No Need To Hide The Light

Rejoice! God Is Generously Gracious!

1.9.22 [Acts 13:46-49] River of Life (The Festival of Epiphany)

For 170 consecutive years, their population has grown. Since they became a state in 1850, they have welcomed more people than they’ve bid farewell. But in 2020, California finally experienced its first yearly net loss in population.

Of course, people have been moving out of California for more than a decade. Over 6 million since 2010. But the beauty, the allure, and the opportunities that only California could offer had always attracted enough people to offset any losses. Some have dubbed it the California exodus.

I don’t want us to dwell on the why. But it is fascinating to me that a 170 year streak ended just like that. In fiscal year 2021, that number was more than 360,000. During that same fiscal year, our state’s population increased by almost 100,000. So that brings me to our word association game? What’s the first word that comes to mind when I say: Californians?

Over the past decade, but especially the last two years, our state and our community has been inundated with Californians moving here for good. Many who’ve been here a little while, don’t think that’s such a good thing. They're saying to incoming Californians, leave your California ways in California—or something to that effect. Maybe that is how you feel. Maybe not. But if you understand this mentality toward Californians, you’ll understand what’s going on in Acts 13.

Animosity toward a group of new-comers, people who have different backgrounds, values, and ways, is definitely in play.

Paul and Barnabas were on a missionary journey and they had arrived at Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath, they went to the local synagogue and worshiped there. (Acts 13:15) Then the leaders of the synagogue invited them to speak a word of exhortation to the people.

How could Paul pass up such a golden opportunity? Of course, Paul didn’t. Beginning with their time as slaves in Egypt, Paul demonstrated how Jesus was the Messiah that Israel had been waiting and praying for. Paul showed how Jesus was David’s descendant and David’s Savior.

Paul didn’t pull any punches as he recounted how the rulers of Jerusalem treated the Christ. They didn’t (Acts 13:27) recognize Jesus as the Christ. Yet, in condemning Jesus the Jewish leaders were (Acts 13:27) fulfilling the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. Even though they knew Jesus was innocent, they sent him to Pilate to be (Acts 13:28) executed.

(Acts 13:30-31) But God raised him from the dead, and for many days Jesus was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people, that God (Acts 13:35) would not let his Holy One see decay.

Finally, Paul announces the impact of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. (Acts 13:38-39) “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.

It was a wonderful presentation of God’s Law and his Gospel. But sometimes wonderful sermons are not held in high esteem. How would these synagogue worshipers react to Paul saying that the spiritual leaders in Jerusalem didn’t recognize the Christ and instead had him crucified?

Luke tells us that the initial reaction was great. (Acts 13:42) The people invited Paul and Barnabas to speak on these things on the next Sabbath. (Acts 13:43) Many urged Paul and Barnabas to continue in the grace of God. (Acts 13:44) On the next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

But not everyone was so enamored with Paul and his preaching. (Acts 13:45) When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him. This jealousy is what Paul was addressing in his second Sabbath sermon. The hostility and abuse of Paul was because the Jews did not consider all the Gentiles in Pisidian Antioch to be (Acts 13:46) worthy of eternal life. Paul’s rebuke is bold. When you say that someone else is not worthy of eternal life, you are denying the nature of the grace of God and disqualifying yourself from eternal life.

I pray that this never happens to any of us. But look at where this rejection starts. (Acts 13:45) jealousy. The Jews in Pisidian Antioch were comparing themselves to all these Gentiles and they were jealous. These people don’t live like we live. They don’t follow the 10 commandments. They don’t know about Moses and the struggles our people have been through, how long we’ve been working and waiting and hoping. They’re 11th hour converts!

They felt threatened by these Gentiles. They worried that by opening up the floodgates, they would lose their specialness.

Our jealousy comes in different forms. We can be jealous about the material blessings that others have. Kids are jealous that other kids have the best toys. Adults aren’t much different—the price tag of the toys just goes up. And the ways that jealousy manifests itself is diversified. We can be jealous of someone’s career, their lifestyle, their physique, their marriage, their family, their health, even their personality. You can even struggle with jealousy as a church member—looking at one place and wishing your church had the leaders, the programs, the money, the people, the location that they had.

Perhaps we don’t consider jealousy to be too much of a spiritual threat. We might admit it isn’t a good look, but how can it really harm you? Consider what the wisdom of the Scriptures tells us about jealousy—and its cousin envy. (Gal. 5:19-20) Jealousy is a deed of the sinful flesh. (Prov. 14:30) Envy rots the bones. (Job 5:2) Resentment—the byproduct of jealousy and envy—kills a fool.

In Matthew 20:1-16, Jesus illustrates the foolishness of this kind of jealousy. He tells this parable about a landowner who is hiring men to work in his vineyard. He agrees to pay them a denarius for the day. They agree and go to work. But there is more work to be done than they can do in a day, so the landowner continues to hire more workers. At the end of the day, he pays them all the same wage. And those who started at nine in the morning were jealous of those who showed up at 5pm. We all understand why they felt that way. But we all must understand God’s response: (Mt. 20:15) Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

Just as a landowner has the right to do pay whatever he wants to pay, the Maker of all things, the Savior of our fallen race, has the right to be merciful and gracious to whomever he chooses. We may think it is unfair that God saves those who repent on their deathbed, but this is the generous nature of our gracious God. We may think it is unfair that people who have never lifted a finger in the church will experience the same heaven those who have served in every possible way, but this is because our merciful God is big hearted and saves us (Eph. 2:8-9) by grace, not by works, so that no one can boast.

It is only because of God’s generous nature that any of us are saved, after all. As Jesus explained to Nicodemus (Jn. 3:16) God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus came as (Jn. 1:9) the true light that gives light to everyone. (Jn. 1:10) The world didn’t recognize him. (Jn. 1:11) His own people didn’t receive him. But he came that all who believe in him might receive (Mt. 9:13) mercy instead of (James 2:13) judgment, (Jn. 1:16) grace instead of the crushing weight of trying to earn our justification through our own obedience.

Jesus lived a life that no one envied. Yes, he was righteous, but that came at the great cost of always rejecting temptation and sin and always pursuing righteousness, no matter how inconsequential it seemed or inconvenient it might be. He came to fulfill the Law in our place—that meant that he must keep it perfectly. He (Acts 13:48) honored the Word of the Lord and did so gladly. But people still (Jn. 15:25) hated him without reason. (Mt. 27:18) They crucified him, in part, because they were jealousy of his authority and popularity.

Yet, even in the face of all this foolish rejection, we must not lose sight of this fact. (Acts 2:23) Jesus was crucified because God appointed him to die in this way for all sinners. God promised this substitutionary death throughout the Old Testament. Jesus came to be (Jn. 1:29) the Lamb of God who takes the sin of the world upon himself. (Gal. 3:13) He came to experience the curse of sin by dying a cursed death. (Acts 13:34) God raised him from the grave to demonstrate the sufficiency of his sacrifice and his power over death. Jesus did all this to earn salvation for the world. For all sinners.

This is the good news of salvation that is for all the people. A Savior has been born. A Savior has stepped in our place. A Savior has brought us salvation. God’s grace is (Eph. 3:18) deeper and wider than we can think or (Eph. 3:20) imagine. There is no hint in all of Scripture that being a child of God is a zero-sum game. Someone else being saved never detract from any of your eternal life or joy. In fact, it widens and deepens it. Because look at what Luke says happened that day. The Gentiles who heard about the salvation that Jesus secured (Acts 13:48) rejoiced and honored the word of the Lord. They believed. And why? Because they had already been appointed for eternal life.

We need this bedrock truth as we do evangelism in a community that is experiencing tremendous change. We do not argue people into the faith. We cannot attract them into the faith. Paul spoke boldly, but he didn’t have an impressive praise band or a killer powerpoint or even a charming smile. The Word did all the work. We speak that same word. We proclaim (1 Cor. 1:23) Christ crucified. And God won’t lose a single soul. Do you understand how reassuring that is?

The pressure to save souls never rests upon our shoulders. God does that. We don’t have to worry about always having all the right answers at just the right time for just the right people. The pressure to save souls never rests upon our shoulders, but the power to save souls has been placed in our hands. The Word that has been imprinted on your heart, the Word that has saved you, the Word that has transformed you, this same Word saves so many others. And you get to be a part of seeing that happen. Yes, there will be rejection. There will be those who are hostile and even abusive. But there will also be those who hear what Christ has done and they will rejoice. And you will rejoice with them. Even if they’re from California. Amen.