Tag Archives: Paul

Really, Paul!

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REALLY, PAUL!

“‘We’re worried about what will happen when they discover you’re in town. There’s bound to be trouble. So here is what we want you to do. There are four men from our company who have taken a vow involving ritual purification, but have no money to pay the expenses. Join these men in their vows and pay their expenses. Then it will become obvious to everyone that there is nothing to the rumours going around about you and that you are in fact scrupulous in your reverence for the laws of Moses. 

“‘In asking you to do this, we’re not going back on our agreement regarding Gentiles who have become believers. We continue to hold fast to what we wrote in that letter, namely, to be careful not to get involved in activities connected with idols; to avoid serving food offensive to Jewish Christians; to guard the morality of sex and marriage.’

“So Paul did it — took the men, joined them in their vows, and paid their way. The next day he went to the temple to make it official and stay there until the proper sacrifices had been offered and completed for each of them.” Acts 21:25-26 (The Message).

Really, Paul! A few days before, you spoke such noble words. You were not concerned about your safety — you only wanted to be obedient to the Lord. And now this! Vows! Sacrifice! Was this what God wanted you to do or was this just human wisdom and bad advice? Look at the outcome. Did it work for you?

Paul was just as human as we are and, in a moment of fear, tried to duck out of what he knew was coming. By associating himself with men who were still following old ways, was he compromising on the very thing he was so earnest about defending? Since Jesus was an all-sufficient Saviour, what place did vows and sacrifice have in his life any longer, especially as he was simply going along with others and not acting out of his own conviction?

It is easy to have noble intentions when we are not in the thick of difficult or dangerous circumstances. We know what we would say or do but, when it comes to the moment, it takes great courage to carry out our resolve and not to cower and back down. Have you noticed how easy it is to rehearse in your mind what you would say or do, for example, when you have to confront someone with a confession of guilt, or with the truth? When the time comes, and you are in a face-to-face situation, your courage fails and all the things you wanted to say evaporate from your mind like the morning mist!

Perhaps Paul was eager to concur because his fellow believers were far more aware of the danger of his situation than he was. For a moment he had forgotten that his life was in the hands of God, and that he still had a purpose to serve, even in the circumstances that lay ahead for him. The Holy Spirit had forewarned him to prepare him so that he would not be caught off guard. A little deception to put his old adversaries off the scent was not going to change God’s plan for him.

Whether his plan worked or not, Paul was a marked man, not marked by men but by God because He wanted him to testify to His grace in Rome also. Paul may not have liked the process that got him there, but God needed him in the very precincts of the palace itself so that the message of Jesus would not only be spoken but lived out in the presence of the highest authorities in the land.

What might have looked like a tragedy in his eyes was a triumph and an honour for a man like Paul. Once he got his perspective right, he would rise to the occasion, correct his wobble, and become exactly what his Master intended for him to be — a beacon of hope for Rome also, and a source of knowledge, strength and comfort for the recipients of the letters he was able to write at his leisure, right down to the present.

“Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone, that I am in chains for Christ, Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.” Philippians 1:12-14 (NIV).

What Have I Done To Deserve This?

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WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS?

“Soon the whole city was in an uproar, people running from everywhere to the Temple to get in on the action. They grabbed Paul, dragged him outside, and locked the Temple gates so he couldn’t get back in and gain sanctuary.

“As they were trying to kill him, word came to the captain of the guard, ‘A riot! The whole city’s boiling over.’ He acted swiftly. His soldiers and centurions ran to the scene at once. As soon as the mob saw the captain and his soldiers, they quit beating Paul.” Acts 21:30-32 (The Message).

‘So where was God in all this?’ This is the first question we are likely to ask.

If Paul was God’s servant, carrying out all His instructions faithfully, why didn’t He protect him from this kind of trouble? Why did He allow Paul to go through all this, just to get him to Rome? Couldn’t he have just hopped on a ship and sailed there in peace?

Questions like these open up the age-old issue of suffering — why does God allow suffering? We all experience our own version of this universal problem, and there are probably as many solutions as there are experiences, but do they really give answers that satisfy?

The problem for believers is that the Bible itself does not give us an answer. It may address some peripheral issues like, for example, that we live in a fallen world; that Satan is the god of this world; that his intention is to kill, steal and destroy; that God has given human beings the freedom to choose and that people do bad things to each other and God does not interfere because we are not puppets.

But these do still do not answer the central issue: why does God allow these things to happen? Paul experienced God’s protection again and again during his travels in Europe and Asia Minor. When people rioted against him and tried to kill him, he escaped. God caused an earthquake to set him free from prison in Philippi. He raised him from the dead when he was stoned at Lystra. He survived hardships of many kinds, but now he was under arrest and in the hands of Roman soldiers. What next?

Apart from Jesus, Job probably suffered more than anyone whose story is recorded in Scripture. He went from being a fabulously wealthy man with a big family, a name and prestige in his community to a pathetic pauper sitting on an ash heap, ill and in pain, and not even a wife to comfort him because she had turned against him as well. It is quite natural that he would ask why.

His so-called friends didn’t help him either. They insisted that God had done this to him because he had secretly sinned, an accusation which Job vehemently denied. In all his ranting and railing, God said nothing. He allowed Job to get it all off his chest until he had nothing more to say. When He did finally answer him, God was angry. He didn’t speak gently to him; He came at him out of a storm!

What He had to say had nothing to do with Job’s demand to know why. He overwhelmed Job with the majesty of His power over nature. “‘Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.'” Job 38:4 (NIV). On and on He went until Job was struck dumb. What was the point of all this?

There is a sense in which God was telling Job that he was too puny to understand His ways. There is no answer to the question ‘Why?’ that we humans can grasp because God is painting His picture on a canvas as big as the universe itself. How can we possibly stand back far enough to see the whole scope of what He is doing?

The real issue is not ‘why are you doing this?’ but ‘what must I do in this situation?’ I can either become embittered, turn my back on God and never experience the grace He promised that sets me free from my emotional pain or I can trust Him because I know that He is a loving Father who is painting me into His big picture and will never do anything to harm or destroy me. It’s really my choice!

Assuming Is Lying

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ASSUMING IS LYING!

“When the seven days of their purification were nearly up, some Jews from around Ephesus spotted him in the Temple. At once they turned the place upside-down. They grabbed Paul and started yelling at the tops of their lungs, ‘Help! You Israelites, help! This is the man who is going all over the world telling lies against us and our religion and this place. He’s even brought Greeks in here and defiled this holy place.’ (What happened was that they had seen Paul and Trophimus, the Ephesian Greek, walking together in the city and had just assumed that he had taken him to the Temple and shown him around).” Acts 21:27-29 (The Message).

Well now, here’s an interesting situation! Seeing Paul in the city with a Greek was a far cry from seeing him in the temple with the same man. They assumed that Paul had taken him into the temple, and acted like hooligans on their assumption.

Assuming without listening is a dangerous thing to do. By assuming, these men were doing exactly what they were accusing Paul of doing — telling lies! Because they had not listened to Paul’s message in Ephesus and had even possibly been part of the riot there, seeing the whole city was in an uproar, they had certainly not grasped the truth of his preaching or his credibility as a servant of God.

They assumed that Paul was trying to discredit the Jews and their God; they assumed that he was trying to turn the Gentiles against the Jews; they assumed that he had turned against their God himself, and of course they assumed that he was a dangerous man and needed to be eliminated. From where did these assumptions come? From the “father of lies” of course! Anyone is open to these kinds of assumptions if he does not have a heart for the truth.

These Jews were in the grip of both tradition and religion that had turned them into bigots and potential murderers. It was they, not Paul, who were misrepresenting the God they were supposed to be worshipping. It was their agenda, not God’s, they were fighting for because, if they had understood the God who had revealed Himself to them through their history with Him and His law, they would have known Him to be a God of mercy and compassion who had a heart for all people, including the Gentiles.

Their own Scriptures foretold a time when Messiah would come and change everything; when the nations would stream to Jerusalem to be part of the universal worship of God.

“In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills and peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His paths.’ The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Micah 4:1-2 (NIV).

If these men, who were so zealous for their religion, had done more listening and less assuming, they would have recognised that they were uniquely privileged to a part of a new era of God’s grace.

The tragedy is that people get hurt when we assume without verifying our facts. Our assumptions are often based on our inborn desire to be one up on other people. How often do we assume things that are to the detriment or ourselves and the advantage of other people?

If we are to be true followers of Jesus, we must cultivate a generous and honest heart that assumes nothing but gives people, even those we don’t like, the benefit of the doubt. To take the trouble to be sure of our facts will offset a whole lot of pain, for other people as well as ourselves, and contribute to peace instead of conflict, which is the life we are called to live.

A Man After God’s Heart

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A MAN AFTER GOD’S HEART

“After several days of visiting, a prophet from Judea by the name of Agabus came down to us. He went right up to Paul, took Paul’s belt and, in a dramatic gesture, tied himself up, hands and feet. He said, ‘This is what the Holy Spirit says. The Jews in Jerusalem are going to tie up the man who owns this belt just like this, and hand him over to godless unbelievers.

“When we heard that, we and everyone there that day begged Paul not to be stubborn and persist in going to Jerusalem. But Paul wouldn’t budge. ‘Why all this hysteria? Why do you insist on making a scene and making it even harder for me? You’re looking at this backwards. The issue in Jerusalem is not what they do to me, whether arrest or murder, but what the Master Jesus does through my obedience. Can’t you see that?'” Acts 21:10-13 (The Message).

What a perspective! What a man!

Every time Paul was warned not to go to Jerusalem by well-meaning but misguided people, his resolve to face whatever was coming as long as it was in his Master’s will grew stronger. Paul was more concerned about missing God’s plan for him than he was about any kind of abuse or suffering from fellow-Jews or Romans. Whatever his friends thought or wanted for him was inconsequential. He had a single-minded determination to see his obedience through to the end, no matter what.

Paul’s life-lessons had brought him to the point where he drew his joy and his strength from the wellspring of obedience to Jesus, not circumstances, success or fruitfulness. The union between him and Jesus, established decades ago on the road to Damascus, when his response to Him was a simple, ‘Lord, what do you want me to do?’ had become stronger and less complicated the longer he walked the road with Him.

From Paul’s story in the New Testament and from David’s in the Old, we can draw this conclusion: which of His children bring God the most pleasure? Those who win the most souls for Jesus? Those who suffer the most for Him? Those who go to the remotest parts of the earth and give up the most for Him? None of these things count for anything. What pleases God the most is doing what He tells us to do!

It may be as simple as caring for an abused or retarded child. It may be as undramatic as giving a cup of water to a thirsty beggar. It may be as routine as staying at home and raising a family. It is not what we do that gains us Brownie points. God looks at our hearts. Obedience is the hallmark of the one who truly loves Jesus. “‘If you love me show it by doing what I’ve told you.'” John 14:15 (The Message).

This was God’s affirmation of David at the end of his life: “After removing Saul, He made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'” Acts 13:22 (NIV). That puts every single believer within reach of the same verdict. “A man/woman after my own heart!” Who would not want that written by the finger of God on his/her CV?

How is this achieved? By the lessons of confidence and trust we learn through the trials of life. God told Moses, ‘You can’t see my face, but I will show you my back.’ We cannot see where God is taking us but where can see where He has been and that will surely give us confidence to trust him for the future.

Jesus gave His disciples one simple instruction: ‘Follow me.’ From that flows every step of our journey with Him. We must beware of every person and every teaching that complicates that simple instruction. God’s verdict on us hangs on our obedience to that simple command!

Words To Live By

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WORDS TO LIVE BY

“‘I’ve never, as you so well know, had any taste for wealth or fashion. With these bare hands I took care of my own basic needs and those who worked with me. In everything I’ve done, I have demonstrated to you how necessary it is to work on behalf of the weak and not exploit them. You’ll not likely go wrong here if you keep remembering that our Master said, ‘You’re far happier giving than getting.’

“Then Paul went down on his knees, all of them kneeling with him, and prayed. And then a river of tears. Much clinging to Paul, not wanting to let him go. They knew they would never see him again — he had told them quite plainly. Then, bravely, they walked him down to the ship.” Acts 20:33-38 (The Message).

We are privileged to eavesdrop on a poignant moment in Paul’s life — saying goodbye to very dear friends and colleagues, knowing that they would not meet again on this side of eternity. What does one say, at a time like this? What would one’s parting words be that would ring in their ears long after he was gone?

Although his words may seem of no consequence, he actually encapsulated, in the Master’s own words, the heart of the Father — generosity. “Generous” is an adjective but we can attach it to everything that God is: generous in love; generous in mercy; generous in grace; generous in compassion; generous in kindness; generous in forgiveness; generous in provision; generous in protection; generous in favour; and on and on!

We only need to look around us to see God’s generosity everywhere. Why did He put hundreds of seeds inside a pumpkin when just a few would do to propagate the species?

But He is not only generous in doing. He is also generous in being. He doesn’t judge or beat us when we fall. He tenderly picks us up, dusts us off, wipes away our tears and whispers, ‘It’s okay. I have already forgiven you. Now keep going. I’m with you and you’ll make it home to me.’

“Generosity” is an interesting word in Hebrew. The root word “tsidaq” is translated “righteousness” in English which is an abstract concept and difficult to define. The Hebrew language leans towards action rather than abstract — understanding life from the point of view of the senses. To understand righteousness, i.e., doing the right thing, they added the letter “h” which, in Paleo Hebrew (the original picture Hebrew), was a picture of an open window. “Tsidaq” became “tsidaqah” — “righteousness revealed”, translated “generosity.”

Hundreds of times in the Old Testament, righteousness and generosity are coupled together in the same verse or adjacent verses. Consider just one example: “The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously.” Psalm 37:21(NIV).

The essence of our old human nature is selfishness. Adam lost his God-awareness when he chose his own way, and became pathologically self-aware and self-absorbed. Is it any wonder, then, that the world is obsessed with money, driven by money and greedy for money?

One of the clearest evidences of the transformation that Jesus works in the life of a believer is his attitude to money and possessions. When Zaccheus had an encounter with Jesus, his first reaction was to restore what he had stolen and share his bounty with the poor. Jesus concluded, “‘Today salvation has come to this house…'” Luke 19:9a (NIV).

True happiness is the by-product of a generous heart, generous in attitude as well as in sharing the good things God has entrusted to us. “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”