Easter 5 (6)

Acts 17:1–12 NIV84

1 When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he said. 4 Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women. 5 But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. 6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, 7 and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.” 8 When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9 Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go. 10 As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

One of the last things that Jesus commanded his disciples is what is known as “The Great Commission”. He told these chosen men whom he had taught and who would be empowered by the Holy Spirit that their purpose in life would be to “go a make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and teach them all things that he had commanded them.” It was a daunting task that would be reacted to in some very opposite ways.

In addition to those trained disciples, others would also take up the mantel of being missionaries as those they taught in turn taught others. And there was that special case; a man named Saul of Tarsus. His back story should be familiar to us. We were introduced to him as a minor character last Sunday. When the men were removing their cloaks so they could more freely stone Stephen, they laid them at the feet of a man named Saul. But Saul was more than a coat checker. He was their as an authoritative member of the Sanhedrin sanctioning the mob’s actions. He would intensify the persecution of the early Christians by leading the charge against the Christians in Jerusalem and then expanding the reach of the enemies of Jesus on an official mission to Damascus. But it was on that trip to Damascus that Jesus himself (the risen Christ) appeared to him and commissioned him. (quote) The book of Acts is narrative that summarizes the missionary work of St. Paul.

His approach to mission work was well planned and systematic. He would journey to important cities (often stopping at lesser burgs along the way). On the Sabbath he would seek out a gathering of Jewish believers in a synagogue if possible and preach a sermon showing that Jesus is the Christ. The message included law “You killed the author of life.” and Gospel. “God raised him to show he had died for your sins”. He did not come to talk about current events, the political structure of the city, the big bad Romans or the financial opportunities that came with being a Christian. He proclaimed the person and work of a relatively unknown teacher from Galilee who was put to death by the Roman government because some of his own countrymen had rejected his works and teachings.

How did the audience respond? The record of Acts for the cities of Thessalonica and Berea give a sampling of the typical response.

Acts 17:4–9 NIV84

4 Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women. 5 But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. 6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, 7 and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.” 8 When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9 Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.

Acts 17:10–15 NIV84

10 As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. 13 When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 14 The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. 15 The men who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

Application: The commission to preach the Gospel remains our number one priority as an individual Christian, a Christian congregation, a synod, and the church at large to this day. No longer is it limited to a handful of trained disciples preaching to different locations in person.

Resident pastors preaching in local congregations with a captive audience but also an audience who shares what they believe with people they already know during the week. (Coffee cup: Warning! I may start to talk about Jesus at any time.)

Video recordings of services from those churches available through the internet.

Missionaries sent to foreign countries to preach to and train new Christians.

Home missions which follow the population shifts that occur in our nation. (Most home missions are started with a core group of Christians who have moved to a new area from an existing congregation in another area.)

Seldom do we see in our nation of religious liberty the dramatic responses that Paul and other missionaries experienced. We do not have the shifts from sudden enthusiasm to blind rage. But we do see reactions on both sides if not the ends of the spectrum.

We can find several lessons in the narrative of the spread of the Gospel for us today.

As noted above, we are to be involved in the spreading of the Gospel according to the gifts and call ing that we have received.

If you cannot speak like angels, If you cannot preach like Paul, You can tell the love of Jesus; You can say he died for all. If you cannot rouse the wicked With the Judgment's dread alarms, You can lead the little children To the Savior's waiting arms.

3 If you cannot be a watchman, Standing high on Zion's wall, Pointing out the path to heaven, Off'ring life and peace to all, With your prayers and with your off'rings You can do what God demands; You can be like faithful Aaron, Holding up the prophet's hands.

As noted last week, we may suffer unjustly because we are conscious of God but our faith in Jesus will help us to persevere under trial in hope of success and personal fulfillment.

Lesson #2

How are we to respond?

I don’t assume any of the members of our congregation would respond negatively in open hostility.

Danger of disagreeing with the truths of God’s word.

Disregarding its authority and importance.

Letting a bitter root grow up amongst us.

Ambivalence.

Positive: Be a Berean. Listen attentively to the message and compare it to the word of God.

Search the scriptures.

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I understand that sometimes the members of a congregation may become tired of the same preacher year after year. He is no longer a fresh voice as he preaches the timeless truths of God’s Word. St. Paul had a possible advantage over our resident pastors. His audience was always changing and the longest he was in one place was just over three years. What can we do if we get tired of just hearing our own pastor week after week? One response I would recommend is augment his message with the voice of other confessional preachers. Most people have access to this thing Al Gore invented called the internet. Look for other WELS churches that provide videos of their worship services and listen to sermons on the same text or theme and use this as a way to grow in your faith as well. Amen.