A Missed Opportunity

Intro me

So where are we up to? Paul, the key character we’ve been following, founder of many of the first Christian churches, is bringing it back to where it all began, back to Jerusalem. He’s been away many years, and he knows there’s trouble ahead - but ahead he goes anyway.

And I think that’s driven by the hope he has for his people, the Jews. His famous letter to the Romans, found in our bibles, is written on this very journey, on the way to Jerusalem - and in it, he seems very hopeful about what’s ahead for the Jews - Romans chapter 11 if you want to check it out later.

When he arrives everything seems ok at first - a welcome from the church and a plan to show he’s not a heretic seem to be working. But you know… It’s that classic “quiet.. too quiet” thing.

Suddenly Paul finds himself the focus of a riot, one stirred up by enemies who want him dead. It’s looking really bad -but he manages to turn a crisis into an opportunity, and begins to share the story of how Jesus has turned his life around with a listening crowd. He’s getting a good hearing - and you can imagine he’s thinking: is this finally going to be the moment the penny drops and the Jews turn to Jesus en mass? Is a revival going to break out even as he speaks to the crowd?

But then, as he gets to the climax of his story, it’s like he steps on a landmine - and suddenly boom! It’s all gone horribly wrong. The crowd are baying for blood again. Have you had one of those moments? Where you thought you were on the edge of a breakthrough, when it seemed just moments away - and them boom: the whole thing’s gone up in flames?

What do we make of it as Christians when it all goes horribly wrong? What do we do with the ashes of defeat, of failure? That’s what we’re going to be thinking about today as we continue through the story.

Ruth is reading for us this week and we’re in Acts chapter 22 and we’re starting at verse 22. Acts 22, 22 - big 22 and small 22 - gotta get ‘em both. Page 1120.

Acts 22:22–23:11 NIV

The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!” As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?” When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “What are you going to do?” he asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.” The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I am,” he answered. Then the commander said, “I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship.” “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied. Those who were about to interrogate him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains. The commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews. So the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them. Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.” At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!” Those who were standing near Paul said, “How dare you insult God’s high priest!” Paul replied, “Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’” Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.) There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. “We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said. “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks. The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

Who’s heard the saying “Out of the frying pan, into the fire”? The picture is escaping from one thing only to find yourself in an even worse position - out of the frying pan into the fire. That’s sort of how our story starts this week: Paul’s being attacked by this mob, he’s had a chance to tell them his story, to make his pitch, and David was helping us think our way through that last week - but it ends where it began: with an angry mob out to kill him: “rid the earth of him - he’s not fit to live” - when who should come to the rescue but the Romans.

For all the Monty Python fans out there, what have the Romans ever done for us? Well, for Paul, they rescued him from a pretty certain death. Out of the frying pan. A very hot frying pan - the crowd was definitely set on killing him. He’s out of that - but he’s into the fire!

The Roman commander who’s just “rescued” Paul then directs he should be flogged. It’s a bit of an old fashioned term so it might not be immediately clear to you what’s in store for Paul here. Short answer: bad stuff. Very very bad stuff. That’s not my kind of rescue at all! Maybe it’s not death that’s on offer from the Romans but it’s hardly good - it’s one of the nastier things that Paul has ever faced for sure - and he’s faced plenty of nasty things. Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

The Romans are this really weird mix, right? Sometimes we’re thinking “wow how civilised, how advanced.” Underfloor heating. Amazing military organisation. An international road network. A well-developed legal system. But also mixed in you’ve got this sort of thing: it’s fine - well, more than that, it’s pretty standard procedure - to casually torture suspects in order to get a confession out of them if you’re having difficulty.

But then Paul pulls out his ace: “uh.. is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty”, he asks. And the answer, obviously as you can see from how the story develops, is a firm no. Well, more than no, it’s a huge no NO NO!! Roman citizenship is a huge perk - and Paul’s form of it, being born a citizen is top-drawer where the commander’s “purchased” citizenship is entry level - most likely he bribed his way to it.

Basically, it’s like the commander just ordered his minions to beat up a celeb. Making that sort of mistake is career limiting if not life threatening in this era. Ooops. See how everyone withdraws immediately? Yeah, they’re all like, “um flogging? I don’t see any flogging going on here. dooh de dooh” [whistles]. Cicero tells us it was an abomination to flog a Roman citizen, a crime to even bind one - the commander knows just how big a hole he’s dug for himself.

And yet.. and yet Paul doesn’t go free as a result. There’s no “well, I’ll be on my way then. Have a nice day, sir.” The Roman justice system is like a giant machine that will work its way through standard procedure - that’s what we’re going to see over the next few weeks - and nothing can stop it or spring Paul from its grip now this has started.

But then we come to the second half of today’s passage: Paul face to face with the Sanhedrin, that is, with the religious ruling body of the Jewish people. See, the commander needs to present the captive and charges to a “procurator” who would then judge the case. So he needs information and he clearly has the power and authority to boss around these most senior Jewish leaders: he orders them to assemble.

Let’s try and put ourselves in Paul’s shoes here for a minute. He’s come to Jerusalem despite repeated warnings from the Spirit of trouble - come still with hope for his own people, the Jews, like he writes about in Romans 11. And now he’s going to have another opportunity to speak with them, and not just any Jews, but their key leaders and influencers.

Is there someone you’d only dream of meeting, of having a chance to persuade them of something? The CEO of your company? The manager of your favourite team? A political leader? Imagine you’ve got that chance; you’ve been given that opportunity: one key meeting where you’ll get to speak face to face to the people that really matter. This is it for Paul. That pivotal opportunity - his last opportunity, though perhaps he doesn’t know that yet.

He must have thought and thought about what to say. He must have run the meeting in his mind, imagined the questions, the faces, how he’d speak, how they might respond. And then the moment comes. He’s centre-stage, everyone’s there. 13 Greek words is as far as he gets before being slapped down - literally!

“I have fulfilled my duty to God" - how dare you suggest that! bam! [batman meme] and then, although scholars are divided, to me on balance it looks like Paul kind of looses the plot for a minute. I think we’re seeing him snap back with an angry response: “God will strike you!”

Now no question Ananias the high priest is totally out of line - from other ancient writings it’s clear he’s a rotter, not a holy man. Paul should have expected better: a fair hearing, a chance to defend himself. But still… it wouldn’t be hard to quote some of Paul’s other writings back to him at this point. Hey Paul, remember that catchy fruit of the Spirit thing you wrote about, yeah? love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self control? Bit ‘o self control, maybe?

Paul’s human. You ever struggled to keep your cool and hold on to your tongue in a moment of pressure? Of course you have - he does too. Not to say it’s great, not to say we shouldn’t try to do better. But he’s human. It was the big moment in front of the key people - and he’s been derailed.

“you whitewashed wall” probably isn’t the snappy insult you or I would throw back but that’s a biblical picture from Ezekiel 13. The whitewashed wall pictures disguising something that’s ready to collapse, that’s going to fail. Like painting over the damp patches when you’re trying to sell your house. “You’re faking it and you know it - and you’re going down”, Paul says, “you hypocrite”. And he’s right - no priestly robe can make Ananias holy and in just a few years his number would be up - at the hands of his own people, even.

“Respect!” the crowd clap back, “that’s our main man. How dare you?!” and then Paul sort of seems to backtrack - “oops, sorry - mistaken identity: didn’t see the ID” - and he quotes this bit of the bible telling Jews not to speak evil of their leaders. Does Paul really not know who it was that commanded his assault? Well, perhaps - he’s been away a long time and the people in charge have changed. And this is likely an informal meeting so perhaps there’s not the usual dress-code cues around who’s who - see, the high priest in his formal wear you really couldn’t miss. Shiny.

But I think rather than mistaken identity, it’s Paul’s seeing red red red now, and it’s an insult: “You, high priest? fake! no true high priest could act like that.” and then he demonstrates he actually does know his stuff with the bible quote. Either way, he’s in a big hole now. No longer any chance to civilly share what he believes with these key leaders, to influence them, to hope for them share it too. That’s gone. That ship’s sailed. And things look ready to spiral out of control any moment.

That’s where we get Paul’s mic-drop moment: “I’m on trial because of the hope of resurrection.” Boom! Mic drop. And the room is plunged into chaos! What is Paul trying to do here? That’s the big question. First you need a bit of background:

This ruling body has two main factions. On one side, there are the Saducees - if you were being charitable you might call them “Torah-only purists”: they only accept the first five books of the Bible, called the “Torah.” They don’t see any afterlife, any resurrection there, so for them, death is the end of the story full stop. We don’t know that much else about them for sure - this no-resurrection stance is the only point the bible emphasises. On the other side are the Pharisees who get a bad name and have often tangled with Jesus - but they are 100% in on resurrection.

These two tribes seem to be able to get along most of the time - they rule together, they approach Jesus together - but when it comes to this issue of resurrection, it’s knives out. It’s like talking about union vs. independence, or windows vs. mac - they’re immediately at each others’ throats. So why does Paul bring this up?

Two big options: Is it a diversion, a smokescreen. Paul knows things are going badly, he’s in freefall having shot his mouth off, and now he’s looking for any way he can make it out the door alive so he throws a grenade and hopes for the best. Or, second option, it’s his last, best shot at sharing his hope. He knows the door is closing. He knows it’s explosive, divisive. But it’s the foundation for his message, the launchpad for his plea and his hope for his people.

Those two option make sense? Ok so which is it? To start with, I was leaning towards it being a smokescreen - a distraction, a divide-and-conquer tactic. It’s an emergency. He’s clued up on who’s in the room, he sees a potential fracture line, and he goes for it. Quality politics.

But think about this: the Romans have already saved him from attacks by the Jews twice in the last 24 hours. And the Romans are here with him - or just outside the door - what we read ends with them being sent in to rescue him again. Paul isn’t at the mercy of these Jewish leaders, he’s in the custody of the Romans and they are not about to give him up. Paul is not about to die here - so seeing it as a desperate attempt to escape the situation doesn’t really make sense.

I think it’s far better to see this as one last attempt to reach his own people - even as he sees that door closing. He knows his audience and how they think, at least the Pharisees among them - as an insider he’s starting from common ground: the general idea of a resurrection of the dead - you can’t see it in the English, but in the Greek, “dead” there is plural; this isn’t the resurrection of Jesus Paul is talking about here or trying to start from, it’s a larger resurrection - something the Pharisees believed was coming, reasoning from a few Old Testament allusions and indications - perhaps most clearly expressed in Daniel 12:2

Daniel 12:2 NIV

Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.

They expected a final resurrection of the dead - followed by a final judgement. They saw it as inevitable, an essential part of God really being a god of justice - where the experience of the Jewish people would seem radically unjust otherwise.

And when Paul opens with this common ground, it looks like they bite: “what if a spirit has spoken to him?” The door is open - even if just a crack. Are Paul’s hopes for his fellow Jews going to come through after all at the very last moment? But instead it turns into a fist-throwing free-for-all, an angry and dangerous dispute as others want to categorically and permanently shut Paul down.

So is it a diversion or one last attempt to reach his people? The decider for me is the next verse: Jesus commending Paul’s testimony in Jerusalem:

Acts 23:11 NIV

The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

Jesus doesn’t say “well, that went badly Paul. Can you, like, work on that self control a little, try and keep your lid on in Rome please?” Jesus tells us Paul has testified about him in Jerusalem. The job is done. Next stop Rome - where the very same sort of testimony will be required. See that, “as you have testified .. so you must also testify” - that is, in the same way. There’s a little Greek word, ὡς, which is this matching off comparison. Apples and apples, not apples and oranges. Just like that. Do it again. That’s an endorsement not a critique - no matter how it seems it’s played out in Jerusalem. Job done.

So what’s this all got to do with us, two thousand years down the line? I have two big things for us today. First, resurrection is at the heart of the Christian message. If you’re with us live today or watching a recording but you wouldn’t call yourself a Christian, I need to testify to you about this same critical root truth.

There will be a resurrection. That’s what we believe. Every single person that’s ever lived will be reconstituted and brought back into life. Might seem impossible or hard to imagine how that could work but God is able to do the impossible. And after that resurrection, there’ll be a judgement, an accounting for everything everyone’s ever done against God’s perfect standards. Because he is a God of justice - nothing at all will be overlooked or swept under the carpet.

Paul described this as a hope - where the truth is for many it will be a horror: to have every act, every though, on display, weighed up - and every wrong charged against us. Can you imagine that? Even just my last week is so full of failure - but a whole lifetime?

Some imagine this as a balancing act: Sure I was bad sometimes but I also did good, too. Net, I’m ok - I’ll be ok. But that’s not how justice works: justice, perfect justice, demands every wrong is punished - full stop. Imagine showing up in court accused of theft and saying “but hey, I gave lots to charity too” - still you have stolen. You’ll face the penalty. That’s justice.

So where is hope in resurrection? In the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus, the only one who has no wrongs against him, zero charges on his sheet, the one who should live, he dies. He dies offering to take the charges against us instead of us, and nail them to the cross, absorb them in his death. And then he rises again to indestructible life, the first of a new family, inviting us to come with him into resurrection life, through faith in what he’s done.

That’s the Christian hope to which we must testify. Death is not the end: resurrection and judgement is coming - but you can have hope in the face of it all through Jesus. And you can have that right now, today. There’s no fee to pay, no test to pass - the recipe is simple: repentance and faith. Acknowledge you have been walking away from God and his ways. Turn around. Change direction - that’s repentance. And along with that reach out to God in hope through Jesus - that’s faith.

Since we’re not in the middle of a Sanhedrin punch-up, I’m going to make an opportunity for you to do this right now wherever you are. Here’s a short prayer you can use to express repentance and faith - and this is all it will take to change your forever. I’m going to read this simple prayer out and I want you to say it to God inside your head. Right now. Ready?

God, I was going the wrong way. I’m sorry. I want to go the right way.

Thank you that Jesus did everything right, yet took the punishment for all my wrong when he died on the cross

Thank you that Jesus rose into new life, and that I can share that new life because of him

I want to follow you now - so as best as I know how, I give you my life.

Amen

Did you pray that prayer? Then tell someone. Tell a friend who follows Jesus. Tell me if you don’t know who else to tell. We want to help you not just step over the threshold of this new life but begin to walk the path deep into it. If you’re on the livestream there’s a button you can click: “I prayed that prayer” and then, if you want, you’ll have the chance to connect to one of the team here. If you’re watching a recording, just comment and we’ll reach out to you. Tell someone.

The reason Christians testify about Jesus, the reason we try and share our faith with the world around us isn’t to snare people, to spoil their fun or to claim their scalp - it’s because we have been given something absolutely wonderful: hope. Think about this: what sort of people would we be if we didn’t desperately, urgently, relentlessly try and share this hope which is open to everyone?

So Christian, if you’re not relentless, urgent, desperate to share, what does that say about how much you really care about those around you? What does that say about how good you think the hope you have really is? How life changing it is? Does that feel intense? it should. it is intense.

But before you get all downhearted and burdened and pressured and overwhelmed, there’s a second thing for us here: our responsibility is to testify - the rest is out of our hands. Our responsibility is to testify - the rest is out of our hands. the only failure is failing to testify, not how people respond. Today’s passage teaches us to try - to do our part. Look, it’s scary, I know - terrifying, frankly. And I often feel clunky with the words I use and worried about how people will respond.

But we are to try - and this passage gives us some help with that:

It calls us to connect - see Paul here starts with common ground he shares with his audience - just like he did back in Athens a few chapters ago. Think about the people around you, people you care about. Is there common ground you can start from? Because there’s pretty much always some point of connection. Is it justice? Hope? Suffering? where do you have see eye to eye, or at least have a connection?

It calls us to testify - that is, to share our experience, our story. Like David was encouraging us to do last week. That’s what Jesus commends Paul for doing here: testifying about him. Telling about his experience of Jesus. When you don’t know what to do or what to say, start with testimony: What experience do you personally have of God that you could speak about? It doesn’t need to be the most epic thing in the world - testimony doesn’t only come in XXL; the defining feature of testimony is that it’s real - your own true story. How you took your first step of faith, yes, but also how God is a part of your life today, or how he’s been part of your story at other key moments.

It calls us to hope - see Paul hasn’t given up hope for his people. Despite escalating threats and trouble. Despite seemingly completely closed minds, an impossible hill to climb. Even with these key leaders at the centre of Judaism, he tries anyway - because he has hope. Try anyway - we are so confident people are going to say no sometimes we don’t even bother to give them the chance, right? Don’t say people’s “no” for them. Jesus saves the most unlikely people - for example, you. So is there someone around you that you’ve written off, someone you’ve said “no” for? Choose hope - and try anyway.

Finally, it calls us to relabel failure. Paul has not failed Jesus in Jerusalem. Not before the angry crowd. Not before the wild Sanhedrin. Even though the only results we see are rage and chaos. He has not failed - Jesus tells him mission accomplished: he has testified.

What we understand our goal to be is absolutely critical, so we have to be crystal clear here: our goal is to testify about Jesus - share your hope it says there over the exit. The only failure there could be here is a failure to testify. not a failure to see a response. If we feel like we’ve failed when actually we’ve done all Jesus has asked us to - all we could do - then the truth is we’re performing for a different audience, responding to a different call.

So that’s where we close today. Christian, connect, hope; testify. The only failure is failing to testify.

If I can invite Ellyn back up, we’ll respond in song. But first let me pray..