Acts 16 - Citizens of Heaven

There is an immediacy to the Bible which means that we can open it and read it and hear God’s word for us. 

We left by ship from Troas and sailed straight across to Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis. 12 From there we went inland to Philippi, a city of the first district of Macedonia;  it is also a Roman colony. We spent several days there. 13 On the Sabbath we went out of the city to the riverside, where we thought there would be a place where Jews gathered for prayer. We sat down and talked to the women who gathered there. 14 One of those who heard us was Lydia from Thyatira, who was a dealer in purple cloth. She was a woman who worshiped God, and the Lord opened her mind to pay attention to what Paul was saying. 15 After she and the people of her house had been baptized, she invited us, “Come and stay in my house if you have decided that I am a true believer in the Lord.” And she persuaded us to go.

There is also a depth to the Bible which means we can explore it and investigate it and ask question of it.  In particular God chose to work at a particular time in a particular place with particular people – that means it is good and important for us to seek to understand what was going on at the time, something of that culture and see how people respond.

As we read through Acts we get a  picture of a church seeking to follow in the footsteps of Jesus in what is often a hostile world.

The early church had its roots in the Jewish world, seeing Jesus as the fulfilment of the Law the Prophets and the Writings.  But at the same time they lived with one particular dominant culture, you could say one particular dominant power – the Roman Empire.  How are they to live with Rome?   There was a whole range of ways Jewish people sought to live with Rome – Some went along with the power of Rome and joined in with it – Herod the Great, the Herodians, the High Priests the Sadducees.  Others sought to reaffirm the purity of the law – the Pharisees maybe.

Others sought refuge in a monastic rule of life and community in the desert – the Essenes.  There were those who wanted to resist with power – rebellion against Rome.  Armed rebellion.

John the Baptist was critical – a prophetic voice in the wilderness.  Jesus lined himself up with that prophetic voice and was taken to be a prophet – indeed described himself as such – and held the powers that be to account.

What of the early church?

It is a dilemma.  Much that is good about Rome – positive stories about the Centurion helped by Jesus, the centurion at the cross.  The peace that was established under Augustus was a peace that prevailed – it gave rise to ease of travel, straight roads.  Respect for Rome.

That is one end – work with the culture, go with the flow, work within its power base.  That’s the element we find as Paul and Silas and Luke reach Philippi.

I want to home in on one verse in particular – it’s a verse that is easy to miss, easy to skip over, but significant enough for Luke to mention.  In Luke’s day it would have an immediate meaning for people reading his book.  They would have known what it meant.

Verse 12

12 From there we went inland to Philippi, a city of the first district of Macedonia;  it is also a Roman colony.

That is something that becomes of great significance and is worth reflecting on.

44 BC

Julius Caesar Assassinated

42 BC

The army of Brutus and Cassius meet in battle with the army of Mark Anthony and Octavian

Mark Anthony and Octavian are victorious.

Mark Anthony marries Julius Caesar’s lover, Cleopatra

Julius Caesar’s step son, Octavian, changes his name to Augustus, describes his father Caesar as ‘divine’ and describes himself as ‘Son of God’

In 31 BC Octavian defeats Mark Anthony and prepares the way for himself to become Emperor of Rome.  Within 16 years is acclaimed as the first Emperor of Rome.  He is still the Emperor Augustus when Jesus is born.

31 BC

Near the site of the decisive battle that effectively brought Caesar Augustus to power is a small settlement called Philippi.

Augustus refounded Philippi as a Roman colony in honour of the Julian family giving it the name, Colonia Iulia Augusta Philippensis and under his personal patronage.

‘With this change of status just over a hundred years prior to Paul’s letter, Philippi now enjoyed the considerable privilege of Italian legal status  (ius italicum): its colonists had not only citizenship but extensive property and legal rights, and they were exempt from poll taxes and land taxation.  In return, the colony carefully maintained and groomed its image as a city loyal to the emperor’s authority, in both government and religion…. Not only citizenship and political loyalties were Roman, but even the form of local government was patterned on that of Rome itself, with two chief magistrates (duumviri iure dicundo) at the hed.  Citizens of Philipp were at the same time citizens of the city of Rome’

Markus Bockmuehl, The Epistle to the Philippians (A & C Black, 1997)

Very important to see that a colony in the Roman Empire is very different from colonies of other empires.  Colonia is the very special status given to a very important city – those who live within the walls of the city and are citizens are living as if they are citizens of Rome itself – they have all the luxuries all the privileges and all the responsibilities as well.

Aside:  while Paul had been on his earlier travels the Emperor Claudius had ambitions to extend his empire Westwards and conquer the last bit of Western  Europe that still the Romans had not succeded in conquering.  Julius Caesar had tried a hundred years before but failed.

Now Claudius was determined to do much better.  He had sent his legionaries in AD 43 and by AD 47 they had marched Westwards as far as the River Severn where I live!  They set up a fortress, as Paul is in Philippi they are subduing the Celtic tribes.  They establish next a city at the first crossing over the Severn – Gloucester today has a street layout that is exactly Roman – in AD 95 the Emperor Nerva granted Gloucester, Glevum as it was called the status of Colonia – only the second city in Britain to be given that status.

You can walk the walls of the city, laid out in the street plan, though hardly any walls remain.  And you can see a wonderful mural that tells a story and a pub that explains the status the city had – a colonia.

Retired soldiers able to live there with all the delights of Rome and celtic tribes people and leaders made to feel really important – and though you might not believe it now they could have the luxury of running water, baths, theatre, games, and under floor heating to keep them warm in the cold British winters.

The Romans were clever.  They went along with local customs, local cultures, they allowed local religions – but when it came to the city and especially a Colonia they expected those within the city to follow the Roman religious customs, keep to the Roman ways and culture.

Rosemary Rowe is a wonderful thriller writer locally in Gloucestershire writing detective stories about Libertus a Mosaic Maker from Corinium, moder Cirencester a short way from Glevum and linked by the straightest of straight Roman Roads Ermin Street.   The Ghosts of Glevum is set in Gloucester and it tells of a shadowy group of people who are committed to helping poor people and have a reputation for caring for people and healing people and making a difference – and they meet outside the walls of the Colonia by the riverside.

They are the followers of someone called Jesus.

Just as in the story here – you can track it through –

Paul, Silas and Luke remain in the city for a number of days.  And then

13 On the Sabbath we went out of the city to the riverside, where we thought there would be a place where Jews gathered for prayer. We sat down and talked to the women who gathered there.

Notice how it is outside the city walls – by the river.

 14 One of those who heard us was Lydia from Thyatira, who was a dealer in purple cloth. She was a woman who worshiped God, and the Lord opened her mind to pay attention to what Paul was saying.

Place of prayer – the implication is they were worshipping God – doesn’t actually say Jews.

Love that way it speaks of the way ‘the Lord opened her mind to pay attention to what Paul was saying.’

Woman who is a business woman – dealer in purple cloth – very expensive from Thyatira, particularly precious and important for the Romans.

Invitation to stay at Lydia’s house – she has a house in a colonia that makes her a pretty important person, a person of some standing.   Baptised – and ‘a true believer’ in the Lord.

Live in the colonia – the place of prayer outside the city walls.  It fits.

Then there is the account of the young girl – it is as they are going from the city to the place of prayer they are plagued by the young girl –

Abused – men making money from this young girl.

And Paul brings her healing – in the name of Jesus Christ.

The girl’s owners realise they have lost their source of money and income.  They are angry – the accusation is important to note – we will come back to that tomorrow –

16 One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a young servant woman who had an evil spirit that enabled her to predict the future. She earned a lot of money for her owners by telling fortunes. 17 She followed Paul and us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God! They announce to you how you can be saved!” 18 She did this for many days, until Paul became so upset that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I order you to come out of her!” The spirit went out of her that very moment. 1

When her owners realized that their chance of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them to the authorities in the public square. 20 They brought them before the Roman officials and said, “These men are Jews, and they are causing trouble in our city. 21 They are teaching customs that are against our law; we are Roman citizens, and we cannot accept these customs or practice them.” 22 And the crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas.

Then the officials tore the clothes off Paul and Silas and ordered them to be whipped. 23 After a severe beating, they were thrown into jail, and the jailer was ordered to lock them up tight. 24 Upon receiving this order, the jailer threw them into the inner cell and fastened their feet between heavy blocks of wood.

Then about midnight Paul and Silas are singing praises to God and the earthquake happens – the gaoler is about to take his own life because he the prisoners will have escaped.  They haven’t, he hears about the Good News of Jesus and he and his household are baptised.

All sorts of wonderful things going on here – from the significant part played by Lydia to household baptisms – the house church.

And then the officials come to release Paul and co.

And this is the point I want to home in on.

Paul at this moment stresses that he is fully a Roman.  What is more he is a Roman citizen.  That is particularly significant in a Colonia.  He has rights.  They have been violated.

The next morning the Roman authorities sent police officers with the order, “Let those men go.”

36 So the jailer told Paul, “The officials have sent an order for you and Silas to be released. You may leave, then, and go in peace.”

37 But Paul said to the police officers, “We were not found guilty of any crime, yet they whipped us in public—and we are Roman citizens! Then they threw us in prison. And now they want to send us away secretly? Not at all! The Roman officials themselves must come here and let us out.”

38 The police officers reported these words to the Roman officials; and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were afraid. 39 So they went and apologized to them; then they led them out of the prison and asked them to leave the city. 40 Paul and Silas left the prison and went to Lydia's house. There they met the believers, spoke words of encouragement to them, and left.

Through this whole story the thing I notice is that it fits exactly the rules of the Colonia.  And Paul respects that.  He works with that Roman culture.  More than that he takes pride in being a  Roman citizen.

He works with it.  He goes with the flow.

There is a genius to the Colonia idea.

It was a primary way the  Romans had of winning hearts and minds.

They provided a working model in the middle of a very different culture whatever that might be of what it was like actually to live in Rome.

Within the walls of the Colonia you might as well have been in Rome itself.

This was the genius.

Those celtic tribes people around Glevum or those Macedonians around Philippi could actually experience within the Colonia what it was like to be a citizen of Rome … and it was very attractive.  It drew them.

And Paul knew exactly how it worked.

Paul’s travels take him to Corinth to Athens and back again and eventually off to Jerusalem with a collection for the poorest and victims of famine there – but of course he is arrested.  And after endless delays eventually appeals to Rome where by now Nero is Emperor.

And from prison in Rome he writes to the church in Philippi.

Is it a church still valuing the hospitality of Lydia, still meeting down by the river?

In Philippians 3:18-4:1

Paul describes a hostile world in which so much is destructive, governed by base human instincts and a brutal kind of greed.

Within this hostile world – the church gathers togheter – and are called to be a Colonia of God’s kingdom.

We, however, are citizens of heaven, and we eagerly wait for our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from heaven. 21 He will change our weak mortal bodies and make them like his own glorious body, using that power by which he is able to bring all things under his rule.

We are citizens of heaven.

So as citizens of heaven we are under God’s rule – just like the citizens of Rome.

Here in his place we live as citizens of heaven – inside the church – the church offers a model of what it is like to live under God’s rule.

Value of using the culture around us – but then within the church seeing the church as a colonia of heaven – where we offer a picture of what the rule of God is like.

A challenging picture for us of church and what it means to be church today.

A sermon of Martin Luther King’s

We are called to a higher loyalty, to a more excellent way

Indeed, every true Christian is a citizen of two worlds the world of time and the world of eternity

We find ourselves in the paradoxical situation of having to be in

the world and yet not of the world

As Paul said in Philippians 3 

“We are a colony of heaven ”

The Christians to whom Paul was writing understood that figure, for

their city of Phillippi was a Roman colony Whenever Rome wanted to Romanize a province, it took a small colony of people and planted them there to spread Roman law, Roman culture, and Roman customs

These people stood as a powerful, creative minority spreading the gospel of Roman culture Even though they lived in another country their ultimate allegiance was to Rome.

While this analogy has its weaknesses, if for no other reason than that it is placed in the framework of a system that has become a symbol of injustice and exploitation, - colonialism- it  does point out the responsibility of the Christian in an unchristian world

We are sent out as pioneers to imbue an unchristian world with the ideals and way of living of a higher order and a more noble realm

Even though we live in the colony of time we are ultimately responsible to the empire of eternity

In other words, as Christians we must never give our ultimate loyalty to any home-bound custom or idea of earth

There is a higher reality at the heart of our universe to which we must be conformed - God and his kingdom of love

Acts 15 and 16 Living with Disappointment - reflections on Remembrance Sunday

I didn’t quite expect him to say what he said,   What he said, however, was something that resonated with me for all sorts of reasons.   A good number of us got together on Wednesday evening to hear Rob Parsons in the Care for the Family event on Wednesday last at the Town hall.  How to get your kids through church without them ending up hating God.

As he came to the end of what he had to say he spoke of the need to  be realistic and not give false expectations to young people.  He suggested that we needed to be realistic and help them to understand that in life there are disappointments.  They will be disappointed in themselves when things don’t work out as they plan.  They will be disappointed in other people who don’t live up to the expectations you have of them.  And they will  be disappointed with God who at moments of need will seem not to be there.

What I found moving was that it was precisely the kind of theme only last Sunday I had been sharing with the young family who had come to church to share in the baptism of their daughter.

There are dark times – and the hope of our faith is not that we will escape them but that we will go through them – and as we go through them we will not be alone, even though at times it may feel that way.

The meeting of the church at Jerusalem over, the decision to send a circular letter round the churches to help bring together Jew and Gentile in a way that could be mutually supportive taken, Paul has itchy feet.

After some days Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Come, let us return and visit the believers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.’

A straightforward enough proposal.

But things are not quite so straightforward.

Up until now Barnabas and Paul have been a partnership – so much so that at times Barnabas has seemed to be the senior member of that partnership.  The son of encouragement had been the one to support the then Saul at the first, had seen he was the one to come to Antioch, he had accompanied him on journeys to Jerusalem where he had spoken up for him, and on that first remarkable journey from Antioch to his home of Cyprus and on to Pisidia, Lystra, Derbe and as far as Iconium.

It was a natural thing to do to team up again.

Barnabas, son of encouragement by name and encourager supreme by nature knew immediately what to do.

37Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark.

John called is one of those bit players we have been very aware of – it was in his mother’s house that the church was meeting for prayer at the point at which Peter had been threatened with death by Herod Agrippa I and on his release from prison sought refuge in that house.

John Mark had accompanied Paul and Barnabas on that first missionary journey but, if you recall, had parted company with them.  It wasn’t clear what had happened.  But something meant he had left and returned home to Jerusalem.

Now it was natural to Barnabas to give him a second chance.

Paul thought otherwise.

38But Paul decided not to take with them one who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work.

That led to an almighty row.

This is the point of my reference to that talk on Wednesday.

It’s very easy to imagine there was a time when people in churches didn’t fall out with each other.

That’s not the case.

They have done from the start.

And I guess it’s par for the course – after all we are all human.  We all have our failings.

It’s so easy to give young people the impression that they should look for an ideal church where all is well.  We give that impression because that’s what we hanker after.

If you are for ever on the lookout for the perfect church then you will for ever be on the look-out.  As someone has wisely said, if you do find the perfect church, be sure not to join it – as it will then no longer be perfect!!!

What happens is a rift.  There’s no escaping it.  It’s not on theological grounds.  It’s a falling out over people.

39The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.

The best thing is to do go their separate ways.  And they do.  Paul finds himself with a new travelling companion Silas, who has just been introduced to us as one of those prophetic figures who speaks the word of God forthrightly and is himself one who has the gift of being able to ‘encourage and strengthen the believers’  (15:32)

40But Paul chose Silas and set out, the believers commending him to the grace of the Lord. 41He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

Sometimes you have to go your separate ways.

And fruit comes of that.

You have to read between the lines carefully in the Gospel story.  Quite a bit later on in the missionary travels of Paul there’s reference first to Barnabas in 1 Corinthians 9:6 where he clearly is once again in close contact with Paul.   And even more exciting is a reference that’s found to John Mark in a letter Paul writes from prison in Rome in Colossians 4:10 where it becomes apparent that John Mark, there described as a cousin of Barnabas, is part of the church community supporting Paul in prison.

Differences happen.  But no grudge is kept.

Something to hold on to there.

I wonder what the secret of that is?

Perhaps in the commendation of the church community in Jerusalem as they are setting off – they commended them to ghe grace of the Lord.  That’s the key.  Always come back to that grace of God in Jesus Christ that can make such a difference.

People disappoint – but God remains with Barnabas and Mark and Paul and Silas – as they are commended to the grace of God.

Notice where they go.

He went through Syria and Cilicia strengthening the churches.

My eye fell on that line this Remembrance Sunday!

What is happening in Syria is inextricably linked with our Remembrance of the First World War.  I found myself reading that leaflet from Middle East Concern about how to pray for the Middle East as I was standing right next to the war memorial roll on the wall of our church.

“There are, it suggests, three historical eras that set that context:

• Ottoman Empire ruled much of the region (and followed a number of previous empires)
• Western Colonial era post World War One; current nation states created by the West; most countries are colonial constructs, ruled either by a monarchy (e.g. Jordan) or endured one or more coups leading to one-party dictatorships (e.g. Egypt, Iraq, Syria)
• This era is being ended (or is it?) by a clear call for the people’s involvement in their governance; it is unclear what will emerge.

I have always felt that to honour the memory of those who lost their lives in war we should echo the longing they had in the midst of that war for peace and commit ourselves to work for the peace they longed to see.

If we are remembering that First World War this day, how important it is to seek peace in Syria. 

Our friend from Middle East Concern was urging us to remember in our prayers the churches of the Middle East.   Now as much as in the time of Paul they need strengthening.

It’s interesting to see how Paul set about doing that strengthening as we move on to Acts 16.

Paul went on also to Derbe and to Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer; but his father was a Greek. 2He was well spoken of by the believers in Lystra and Iconium. 3Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him; and he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4As they went from town to town, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. 5So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers daily.

Just as an aside … notice the appearance of Timothy here.  Two of the last three letters of Paul are addressed of course to Timothy and in II Timothy 4:11 who should Paul refer to?  But John Mark!!!  Get Mark, he writes to Timothy, and bring him with you, for he is useful in my ministry.

What Paul does is to take the letter around that had been agreed in Jerusalem – clearly including all without the expectation of circumcision but at the same time seeking an accord, an understanding of the ‘other’s’ point of view.

There are lots of wise things going on here to help us live with difference when differences disappoint.

The exchange of letters is so important – a way of strengthening churches then.  And also a way of strengthening churches now.

Email has released a new wave of letter writing where twenty-five years ago with the phone many had said the art of letter-writing had passed.

The clipped, abbreviated form of the telegram has seemed a thing of the past until the text arrived!

And so this week we received a letter from one of those who is a key part of one of our international fellowships who is involved with a church in Syria.

It is heart-rending to read the appeal he has sent to our churches this week for prayer and support … and moving too as one realises that it is into the middle of this conflict they seek to bring the presence of Christ

“Considering this inhumane and sad situation our Church has established a polyclinic to serve our  community regardless of denominational affiliation by assisting those in need of medical care, and especially trying to help patients with chronic diseases in need of long-time medical assistance.”  The letter goes on to describe the 400 strong congregation meeting Sunday by Sunday for worship and says, “Our people will continue to work and pray for peace and safety.”

The crisis facing the people of Syria is beyond our imagining and the worst humanitarian disaster for many, many years.  That’s what has prompted us from Thursday’s Deacons meeting to support the Syria Appeal of Embrace the Middle East.

Working through our Lebanese partners, we are empowering a network of Syrian churches to provide emergency food parcels to the most vulnerable families.

The task we are doing is precisely the task Paul carried out in going through Syria and Cilicia strengthening the churches.

And the key to it all is grace!

Acts 15 - church meetings and how they work

Are we nearly there yet?

I don’t know about you but if I want to wind up the adults I’m travelling with I can mimic the question the youngsters started asking no sooner than we had just set out.

Are we nearly there yet?

Is the question we might well ask of all the changes we have been putting together for the church here at Highbury.

Yes, we’re getting there.

Since our last Church meeting we have had interviews for all our Ministry Leaders and we will be sharing the fruits of those interviews at Thursday’s Deacons meeting.  Then at our Church Meeting in December will be an opportunity to hear each of those who have come forward sharing their vision for the worship, the discipleship, the mission and outreach and the youth work we do as a church family.

Things are falling into place as then we turn to our Deacons elections and maybe most for our prayer the post of Church Secretary to fill in March.

Come our Annual Meeting things will be in place – and the end of this process will be the beginning of new things to take us forward into the future ahead of us.

And in it all we seek to root all that we do in the Scriptures, in the Bible.

That’s why in this period we are reading through the Book of Acts – to get a sense of what church is all about.

There was a time when I thought that our Congregational Way of being the church was the authentic New  Testament way of being the church.  I have boks that demonstrate that the Congrgational principle is the New Testament principle – and many of those books excite me.  In some ways I am quite passionate about believing that.  And yet in other ways I have come to feel that’s the wrong way of thinking: not just unhelpful but also damaging.

It’s very easy for me to say, I’m right and to Methodists, or Anglicans, or Roman Catholics, or Pentecostals, or Charismatics – you are wrong.

As I read the scriptures I think there is rich diversity in the church of the New Testament – as followers of Jesus who stay in Jerusalem continue to value the worship of the Temple with its high liturgy so Roman Catholic and Orthodox friends will find warrant for their worship and their understanding of priesthood in those parts of the Bible that speak of temple and its worship.  As followers of Jesus spread out into the Jewish diaspora of the Mediterranean world they take much of what became the synagogue tradition and make it their own – and we find warrant for our worship and our understandings of priesthood there.  And as followers of Jesus made contact with the cosmopolitan world of the great cities like Corinth they shared exuberance in worship that provide warrant for charismatic and Pentecostal friends in the worship they share and their sense of the way church is.

What’s important for us, I believe, is not to say our way is the right biblical way and yours is wrong.  But instead what is important for us is to say this is where we find warrant for our practices in the Scripture – these are where our roots are in the Bible.

It was when my supervisor and principal of our Theological  College in North Wales, a prolific writer and thinker in the Welsh Language, Tudur Jones spoke at one of our early assemblies here in Cheltenham he quoted a seventeenth century thinker who suggested that when it comes to matters of church and the way we do things unless the roots of it are in the Bible then it will come to nothing.

That was the inspiration my father had for the cover design of his little book on the first years of the Congregational Federation.   A tree growing with roots in the Bible.

IT’s as we come to Acts 15 that we encounter another of those glimpses of the life of the early church where I would maintain I find warrant for the way we do things in our Congregational Way of being the Church.  And yet is also a chapter that others will find warrant for the way they do things.

That too is to me not a threat, but a reminder that all our structures have partial value and none has the perfection some long for.

You only have to look at the headings in many a translation and commentary for this chapter to realise how straightaway the translators are putting a slant on things.

It’s one of those moments when the Good News Bible excites me.

The NRSV goes with the heading that many a commentator will use – so much so that I find myself referring to what happened in this chapter by this heading.

The Council at Jerusalem.

Call what happened in this chapter ‘the Council at Jerusalem’ and many Anglican and Catholic and orthodox friends will say – this is the first of those gatherings that later were to develop into the great Ecumenical Councils of the church – the Council of Nicea, the Council of Chalcedon – and then that tradition comes into the parlance of the Catholic church in the Council of Trent, the 1^st and then the 2^nd Vatican Council.

You get all the trappings of bishops coming together to ‘define’ the faith.

But wait a moment.

Look at the Good News Bible and what do you find as the heading for this chapter.

The Meeting at Jerusalem.

That’s interesting.

That’s a reading that draws my attention.

What’s going on here?

This is the point when things come to a head.

There is a significant difference of view among the followers of Jesus.

The issue has been simmering away from the early chapters of Acts.

It’s all to do with the relationship between Jews and Gentiles in the church.  Given that Jesus is fully Jewish, and those first followers of his we read of in the Gospels and the early chapters of Act are for the most part fully Jewish, what expectations should be placed on Gentiles who come to follow Jesus?

Peter has had his moment of inspiration when in that vision he hears the voice of God telling him to get up, kill and eat all manner of living things that are banned in the books of the Law.   The vision prompts him to visit Cornelius, a Centruiorn of all people of the Italian Cohort, who is based in the seat of Roman power over Judea and Samarai, Caesarea Maritima.

And he discovers that wonderful breakthrough moment that ‘God shows no partiality’.

Barnabas and Paul then find thesleves with a commission to take the Gospel, this wonderful good news to the Gentile world.

There is a wonderful rhythm as in these last few chapters of Acts we have seen the reach of the Gospel going into the Mediterranean world and then coming back to touch base in Antioch, and then to touch base in Jerusalem, as if the followers of Jesus are touching base with their roots in the place where the death and resuurection of Jesus happened, in the place where the Holy Spirit of God was let loose in the world.

There’s tension when people from Judea maintain that you cannot be saved unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses.

Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’ 2And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them,

There’s interchange of thinking between the church in Antioch and the church in Jerusalem – it leads to dissension and debate.

That’s important first of all – it is not wrong to have dissension and debate.  IT’s what you do with that that’s important.

Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders. 3So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the believers. 4When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. 5But some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, ‘It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses.’

6 The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter.

Notice the way they are welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders.

That’s the whole church.

What is happening here is not a council bringing together representatives from lots of different churches are geographical localities.

This is a meeting together of the church in Jerusalem.

The apostles and elders – those sent by Jesus apostles.  Were the elders those who held an office – some argue so.  Or were they, the seniors, the older, wiser people who had more experience.  That’s a looser number.

Then we see the discussion.

It’s interesting to see how the meeting works – first, there is space for ‘much debate’

6 The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. 7After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them,

Then after much debate – Peter puts his point of view.  Interesting he holds back and lets everyone have their say first.

What he says is riveting,  there’s a whole theology resting in these words but that vision and the insight he has had before are re-stated.

It’s powerful stuff.  That comes to an end in no uncertain terms.

Peter stood up and said to them, ‘My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. 8And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; 9and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. 10Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? 11On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.’

That’s a powerful conclusion.

Then there’s a wonderful moment.

The whole assembly kept silence,

The value of pausing for a moment.  Moments to let the heat go out of the debate.

There was a school of thought in the nineteenth and early twentieth century that saw a massive split between Peter and Paul.  More recently that has been underplayed.  There is a consistency here … a sense of progression as Paul and Barnabas now speak.  Notice it’s not just Paul, but Paul and Barnabas.

and listened to Barnabas and Paul as they told of all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles. 1

What they said is not recorded – it concurs with what has been said.

Then comes a kind of summing up.  Notice it is not Peter.  It is James.  Not the James who was a son of Zebedee, a fisherman disciple.  Another James.  In all likelihood the James who was a brother of Jesus who in Jesus lifetime had not undertood the message of Jesus but in death and resurrection had come to see what it was all about.  This James now speaks and seems to sum up all that has been said …

13After they finished speaking, James replied, ‘My brothers, listen to me. 14Simeon has related how God first looked favourably on the Gentiles, to take from among them a people for his name. 15This agrees with the words of the prophets, as it is written,

16 “After this I will return,

and I will rebuild the dwelling of David, which has fallen;

   from its ruins I will rebuild it,

     and I will set it up,

17 so that all other peoples may seek the Lord—

Thus says the Lord, who has been making these things 18known from long ago.”

Again, in these few words there’s lots of really important theology here.  Not least a reading of the Scripture that sees that from Abraham right through to exile and beyond the Jewish people have been a people chosen by  God that through them God’s blessing should come to all the world. And this moment spoken of in the prophets, not least prophets of exile, Babylonian Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel has reached its fulfilment in Jesus.

Then it is as if for James to sum up his sense of what this discussion has led to – the consensus arrived at by the apostles and elders –

He comes up with a way forward that involves writing a round robin letter setting out the principle but accommodating those who have strong feelings … Gentiles will not have to be circumcised but at this moment and at this stage they are to be asked to be respectful of Jewish customs and practice.

19Therefore I have reached the decision that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God, 20but we should write to them to abstain only from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from whatever has been strangled and from blood. 21For in every city, for generations past, Moses has had those who proclaim him, for he has been read aloud every sabbath in the synagogues.’

This is the point at which I find our way of doing things has its roots in the New Testament and in the Bible.

You might have thought that the decision of the apostles and elders would count.  The decision of James as the one presiding would count.

But no, something further has to happen as well.

It is something we have seen in Acts 6 and we see it again now.

22 Then the apostles and the elders, with the consent of the whole church, decided to choose men from among their members and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers, 23with the following letter: ‘

They seek the consent of the whole church.

That’s the bit where we find our roots in the Bible for our Church Meeting.

We have had our equivalent of ‘apostles and elders’ working away in groups, hammering out all sorts of things.  But at each step of the way we have acted with the consent of the whole Church – as we have sought it in Church Meeting.

This is a wonderfully exciting way of being church to my mind.

This is where we find our roots in the Bible.

‘The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the believers of Gentile origin in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 24Since we have heard that certain persons who have gone out from us, though with no instructions from us, have said things to disturb you and have unsettled your minds, 25we have decided unanimously to choose representatives and send them to you, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials: 29that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.’

This is not a decree of a council.

IT is a letter sharing insights from the church in Jerusalem – a church that through this process of dissension and debate had come to the point of making a decision ‘unanimously’

There’s a wonderful description of the decision – not just a matter of a vote but a sense of the guiding of the Spirit.

28For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials: 29that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.’

We seek the mind of the Meeting, the mind of Christ in what we do.  That’s what’s important for us together.

A brief letter with guidance.

And what happens when these people go off to the church in Antioch with the letter

This is a glimpse of what happens with these letters.

30 So they were sent off and went down to Antioch. When they gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31When its members read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation. 32Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. 33After they had been there for some time, they were sent off in peace by the believers to those who had sent them. 35But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, and there, with many others, they taught and proclaimed the word of the Lord.

They gather the church at Antioch together for a reading of the letter.  And there is a sense of joy at what is shared.

Interesting that Judas and Silas are described as themselves ‘prophets’ people who declare God’s word – and they are in the spirit of Barnabas as they ‘encourage and strengthen’ the believers.

There is a sense of peace in the church now in Antioch as they send them off in peace after they haven there for a while.

And Paul and Barnabas remain, with many others, teaching and proclaiming the word of God.

That’s the last we hear of Peter.   And the focus now returns to Paul and Barnabas, though as we see the focus in Acts shifts from Paul and Barnabas simply to Paul for reasons that are really disturbing … but that we shall have to leave for another time.

Acts 14 - All things to All people

Looking back things often fall into place that were hard to appreciate at the time … maybe you didn’t even notice them.

When Paul was planning what he hoped would be the climax to his mission travels – a journey to Rome and beyond to the far West of the Roman empire and  Spain – plans that were not to work out, Paul looked back on his ministry.

He might have been looking back all the way to the start of his missionary work here on the first of his missionary journeys.

What he has to say in 1 Corinthians 9 captures the genius of his work and indeed the genius of the man Paul.

 For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. 20To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. 21To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. 22To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I might by any means save some. 23I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

It was the genius of Paul to be able to speak in the language of the people he was with.  He spanned the different worlds of his time.  He could come alongside the slave and speak in their language, the Jew and speak in their language, the gentile and speak in their language, the weak and speak in their language.

I have become all things to all people, so that I might by any means save some.

That genius is worked out in this first Missionary Journey.

A large part of chapter 13 is devoted to an occasion when Paul spoke in a Synagogue to Jewish people.

Starting with a magisterial telling of the Old Testament story he then jumps to the story of Jesus and homes in on the difference he makes to people.

In chapter 14 we see Paul moving beyond the four walls of the synagogue out into the Gentile world and speaking the language of the gentiles.

But I think it was paying careful attention to what happens.

As the chapter begins we join Paul and Barnabas on their travels as they arrive in Iconium, go to the Jewish synagogue and speak in such a way that a great number of Jew and Greeks become believers.

There is no summary of the talk – your guess is it’s much the same as the talk recorded at length in chapter 13.

Then it’s the ‘unbelieiving Jews’ – the word could be Judeans.  It could be the people who are disturbed at the move away from the power base of the Jewish world – something uneasy about the all-encompassing message of the Jesus who draws Gentile and Jew together into the love of God.

The message divides people.  And  Paul and Barnabas find they are treated in exactly the way so many years before Stephen had been treated by among others Paul, or Saul as he was then known.

Notice how Luke is careful to note that it is the rulers – it is not all the Jews as so tragically Christian history was later to claim.  It was particularly the rulers stirring thems up tomaltreat them and to stone them.

So it was that the apostles fled to Lystra and Derbe.

Growing up in Leicester I always thought they came to Leicester and Derby!

Then we come to a significant moment.

Something I want to pause at for a moment or two.

In Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet and had never walked, for he had been crippled from birth. 9He listened to Paul as he was speaking. And Paul, looking at him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 10said in a loud voice, ‘Stand upright on your feet.’ And the man sprang up and began to walk.

Haven’t we heard that kind of story somewhere before.

Look at Luke 14 and you see that Jesus came specially for ‘the crippled’  I don’t like that word.  People who are immobilised, incapcacitaged – and so left out of society.  There are others.  The man born blind.  The person who sat by the pool of Bethsaida waiting for the waters to bubble.  The blind men.  The leprosy sufferers.

What Paul does here is what Jesus did.

He saw the reject – the outcast – the incapacitated – and be brought healing.

I often think there are two parts to Jesus’ ministry.  He heals hurting people and he preaches the Kingdom of God.

Deeds and words go together.

Last week in Pisidian Antioch we saw how the message must focus on Jesus.

Here in Lystra we see that with the message goes the action.

Just as Jesus did, so Paul did.

And so must we.

Where people hurt we are to bring healing.

That ministry of healing is at the heart of what we are about as a church.   The expectation that God in Christ will touch us to bring healing and wholeness.

All sorts of things to explore, things to come back to.

Healing is not the same as cure.

Cure may not come but healing can happen.

I tbrings peace, it brings calm – it becomes part of a larger overall healing process.

And it brings change.

As we pray for one another healing comes – there is a peace that makes all the difference.

It works at all sorts of levels.  Maybe at this level.  It’s not part of my experience.  Revival happening in Cwm Bran and makes a lot of this kind of miracle – someone holding a wheel chair aloft.

I don’t know.

But I do know about the power to restore, the power to make whole, the healing that makes a difference in a deep down kind of way.

The reaction here among the gentiles is fascinating.

The people look to Paul and Barnabas and they see something of God in what they do …. And then they say they are gods become human.

When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, ‘The gods have come down to us in human form!’ 12Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifice.

Isn’t it interesting.  Before getting to the nub of the matter of what’s going on here it tells us soething about the dynamic between these two.  Zeus in the  Greek panteheon is the supreme god.  So when Barnabas is identified as Zeus, the implication is that he is the leader.

For various reasons, one of which  will soon become apparent, we think of Paul as the key figure.  But at this point the dominant of the two is Barnabas.   Paul’s task is the spokesmena.   Maybe that’s because he can be all things to all people as in a moment we will see.

It’s over in Caesarea that something similar has happened to King Herod Agrippa the first – the crowds acclaimed him as god – and he revelled in it.  And got his comeuppance.

It is very different here.

No, no, no.

When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, 15‘Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you,

Tremendous humility here.

They are doing as Christ did.  It’s interesting that Jesus was not recognised as one of the greek gods.  What he was recognised as was something subtly different.  He wsa recognised as ‘the son of God’ – that links him into the Cult of the Roman Emperor.  He was seen as on a par with the Emperor – more than that as the one to whom allegiance was owed by all.

Then comes the moment when we see the genius of Paul.

Remember these are people steeped inGreek culture he is speaking to.

We bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. 16In past generations he allowed all the nations to follow their own ways; 17yet he has not left himself without a witness in doing good—giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.’

It’s wonderful good news that Paul shares – and it points to the God of creation – who sustains that creation with water and food.  Wonderful lgood news.

He speaks the language of his hearers – and points to the God of creation.  The book of nature is one paul values in getting the Good news across.

Things get worse for Paul … what he had supervised as Stephen had been stoned to death happens to him as well …

18Even with these words, they scarcely restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.

19 But Jews came there from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. Then they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.

This is pretty grim.

Pretty menacing.

We sometimes measure the success of what we do by its popularity.

What Paul did he did because it was right.

If in bringing healing to hurting people he was standing in the footsteps of Jesus, as he was stoned to the point almost of death he took seriously the invitation of Christ to deny oneself, take up the cross and follow him.

A model here for us – to do as Christ did, to share the Good news using the language of our hearers, and to give ourselves in the service of Christ regardless of its popularity.

There’s a wonderful sense of solidarity in the next image.

20But when the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the city. The next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.

Then comes a wonderful insight.

Paul and Barnabas retrace their steps – and revisit the places they have been to making sure that there is a firmly established Church in each place ready to be the body of Chrsit in that place.

After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, then on to Iconium and Antioch. 22There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, ‘It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.’ 23And after they had appointed elders for them in each church, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe

I love those two things they did

1. they strengthened the souls of the disciples
2. and encouraged them to continue in the faith

They then return to that second city of the Roman empire Antioch in Syria and report back to the church that had sent them out all they had done.

24 Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had completed. 27When they arrived, they called the church together and related all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles. 28And they stayed there with the disciples for some time.

How wonderful that they had opened a door of faith … and after all those travels it is no small surprise they should stay in Antioch for some time.

To Jew in chapter 13 at Pisidian Antioch and to  Gentile in chapter 14 in Lystra Paul and Barnabas shared the  Good news, opened a door of faith drawing on the genius of Paul to speak the language of whoever it was he speaking to!

The door of faith is open to Gentile as to Jew … or is it?

There are rumblings back in Jerusalem and those rumblings cannot be ignored.  Though we’ll have to wait a couple of weeks before we find out what those rumblings were all about.

Acts 13 - Grace, Faith and the Power of the Story of Jesus

13Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the ruler, and Saul. 2While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ 3Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia; and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

Now is the moment.

There’s a message to share.

And Saul – still known as Saul – is the one to share it.  But not on his own.  He is joined by Barnabas – and they are commissioned to do the work of God and they set sail for Cyprus – And straightaway they have a message to share.

They proclaim the word of God – and they have John, John Mark, to assist them.   There is opposition – and Saul, who we learn at this point is also known as Paul – faces down that opposition.  And from now on it is as Paul that he is known.

13 Then Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and returned to Jerusalem; 14but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15After the reading of the law and the prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent them a message, saying, ‘Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, give it.’ 16So Paul stood up and with a gesture began to speak:

They cross over to the mainland to what we now think of as  Turkey and it’s not long before John Mark leaves and returns to Jerusalem.  We are not told at this point what’s happened.  But as later becomes apparent something untoward – maybe he couldn’t keep the pace.

It’s to the synagogues where Paul senses that following Jesus is what it means authentically to be Jewish.

And he speaks.

One genius Paul has is to start where people are at.

Here are Jewish people and his message starts with them.

He tells the story of God’s choice of his people, of the exodus and the forty years wandering, of the promised land, of the judges, the arrival of the prophet Samuel.  He notices that it is the people who ask for a king and God gives them first Saul and then David.

There is a wonderful tribute to David.

“”I have found David, son of Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will carry out all my wishes.”

He has arrived at the kingdom … and then he makes a leap – and yet it is a leap with continuity – a wonderful continuity.

Of this man’s posterity, God has brought to Israel a  Saviour, Jesus, as he promised.

For Paul what is significant is that Jesus takes up where John the Baptist left off and takes on his mantle.

Notice in verse 27 he is careful to say it is the residents of Jerusalem and their leaders who did not recognize him or understand the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.

They seek his death – and ask Pilate to carry it out.

Crucified, he was taken down from the tree, and laid in a tomb.

But God raised him from the dead;

It is the reality of the resurrection that so impacts on Paul and he wants to share it with his hearers.

For many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are now his witnesses to the people.

So This is the Good News – that what God promised to our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus …

So what is the impact of this?  First, it is what had been expected

It is through this man that forgiveness is proclaimed to you; by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

Don’t reject it.

Let’s pause a moment.

What is the good news we have to share?

It was good to be invited to join St Michael’s in their festival fortnight and make a contribution to the Science and Religion debate.  It was fascinating to join up with the Manager of the Cornerstone Project – I told my story of coming from a fascination with faith to explore Science.  He spoke of being a scientist, a geologist, and coming to faith.

In conversation in readiness for the evening and then through the evening itself one thing really struck me.

I love discussing about God.  And I believe passionately we must be able to make an account of our faith in a way that makes sense in the context of science.  BUT.

The heart of the message of our Christian faith is elsewhere.

So to ofor Jim.

Start with the God of philosophy and think of God as all powerful, all knowing, all loving and you end up in a blind alley.

No, our Christian faith starts elsewhere.

And this is what we are beginning to learn in Acts.   And what now we learn as Paul’s mission starts.

The story we have to tell, the Good news we have to share starts with Jesus Christ.

We need to introduce people to the story of Jesus to his life and ministry, the way o flife he opens up for us to follow, we need to tell the story of his death and discover that the God we believe in comes alongside us in our sufreing, of that resurrection victory.

There is a clear way of life to follow.

And a wonderful sense of forgiving love that then comes upon us to and flows from the cross.

And this opens up for us not so much an understanding of God as a realization that he is one who loves and cares for us, one who is always with us, one who will not let us go, one who forvives and enables us to begin all over again.

The response initially is very positive here in Antioch in Pisidia.

Acts 13:42-52

42 As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people urged them to speak about these things again the next sabbath. 43When the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

44 The next sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy; and blaspheming, they contradicted what was spoken by Paul. 46Then both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, ‘It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we are now turning to the Gentiles. 47For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

“I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles,

   so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.” ’

48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the word of the Lord; and as many as had been destined for eternal life became believers. 49Thus the word of the Lord spread throughout the region. 50But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region. 51So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them, and went to Iconium. 52And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

The word that is translated ‘the Jews’ could be translated as Judeans.  We catch a glimpse here of the growing tension with officialdom of the Jewish people – maybe shaped by the Judean hierarchies of the temple authorities, the herodian power.

For Paul the moment has come when the whole purpose of God’s choice of his people is to reach out into the world.  And it is to that wider world that Paul turns his attention.  It’s a theme that comes into its own in the second part of Isaiah and it is to Isaiah 49 and Isaiah 45 that Paul turns for inspiration.

The whole point of the chosen people is that

I have set you be a light for the gentiles,

So that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

And that is the point Paul has reached at this moment.  And the powers that be among the Jewish community don’t like it and hound Paul out of that city.

I want to pick up on some lovely phrases here …

Initially Paul urged those who received the word  favourably in the synagogue ‘to continue in the grace of God’.

What a challenge for us.  Our task is ‘to continue in the grace of God’.

When the Gentiles heard it

They were glad and praised the word of the Lord; and as many as had been destined for eternal life became believers.

And finally, And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Grace – faith response to that grace – and then joy and the presence of the Holy Spirit deep within.

This is the essence of what it means to be Christian.

Acts 12 - The Spirit of Encouragement

I have an apology to make.  Last time I preached on this chapter I got it wrong.  I fell into a trap of imagining that the Herod mentioned at the start of Acts 12 was the Herod who had put Jesus on trial.  Actually it’s a different Herod.

And the story of that other Herod makes this passage even more powerful, hard on the heels of the support we have been giving to Middle East Concern ant their work in supporting persecuted Christians throughout the Middle East.

Herod the Great’s reign came to an end shortly after the birth of Christ.  He divided his kingdom into four parts – his son Philip ruled over the part of the kingdom to the North East of Galilee – and built the city of Caesara Philippi.

Herod Antipas ruled over the Galilee itself and built the city of Tiberias.  It was Herod Antipas who had John the Baptist executed and went on to be instrumental in having Jesus crucified.

A third son took charge of Judea and Samaria, Archelaus.  He didn’t have what it takes to rule and the Romans deposed him while Jesus was still a small child.  They put in his place a procurator who by the time of the death of Jesus was Pontius Pilate.

Philip died shortly after Jesus – and the territory he had ruled over was simply put under the rule of Syria.

At the time of the birth of Jesus the Emperor had been Augustus, the first Emperor of Rome.  By the time the ministry of Jesus began Tiberius was emperor.  Four or five years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Caligula became Emperor in AD 37.

From the time of Herod the Great the Herodian dynasty spent a lot of time in Rome.  One of Herod the Great’s Grandsons became particularly close to Caligula.  His name was Agrippa.

As soon as Caligula became Emperor he rewarded Agrippa for his friendship.  He transferred Philip’s tetrarchy from Syria back to the Herodian dynasty, to Agrippa.   A couple of years later Caligula fell out with Herod Antipas, had him deposed and he placed Agrippa in charge of the Galilee as well.

Now it was that Caligula decided he wanted to bring the Jewish people to heel.  And so he commanded that an image of himself as son of God be placed in the Temple in Jerusalem.  Petronius, the Syrian Governor, was commanded to carry out the deed.  But when he got to Jerusalem he realised that such a step would provoke a revolution among the Jews.

Agrippa was the one who succeeded in dissuading him.

That was in part thanks in part to Agrippa’s diplomacy but more to the fact that Caligula was murdered.  It wasn’t long before the new Emperor, Claudius, recognised Agrippa’s wiles and so it was that Claudius decided to detach Judea and Samaria from direct Roman rule and place it under the control of Agrippa.

This made Herod Agrippa king over a Jewish kingdom almost as big as his grandfather’s Herod the Great.  He gained the favour of the powers that be in the Jeewish world.  Like his grandfather he played both sides off against each other.  In Jerusalem he was very Jewish, elsewhere he was very Roman.

John the Baptist had been a prophetic voice in the wilderness crying out against the powers that be,  Jesus had taken on the mantle of John the Baptists and done the same – and now his followers likewise were standing out against the Herodian dynasty.

And Agrippa did not like it any more than Herod Antipas had done or his grandfather had done.

So it was as Acts 12 opens he laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church.  He had James the brother of John killed with the sword.

And then he determined to mark the anniversary of the crucifixion of Jesus by arresting Petter during the festival of unleavened bread, just at the time of the Passover.

When he had seized him he put him in prison and handed him over to four squads of soldiers go guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover.

It was quite clear that what he planned to do was exactly what had happened to Jeus.

He would hand him over to the crowd and have Peter put to death as well.

 Then comes that scene we read earlier.

 The very night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison. 7Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him, saying, ‘Get up quickly.’ And the chains fell off his wrists. 8The angel said to him, ‘Fasten your belt and put on your sandals.’ He did so. Then he said to him, ‘Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.’ 9Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening with the angel’s help was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10After they had passed the first and the second guard, they came before the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went outside and walked along a lane, when suddenly the angel left him. 11Then Peter came to himself and said, ‘Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hands of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.’

The we catch a glimpse of something that goes right to the heart of what church is about.

As soon as he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many had gathered and were praying. 13

This really resonates with me as I come to this passage hard on the heels of our focus on Middle East Concern.

One of the things our friend from ME Concern was sharing with us was the sheer importance of the solidarity of prayer.  People facing immensely difficult times that he meets value among many other things that sense of not being alone but of people praying not just for them, but praying with them.

IT resonates for me as well today as we welcome Lorraine and Diana as Pastoral Ministry Leaders.

Prayer underpins all we do as a church, and nowhere is that more apparent than in pastoral care.

It is only possible to sustain the work of pastoral ministry that I share in, that we are asking Lorraine and Diana to share in, that our wonderful team of pastoral visitors are engaged in through prayer.  How important it is that we uphold one another in prayer.  How good that we avail ourselves of that prayer chain that Lorraine co-ordinates.

We pray for people, but we also pray with people.  And that gives us a very real sense of being part of this wonderful people of God.

There is a breathless excitement as this story unfolds.

When he knocked at the outer gate, a maid named Rhoda came to answer. 14On recognizing Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. 15They said to her, ‘You are out of your mind!’ But she insisted that it was so. They said, ‘It is his angel.’ 16Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed. 17He motioned to them with his hand to be silent, and described for them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison.

It was something Peter could not keep to himself.  It was something to share.  It was another James he wanted to share with.  The James who was the brother of Jesus, the one who later was to write that remarkable letter that bears his name.

And he added, ‘Tell this to James and to the believers.’ Then he left and went to another place.

There is a cruel streak in Agrippa that Luke in telling the story of Acts draws out attention to.  These people were up against a pretty awful time as they supported each other in prayer.

18 When morning came, there was no small commotion among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. 19When Herod had searched for him and could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered them to be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

Caesarea was that port city that was the seat of Roman government.

Josephus tells us of the death of Agrippa 1 within a couple of years.

Luke’s account implies grandiose ideas that had got the better of Agrippa 1.

He ruled with menace in that region.

And he began to think of himself as others of the Herodian dynasty had done as like the Roman Emperor, a son of God.

20 Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they came to him in a body; and after winning over Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for a reconciliation, because their country depended on the king’s country for food. 21On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat on the platform, and delivered a public address to them. 22The people kept shouting, ‘The voice of a god, and not of a mortal!’

Luke sees him as getting his just deserts for his abandonment of the things of God.

23And immediately, because he had not given the glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

Then comes one of those marker verses Luke likes to add into his story, telling us how the church was going from strength to strength.

After the unsavoury account of Agrippa 1’s death, it’s good especially when we are thinking today of Pastoral ministry to finish on this note.

But the word of God continued to advance and gain adherents. 25Then after completing their mission Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem and brought with them John, whose other name was Mark.

Our prayer for the life of our church here at Highbury as we take on a new framework and commission our Pastoral Ministry Leaders is that the word of God may continue to advance and gain adeherents here in this place at Highbury.

And we pick up the story of Saul as with Barnabas he returns to Jerusalem and brings John, whose other name was Mark.

Why finish there.  Because it’s with a good sense of partnership.  And a lovely sense of Barnabas – the son of encouragement, who was a good man full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.

That spirit of encouragement, those are the qualities that we see and we seek in those we call to share in ministry with us today as Pastoral Ministry Leaders.