This first week of Advent we look at how Jesus brings peace to the world. Peace is not merely quiet, calm, nor inner tranquility. It is all things working together as they should, so that the world flourishes. It is wholeness. It is Shalom. Jesus rights all wrongs, brings justice and healing, and invites us to experience true peace.
The book of Acts comes to an anti-climactic end in chapter 28. We never hear about Paul standing before Caesar. There is little conflict from the Jewish leaders there. We never hear whether he made it to Spain afterward. It ends with him living in his own rented home for two years, continuing to share the Good News. The Story does not end here, because the Story is not over. It continues with you and I.
In a sense, Acts ends as it started. It was a continuation of all Jesus began to do through the Spirit — which he now continues through His Spirit at work in his followers.
One of our Missio Community leaders, John Looney, preaches on Acts 27. Paul, on his way to Rome, along with many other prisoners, guards, and crew members, face a violent storm and end up shipwrecked on the island of Malta. How do we see God still at work even in what seems to be chaotic and uncertain moments like this?
Paul didn't exactly get the warmest welcome in Jerusalem. The very people he used to be one with turn against him and vow to kill him. He appeals to Caesar, his right as a Roman citizen, which sends him on a long and tumultuous journey leaving him shipwrecked. And yet, this is all in God's plan for many people to see and hear the good news and power of Jesus.
Paul has been moving toward Jerusalem, even though he had warnings not to go. When he arrives, things go down exactly as he was warned. And yet, he is right where the Father wants him. Jesus is with him. The Spirit is empowering him. He has not taken the safe route, but the good route, and he has not gone alone.
Paul made three missionary trips around Asia Minor and Greece before traveling to Jerusalem for the Pentecost feast and to deliver some aid to the poor from Gentile cities. From there he would travel even further on. But before he left, he wanted to encourage the new believers in those cities to continue strong in the faith, following after Jesus, because he knew he would never see them again.
Luke’s retelling of this story includes a strange event right in the middle of Paul’s farewell tour; a young boy falling out of a window to his death. Yet, even in this tragedy, the Spirit of God was moving His mission of the restoration of life forward, just as He was moving Paul forward to share this good news with all the nations.
This week’s text shows us three types of faith: a lacking faith, a lying faith, and a liberating faith. The lacking faith is not incorrect, just incomplete. The lying faith is an imposter which needs to be exposed. The liberating faith is a life set free as it is immersed into the identity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
After leaving Athens, Paul traveled to the much different city of Corinth. There he was weary and afraid, likely because of the many obstacles he faced from his travels and even more so from the culture in Corinth he was surrounded by. Yet, God shows up. He provides community for him in Aquila and Priscilla, and Jesus himself speaks words of comfort and encouragement. This allows Paul the strength to stay in Corinth for a year and a half, speaking good news.
The words of Jesus to Paul are words for us still today.
Often, the work God has for us happens during what seems to be interruptions to our life. Paul found himself in Athens alone as a temporary escape from the threats in another city. Yet, God had him there for a purpose. This was a much different crowd, filled with many different thoughts and views on life. Yet, whether he was in the synagogue, the marketplace, or in the seat of philosophers, Paul had one message to bring: the story of Jesus.
Acts 16 gives us a snapshot of multiple characters coming to follow Jesus — and the sacrifices they made for others to hear the good news. When we are called to follow Jesus and to share the Kingdom with others, it comes at a cost. The promise is not that it will be easy, but that the King is with us to the very end.
In Acts 15, the council of apostles and leaders of the earliest community of Jesus followers had a question before them: ‘What determines whether a person is in Christ or not?’ Their answer: ‘The grace of God through the work of Jesus, not through our own work.’
This meant that the religious rules they had been taught to follow their entire lives, though they had their place, were not what saved them. This also meant the things that had distinguished Jews from the rest of the world as God’s own people were no longer dividing lines. Most of all, this meant that all people were welcome into the Kingdom of God as they recognized Jesus as King.
It is our worship of Jesus that saves us, not our works.
Charlie Meo, pastor of Missio Dei Tempe, visits us with a message from Acts 13:13-52. What happens when we are formed by God, together, but not for the sake of others? This is what Israel looked like. How have we patterned this? Are there any barriers or blindspots we haven’t realized we set up which keep others from coming into the community of God’s people? May we be a people formed by God, together, for the sake of others.
From Barnabas to Bar-Jesus, Acts 13 introduces us to a lot of new names. Each of them has a significant meaning and tells a story. Bar in the Hebrew/Aramaic means “son of”. Barnabas was ‘son of encouragement’ and Bar-Jesus, ‘son of salvation’. One of those characters lived up to their name. What name do you carry? How can you live up to the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit you have been called into?
