Acts 20

How To Be No One

There is a well known saying when it comes to Humility. It is not to be found in the Bible as a discrete saying, but the principles that underlie it certainly can be found in some way shape or form in every book of the Bible.

And it goes like this: Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself, but rather thinking of yourself less.

A humble person will focus on other people, encouraging them and building them up, because they are not threatened by them. They know their own sin, they know their faults and weaknesses, they are not trying to prove themselves to anyone or compete with anyone, so they take delight in building others up and discovering gifts in others and encouraging others to use their gifts to build up the body of believers and to minister to those in need.

Paul was, in the first instance, before his salvation, an arrogant man. He thought highly of himself, his education, and his righteousness. And as such any and all humility that he might have exhibited to others was just that, an exhibition, of the type that Jesus warned about when it comes to zealous Pharisees.

Matthew 23:1–7 “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.”

(Philippians 3 Paul talks about how he shared in that collective arrogance with the Pharisees, but after coming to know Christ he counted all the things that he thought made him righteous, he counted it as garbage)

But that is not Paul now. We get glimpses of the old Paul in these accounts, and I feel almost guilty taking pains to point out the places where the old Paul, the old man, shines through occasionally, because he is in fact a new man in Christ with a new heart which his life and death give testimony to, but I think it important to highlight Paul’s continued sins and failures because otherwise we risk making out Paul to be perfected, to be sinless and therefore not like us and that is dangerous. All the men and the women in the Bible are JUST LIKE US. They dressed differently, spoke different languages, and ate different food, but they were no different than us. They were petty, lustful, confused, lazy, indifferent, arrogant in the flesh just like us and they were, In Christ, glorious, loving, forgiving, holy and capable of incredible things, just like us.

But what I want to focus on in the passages before us this morning, as I said, is Paul’s humility, which is not of his own making, but is rather a reflection of the humility of Christ that Jesus gifted to Him on the road to Damascus, even as the faith God has given you, gifts you in turn with humility, whereby you think of yourself less.

Acts 20:1–6 “After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.”

If you will recall, this was a man who was just recently physically constrained by his friends from rushing in to help his other friends, whose lives were being threatened by a huge mob of thousands of people, all of whom were united against the preaching of Jesus Christ in Ephesus. Now, by God’s grace, the mob ended up not killing anyone that day, but the threat is constant against Paul and any person who came to believe in Jesus Christ in those days.

But what is he doing? Is he feeling sorry for himself? Is he moping around, depressed, because he personally and people whom he loves are under attack? No, he is encouraging others. Comforting them. That word, παρακαλέω, is a common word in the New Testament, and it can mean to exhort, or encourage or comfort. It is the same word used in the beatitudes when Jesus tells us that those who mourn will be blessed, for they will be comforted, παρακαλέω.

Paul is not concerned for himself, he focuses on others to build them up.

Paul spends time arranging for a sailboat, probably a merchant ship, to take him to Syria. But somehow this is thwarted, because he finds out that there is a plot to kill him somehow related to this trip. Probably he found out someone was planning to kill him while at sea on the ship.

So he had to cancel his trip. Have you ever seen at an airport the way some people will treat the staff if their flight is canceled for any reason? Paul had to cancel his trip, not due to weather or overbooking, but because he was concerned he would be killed if he used that ticket. But Luke records no severe consternation about this or anger or vengefulness. This is not the old Paul, this is the new Paul.

No matter, he changes his plans. He will not take that trip that way. He will return the way he came, overland, through Macedonia. Notice Paul’s humility. The Holy Spirit uses Paul frequently in miraculous ways on these missionary journeys. Jesus is establishing His church and Paul is one of His chosen vessels to bring the Word and He comes in truth and in power. Yet it almost seems as though the more power that is given to Paul, the more meek and humble he becomes. Or perhaps it is the other way around, the more humble and meek he becomes, the more the Holy Spirit gives him power. He does not demand of the Lord that He smite the enemies that are keeping him from taking the trip he, Paul, has planned. He does not spend any time at all, at least, none recorded here, complaining about it or worrying about it. He just accepts that the plan did not work out the way he wanted because the risk was too great, and so he does something different.

He is untroubled, because his focus is not on himself. It is on others, and, above all, on the Lord, his eyes are fixed on heaven and and other people, he is loving God and loving others, Christ has brought him into the reality of the greatest commandment.

Now, there is another bit of wisdom to be found here, only tangentially related to the wisdom of humility. And that has to do with wisdom itself.

There is so much wisdom to be found there. God may be with you, but he wants you to be wise. Innocent as doves and as cunning as serpents.

Matthew 10:16 ““Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

Don’t let this detail shoot by you unnoticed. Paul is concerned about this assassination plan and so he does not go on the boat. Just because the Lord is with you does not mean that you should not be wise or strategic or careful.

The Lord is making us wise people, discerning, able to judge things accurately. “The Lord Is With You” is not a substitute for personal wisdom and discernment.

Why is this important? Well, consider this boat ride. Paul could have taken the view, given all the ways that the Lord is using Paul to spread the Gospel, that no harm will come to him. That even though there are assassins on the boat, the Lord will sovereignly see to it that Paul is not harmed.

And certainly this is not something beyond God’s power. And if the Lord had told Paul in a dream or vision or just spoke to his heart that he can get on that boat and he will be OK, well, then, yes get on the boat.

But when Paul sees a dangerous situation, and the Lord is, presumably, silent in that moment, then he wisely, prudently, makes the safer choice even if it’s inconvenient. He does not use God’s presence or blessing as a substitute for his own reason and personal wisdom.

I think this is so important. God does not want us to be sock puppets. He does not want us to be weak or foolish. He wants us to grow and become thoughtful and insightful. Psalm 8 says that we have been made a little lower than the angels. That is how we were made, but what do we become, we become, a people who are able to judge angels (1 Cor 6).

So if you are walking in a bad part of town and there is a shortcut home but it’s through a dark alley, then avoid that shortcut and take the safer path home. Do not think to yourself I am a Christian and I have nothing to fear. And, anyway, if I take that route and I am killed then obviously it was my time to go because God could have protected me. The reason that is not wisdom, although it SOUNDS faithful, is because you are not exercising your God given personal wisdom, you are not growing or learning. It would be like a teenager who drives without insurance or registration because their dad is rich and so they will just pay for all the tickets. They don’t grow up because mommy or daddy will just take care of everything. That is not God’s will for us.

Proverbs 22:3 “The prudent see danger and hide themselves, but the simple go on and suffer for it.”

I have a friend and we argue about this a lot. He doesn’t lock his front door or wear a seatbelt because he just figures God will protect him. But this is not wisdom. If you take this philosophy to its logical conclusion then you will fall prey to one of Satan’s most clever temptations, with which he tempted Jesus Himself- throw yourself from this high hill- God loves you, so surely He will catch you and save you. But trusting God is not the same thing as testing God. We are to trust, not test. Sure, you don’t need to wear a seatbelt. But wisdom teaches that wearing a seatbelt will result in fewer injuries if you are in a crash. And I do not find anything in the Bible about the Lord rewarding a lack of wisdom.

Another way this kind of foolishness can manifest itself is through not taking any responsibility for any of your actions because you are a Christian and you believe you are following the Lord. You don’t need to be wise, you just need to be good. 2 theologians whom I admire both abused their wives by embracing this fallacy- AW Tozer and John Wesley. Tozer gave away almost all of his money from his published books and his pastoral position. They had 7 kids but his wife could not even afford to own a car. She was deeply unhappy in that marriage. Wesley married a wealthy woman, but because she did not need to be supported financially Wesley was free to travel and preach without concern for her practical support and he was almost never home. She eventually left him, saying that he was married to the revival, not her.

So these are all ways, I think, of using the Lord as an excuse to not be wise, saying that your faith, or your good intentions, or your personal holiness, means you don’t need to be concerned about the things of this world, but that is not actually wisdom, what it is, is pride, because you are in actuality using God’s presence or blessing as a substitute for wisdom, and that always ends up hurting the Kingdom in the long run.

So this is another way to be no one…to not think so highly of yourself that you do not need to be wise or cautious because the Lord will simply take care of all your needs and protect you from every possible harm. The Lord loves you to be sure, but He wants us to grow and to be able to think and reason and discern for ourselves.

Now here is another way to think of yourself less. Know that you cannot be effective in this life, in any regard, without the help, love, support, and prayers of others. Look at these names

Sopater son of Pyrrhus, from Berea

Aristarchus and Secundus, from Thessalonica

Gaius, from Derbe

Timothy (originally from Lystra)

Tychicus and Trophimus, from the province of Asia

7 people. From 5 different locations.

We know Timothy from the Pastoral letters, and a couple other people are mentioned here and there in the New Testament, but by and large we know next to nothing about these men, Biblically speaking. But we know from this passage that they were close to Paul, trusted, and aiding in his ministry. And we know that there were others surrounding Paul as well at various points in his ministry whose names we do not know.

Paul was not only never alone, he was usually with many people, part of a community. A traveling church, if you will. Paul was the tip of the iceberg, the part that you see above the water, but beneath him, far less visible, that is to say, was the supporting community that prayed for him, housed him, kept him safe, carried his message to their homes and their place of work, gave financially to support his ministry and so forth.

It is very much the church model with a pastor and group of leaders who rely completely, emotionally, spiritually, financially, practically, upon the offerings, work, and above all, the love of the community around them.

Paul is no one, first and foremost, without the grace of God, without the forgiveness of Christ and the empowering of the Holy Spirit, Paul is no one. But he is also no one without community. He could not have done all the things he did without the church sending him, going with him, protecting him, and providing for him.

And in the end, he is still no one. What is Paul?

1 Corinthians 3:1–9 “But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.”