The Gospel and the Grotesque

Children’s Sermon

Picture of a “get along” shirt?

Kindness to family God has given you. Kindness to all you come across. I get to see lots of families be ugly to one another…I’ve know of people forging wills, poisoning family members, fighting over insignificant things…you don’t always have to be close but you can always be kind. Watch out, God may put you in a “get along” shirt of your own?

Scripture

Acts 16:16-24 - One day, as we were going to a prayer place, we encountered a slave-girl possessed with a spirit of fortunetelling. She made a great deal of money for her keepers through her fortunetelling. She followed us around and would cry out, “These people are servants of the Most High God, and they are showing us the way of salvation!” She followed us many days. Finally, Paul, very annoyed, turned and commanded the spirit within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it did. But, her owners were not happy that a big source of income was now gone and so they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them before the rulers in the marketplace. They said to the legal authorities, “These men are Jews and they are disturbing our city. They are teaching customs that go against Roman law and order.” The crowd joined in attacking them and the legal authorities had them stripped and beaten with rods. After a severe beating, they threw them in prison and ordered the jailer to secure them carefully. Following these orders, the jailer put them into the innermost cell and fastened their feet in stocks.

Engage

Last week, I spoke about Paul’s mind-blowing, rather than mind-boring, life. Paul’s life of ministry involved a great deal of travel. Last week, we focused on Antioch (the Eastern One). Here’s a photo of the travels Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark take from Antioch. (PICTURE). Paul and those who accompanied him chose stimulation over shelter. Excitement over easy. Calling over careful.

Travel today is challenging and difficult. Travel back then I can only imagine. It took much longer and was far riskier than what we face today. Paul and his companions were, of course, traveling with a high purpose. Spreading the gospel on assignment from God himself. This purpose brought Paul, and anyone else (including us), face to face with realities of this world and the next unlike really any other purpose. If you’re traveling to sell tents, or shoes, or vacuum cleaners, or diesel engines, or what have you…Satan and his followers may not particularly care. But, if you’re traveling to spread the gospel to places / people where he currently reigns, Satan is very interested.

Encounter

Spreading the gospel will bring you face to face with evil. Spreading the gospel you will see grotesque, but you’ll also see glory. Our theme last week bears repeating…nothing about this work is boring. I can confidently testify that in the last 11 years or so of ministry, I’ve seen more grotesque than I likely did in all my life prior. I know more clearly now that things aren’t as they were originally designed, or as they should be, or will be. I’ve seen the grotesqueness of evil. I’ve seen the profound ability of humans to hurt one another and act in absurd self-protective ways. BUT, I have also see FAR more glory. Healing, joy, understanding, hope, fruits of the Spirit.

I think Paul understood this work spreading the gospel as thoroughly as anyone has. C.S. Lewis understood it, too. Even the title of the book this writing comes from shows C.S.’s understanding that I’m sure Paul did and would echo…The Weight of Glory. Glory has weight to it. It has lightness to it as well…but glory is best understood when you know the cost of it, the effect of it, the rescue of it, the importance of it. C.S. said this, and it made me think of Paul, in that book:

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you could see it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship…or, they might one day be a horror such as you might see in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the alertness proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. THERE ARE NO ORDINARY PEOPLE. YOU HAVE NEVER TALKED TO A MERE MORTAL.

Grotesque

Paul and his companions face numerous challenges as they begin their evangelistic ministry, aside from the challenges that come with traveling. Paul and Barnabas get into a very profound disagreement. Barnabas, you might remember, stood up for Paul and was a large part of the Jerusalem’s acceptance of Paul and his vision for the church. Barnabas also came and got Paul in Tarsus to take him to Antioch…we looked at that last week. We aren’t exactly sure all the specifics of the disagreement, but we know it was a bad fight. It likely had to do mainly with two things…first, Barnabas’s desire / insistence on taking John Mark (his nephew) along with them as they traveled, again. John Mark had flaked out on them once already and Paul had no desire to risk that again. Barnabas was encouraging, as we noted last week, probably to a fault. He likely wasn’t challenging enough…I’m sure you’ve known people like him, I know I have. Also, Barnabas had also been caught up with Peter in separating Jewish Christians from Gentile Christians at meals. Paul, I believe correctly, thought this practice was insane and deeply harmful. Paul had no desire to be ministering with anyone who might hold this view. So, Paul and Barnabas split. Barnabas and John Mark go off their way, Paul and Silas theirs.

Then, it seems God arranges for some cooling off time for Paul. As he and Silas travel, they pick up Timothy at Lystra and Luke likely at Troas. But their travels keep being frustrated. For a while, it seems, the only divine guidance they get is negative…not this way, not this way, nope, not that way either. I’m sure it was frustrating but it also gave Paul time to think and cool down.

And, they keep being confronted by people who disagree with them. Or, their activities get them in trouble. They get thrown in prison for delivering a slave girl from the evil that tormented her. They are smuggled out of Thessalonica at night to avoid a mob looking to harm them.

And yet, they see so much glory as well. Scores of people are believing their message and turning their lives to Christ. Although it gets them in trouble, the life of the slave girl is saved. Lydia and her household are converted. Their jailor in Philippi and his family are converted after an earthquake comes as their praising God from the innermost cell, in stocks, in the middle of the night. This is described in Acts right after our Scripture for the day. Luke and Timothy, key figures from this point on in the church, join Paul and Silas.

Also, Paul experiences a deep sense of fellowship among the churches and converts he meets with. Our word fellowship doesn’t really do justice to the greek word Koinonia when it comes to Paul. The profound joy, the miracles, the love, sharing, and caring Paul and his companions experience spreading the TRUTH makes all the grotesque pretty insignificant. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians, “These light momentary afflictions are producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal WEIGHT of glory.” Now you see where C.S. got the idea!

Spreading the gospel, you will see the grotesque, but you’ll also see glory. Glory that has eternal WEIGHT and makes the temporary grotesque ultimately fade into insignificance.

Empower

John Wesley’s ministry, 1700 some odd years after Paul, had similarities. Thousands upon thousands of miles traveled. John also saw the grotesque and John saw glory. On Thursday, October 20, 1743, for instance, John rode to Wednesbury. He preached around noon and felt the Spirit moving. That afternoon, he was writing at at a local person’s house when a mob came to the house looking for him. He prayed, and the mob dispersed but he knew they may come back at a later time. Before five, a mob had assembled again and were crying for him to be handed out. He went straight to the leader and shook his hand. Then, he asked the leader and two of his most agitated companions, and asked them what they wanted. And by doing that, he calmed them down considerably and the situation was diffused. And boy, oh boy, did John see a lot of glory in his ministry!

Spreading the gospel you will see the grotesque, but you’ll also see glory!

Pray