Acts 28:11–31

Paul to Rome

Paul ‘rented’? v. 30.

Pretty cushy outfit. “relaxed form of detention” (Peterson)

Phil 1:13 “13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.”

Acts 28:20 “20 For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.””

v. 15: “I’m not trying to go against Israel, I just know what’s best for Israel!” It’s the gospel!

Proclaiming the Kingdom in the Center of the Political Universe

Isaiah passage:

What do you hear but don’t understand?

Who is God?

What is the gospel?

Who is Jesus?

Define the Trinity?

Is Mary the Mother of God?

Did God die on the cross?

Did the Father really turn his face away?

Does God have reckless love?

What is required?

Verse flanked by the content of what needs to be heard!

Kingdom

Teaching about Jesus from the Law and Prophets

Teaching about Lord Jesus Christ

Breaking down the passage:

All day explained two things:

Testifying to the Kingdom

Trying to persuade about Jesus from the Law and Prophets

When they were not persuaded, Paul ticks them off by quoting from Isaiah 6:9–10.

Breaking down verses 26–27

“You will indeed hear but never understand,

and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

WHY?

v. 26:

Hearts are dull/calloused

Ears can hardly hear (what’s that?)

Eyes are closed

v. 27:

LEST they see with their eyes

LEST they hear with their ears

LEST they understand with their heart

Turn and I would heal them:

Liberation:

And so this past week, I asked my grandmother what it was like to experience the taste of victory after a war…

Grandma Benjamins is my only grandparent still living, and she is one of my faith heroes. She has lived through a lot. She grew up in the northwest corner of The Netherlands, which, if you know you geography, would have made them direct neighbors to Germany. Nazi Germany occupied Holland when my grandma was just 8 years old: May 10, 1940. Fortunately for her, she lived out in the country on a farm. That meant they always had enough food to grow and give out to others. But for 5 years they lived under this constant threat and fear of this foreign invader. They witnessed things that would require a book to share.

But for our purposes this morning, I want to share with you a story that was once published in her small town newspaper called the Blyth Citizen. In this article, Grandma shares what it felt like for Holland to be liberated from Nazi Occupation. After 5 years of constant threat and constant fear of things getting worse, on May 5, 1945, the German army surrendered in Holland.

And so to celebrate this victory, soldiers in full gear and tanks would go through town after town to share the news and to celebrate together the long awaited victory over the enemy.

This is what my grandmother remembers so well: As a 13 year old girl, she remembers lining the streets and watching the parade of soldiers and tanks go down the streets of her little town. She remembers that no one ever went out like this. But she says, everyone came to town to celebrate. She recalls the soldiers passing out chocolate bars, which was a real treat for them! Maybe once or twice a year would they get to eat chocolate, so this chocolate represented something powerful. She said to me this past week, “Today you can eat chocolate every day, but as a child, it was only for special times.” And this, this was a special time. Chocolate was the sweet taste of victory! She recalls people just screaming out to the soldier- thanking them, singing together, rejoicing together.

She said, in her beautiful Dutch accent,

“Mark, I can not explain how happy we were. I have never experienced anything like it. People back then, you know, they just didn’t come together in public like this, but here everyone came! You just had to be there… I have never been so happy in my life.”

She said she remembered going to church afterwards and even remembers what the preacher preached that Sunday. Psalm 66, or, as she puts it ‘P-salm 66’:

1Shout with joy to God, all the earth!

2Sing the glory of his name;

make his praise glorious!

3Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!

So great is your power

that your enemies cringe before you.

4All the earth bows down to you;

they sing praise to you,

they sing praise to your name.”

That phrase, ‘I have never been so happy in my life,’ hit me. She was 13. Later on in life, she would have 7 kids. 35 grandkids, and now a whole slew of great grandkids with more rabbits coming! She loved her husband, immigrated to Canada, lived a successful career as a farmer’s wife. She had plenty of moments of joy in her life. But that feeling of relief back in 1945- that moment produced a once in a lifetime feeling?...

Let me wrap up this morning with my 13-year-old grandmother watching troops parade through town. What I didn’t mention was that the country that liberated Holland was, in fact, led by Canada. Thousands of Canadian soldiers died for that liberation to happen. It was also Canadian soldiers who through the streets of small towns to announce victory. It’s no coincidence that my grandparents moved to Canada. It’s no coincidence that many thousands of war-torn Dutch immigrants moved to Canada in the 1950’s and 60’s.

The happiest moment in my grandmother’s life changer her forever to the point that my grandparents moved an ocean apart to start a whole new life. They left everything behind and started new.

Introduction:

Listen to Glisten Sermon Series:

Witness to OneRomans 10:9-15:  If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”  12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

Book Ends with Paul Preaching

Paul’s Finally in Rome!!

Paul’s Calling: Preach the Gentiles!

Goes to Rome and doesn’t give up on his own people…

Jews unbelief was a fulfillment of Prophecy spoken by Isaiah. Isaiah 6:9-10 are quoted by all four Gospel writers. This was a huge deal!

Missing Jesus

They missed him!

Missed the Boat

Last Plane out of Vietnam

The Conundrum

Conclusion:

Matthew 21:43-44 “43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.””

20-50,000 Jews in Rome at the time.

At least 11 synagogues by AD 60.

INTRODUCTION:

Book ends with this huge problem:

The Messiah has come and the Jews missed him!

v. 23: “From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.”

These two items were controversial enough, but NOT what ticked off the Jews...

“They departed after Paul had made one statement”

v. 26:  “ ‘Go to this people, and say,

“You will indeed hear but never understand,

and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

Quote from Isaiah 6:9-10.

4x in the Gospels

1x here in Paul...

“You talking to me?” “You talking to me?”

This conundrum I think has a lot to say to us today...

BROKEN BODY PARTS

TURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM!

Breaking Down Verse 27

Broken Hearts Can’t Pump

v.27: For this people’s heart has grown dull...

…Lest they understand with their heart.

(highlight the heart)

They have hearts that have grown dull… Calloused.

Hearts that get hard can’t pump blood.

Heart=center of your being. Literal organ that points to our spirit, character, person.

A broken heart will kill you!

Grandma’s heart valve. Congestive heart failure… Replaced with a pig valve.

Broken Ears Can’t Hear

“and with their ears they can barely hear...

[Lest they hear with their ears.”

Problem? Their ears are broken!

When I last saw my grandmother, she couldn’t hear me… No matter how loud I got, she depended on Judy who was sitting right beside her to speak to her. She couldn’t hear lower frequencies…

If you can’t hear it, you can’t receive it.

Broken Eyes Can’t See

“and their eyes they have closed...

lest they should see with their eyes”

They can’t read because they are closing their eyes

Are you seeing this?!

Chiasm:

A-B-C-B-A Poem

When things don’t fit the pattern, you have to pay attention to it! So what’s not in the pattern??

TURN AND I WOULD HEAL THEM!

Repentance is at the heart of this passage.

Solution:

TURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM!

v. 27: !!TURN!!

Lest they should see...

Lest they should heart...

Lest they should understand…

David Peterson: “In this form of rhetoric, although God’s desire is that they might see, hear, understand, and turn, it is expressed negatively as a mocking challenge. It is like trying to persuade people to action by saying, ‘You would never do that, would you!’”

You want a fixed heart?

You want your hearing restored?

You want your sight back?

!!TURN!!

Turning is hard...

Story about immigrant women who faced depression.

Turn from their own way of doing things.

Turn from their own failings

Turn from a life of destruction.

Turn from their old culture. Total turn the other way.

Grandma and Grandpas Immigration

In order to be healed, you need to turn!

Application

??So what shall we do??

What shall we do??

Stay Vocal:

Dare people to listen to you!

Doesn’t stop Paul!

Speech after speech, Paul never stops being vocal!

What is the content?

The Kingdom of God: Flanks this story...

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

My grandmother wasn’t his great evangelist, but she knew her Bible!

Uncle Ken story about

Show

Keep Local: Mission

- If you can’t BE mobile, you can still be local

- Documentary: Crook: Started Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, went on to start his own reality TV show searching for the next star. Ended up that’s he’s a crook and managed this ellaborate ponsey scheme, ends up in Jail, and what does he do? He starts a choir!!

But he just didn’t stop! This guy was on a musical mission!

No, Obviously Paul isn’t a crook, but he’s just as tenacious: If you can’t be mobile, you’ll still be local somewhere!

Paul influenced the world while in Rome.

Wrote II Timothy!

Love deeply where you are!

Holland. Farm. Chicken farm in Seaforth. Blyth. Hamilton.

Give Bifocals

Power of Rome vs. Power of the Kingdom!

Kingdom of God flanks Isaiah: That’s the content: Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ