Won Eternally, Raging Presently

Children’s Sermon

KU Football…trust in winning (basketball) or losing (football)...Watching ASU once playing an inferior opponent…they were down early but were the ASU fans worried? No, not really. We TRUSTED in the team…rightfully so. Can work both ways…when you’re used to losing, you can trust in that too. It takes effort and discipline to trust in the positive. Nothing wrong with building little victories to get accustomed to winning. Ultimately, the best thing you can do is to always trust first and foremost in Jesus…he doesn’t lose.

Scripture

Acts 23:9-15 - A huge and noisy quarrel began. Some of the scribal Pharisees contended vigorously that, “We find nothing wrong with man! What if a spirit or angel has inspired him, we shouldn’t fight against God.” This didn’t help and the quarrel became violent. The chief captain feared Paul might be pulled to pieces and commanded soldiers to go forcefully retrieve him. They brought him to the barracks. That night Jesus stood by him and said, “Keep your courage, Paul, for as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome.” The next morning more than forty Jews constructed a plot and bound themselves by oath that none would eat or drink until Paul was dead. They informed the chief priests and elders of the plot and their pledge. They demanded the council have the chief captain bring Paul to them and their plan was to kill Paul while he was being transported.

Engage

You know, friends, tragedies happen as much, or sometimes even more, to Christians as any other category of people. I’ve seen tragedy hit numerous Christian friends of mine. Yet, they never cease to amaze me. My friend and fellow minister of the gospel Sheldon, after being badly injured and losing his wife and teenage son to a drunk driver, said, “I don’t know what else to do but pray for that man.” My friend Monica singing, acapella, How Can I Keep from Singing at the funeral of her beloved father killed in a helicopter crash. Recently, the brother of a friend of ours singing beautifully, again a capella, at their sisters funeral after her sudden and surprising young death.

The Truth matters, folks. It matters for us. It’s mattered for countless disciples alongside and before us. It absolutely mattered to Paul.

Encounter

We talked about Paul in Ephesus last week. Well, he escaped Ephesus and returned to Corinth. And it was a joyful reunion. But he knew he was called to return to Jerusalem once again, with a sizeable offering from the Asian churches. He also wanted to get there for some important festivals…but he had to have known it was very risky. If he didn’t know, many tried to warn him. It was seemingly common knowledge that Jerusalem was a hot-spot, the hard-line Jews were still a formidable presence, and Paul going there was highly dangerous.

The lesson for me today from this period is that in times of turmoil and triumph, our takeaway is trust in Truth.

Paul knew this and so he decides to go to Jerusalem anyway. He knew by now there would always be wolves…that there was no place that was necessarily SAFE forever, and that SAFETY was far from his most important goal…he knew there were no shortage of people aligned to Satan, most especially for him among those supposedly religious. Now, originally he intended to sail directly to Syria but instead travels mostly by land to avoid a known plot against him. He also travels with a sizeable group…both for safety and, likely, for accountability back to the churches who gave the gifts. Even the journey is filled with miracles.

In Troas, Paul is preaching, teaching, lecturing, what have you…for a LONG time. Sometimes travel and a limited opportunity energize a person to give unusual effort…and it seems Paul does here. A young man there, Eutychus, doesn’t have so much energy. He’s listening while sitting in a windowsill. He dozes off and falls to the ground. He appears dead as anyone would expect…but Paul rushes over and revives him and then they dine together. After that, Paul goes BACK to preaching.

Later, Paul and his companions arrive in Jerusalem likely in the autumn of 57AD.

The leaders in Jerusalem, now nearly 10 years after Paul’s last fund-delivering visit, know there may be trouble as well. The leadership likely still agreed with Paul but all kinds of Jews were in town who didn’t. So, they hatched a plan to, in their eyes, hopefully calm nerves and foster peace. They decided Paul and his companions would spend a week going through a “purification” ritual in the Temple. Paul agrees…he has nothing against the Temple itself, though he believes Jesus is now the center of the faith. So, they go along. But it backfires. Truthfully, likely NOTHING, no plan, no ceremony, no words would change the minds of the zealots. Those against Paul have their minds made up and see this purification ritual not as helpful but as a desecration of the Temple. See, you could choose to see it two ways…James and the other leaders of the early church thought it would be seen as cleaning OFF any sin, dirt, what have you from the Gentile world. But those with their minds made up see it as bringing the sin, dirt, what have you from the Gentile world INTO the temple. Oops. It’s almost certain that the loudest Jewish voices came from outside of town, likely from Ephesus itself. They’d lost on their turf so they’d brought the fight to Jerusalem.

So, a riot begins. Paul is beaten, scratched, slapped, and only escapes thanks to the chief captain who comes and takes him to the barracks. This was in our Scripture for today. Paul then asks to speak to the crowds…they allow it, but it doesn’t help. Emotions outweigh thinking and they’ve already made up their minds anyway.

At this point, the Roman leadership in Jerusalem likely plans to beat the truth out of Paul…but then he reveals his Roman citizenship. How? Scholars think likely with a small wooden badge he carry and guard with his life, as would any Roman citizen, called a diploma! Interesting, huh!

So, back to prison while the leaders try and determine what to do with him. Then, Jesus appears to him again and encourages him…again, part of our Scripture today. In times of turmoil and triumph, our takeaway is trust in Truth. Jesus the Truth. It may not always SEEM like it, but he’s in charge!

The Jerusalem Romans decide to send him to Caesarea to avoid another riot…The Jews try to hatch a plan to kill him in transport but he hears of it through a nephew and tells the Romans. They guard him heavily on the journey. In Caesarea, a wicked governor named Felix defers judgment on Paul and waits two years for Paul to offer a bribe, which he never does. Then a new governor comes, Portius Festus is appointed there. He hears the case and thinks about sending Paul back to Jerusalem for a trial, but Paul appeals to Caesar. That was his right as a citizen.

But, Festus would’ve had to prepare a charging document. So he interviews Paul and then brings in Herod Agrippa, more familiar with Judaism, to help him. It’s possible that we have Luke & Acts as a sort of trial document for Paul. Regardless, they decide if Paul desires Caesar, to Caesar he will go. All of this ensure Paul’s gospel message is heard by some very important Roman leaders.

We’ll cover the journey to Rome and Rome itself next time I preach...

No matter what happens, in times of turmoil and triumph, our takeaway is the same as Paul’s…trust in the Truth…the person of Jesus Christ.

Empower

Jesus is most definitely in charge. Why does God allow miracles in some circumstances but not others? It’s a mystery. Our job is to Trust…that his Scripture is true and that he is good and loving. We can also trust that when the time is right…the fog will lift, the cloudy glass will become clear, and we’ll see our Lord face…to face…As Debbie, and Delores, and Benny, and Ken, and others are right now

Sometimes, we get crystal clear confirmation of the fact that Jesus was, is, and will always be in charge. There are many stories of impossible things but for divine intervention. Hear this one that you may or may not have heard before:

Mrs. Paul was the choir director of the West Side Baptist Church in Beatrice, Nebraska. It was seven o’clock Wednesday evening, March 1, 1950. Choir practice was set to begin at 7:30. Mrs. Paul and her daughter were NEVER late. But at 7:15, she finds her daughter asleep, accidentally. This was the first time they were ever late to practice. The other choir members had excuses too…one was having trouble with her homework, the car that would take two others wouldn’t start. Mrs. Schuster was normally ten minutes early but was detained at her mother’s house. Herb Kipf would’ve normally been early, too, but was writing an important letter he’d been procrastinating. Harvey Ahl was detained at dinner with friends and his two children as his wife was out of town. Lucille had to hear the end of a radio program and Dorothy waited for her. Pastor Klempel was late due to his wristwatch being five minutes slow. 18 people in all were late for choir practice, all with valid excuses. Never before or since has this happened. Wednesday, March 1, 1950 nobody was there at 7:30pm. It was precisely at that time when a natural-gas leak was ignited by the furnace. The church blew up and was completely demolished. The furnace was directly below the EMPTY choir loft.

In times of turmoil or triumph, our takeaway is trust in Truth.

Pray