped the Greek gods, considered Paul a blasphemer.  Remember what he said to the people of Lystra when they wanted to worship him:

    Acts 14:15  You should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

    These people didn’t appreciate Paul calling their deities “vain” or “worthless.”  So they became convinced by the people from their neighboring cities that Paul was a blasphemer and should be stoned.  Since there was no high hill to throw Paul off of, he was pelted with rocks by the community until he was unconscious.  They felt he was dead, so they dragged him outside their city to rot.   But then we come to verse 20:

    Acts 14:20  But when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and entered the city.

    We need to stop right there.  Paul had just been stoned, dragged outside the city, and left for dead. And when the disciples gathered around him, he got up.  And then what did he do? He went back into the city to the people who stoned him.  That one verse gives us a remarkable picture of Christian discipleship.  It demonstrates three characteristics that every Christian and every church needs:  commitment, courage, and community.

    The first thing we see is Paul’s commitment.  Paul had every reason to quit.   He had been run out of Antioch.  He fled Iconium because he discovered a plot on his life, and then in Lystra, he was rejected, beaten, pummeled by rocks, and dragged out of the city and left for dead.  And yet he got up and went back into the city.   Why? Because Paul’s commitment wasn’t based upon circumstances; it was based upon a calling.

    Paul had been called by Jesus Christ to take the gospel to the Gentiles.  And Paul had already learned something important:  God’s calling does not mean the absence of difficulty.  In fact, Paul later tells these very disciples in verse 22:

    Acts 14:22  “…through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

    Notice what Paul does not say.  He doesn’t say: “Through a few tribulations.”  He doesn’t say: “Through occasional difficulties.”  He says: “Through many tribulations…”  Paul doesn’t hide the difficulty of following Jesus.  He doesn’t sell them a version of Christianity that promises that everything will work out easily.  He tells them the truth.  Following Jesus is worth it.  But following Jesus will be hard.  Jesus said this himself:

    John 16:33   I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

    We like to focus on the “I have overcome the world” part and skip over the “You will have trouble” part.   Jesus guarantees that you will have trouble, as do the apostles:

    1 Peter 4:12   Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.
    1 John 3:13:       Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.” [1]

    You can not read the Bible honestly and conclude that living a Christian life will be easy.   No, you are guaranteed trouble and promised that people in the world will hate you.  Commitment is easy when everything is easy.   Anyone can be committed when the church is growing.  It’s easy to support a team when they are winning.  Anyone can be committed to the church when you live in a part of the country where it is popular to belong to a church.  But what happens when things become difficult?   What happens when it is no longer popular to be a church member?  What happens when church members are ridiculed or persecuted? That’s where commitment is tested.

    It’s like a marriage.   On a wedding day, the bride and groom promise: “For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health.”  The words aren’t particularly difficult to say, but then the commitment is tested years later.  Life becomes complicated.  Personalities clash.  Sickness comes.  Financial problems arise.  Circumstances suddenly aren’t what you expected.  The wedding ceremony establishes the commitment, but life tests the commitment.   Why do so many marriages fail?  Because there was never really a true commitment.

    The same thing is true of our faith.  On Sunday morning, faith can be easy.  The real test comes Monday morning.  It’s easy in church to sing songs or say, “I love Jesus.”  The test comes when loving Jesus requires something from us.  It’s easy to say, “I trust God.”  The test comes when God doesn’t answer our prayer the way we wanted or as quickly as we wanted.  Or when financial trouble arrives, or sickness arrives.   It’s easy to say, “I’ll follow wherever you lead.”  The test comes when God leads us somewhere uncomfortable.

    Paul’s commitment was tested to the point of death.  And he got back up.  Commitment means getting back up—continuing on your mission even after problems arise, disasters strike, disappointment sets in, or discouragement sets in.

    The message of Acts 14 is not:  “Real Christians never get knocked down.”  The message is:  “Getting knocked down doesn’t have to mean you stay down.”   Faithfulness means getting back up, taking another step, praying another prayer, or serving another day and trusting God through it all. Paul got up.  And he went back into the city.   That’s commitment. But commitment alone isn’t enough; sometimes commitment requires courage.

    Paul didn’t simply get up.  He went back into the very city where people had just tried to kill him.  Would you have been afraid to go back into that city?   Would you have done that? We sometimes imagine courageous people as people who aren’t afraid.  But that’s not really courage.   If there is nothing to fear, there is no courage required.   It was Nelson Mandela who said:

    “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.”  
                      Nelson Mandela, “Long Walk to Freedom,” 1994

    Nelson Mandela walked out of 27 years in a brutal prison and chose national forgiveness and reconciliation instead of bitterness or revenge against his oppressors.  Courage is doing what is right even when you do have something to fear.  Courage happens when fear is present, and you choose faithfulness anyway.

    Paul had every reason to be afraid.  But he had something greater than his fear:  He had a mission.   Courage comes from knowing what matters most.   Paul understood that the gospel was more important than his personal comfort or safety.  That doesn’t mean Paul didn’t value his life.  He wasn’t looking for trouble. He wasn’t trying to be a martyr.  He wasn’t reckless.  But he understood that there was something more important than avoiding difficulty.  Jesus had given him a mission.  And Paul was determined to fulfill it.

    This is an important lesson for the church today.  We live in a world with plenty of reasons to be afraid.  We’re afraid of rejection.  We’re afraid of criticism.  We’re afraid of what people will think.  We’re afraid that someone will disagree with us.   We’re afraid of being labeled.  We’re afraid of failure.  And sometimes our fear becomes stronger than our faith.

    We may become so concerned about what people might say that we stop saying what needs to be said. Or we become so concerned about offending someone that we don’t mention our faith.  We may become so concerned about failure that we never attempt anything significant.

    But the church was never called to be a people who are controlled by fear.  What is the most common command in the Bible?  Do not fear!  We are called to be courageous people of faith.   Paul demonstrated that courage.  He went back into the city and preached again.  And then he left.  But notice what he did next.

    Acts 14:20-21 “But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples,…”

    Paul didn’t allow what happened in Lystra to stop the mission.  He kept preaching.  He kept making disciples.  He kept moving forward.   Courage doesn’t mean pretending the danger isn’t real.  It means believing that God’s purpose is greater than the danger.  There are times when courage means speaking and times when courage means remaining silent.  There are times when courage means confronting something and other times when it means forgiving. There are times when courage means starting something new, and times when it means staying where you are.   

    But Christian courage always begins with the same question: “What is God calling me to do?” Once we know that, we can ask:  “What would keep me from doing it?”   And then we need the courage to overcome that obstacle.   So, there is commitment, and then courage.

    But there is a third element in this story that we cannot overlook.

    Acts 14:20   But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, 

    It is important to Luke to point out to us that they were there.  Before Paul got up, the disciples gathered around him.  They surrounded their wounded brother.  We don’t know exactly what they said.  Perhaps they prayed.  Perhaps they encouraged him.  Perhaps they simply stood beside him.  And sometimes that’s what community does.  It doesn’t necessarily fix the problem.  It doesn’t always have the right words.  Sometimes community says: “You’re not going through this alone.”  

    That’s what the church is supposed to be.  The church isn’t simply a place where we gather for an hour on Sunday morning. The church is a community of people who gather around one another.  When somebody is hurting or discouraged, we gather around them. When somebody falls or fails, we gather around them.  When somebody succeeds, we gather around them.  When somebody wanders off, we go looking for them.  When somebody is weak, we help carry them.   We need one another.

    Paul was one of the greatest missionaries in the history of Christianity.  He was courageous, determined, gifted, intelligent, and passionate.  But even Paul needed people to gather around him.  If Paul needed community, we do too.  There is a dangerous idea that sometimes creeps into Christianity:  “I don’t need anybody else. It’s just Jesus and me.”  

    But that’s not the Christianity of the New Testament.  The New Testament knows nothing about isolated discipleship.  Jesus created a community.  Paul established communities.  The early church lived in community.  They prayed together, ate together, worshiped together.  They served together, and they suffered together. They encouraged one another. They carried one another’s burdens.

    Christianity was never intended to be a solo sport.  We aren’t spectators sitting in separate seats watching the same game.  We’re participants, and we are all on the same team.

    Look at what happens next.  Paul and Barnabas go back through the cities they have already visited.  Verse 22 says they were: “strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith…”. They aren’t simply evangelizing new people.  They’re strengthening the people who already believe.  They are building community.  That’s an important part of ministry.  Sometimes we think the only important work of the church is reaching new people.  But the real work is discipleship.

    Introducing someone to Jesus, having them baptized, and joining the church is a very important first step, but it is not the only step in the journey.  New followers will get discouraged and need someone to encourage them.  They will need to learn more about this Jesus they have met.  Someone will have to teach them.   They will struggle, and they will need someone to pray for them and gather around them.  They will fail and need someone to surround them and pick them up.   Somebody needs to say:  “Keep going.”  That’s community.  And notice the result.

    Acts 14:23  “And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”

    They established leadership. They invested in people.  They created communities that could continue the mission after they were gone.  That’s what a healthy community does.  It doesn’t simply gather people.  It develops people.  It doesn’t simply attract followers.  It makes disciples.  It doesn’t simply create spectators.   It creates servants.

    Acts 14 begins with a man being celebrated and even worshiped, and then ends with that same man being beaten and left for dead.  And in the middle of that story is that one extraordinary sentence:

    Acts 14:20   But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, 

    He got back up.  That’s commitment.  He went back into the place where people had tried to kill him.  That’s courage.  And before he got up, the disciples gathered around him.  That’s community.  And perhaps those are three things the church desperately needs today.

    The Christian life isn’t always easy. There will be times when we get knocked down. This sinful world can deliver crushing blows to us.  There will be times when we are afraid.   There will be times when we wonder whether we can continue.  But Acts 14 reminds us:  Get back up.  Keep going. And don’t go alone.  The church is at its best when committed people have the courage to follow Christ and when the community supports one another.

    Paul eventually came to the end of his life.  And when he looked back over the journey, he could say:

    2 Timothy 4:7  “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

    I pray that when our journey is finished, we can look back and say, “I stayed committed.  I found courage.   And I never walked alone.”

  • July 28, 2026 – How to Respond to a Miracle— Acts #48

    July 28, 2026 – How to Respond to a Miracle— Acts #48
    Acts. 14:1-7

    Last week, we looked at Acts 14 and how God healed the man in Lystra who had never been able to walk. This week we will talk about how people reacted to this miracle.

    Acts 14:8-18. Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking. And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” Barnabas, they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.”

    These people see an undeniable miracle, which leads them to call Paul “Zeus” and Barnabas “Hermes,” and to want to worship them.  They are bringing in animals to sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas.  To understand this, we need some context.

    Currently, a movie titled “The Odyssey” is playing in theaters.  It is an adaptation of one of two major epics of Greek literature attributed to Homer.  The first, “Iliad,” tells the story of the Trojan War (which itself has inspired several movies, most recently “Troy” in 2004).  The Odyssey is the story of the heroic king Odysseus (you may know him by his Latin name, Ulysses), whose 10-year journey home from the Trojan War takes him through many trials, including the Cyclops, multi-headed monsters, giant whirlpools, and the Sirens.  Homer is credited with authoring these two epics around the eighth century BC, originally passed along orally.

     Here is the earliest known manuscript fragment of the Odyssey, from the third century BC, discovered in Egypt.   These stories were over 800 years old in the time of Jesus.  

    But the people in Lystra were familiar with a much newer piece of literature.  Metamorphoses, a 15-book narrative by the Roman poet Ovid, was written when Jesus was about 10 years old.  One of the myths there tells of a visit by two gods, Zeus and Hermes, to the city of Lystra.  They come disguised as mortal travelers looking for a place to rest but are turned away by everyone.   They finally find rest in the humble, small home of a poor elderly couple.  The story tells how Zeus and Hermes seek vengeance on the people who refused them a place to rest as they flood the whole city of Lystra, and only the elderly couple survive. 

    So when these people see this miracle, they assume Paul and Barnabas were gods.  Now the local images of Zeus and Hermes in Galatia show Zeus as an aged man with a beard and Hermes as his young assistant.  Ben Witherington III, in his book on Acts, notes that the people of Lystra may have thought Paul and Barnabas even resembled their images of these gods, and their identification suggests Barnabas was the elder of the two men, with Paul at this time in his forties at most.1

    So they see the miracle and interpret it according to their understanding of the world. Only the gods can do miracles, and here are Zeus and Hermes back again to our town.  We know what happened last time they came.  This time we sure won’t make them angry, so let’s worship them and offer sacrifices.  We need to understand that we all view the world through our own lenses, and so we can all see the same thing and come away with totally different understandings.

     For example, when there is a rainbow in the sky after a storm, everyone sees the same colors, but what they believe about the rainbow determines what they think it means.

    The physics professor says:  “A rainbow is the result of sunlight entering water droplets. The light slows, refracts, reflects inside the droplet, then refracts again as it exits. Each wavelength bends at a slightly different angle, producing the colors arranged in our visible spectrum.”Everything he says is true.  But when he’s finished, you only know how a rainbow forms.  You still haven’t answered why.  Physics explains the mechanism. It does not explain the meaning.

    The meteorologist smiles and says, “This formation in the atmosphere tells me the rain is moving away. The sun is now behind us, less than 42 degrees above the horizon, while moisture remains in front of us.”  Again, this is all perfectly true, and the rainbow becomes a weather report.  It tells what the atmosphere is doing.

    The artist sees something entirely different.  “The colors are incredible. Look how the light blends from red into violet.”  The rainbow becomes a thing of beauty.  The artist is captivated by color, contrast, and composition.

    Meanwhile, the photographer immediately reaches for the camera.  “The light won’t last long!”  She sees the rainbow as an opportunity, thinking about lenses, exposure, composition, and timing.

    Irish folklore would tell you that there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  But the physics professor would add that you can never find the end of the rainbow because the visual phenomenon will always move as you move.  

    And there is the small child.  He looks up at the rainbow and says simply, “Wow!”  No analysis, no explanation, wonder.  Sometimes children experience creation more deeply than adults because they have not yet learned to reduce everything to categories.

    Someone with a Biblical worldview sees a rainbow as a reminder of God’s response to Noah after the flood.

    Genesis 9:12-15   And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ‘ When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.

    The rainbow is not merely light, not merely weather, not merely beauty, not merely folklore.  It is a reminder of God’s covenant mercy.  Every rainbow silently proclaims: “I keep My promises.” The Christian doesn’t deny physics.  The Christian believes physics explains how God makes the rainbow, not why He gave it significance.

    Like the rainbow, all of God’s miracles are a sign.  And signs are only valuable if they point beyond themselves to the true destination. 

    Take this cartoon of a family on vacation in the American West.  They stopped their vehicle to take a family selfie in front of the sign that says “Grand Canyon just ahead.”  Having snapped their picture, they jump in the car and head on their way.  And the small boy is saying, “But we didn’t even see the Grand Canyon.”  

    Shirley and I once traveled to France with a couple, and the man was like the dad in the cartoon.  We went to the small town of Amboise and stood across the street from Leonardo Da Vinci’s home, which is now a museum.  And this guy says, “Okay, let’s go to the next town.” And Shirley and his wife say, but we want to see Da Vinci’s house.”  To which he replies, “Well, there it is.  We’ve seen it now; let’s go.”  We didn’t want just to see the sign and the outer wall on the street; we wanted to see the house, to see where he painted, to see the workshop where he designed his inventions.  So we made another trip back (without him).

    A view through a fence across the street is not the same as seeing the house.  Having your picture taken in front of a sign is not the same as seeing the Grand Canyon.   Some people think the miracle is the thing. But it is only a sign pointing to the real importance.  

    We can all see the same miracle and explain it in different ways.  We had supper with some friends this week and were telling them about another friend’s miraculous recovery from an incurable cancer.   One of them said, how do you explain that?  Was it just luck?  I said I believe God did it.  Now they regularly attend a church, but he had not even considered the possibility of God intervening in her situation.  

    When I was a resident physician at Boston Children’s Hospital, on the oncology (Cancer) wards, in a few months we saw three children healed of diseases that our science could not explain.  One had stage 4 cancer with large tumors that suddenly disappeared without treatment.  Two diagnosed with Leukemia had unexpected sudden remissions. Sitting around the conference table at rounds the next day, someone asked the head physician how these things could happen.

    Their cases seemed to have nothing in common; they were different types of Leukemia with different presentations.  He just said that odd things happen sometimes and it was just a coincidence that these happened together.  He said, “It’s random; they had nothing in common.”  I pointed out that these two cases had one thing in common, and that got the team’s attention.  “What was that?” he asked.  Before the infusion, these two families met together and prayed for each other, and they are convinced that is the reason for their healing.

    The attending said, “Well, you will run into people who see every little thing as an intervention by God.  Even though we all know better, you should not challenge their opinion about this.  We don’t interfere with their religious beliefs.” We immediately went on to discuss the other patients, and perhaps I was the only one in the room who didn’t consider their healing “a little thing.”  But it got me thinking not just about healing, but about all the “little things.”

    These people in Lystra saw the healing and immediately attributed it to the stories of the gods they knew.  

    Acts 14:11   And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!”

    At first, Paul and Barnabas didn’t know what was going on because they were speaking in their native language, Lycaonian, which our missionaries didn’t understand.  But they soon figured it out when the priest of Zeus brought out the sacrifice.  And the scripture tells us they “tore their clothes.” This is a Jewish expression of horror and grief, always done in the presence of blasphemy.  And what do they tell the people?

    Acts 14:15   We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

    We are just like you.  Don’t worship us.  Contrast that with Herod Agrippa from Acts 12. You remember he had James killed and was going to kill Peter, but an angel helped Peter escape.  And remember how this Herod died.  He came out in the theater in Caesarea Maritima dressed in his robes of silver, and the people proclaimed him a god.  Herod did not refute this but accepted their praise, and for that act of blasphemy he died.  

    This is a sin that God does not tolerate.  But many today are tempted towards that same sin.  Anytime you elevate a person to a status greater than others, you have made them an idol.  Paul said, “We also are men, of like nature with you.”  We are no different than you.  We are no better than you.  Do not elevate us to any position above you.  We are the same.  

    But our society elevates many people to a status better than others.  Sports stars are honored and worshiped.  Politicians are honored and worshiped.  Entertainers are honored and worshiped.  Social media influencers are honored and worshiped.  For 24 years, there has been a television show called American Idol.  We see the same thing even in organized religion, where some pastors or worship leaders are placed in some elevated status.  Paul said, “We are of the same nature as you.”  No one deserves praise and honor except our God.  

    Jesus warned of this temptation in the church:

    Matthew 6:1-6   Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

    “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

    And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

    Whenever you are placed in a position of honor, be quick like Paul and Barnabas to remind people that you are just like them.  If I have done any good in my life, then it is only because of God in my life.  All honor and glory go to Him who created me, sustained me, and directed me. 

    Genesis tells me that without God, I am literally nothing but dust.  We are all creatures of dirt, filled with life through the breath of God, filled with hope and love in the image of God, filled with the righteousness of His Son Jesus, and filled with the glory of His Holy Spirit.

    Don’t honor the dust; honor the God who made us more than dust.  

    Then Paul talks to the people of Lystra about rains and harvests (which may seem like an odd thing to say).

    Acts 14:17   He [God] did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.

    Paul is telling them that this miracle is not the first time they have seen God work.  He created the whole world, and He had been blessing them all through their lives with rain to grow their crops and food to eat, and He has blessed them with joy and gladness. Through all these things, God has been working all along.  And I think again about what my attending said in Boston:  “Well, you will run into people who see every little thing as an intervention by God.  Even though we all know better, you should not challenge their opinion about this.  We don’t interfere with their religious beliefs.  I later told this attending that I didn’t know better, that I too believed God did intervene in our world.  He smiled and said, “That’s nice,” and walked off.    Paul didn’t know better.  He saw every “little thing” as an intervention by God. 

    We tend to divide the world into the natural and the supernatural.  There are things that are ordinary, like rain and sunshine, and things that are out of the ordinary, like miracles.  But the Bible does not have this division at all.  The Bible sees that God is behind everything that exists.  Modern philosophy views the cosmos as governed by a fixed set of laws, such as gravity. Gravity is a natural rule of the universe.  It is natural for things to fall down.  But if, say, someone walks on water, then that is supernatural.

    But again, this false dichotomy is not how the Bible describes the world.  This division is man forcing his construct on the Bible.  And the danger of viewing the world this way is that you incorrectly imply that anything natural, like rain and storms and illness and death, occurs outside of the influence of God.  And this is not the way the Bible describes the world.  

    Paul attributes all of these things to God.  Natural processes like rain, harvests, and the birth of a baby are only natural because God made and sustains the world that way.  I have seen thousands of births.  And I saw God in every single one.  Yes, I know the science of reproduction.  I spent months studying all the intricacies of Embryology.   But I am convinced that none of those births I witnessed was outside the hand of God.   God gives life and no other.  It is God who causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust.  It is God who supplies our daily bread, and it is God who gives joy and gladness.

    Shirley and I were driving home from Atlanta a few nights ago, and watched the sunset’s changing colors ahead of us.  God brought us joy through the sunset he made.  Yes, my esteemed Harvard-trained attending physician in Boston, I am one of those who see every little thing as an intervention by God.  Because I am very sure of this: 

    John 1:3   All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

    God made it all, and he is sustaining it all.  He is at work in this world all the time.  This is what we have been talking about for some time.  God is constantly working all things for good for those who love him.  This day of my life is a gift from God.  My next breath, my next heartbeat, is a gift. So when you witness a miracle like healing, or the miracle of birth, or the miracle of the ocean, or a sunset, or the gladness of a feast, remember that the miracle and the birth and the ocean and the gladness are only a sign pointing to God and revealing His character to us.   There are no little things and big things.  All things were made by Him.  And He is sustaining and at work in all things.  Paul said it this way:

    Ephesians 4:6   One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

    Nothing is outside of God’s creation and influence.  The people of Lystra were amazed by the miracle, but they misunderstood its meaning. They stopped at the sign instead of following it to the One who performed it. Paul would not allow that. He tore his clothes because the greatest tragedy was not failing to see the miracle—it was seeing the miracle and missing God.

    That remains the danger today.  Just as some people fail to see the hand of God in the sunset and the rain, we can admire the healing, celebrate the provision, applaud the gifted servant, or treasure the answered prayer, yet never be drawn into deeper worship of Christ. Every act of God’s power and every expression of His daily kindness is a signpost saying, “Look beyond this gift. Look to the Giver.”

    So how should we respond to a miracle?  It’s okay to be like the child with the rainbow or like Shirley and me at the sunset this week.  Stand in awe at the beauty of the picture God paints every day.  But we must go further.  Again, the miracle, the sunset, and the rainbow are just signs that point to God. And our response to any of God’s actions is not amazement alone.

    It is repentance, worship, and faith in the living God. Remember, after Jesus fed the five thousand, great crowds followed him.  The problem was that they followed him because they wanted more free bread.  They wanted only the miracle, the sign, but that sign was pointing to Jesus as the Bread of Life.  They missed God because they were satisfied with only the sign.  Every miracle in Scripture and every miracle today ultimately points beyond itself to the person and work of Jesus Christ, who is God’s greatest revelation to the world.

    God is constantly at work in this world, so walk through this world with your eyes wide open.  Look for the work of God in nature and in others. Appreciate the little miracles of life and the big ones.  Be grateful for the sunshine and the rain.  Be grateful for the fruit of His labor.  Thank Him for a good meal.  Thank Him for the joy he brings in our lives.  But do not worship the gifts; worship the giver of all gifts.  

    1.  Witherington, Ben.  The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. 1998. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Location 11207.  

  • July 21, 2026 – Faith that can be Seen— Acts #48



    July 21, 2026 – Faith that can be Seen— Acts #48
    Acts. 14:1-7

    In Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas begin their first missionary journey.  They leave the home church in Antioch, Syria, and sail to the island of Cyprus, then from there to what is now Turkey. On this journey, they are in central Asia Minor, then called Galatia. So the book of Galatians is written to the churches he established on this journey.  Understanding the Jesus followers in these cities makes the book of Galatians much easier to understand.

    In the first town in Galatia, Pisidian Antioch, Paul and Barnabas preach in the synagogue, and some of the Jews and God-fearers there believe.  Paul delivers one sermon, and the next week the whole town comes to hear what he has to say.  The whole town shows up, but it quickly turns for the worse. 

    We tend to look back on these missionary journeys of Paul and friends as highly successful. And they were.  This is how the gospel spread and took a foothold in much of the known world.  But as you read through Acts, you see that these journeys were just one major problem after another.  But you don’t read much about Paul getting discouraged when things go wrong.  I mean, if your church decided to do an evangelistic program in your town, say they bring in some famous preacher and rent out the city auditorium or the stadium.  And you get some positive response to the revival, but the next week you find out that most of the town was so angry that the church leaders’ lives were being threatened and the city council voted to annex your church property and turn it into a garbage dump.  The uproar is so bad that the church staff and lay leaders have to move out of the county.   Now, would they call that evangelistic meeting a success?

    But that is what happens in the first city they enter in Galatia.  The people of Antioch stir up the city leaders, and Paul and Barnabas are run out of town.  So they go to the next city, Iconium, where they share about Jesus, and again some believe, but they discover that a group of people has plotted to stone them to death.  So they leave Iconium, and they go to the next city, Lystra.

    Acts 14:8-10   Now at Lystra a man was sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking.

    There is a lot in these 3 verses.

    There is a man who has paralysis, crippled from birth.  He had never walked in his life. And he is there with everyone else listening to Paul.  But he catches Paul’s attention.  The scripture says that Paul was looking intently at him.   The phrase “looking intently” (Greek: atenizō) is one Luke uses several times in Acts. It describes more than a casual glance. It is a focused, discerning gaze. Paul isn’t merely noticing the man’s physical condition; he is discerning something happening within him.  

    How many other people had seen the man lying there, unable to move?  Some may have looked at him in disgust, seeing him as just another beggar.  Others may have seen him begging in the streets so often that they looked over him, not giving him another thought.  Some may have felt that he was taking away from this preaching event and just taking up space. But not Paul.  Paul, through the power of the Holy Spirit within him, saw something different in this man.  He saw not the inconvenience of a beggar, but a soul that desperately needed grace and desperately wanted grace. 

    Let me tell you about one of my biggest failures.  We were living in Boston, and I was doing my Pediatric residency there.  And we had been struggling to find a church home there.  We tried several.  There was a church near where we lived that had a nice building, but the congregation had shrunk so much that they couldn’t afford to keep it up, so they shared it with 3 other churches.  So one week it was Presbyterian, the next Episcopal, and so on.  It was not for us.  I couldn’t get used to the hymnals that took out all the male references to God, so God was not our heavenly father but our heavenly parent.  Then we went to the nearby church, and everyone brought their pets.  There were lots of animals, but not much Jesus.  Then we found a church with a Baptist preacher from Mississippi. He had played football in the SEC!  A Southerner!  We thought we had found a place.  But it was at this church I experienced a major personal failure.  

    It was mid-winter in Boston, and there was a foot of snow on the ground, and it was bitterly cold.  And in the middle of the service, a homeless man came into the church, of course carrying everything he owned.  He sat down on a pew behind everyone else, and he made a bit of noise as he settled in.   Right away, several deacons approached the man and made him leave the church.  They sent him back out in the snow.   And I was so shocked I just sat there.  I regret to this day that I didn’t stand up immediately, follow the homeless man out, and make sure he found a warm place and got something to eat.  I failed to be a neighbor.  I realize he likely just came in to warm up, but that didn’t matter.  This was a man created in God’s image who was run out of God’s house of worship because he didn’t look like them.  I had to repent of my inaction on that day.  I pray those deacons also find their way to repentance.   You see, it matters how we look at people.

    How do you look at people?  Do you ever look intently?  Or do you just look over some people?  My precious wife has developed a built-in radar for seeing people in need.  She can spot a homeless person or a hurting person miles away.   That is a gift of God’s Holy Spirit.  And people in need are drawn to her.  We were in a crowded church lobby once, with 40-50 people there, and a stranger walked in the door, made her way past everyone else in the room right through the middle of the crowd, and headed straight to Shirley.  She needed help, and she was drawn to her.  It happens regularly.  She has eyes to see.  Do you see the needs of people around you?  Do you really see the people on the street and take the time to see their needs, or do you pass by?  

    The Bible has a lot to say about helping people in need.  Jesus tells the story of the man who was robbed and left for dead on the road to Jericho, and how several just passed by him and did not offer to stop.  Specifically, he mentions a priest and a Levite who should have been compassionate and stopped to help this man.  And then a Samaritan, who at the time was a hated group of people, stopped and went out of his way to help him. 

    We all know the story of the Good Samaritan, but how often do we reenact this story in our lives?  How many people have you passed by?  You may think that man with a sign that says he is hungry is just out to cheat people.  And he may be.  But like the man on the Jericho road, you really don’t know who he is, and you sure don’t know his intentions.  You might think you don’t have time to stop or that you don’t want to get involved.  Congratulations, you could be the priest or Levite in Jesus’ story.  Clearly, the point of Jesus’ parable there is to tell us that our default should be to help.  Everyone is our neighbor, and Jesus said the greatest command in the Bible included the one about loving your neighbor.  

    So in our family, if we see someone in need, our default is to stop and help unless we have a clear message from God not to.  I am sure that some of the people we stop to help are not as needy as they say they are.   We met a lady downtown one day, and she needed clothes and some food.  So we went off to gather some clothes from home and Goodwill, and to meet her at a restaurant downtown.  She didn’t show, and the restaurant owner insinuated that she was taking advantage of people.  But we were obedient to what God called us to do, and that is all we can do.  She is responsible for being obedient to God for herself.  Of course, we try to avoid just giving cash to people unless God directs us to.  I don’t want to be responsible for supporting anyone’s drug or alcohol habit.  But unless we hear God telling us to pass by, we feel we have a responsibility to help.

    Do you look intently at people, as Paul did, or do you look away?  Our God has created every person we meet in his very image.  That image may have been twisted by sin, but God loves them just the same.  Jesus died for that man that we pass by.   

    Paul looks intently at this man, and we are told that he saw “that he had faith to be made well”.  Paul looks at this man and sees his faith.  This is an important point.  Faith is something you can see.   

    We often talk about “faith” as if the word is simply a belief you have.  We say, “What faith are you?”  “Do you have faith?”  “Is your faith strong?”  But that is not the way the Bible talks about faith.  The Bible talks about faith as not a belief or idea in your mind, but an action you can see.  Faith is something you do, not something you think.

    We see this same phrase in a story recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  And, interestingly, like our story today, it is a story about a man who is paralyzed and cannot walk, who one day drops in on Jesus.  And he literally drops in.  You know the story.  Jesus is preaching, and such a crowd has gathered that it was hard to get near to him.

    And there are these friends of the paralyzed man who heard Jesus was there.  So they grabbed the four corners of the paralyzed man’s blanket and brought him to Jesus.  But they couldn’t get anywhere near him.  So one of them had the bright idea of tearing a hole in the roof and lowering their friend into the room where Jesus was.

    Mark 2:1-12   And when Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home.  And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them.  And they came, bringing to him a person with paralysis carried by four men.   And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the person with paralysis lay.  

    And what does Jesus say?  I have to say my first impulse would be to say, “Hey, you’re going to have to pay for fixing that roof you tore up.”  But Jesus ignores the hole in the roof and instead focuses on the people.  It is not that Jesus doesn’t care about property or someone’s home, but Jesus cares a whole lot more about people than buildings.  

    God rescued his people from Egypt, a land with a religion that was all about buildings more than people.  Unless you were pharaoh or one of his nobles, people were disposable.  Egypt was famous for sacrificing workers and slaves to build great temples, working them literally to death so they could build these magnificent temples and statues.  They worked thousands of enslaved people to death to mine copper, disposing of their bodies in a great heap like the slag that is the leftover worthless rock you get when you remove the copper from the ore.  Now I have seen some amazing, beautiful houses of worship all over the world.  But let me tell you, our God is more interested in building people than buildings.

    So in this Bible story of the paralytic lowered through the roof, the Bible says this:  “And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’” Jesus doesn’t see a hole in the roof; he sees faith.

    These four friends went to great trouble to get their paralytic friend to Jesus.  They tore a hole in the roof and dropped him in, knowing they would be responsible for repairing it.  They would not have gone through this trouble if there had been any doubt in their minds that Jesus could heal their friend.  They were certain that Jesus could heal, and this certainty was expressed in their actions.  Faith is what they did for their friend.

    Let’s look at this differently.  Say these friends only had a ‘little bit of faith’ in Jesus.  Suppose they thought there was a possibility that Jesus could heal the man, but they weren’t quite sure.  I would imagine they went back home when they approached the house and saw it was impossible to reach the door.  So, this ‘little bit of faith’ would lead to inaction.  Is that really any faith at all?  No action, no faith — no faith, no healing.

    In Matthew 17, there is a story about a boy possessed by a demon. The disciples are unable to help him. Jesus rebukes the demon, and the boy is healed. This leaves the disciples wondering and gives Jesus a chance to teach a lesson about what faith is.

    Matthew 17:19-20   Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

    Here, “little faith” (Greek oligopistia) means having faith less than a mustard seed.  The black mustard plant in Israel grows wild all over.  I have seen it on the banks of the Jordan and along highways outside of Jerusalem.  This mustard seed is even smaller than your local grocery store’s 1 mm mustard seeds. It is like a grain of ground pepper.  Jesus is saying that any faith less than that tiny size is, in effect, no faith at all. Little faith in the Bible means zero faith.  Jesus tells them they failed because they had no faith.

    R.T. France, in The New International Commentary on the New Testament, says it this way:

    “Faith is not a measurable commodity, but a relationship, and what achieves results through prayer is not a superior “quantity” of faith but the unlimited power of God on which faith, any faith, can draw. The disciples, Jesus implies, had failed to bring any faith at all to bear on this situation.”1

    Results are not based on the measure of your faith, but the power of God.  You either have confidence that God can do what He says or you do not.  There is no in-between.  There is faith and no faith.  You have faith, or you do not. 

    “Faith is a relationship,” France said.  You can think of it as trustworthiness. You may have heard people talk about “blind faith.”   But our faith in God is never blind.  It is the result of built-up trust over the years.  This is one reason it is so important to study your Bible.  Throughout the Bible, we see God’s faithfulness in keeping his promises and being a reliable covenant partner. Trust builds in the relationship as one repeatedly proves himself true to his word. Our faith is not blind but is based on a long history of God always keeping His promises in the Bible and our relationship with Him, in which we likewise experience the reliability of His word and covenant with us.  Your trust in God, your faith, grows with every day you experience God’s reliability in keeping promises to you.  

    And every time you step out to do something for God, and you watch Him show up and do God things, then your faith grows.   Conversely, if you don’t step out and do bold things for God, if you don’t attempt things that are impossible for you, then you never give God room to do any work, and you don’t get to see God show up, and so your trust in God never grows.  Let me say that again.  If you only do things you are capable of doing, if you only do things you are comfortable doing, if you only do things you can accomplish without God’s intervention, then you never get to see God work.  You never see His miracles.  And you have no faith.

    Do you want your faith to grow?  Then, today, ask God to lead you to do something too hard for you —something that makes you uncomfortable—something that is impossible for you to do unless God steps in to help.  Then when you are struggling through that task, watch God do God things.  And as you build a lifetime of experiences, seeing God show up over and over, your trust in God grows, and your faith grows.

    And just as we see God’s faithfulness in His actions in the past, He sees our faith in our past actions. Back to verse 9: “He listened to Paul speaking.  And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well.” What Did Paul See?

    Luke doesn’t tell us exactly what Paul observed, but we can make several reasonable observations. First, he saw a Man Who Was Completely Engaged.  Verse 9 begins: “He listened to Paul speaking.” The Greek tense implies continuous listening. A crowd has gathered.  Imagine the scene. It is not hard for me to imagine.  I speak in a church.  I look out at people, and sometimes some are distracted, some are skeptical. Some in the back are whispering.  Some are on their cell phones.  Some are just too tired to pay attention. 

    But this disabled man is locked onto every word Paul says.  Why?  Because he has a need, and Paul is offering him what no one else can — hope.  He has been disabled all of his life.  He has never walked.  No doctors can help him.  He has lost hope that he would ever be able to walk.  He is deeply aware of his need.  Every day, he relies on someone to help him with everything, and he is forced to beg for food to live.  He knows his need. 

    If you are about to purchase a vehicle, then you pay attention to the commercials about the deals currently being offered.   If you don’t need to buy a car, then you probably ignore them.  If you are thinking of taking a family vacation and someone is telling you about the great place they went to and what a good deal it was, then you are listening.  You are writing down the website; you are asking questions because you need this information.

    In the same way, some people who come to church are more tuned in to what is being said because they know they have a need. It is like the beatitudes. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount,

    Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

    Blessed are the people who realize they are spiritually destitute.  The people who know they need the forgiveness that Jesus offers.  People who realize that they are sinners and there is no way outside of God’s grace and mercy that they can ever gain forgiveness.  People who know that their righteousness is as filthy rags.  People who realize that they have nothing to bring to the table.  Jesus says these people are the fortunate ones.  They are the blessed ones.  Why?  Because it is only when you realize your need that you can accept God’s answer for sin in Jesus.

    People who think they are perfect do not need Jesus’ forgiveness.  Jesus can’t help them.  Another Beatitude says:

    Matthew 5:6  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

    This man, who could not move his legs, could not work and earn a living.  He was a beggar.  Every day, his only hope of being able to eat was that people would have mercy on him and give him some coins. He knew his status.  He was desperate for hope, for healing.

    So let me ask you, how do you encounter God this morning?  Do you come to church feeling good about yourself?  Do you come knowing that you are doing pretty good? Hey, you are doing better than most of the people where you work or where you live?  Do you see yourself as good? Or do you come before God like this man in Acts 14? He hears about Jesus, and he desperately needs what Jesus has for him, so he is all in.   Or like Isaiah in the temple in Isaiah 6.  Isaiah sees God and realizes the amazing glory of God and his sinlessness, and then he looks at himself and says, “Woe is me. I am unclean.”

    What is your attitude as you come to worship?  How do you enter God’s presence? It is like the example Jesus gave of the two men praying in the temple.  

    Luke 18:10-14  Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

    You have to know your own spiritual poverty before you can know the riches of His grace.  But when you accept Jesus as your lord and king, then he imparts to us His righteousness.  He wipes away our sin-debt.  And we stand before God righteous.  

    I understand Paul.  I can look out across a congregation and see faith.  Faith listens; sometimes it takes notes; faith leans in. This man in Lystra in Acts 14 had never walked.  Not once. There was no medical treatment for him, no physical therapy, no hope. Then Paul begins preaching Jesus.  Perhaps Paul’s message included Jesus healing the lame. Perhaps he quoted Isaiah 35:  “Then shall the lame man leap like a deer.” Maybe the man’s face changed.  Maybe his eyes widened.  Maybe tears formed. Maybe Paul saw someone thinking, “Could this be for me?” And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking.

    His faith became evident to everyone when he sprang up.  Again, this is a man who had never stood on his own before.  If he didn’t have faith, he would have just told Paul, “I can’t stand up. I have never been able to stand up.”  Just believing what Paul said about Jesus would not have been enough.  He had more than just an acceptance that Jesus was who Paul said he was.  He had confidence and trust that God would do what He said He would.  He was so sure that he didn’t hesitate to do something that seconds ago would have been impossible for him.    This is the difference between faith and belief.   

    You may have heard someone say before that all you have to do is believe in Jesus.  Sorry, but that is not enough.  The Bible tells us the demons believe.  That gets you nowhere.  You need more than belief.  You need to have enough trust, confidence, and faith in God that you are willing to go wherever God says to go and do whatever God says to do.  If you have no obedience, you have no faith.

    Look at the characters in the Bible to learn about faith. How about Noah? Before a drop of rain fell, Noah spent decades building an ark.  Noah could have said, “Hey God, I believe you about the rain, I guess, but building a boat?  I don’t think so.” People saw and heard his faith because they heard him hammering, day after day, building a boat where there was no water.  Faith makes noise

    Take Abraham.  His faith became visible when he packed his belongings and left Ur without knowing where he was going.    Faith always leaves footprints.

    And Moses.  By faith he kept leading the children of Israel through the wilderness despite all the difficulties.  They faced armies, they walked through a sea, they overcame hunger and thirst in the desert.  Faith keeps going when the way seems impossible.

    How about Blind Bartimaeus in the New Testament?  Remember, he heard Jesus was passing by, and he kept calling out for mercy over and over.   Even though the crowd rebuked him, they told him to stop bothering Jesus.  But he refused to stop crying out.  When everyone else wanted silence, faith kept shouting.  Faith doesn’t shut up.

    Belief is never enough.  You must have faith, and faith has actions. James would later write:

    James 2:17-18  So also faith by itself, if it does not have actions, is dead. Show me your faith apart from your actions, and I will show you my faith by my actions.”

    Faith is invisible like the wind. You cannot see the wind itself, but you can certainly see the trees moving. Do people see your faith? Imagine if someone watched us during worship, Bible study, or prayer. Would they see faith? Would they see people expecting God to speak?

    How about the way you live your life? People are watching you.  Do they see your faith?  Do they see your confidence in God’s promises in the way you live? Do they see your hope in times of suffering? Do they see obedience that doesn’t make sense apart from trust in Christ? Do they see your faith?  Because the things you do reveal your faith, or your lack of faith

    Hebrews 11 is called the roll call of faith; it talks about the people of the Old Testament, what they believed, and what they did as a result.  It tells us how we see their faith.  And then it says this:

    Hebrews 11:6  And without faith it is impossible to please God.

    I told you at the beginning how Paul, the guy we see as the most successful missionary of all time, was asked to leave Antioch, and then he quickly left Iconium because they were about to stone him to death.  Well, spoiler alert: next week we will see that in this town with the person with paralysis, Lystra, Paul is stoned by a mob and dragged outside the city and left for dead.  But Paul is a man of faith. So what does Paul do after he almost dies?  We’ll see next week.

    If Paul were preaching today and looked intently at us, what evidence of faith would he see? Would he see a person merely hearing God’s Word, or someone expecting God to act? Would he see comfortable religion, or courageous trust?  Would he see passive belief, or active obedience?

    The world cannot see Jesus with its physical eyes, but it can see the faith of those who belong to Him. Genuine faith is not merely something we profess with our lips; it is something that shapes our faces, our choices, our prayers, our generosity, our perseverance, and our hope. When faith takes hold of the heart, it always becomes visible in your life.

    1. France, R.T. New International Commentary of the New Testament – Matthew.