Rev. George
Miller
May 2, 2021
Acts 15:1-5
What an amazing year it’s
been- wouldn’t you agree?
All the places we’ve gone,
all the things we’ve seen, all the hundreds upon hundreds of people we’ve met!
What a joy!
To be roaming free,
traveling across the sea, gathering at people’s homes, meeting them in the
street, worshipping with them in the Temple!
Spreading the Good News of
Jesus Christ face to face, person to person!
Oh, I remember that day in Antioch
in which Paul and I were commissioned by the church and we were sent out to
Cyprus!
Everyone prayed and laid
hands on us.
We went from town to town,
across the island, soaking in that good sun.
We met that one magician who
proved to be a real fraud, so we set him right.
Then we went to the synagogue
in Pisidia and Paul gave this awesome sermon about the history of God and how the
scriptures lead up to Christ Jesus.
Wow- the people ate it
up.
They were so excited that
after service they came up to us and begged that we return the following
Sabbath so they could hear more about Jesus.
The next week, so many
people showed up they ran out of chairs.
Watching Paul in action amazed
me, because to be frank, he’s not much to look at.
Paul is not the most
handsome of men. He’s short in stature, got this big, hooked nose, unsymmetrical
face, and a really grating voice.
He’s not just ugly, he’s
ooogleee.
You know what oooglee is,
don’t you? That’s when someone’s so ugly
you look at them and say “ooooh, geee!”
But even then, there’s
something about him that just draws people.
You can’t really put your finger on it.
Some call it charisma; I
call it God.
There’s no other reason people
respond to Paul the way they do.
Clearly, God is using him in all his imperfections and annoying personality
traits.
So, Paul and I are doing our
thing, sharing the Good News, but a group of Temple leaders got upset, saying that
we are blaspheming the Lord.
But the Gentiles- they can’t
get enough. They come in droves to hear
about Jesus and they’re so glad and happy.
We went to Iconium. Nearly tore the city into 2- those who
believed, those who didn’t.
Making so many new followers
of Jesus, trying to set straight some of the lies other people were teaching.
In Lystra, there was the man
who couldn’t walk, and with just a word from the Lord, Paul encouraged him to
get back on his feet, which he did.
People were so excited that
they thought Paul and I were Greek Gods.
Of course, they took one
look at me and thought I was Zeus.
Paul? They thought he was Hermes- you know, the Greek
god who wears disco boots with wings on his heels?
Oh my Lord, I had such a
laugh about that.
No matter what we said, they
would not believe us. They even came and
offered sacrifices to us- food, drink, money.
Our popularity was so great
that a group of conservative traditionalists came along, dragged Paul out of
town and beat him to a bloody pulp.
We thoughts he was dead, but
Paul got up and kept on keepin’ on.
We continued our travels,
increased the faith, made so many believers, brought numerous Gentiles into the
family of God, even started a bunch of new churches.
When it was time to return
home, we got into a boat thinking about how excited everyone will be that we have
done all this ministry, all this outreach, brought all these people who had
been lost to the Lord.
It was like we literally lit
a lamp and swept and swept and swept until we found every lost and forgotten
coin.
We get back to Jerusalem all
excited to share this good news…and guess what the church leaders said…
“They must be circumcised
and ordered to do things the way they’ve always been done.”
Can you believe that?
No “hey, that’s awesome!” No “Wow- what great news!”
No “Thanks Paul and Barnabas
for putting your life on hold, going out into the highways and byways, and
getting a whole bunch of people revved up about Jesus.”
Nope.
Instead, they looked at Paul
and I and basically said “This isn’t how we do things here. You must follow the correct parliamentary procedure.”
Can you believe that!
Lives saved! Bodies healed! Lost found.
And all they cared about was if they were circumcised and doing what we
did, because that’s “how it’s always been done!”
Oooh my……
It about near killed my
spirit and enthusiasm. To go from seeing
all those happy faces to seeing their expressions of displeasure….
I’m amazed that Paul did not
just turn around and quit, go back to making tents or whatever he used to do.
This is the big question we
are now facing.
Thanks to the Resurrection of
Jesus Christ, we have this new energy, this new fire, and we just want to share
it with others.
But we have this real-world challenge-
how do we do it?
Do we stick with the way in which
it was always done?
Do we simply follow the Holy
Spirit wherever it may go?
Do we forget tradition and
do things that are entirely new?
Do we welcome in people who
are fresh to the faith and hold them at arm’s length until they conform to our
understanding and ways?
Who do we answer to? God?
The people? The past? The present? The future that’s yet to be?
Those are all questions Paul
and I are now left to wrestle with.
What I know is this- the
Good News of Jesus is just too good not to share.
The Good News of Jesus is
about welcome and kindness, justice and humility, healing and wholeness.
The Good News of Jesus cannot
be solely contained in a book or a box, a building or a set of ancient laws.
I think of all the places we
have been, all the people we have seen, all the hungry that has been fed, all
the lives that have been transformed…
…and all I know is that
there must be a God and that God is real, and that, for me, Jesus is the way, the
truth, and the light.
So we keep on going, we keep
on sharing, and we keep on living the Good News, no matter what others may say.
Amen.
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