Good News !
Tonight’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles (14:8-17) includes one of the first examples of people preaching to listeners who really don’t know any background about what they’re talking about. Today we sometimes have visits from school children into Church, and it’s surprising how many people have never been in a Church before – some don’t know basic prayers such as the Lords Prayer – but most people we come across will still have an idea at least who Jesus is.
Paul and Barnabas were on a missionary trip to an area untouched by the message of Jesus – people had never heard of him, he simply had made no impact as far afield as the two men had travelled. And they had preached, and the gospel message had been enough of a threat to those in authority to have chased out of various places before and now they have arrived in Lystra.
Lystra is in what we now know as Turkey and Paul we know preached there on a number of occasions. This time he and Barnabas were speaking and Paul noticed a man who had never been able to walk – Paul recognised that this man had faith strong enough to be healed, and as Paul commanded the man to stand up and walk – he did so.
Naturally the crowd were amazed – wouldn’t we all be ! And they began to hail Paul and Barnabas as Hermes and Zeus – within Lystra there was a Temple dedicated to Zeus and the people believed that the Greek gods had returned to bless them through this incredible miracle.
At first Paul and Barnabas didn’t understand what was happening, but when they did they were devastated – God’s power had not been recognised – instead people were praising them as gods. And so they rushed out and began to explain a bit more of the gospel message – they didn’t mention Jesus, it wasn’t a time for a long and complicated historical lesson about a Saviour, instead they spoke to the people in a language they understood giving the credit for the miracle to the living God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them.
And some slowly began to listen… others, afraid of the message would once again turn on the missionaries, stoning Paul and believing that he had been killed. Saved by some of the Christians in Lystra, Paul would move on to preach more…
This incident in Lystra is one that is very important for the Church today for 3 reasons. Firstly it is important to recognise that we must be bold in preaching the gospel message and speak to people where they are – sometimes we in the Church are a little guilty of using language and symbolism which people don’t understand – sometimes we don’t even understand it !
Secondly, Paul and Barnabas noticed a great danger as they heard about the people treating them as gods. This danger was greater than people who believed nothing at all because this was the danger of building up an individual other than Jesus.
Many of us might like, in our weaker moments, to be treated as gods, but actually it is Jesus who we must recognise and credit with any positive power we have… I think the Alpha course is a wonderful course which has provided the Church in this country with a huge lift, but I do know of people who have almost ended up treating Nicky Gumbel as the god – the oracle of all knowledge ! It is certainly not what he intended or wanted, but it can happen.
Even in individual Churches there are ministers who are almost worshipped – people who can do nothing wrong – it is to Jesus and not to any other individuals that we must look for guidance and inspiration and wisdom…
And finally Paul and Barnabas offered us a lesson in never giving up… chased from one place to another, they courageously continued to preach the gospel, assured that ultimately whatever happened, God would never abandon them. They knew as they proved in this passage that their work was not down to them – they wanted no credit for what they were doing – the credit was God’s – the inspiration was Jesus himself…
And the lessons for the Church today from this passage are very obvious. They are that we must speak to people in an increasingly secular society in ways that they understand, in ways that they might want to listen. The Christian gospel is as relevant today as it has ever been, and we must be ready to tell people and show people that.
Harry Truman, the former United States President said, ‘If you can't convince them, confuse them !’ Tempting though that may be, our job is to convey the gospel that Jesus gives us !
The second lesson to the Church today is to make sure that we are never elevating any person other than Jesus into a position of god - Neil Marten, a member of Parliament, was once giving a group of his constituents a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament. During the course of the visit, the group happened to meet Lord Hailsham, then Lord Chancellor, wearing all the regalia of his office. Hailsham recognised Marten among the group and cried, "Neil!" Not daring to question or disobey the "command," the entire band of visitors promptly fell to their knees before Lord Hailsham !
CT Studd the famous cricketer and missionary wrote, ‘Only one life ‘twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last’… Individual empire building has no place in the Church, we are here to worship Christ and to point others in his direction - we do lots of things in the Church, many of them very good and very useful, and we should continue to do them, but ultimately everything we do should be judged on how we succeeded or failed at pointing people to Jesus.
And whether it’s in a Church service or in a social event, or in our prayers or just by walking down the street, we have the opportunity to do just that…
And finally we can be sure that whatever issues we may have to face, whatever problems or struggles we may encounter, God is there with us… Like Paul and Barnabas we can be sure that we will never be left alone, that we will never need to fear anything if we are prepared to trust…
May God give us the strength and the wisdom to share the good news of Jesus in ways and words that people can see and understand… may we never seek glory for ourselves, but point only to Jesus, and may we never be disheartened or afraid as we do God’s work – knowing that we can always put our trust in him. AMEN
Paul and Barnabas were on a missionary trip to an area untouched by the message of Jesus – people had never heard of him, he simply had made no impact as far afield as the two men had travelled. And they had preached, and the gospel message had been enough of a threat to those in authority to have chased out of various places before and now they have arrived in Lystra.
Lystra is in what we now know as Turkey and Paul we know preached there on a number of occasions. This time he and Barnabas were speaking and Paul noticed a man who had never been able to walk – Paul recognised that this man had faith strong enough to be healed, and as Paul commanded the man to stand up and walk – he did so.
Naturally the crowd were amazed – wouldn’t we all be ! And they began to hail Paul and Barnabas as Hermes and Zeus – within Lystra there was a Temple dedicated to Zeus and the people believed that the Greek gods had returned to bless them through this incredible miracle.
At first Paul and Barnabas didn’t understand what was happening, but when they did they were devastated – God’s power had not been recognised – instead people were praising them as gods. And so they rushed out and began to explain a bit more of the gospel message – they didn’t mention Jesus, it wasn’t a time for a long and complicated historical lesson about a Saviour, instead they spoke to the people in a language they understood giving the credit for the miracle to the living God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them.
And some slowly began to listen… others, afraid of the message would once again turn on the missionaries, stoning Paul and believing that he had been killed. Saved by some of the Christians in Lystra, Paul would move on to preach more…
This incident in Lystra is one that is very important for the Church today for 3 reasons. Firstly it is important to recognise that we must be bold in preaching the gospel message and speak to people where they are – sometimes we in the Church are a little guilty of using language and symbolism which people don’t understand – sometimes we don’t even understand it !
Secondly, Paul and Barnabas noticed a great danger as they heard about the people treating them as gods. This danger was greater than people who believed nothing at all because this was the danger of building up an individual other than Jesus.
Many of us might like, in our weaker moments, to be treated as gods, but actually it is Jesus who we must recognise and credit with any positive power we have… I think the Alpha course is a wonderful course which has provided the Church in this country with a huge lift, but I do know of people who have almost ended up treating Nicky Gumbel as the god – the oracle of all knowledge ! It is certainly not what he intended or wanted, but it can happen.
Even in individual Churches there are ministers who are almost worshipped – people who can do nothing wrong – it is to Jesus and not to any other individuals that we must look for guidance and inspiration and wisdom…
And finally Paul and Barnabas offered us a lesson in never giving up… chased from one place to another, they courageously continued to preach the gospel, assured that ultimately whatever happened, God would never abandon them. They knew as they proved in this passage that their work was not down to them – they wanted no credit for what they were doing – the credit was God’s – the inspiration was Jesus himself…
And the lessons for the Church today from this passage are very obvious. They are that we must speak to people in an increasingly secular society in ways that they understand, in ways that they might want to listen. The Christian gospel is as relevant today as it has ever been, and we must be ready to tell people and show people that.
Harry Truman, the former United States President said, ‘If you can't convince them, confuse them !’ Tempting though that may be, our job is to convey the gospel that Jesus gives us !
The second lesson to the Church today is to make sure that we are never elevating any person other than Jesus into a position of god - Neil Marten, a member of Parliament, was once giving a group of his constituents a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament. During the course of the visit, the group happened to meet Lord Hailsham, then Lord Chancellor, wearing all the regalia of his office. Hailsham recognised Marten among the group and cried, "Neil!" Not daring to question or disobey the "command," the entire band of visitors promptly fell to their knees before Lord Hailsham !
CT Studd the famous cricketer and missionary wrote, ‘Only one life ‘twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last’… Individual empire building has no place in the Church, we are here to worship Christ and to point others in his direction - we do lots of things in the Church, many of them very good and very useful, and we should continue to do them, but ultimately everything we do should be judged on how we succeeded or failed at pointing people to Jesus.
And whether it’s in a Church service or in a social event, or in our prayers or just by walking down the street, we have the opportunity to do just that…
And finally we can be sure that whatever issues we may have to face, whatever problems or struggles we may encounter, God is there with us… Like Paul and Barnabas we can be sure that we will never be left alone, that we will never need to fear anything if we are prepared to trust…
May God give us the strength and the wisdom to share the good news of Jesus in ways and words that people can see and understand… may we never seek glory for ourselves, but point only to Jesus, and may we never be disheartened or afraid as we do God’s work – knowing that we can always put our trust in him. AMEN
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