A Model Ministry

Wanting the Glamorous

Kids these days tend to love the movies from the last decade or two because if you watch them, they are action packed, and move at a pace that make it impossible to get bored. But there are some classic children movies from days gone by that stand the test of time, and even though they might not be as fast paced, my kids at least still love them.

One such movie is Mary Poppins. There is something about Mary Poppins that really catches the imagination and it makes you dream.

I dare say you’ll likely remember the scene early in the movie when Mary Poppins has only just started as the new nanny and she plays the game of cleaning the room. But their initial horror at calling it a game is changed when it turns out magic is involved.

As they click their fingers, the toys and mess magically go away.

Now believe me, when I’ve helped my kids cleaning their rooms, we have on multiple occasions tried to emulate Mary Poppins by clicking our fingers, but sadly, as you might expect, the toys stay on the ground. We have not yet managed to make the room magically clean itself yet.

Now that should of course go without saying, but yet there is something about the spectacular that we want to emulate.

We watch sports stars and want to perform like them. I remember seeing the elite soccer players take free kicks where they bend the ball around the opposition and slot the ball in the top corner of the net. Of course when I tried that, the ball misses the net by a good ten metres.

We can do it with Christian ministry as well. We see some Christians and what they do can seem spectacular. And so we want to emulate them.

Pentecost

Today is also Pentecost.

Pentecost is a day which is given fresh meaning in the book of Acts.

It was the day which we think of as the birth of the church. Back in Acts 2, while the disciples were gathered together, we find a very spectacular scene.

Starting with the sound of a violent wind, what then appears to be tongues of fire separates and lands on each of the believers. They then all start speaking in various languages of the world as the Spirit enabled them.

As this scene moves on, we see that very morning Peter speaks to the crowds and at the end of the day, three thousand people were baptised and put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now if that isn’t spectacular, I don’t know what is.

And so we think, right - all I need to do is re-create the conditions of that Pentecost day in Acts 2, and this church will become a mega-church in one day.

But perhaps that sounds about as far fetched as me clicking my fingers like Mary Poppins and hoping the messy room tidies itself.

As the book of Acts continues, the spectacular continues. Miraculous healings. Powerful conversions. More people spontaneously speaking in tongues.

So, the question I want to explore today is whether we can use the book of Acts as a blueprint for ministry?

You see, where coming towards the end of May mission month where this year we’ve gone on mission with Paul. I’ve explored the nature of what mission is.... some of the problems we face in doing mission… and the power of the gospel at the centre of our mission.

But today I want to narrow in on the way we go about our mission.

And, as I have been doing this series, when I talk about mission, I’m using it in a very broad sense. I’m talking of any action which assists in spreading the good news of Jesus Christ to others, the good news that Jesus loves them and that there is life to be found in him. This includes actions we take locally in our own community, and further afield as we enter cross-cultural mission.

So, I want to think about the types of things we should be aiming for when we do mission.

Paul’s missions

Well, so far, I’ve gone through Paul’s first two missionary journeys, along with the big meeting in Jerusalem that we saw between the first and second trips.

On the first trip, he had an initial stop in Cyprus before spending much of his time in the region of Galatia, which was of course the destination of what is perhaps his first letter which we know as Galatians.

On the second trip which we looked at last week, he while initially thinking he was going to go into the area that was then known as Asia (not to be confused with the Continent that we call Asia), he actually took the gospel over to Macedonia and Athens.

We saw last week the powerful conversions in Philippi. The trouble that bubbled over in Thessalonica. The diligent Bereans. The battle of the intellect in Athens. And Paul settling down in Corinth.

As we enter the third trip, however, the narrative changes somewhat. Rather then simply describing these big events, Luke, the author of Acts, starts focussing in on the nature of the ministry that was happening.

In this way, we don’t get the same sort of memorable moments in the third trip like we do in the first two.

But that being said, let’s try to quickly unravel what is happening throughout this journey.

End of second trip

Now, last week, I ended while Paul was in Corinth. We read that after this he goes through Ephesus, where he leaves his new friends Priscilla and Aquila, but it would certainly seem at this point that it’s quite a flying visit as he goes back to what is essentially his home base in Antioch.

In Acts 18:23, it tells us he spends some time in Antioch, but then presumably the urge to go on mission again hits, and he sets out in much the same direction as the start of his second journey.

Again, you see his heart for connecting with his earlier work. He really wants to strengthen the disciples in the areas that he has previously been.

Apollos

Now, at the end of chapter 18, we get a brief picture of something that happens in Ephesus before Paul arrives there. And it involves a man by the name of Apollos.

Now this picture might seem rather incidental to the travels of Paul, but it actually illustrates my point rather well. You see, we’re told that Apollos has been instructed in the way of the Lord (v25), although who by, we’re not told and he has managed to replicate it using the gifts God has given him - but there is a big problem. There was a vital gap in what he knew about Jesus. It tells us that he only knew of the baptism of John.

Now the baptism of John is very important. It’s about repentance. We need this as preparation to come before Jesus. It would seem to me that he is completely unaware of the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the day we have today.

Thankfully however, Priscilla and Aquila are able to explain the way more fully - and Apollos becomes a central figure in the early church.

To Ephesus

Well, as we move to the start of chapter 19, we’re told that Apollos has now moved onto Corinth, while Paul makes his way to Ephesus.

And so what we find is that in this third journey, Ephesus really becomes to central location. Paul only briefly went through on the second trip, but he’ll really start to make a difference there now.

Twelve disciples

Interestingly, the account here starts with twelve disciples. Again it seems a repeat of the Apollos, because they only know the way of John’s baptism - but Paul lays his hands on them, and it is almost as if Pentecost is repeated. The Spirit comes on them and they speak in tongues.

Now this actually takes us back to the question I alluded to earlier. That is, is this Pentecost-like experience something we should be trying to emulate or not?

Well keep that question in mind, because I’m going to come back to it.

Seven Sons of Sceva

Now when we get to verse 13 of chapter 19, we get another interesting picture. This time involving seven sons of Sceva. These were some Jews who have obviously witnessed what Paul had been doing and got excited.

They must have seen Paul driving out demons in the name of Jesus and thought - here’s the spectacular. This is what I want to emulate.

But as the story goes, it doesn’t end well. In fact, it’s almost comical except that it is so sad. An evil spirit says to them: “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?”. They’re then overpowered with such a beating and run out of the house naked and bleeding.

There’s a sense in which this story is placed here as a warning that perhaps trying to emulate the spectacular without understanding what it is all about, will be very problematic.

The riot

Now I’m going to essentially gloss over the next episode that starts Acts 19:23, although it’s a fascinating account of a silversmith who becomes worried about his loss of income and starts what could well be described as a riot, only to be quelled by the city clerk.

Other travels

Now Paul stays in Ephesus for quite some time, but then as we get to chapter 20, the first six verses let us know that there was actually a lot more travel in this third trip, only we hardly get more than a flying mention of his destinations, despite staying three months in Greece.

But essentially these verses remind us of Paul’s comittment to go back to the places he previously has evangelised to continue to build them up.

And in fact, as Luke recounts the end of the trip, the focus remains, not on the events, but on Paul speaking to the disciples.

Eutychus

This is indeed what is happening starting at Acts 20:7 where we get again something which is almost comical in a twisted sort of way.

You see, we come to Troas and Paul has gathered the believers together.

It’s the first day of the week and we’re told that they break bread together - something which I want you to keep at the back of your mind because I’m going to come back to it.

But then he speaks to them for a long time because it is important to him that they understand what is important. Unfortunately, the tragic event happens when a young man by the name of Eutychus falls asleep while sitting in the window of a third storey room (obviously they didn’t do a site risk assessment!).

In fact, we’re told he falls to his death - but Paul true to form, goes down and brings him back to life. Interestingly, when they go back up, they break bread again - but again, just leave that bit of information aside because I’ll come back to it.

Now the point of that story is not that you shouldn’t preach boring sermons (as much as we might dislike boring sermons). Rather I’d suggest there is a better lesson as we look at the life giving spirit which is available to them.

The Farewell speech

But it is in the final speech to the Ephesian elders that I want to focus on for the remainder of this message, because it is here that all of this starts to come together.

It is in the passage starting at Acts 20:13 that we really see what is important to know when we go about our mission.

Now Paul actually avoids going back to Ephesus. I suspect he knows that if he goes he will get caught up there. So while he is at nearby Miletus, he calls for the Ephesian elders who come up to meet him there.

As they gathered, Paul starts describing what you might call his philosophy of mission.

So let’s have a look at it:

Persistence

One of the features of the speech, is Paul’s persistence.

He starts with an emphasis on the fact that it has been the whole time, from the first day, that he has acted the same way.

As he states, this persistence is in the face of much opposition.

Not only has that opposition been constant in the past, he knows that the opposition will continue in the next chapter of his ministry (something we’ll get to next week).

Preaching

Another feature is his preaching.

In verse 20 it says that he has preached anything helpful, and taught both publicly and from house to house.

In verse 27 he talks about proclaiming the whole will of God.

What is obviously so important to Paul is the passing on knowledge of the ways of God.

That’s because Paul knows there is power in this message - that was the lesson I looked at last week. He knows that as people repent and put there faith in Jesus, everything changes.

Humility

But what is also clear in this speech is a word that comes in verse 19 - Humility.

You see, for Paul, mission cannot be about yourself. That is one of the things that the seven sons of Sceva got so wrong. They wanted to do the things that would make them look great.

But we see in Paul ministry a desire to take the focus off himself. You might recall back in the first trip how a miracle resulted in the townsfolk calling him a god, something that Paul went to great lengths to correct.

In fact, it is in verse 24 where it really hits home. Paul says: “I consider my life worth nothing to mel my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace”.

And this starts to get to the answer the question I posed earlier, when I considered our desire to emulate the spectacular.

You see, the reason we want to emulate the spectacular is because we know that it will make us look great. Sure we might dress it up in good Christian language, but if miracles can be done through our prayers, or if we show people evidence of the supernatural gifts of the spirit, then people will know we’re amazing.

But this goes against the idea that mission is not about us. Mission must always be about God and what he is doing. Mission must give glory and honour to God. Not us.

Unity

The last aspect that I want to draw out of this farewell speech of Paul’s is the fact that Paul has a strong desire to see Christ’s church being built up and remaining strong.

In verse 29 he prophesies of the savage wolves that he knows will come in and separate them. He urges them to keep on guard.

It is for this reason that his ministry aims to build them up. Look at verse 32: he is committing them to God and his word of grace, which he says can build them up.

He worked hard to supply their needs (v34).

I want to suggest that the reason he is doing this is because he recognises that there is only one church. In verse 28 he refers to the church as the church of God. That’s not a reference to some denomination. It’s an acknowledgment that there is really only one church.

Breaking of Bread

Now, when I was talking about the Eutychus episode earlier, I briefly highlighted that they broke bread at the start of the meeting, and again straight after the miraculous raising to life.

I want to suggest a reason that Paul was keen to establish this pattern within the churches, which is one of the reasons Jesus instituted it in the first place.

You see, there is something inherently unifying about following this institution that we call communion. It is something that unifies all God’s churches. In remembering the body and blood of Jesus, we join together as one in the name of Jesus.

Our mission

Well, I’ve highlighted some of the aspects of Paul’s philosophy of mission that he outlines in this speech, but let me just highlight something he doesn’t say.

He doesn’t mention the miraculous healings or the speaking in tongues.

You see, while there was certainly a number of times where the spectacular occurred throughout his ministry, this is not what drove him. These things will happen when God does his thing, but we allow it to be the work of the Spirit, not something we long for.

So when we look at Paul’s missionary journey’s, what is it that we should be trying to emulate? Well I want to suggest that the answer to that question is to look at this speech.

He is giving this speech to the Ephesian elders because it is what he sees as important to pass on to them so they can be effective in their ministry.

It means we should be persistent in the face of opposition, always turning to God for help and guidance.

It means proclaiming the word faithfully at all times. That might look slightly different for each of you depending on your gifting. It could be preaching. Or it might mean just being prepared to give an answer to anyone who enquires. If you don’t have a gift with words, it might mean assisting those that do.

But as we persistently proclaim the good news, we need to always remember that this is not about us. We need to avoid the temptation to push ourselves forward.

Perhaps ask the question: if I don’t get any credit or acknowledgement for what I’m doing, how upset will I be?

Now don’t get me wrong, we all love to be validated, and it is important that we encourage one another, but are we doing ministry for our own recognition?

And is our ministry aiming to build up God’s church?

Are we building up, or tearing down?

Conclusion

There are times when you will look at the ministry of others with envy because something spectacular has happened.

Perhaps rather then looking with envy, perhaps we should just be thankful that God is active.

At the end of the day, this is not about us. This is not our mission. This is God’s mission.

So let me encourage you to be persistent in your proclamation that Jesus is Lord, humbly serving others and building up God’s church.

Or as our church mission statement says: love wholeheartedly, passionately sharing, and humbly serving.

Let me pray...