Acts 23 Sermon notes Hospitality, guidance and love

Transcription

1 1 INTRODUCTION There are three things I want to point out in the passage we have this morning. As ECCC strives to become a (1) family that shares life, (2) disciples who grow and (3) missionaries who are sent, the three points in the passage will stretch us in these three identities areas. FAMILY: THE GOSPEL CREATES HOSPITALITY (21:1-8, 16) Read Acts 21:1-6 You can see in this passage the depth of the bonds that Paul shared with other Christians. If you remember, he had told the Ephesians that he would never see them again this side of Heaven. But by verse 4 we see that Paul has been received by Christians he did not even know. He rocked up in Tyre and found the Christians. The church here was probably started by unnamed Christians after the dispersion caused by Stephen s martyrdom (11:19-20). The remarkable benefit of being a Christian was that Paul was warmly received into their homes and lives a place to stay, food to eat, an immediate depth of friendship, they sought the will of God together (we ll return to this in a minute), and a real affection and support for him and his companions (kneeling in prayer Read Acts 21:5). You see this kind of warms and hospitality in verses 7-8, this time with people that he probably knew. Read Acts 21:7-8. And again in verse 16: Read Acts 21:16. Hospitality is an important theme that runs through Acts and, in fact, the whole Bible. Today there is an industry that goes by the same name: the hospitality industry. According to a couple of websites I visited the focus is customer satisfaction and meeting leisurely needs rather than basic ones and customer service in the areas of food and beverage, accommodation, and travel and tourism. It is a great industry I like good service, I was even a waiter for a while!. So biblical hospitality is foundationally more personal and spiritual. The Greek word for hospitality means love for strangers (a) generosity with our material goods and resources (Romans 12:13); (b) receiving and accepting the outsider as an insider (Lev 19:32-33); (c) being very open to new people (Heb 13:2); (d) willing act no grumbling (1Peter4:9).

2 2 It is about a willingness to open your heart to new people and provide them with practical help out of your resources. MOTIVATION But here is what you must get: the motivation is the fact that God has opened his home to us. He has made us part of his household (Gal 6:10). We were the strangers, the outsiders. But God made a way through Christ to welcome us into his family. He did it at great expense and the welcome we receive is lavish. It is a most God-like thing to do! Now, there are certain life stages that lend themselves better to hospitality, but we should be striving as Christians to make this our practice as a church: On Sundays we should welcome newcomers with warmth (Maggie as started a welcome and greeting team and we need people to volunteer to serve there in the church even though all of us are responsible for making ECCC a welcoming place); We should be inviting others into our homes for meals (some people may be in the financial or housing situation where going out for a economically priced meal is a better option); Offering to orientate new neighbours that move into your community; Maybe a cup of coffee after church in your home is a god start for people who are practically trying to get into it! DISCIPLES: A QUESTION OF GUIDANCE (21:4, 10-14, 23:11) Read 21:10-14 Now this is in the back of Paul saying in the previous chapter: Acts 20:22-23 "And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. The tough thing is reconciling this with what we just read in 21:4b, Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. So do you see the problem: on the one hand we have the prophecy of Agabus and Paul s conviction that he is being led to Jerusalem and then Rome (20:22); on the other hand we have the believers in Tyre who urged Paul not to go to Jerusalem by the Spirit! Is he Spirit contradicting himself? Commentators, after consider other answers to this

3 3 quandary seem to agree that: (1) Agabus was right suffering was awaiting Paul in Jerusalem; (2) Paul was right God was directing him to go; (3) the Christians in Tyre heard the Spirit correctly (suffering for Paul) but drew their own incorrect conclusions; in their humanity they thought it would be best if Paul avoided suffering! And it is actually very helpful for us to see this: (a) We must never give advice with divine authority unless it is based on the plain teaching of scripture. You don't have to wait to hear from God that you should tell your friend to break off their extra-marital affair the Bible is clear there. (b) When it comes to areas where we do have choice we must be cautious with the words we use: I feel a burden to speak to you about... ; I may be wrong but I feel God wants me to share this with you.... You can never say, God has shown me that you should leave your church and come to East Claremont.... Too many Christians have invoked divine wisdom for their human advice and I have seen it cause deep hurt and doubt in God. It is very dangerous. If you say, God has shown me that... I either have to accept what you say as God s word or reject you as a false prophet. So New Testament gifts like prophecy, words of wisdom and knowledge are not meant to be seen on the same level as Old Testament prophets. They are rather to be judged and evaluated with God s word and circumstantial evidence. MISSIONARIES: INCREDIBLE LOVE When Paul arrived in Jerusalem he went to the Temple to worship and thing get out of hand. Read Acts 21:27-32 Consider what has just happened to Paul: he has been falsely accused and unrightfully been made the object of a crowd s anger. He is seized and dragged out of the temple and beaten with the intention of killing him. The only reason he is still alive is that word gets to the Roman commander and his soldier intervene to save Paul. Paul was probably about 5 minutes from his death. When someone is verbally and physically attacked like this the deep instincts of fight or flight are released. The adrenaline would have put him in a state of enormous anger or huge fear and probably both. If you have ever been in a life threatening situation you will know the extreme state of arousal he was in. The detachment of soldiers at the Temple was small and the crowd was riotous so the danger was not gone.

4 4 Read Acts 21:37-40 Why would Paul care enough to want to share his faith with them? How was he able to conquer the feeling of fear and anger? How was he calmly and graciously able to address them as brothers and fathers when they just tried to kill him. Paul was a take every opportunity kind of guy. More than that I think he realised that he would probably not have another chance to address a crowd in Jerusalem. But it was more than that... Paul was full of compassion and love for his fellow countrymen. I have always wondered at that famous passage in Romans 9 where Paul says, I speak the truth in Christ--I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises." Paul was at one stage blind and lost like this crowd. He once hated and persecuted. He was once confident in his moral actions and national pedigree. And he was absolutely devastated to see them fighting against the gift of God in Christ. We are not called to do exactly what Paul did, but we are called to testify and tell of the faith we have found in Christ. We must ponder the plight of those who do not have Christ. We must think deeply about why we are so comfortable to have salvation for ourselves but so ambivalent to those who do not have Christ. Acts makes the purpose of the church absolutely inescapable and unavoidable you can't read Acts and come to a different conclusion: the main calling of the church is to bring the gospel to a lost world. CONCLUSION We must pray for courage. We must pray for a manifestation of the love of Christ in our lives We must examine our hearts. We must repent of loving comfort. We must determine what is stopping us and seek ways to overcome these obstacles.

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