Paul’s First Missionary Journey (Acts 14:8-20)

 Sermon for Milledgeville and Centenary UMC...

[Slide] Paul’s First Missionary Journey (Acts 14:8-20)

 

After today we will be halfway through Acts. We are moving from the ministry centered in Jerusalem and Peter, to the ministry of Paul among the Gentiles. I thought it might be fun to see what we have retained during these summer months. It’s Bible Trivia time! [Slide]

 

·       [Slide]How many days after His resurrection did Jesus appear to his disciples before he ascended into heaven? [Slide] Forty

 

He was seen by them over a forty-day period and spoke about matters concerning the kingdom of God.  (Acts 1:3)

 

·       [Slide] How many people came to faith in Christ on the Day of Pentecost? [Slide] Around 3000 (Acts 2:41)

·       [Slide] Who was the first person to die because of their witness for Christ? [Slide] Stephen (Acts 7:59)

·       [Slide] Why was Peter called in on the carpet and confronted by the church leadership in Jerusalem? [Slide] He entered the home of a Gentile and ate with them (Acts 11:2)

·       [Slide] What was Paul’s religious tradition before he became a Christian? [Slide] He was a Pharisee. (Acts 23:6)

·       [Slide] How did Paul escape death in Damascus? [Slide] He was lowered in a basket through an opening in the city wall (Acts 9:25, 2^nd Corinthians 11:32-33)

·       [Slide] What is the key verse to understanding the entire book of Acts? [Slide] Acts 1:8

 

The Risen Lord Jesus told his disciples,

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 

Paul's First Missionary Journey
Acts 13-14

Today, we join Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey to proclaim the gospel of Jesus to the Gentiles. [Slide] We last were with Paul when he was traveling to Damascus to persecute Christians. On the way he was struck blind by the Risen Lord Jesus, Himself.

 

After his transformative encounter with Jesus and the healing of his sight through a Christ follower named Ananias, Saul began to proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God, the promised Messiah, to the Jews in Damascus. Some in Damascus plotted to kill him. [Slide] Saul escaped. With the help of Christians, he was lowered in a basket to an opening in the city wall.

 

Acts 9:26 says that Paul next went to Jerusalem to meet the apostles. In truth, Paul went to Arabia. (Galatians 1:17-19) [Slide] He may have gone to Petra, the Nabatean capital. Some have suggested he met up with Jewish communities east of the Jordan that were established during the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions. There he studied, prayed, and prepared.

 

[Slide] After three years, Paul went to Jerusalem to meet Peter and James, the brother of Jesus. They avoided him out of fear, but a Jewish Christian by the name of Barnabas befriended Paul and arranged a meeting. Peter and James gave him the right hand of fellowship and blessed his ministry among the Gentiles. But the Jews in Jerusalem plotted to kill Paul. For his own safety, the Church sent Paul back to Tarsus, his hometown. [Slide]

 

Barnabas later visited the church in Syrian Antioch. Antioch was the first place followers of Jesus were called Christian. (Acts 13:9) Barnabas saw their need for sound teaching, so he went looking for Paul in Tarsus. Together, they returned to Antioch to nurture the Church.

 

It was at Syrian Antioch that Paul and Barnabas were commissioned and sent as missionaries. John Mark, the future author of the Gospel of Mark, went with them.

They sailed to Cyprus and traveled from town to town across the island. They visited synagogues, proclaiming Jesus as messiah and Lord. Everywhere they went signs and wonders accompanied their ministry.

 

People were healed, the demon-possessed liberated. News of them spread to the ears of the Roman governor, Sergius Paulus. He arranged a meeting to hear Paul. [Slide] The governor was advised by Elymus, a Jewish magician. As the governor listened to Paul speak about Jesus, Elymus contradicted them. He spoke against Paul. Paul accused him of evil intent and struck him with a temporary blindness, simply by saying so. This caused the governor to believe in Jesus.

 

[Slide] Paul and Barnabus sailed north to Perga in Pamphylia, which is southwestern Turkey. At this point, John Mark bailed on the mission and returned home to Jerusalem. We can assume the hardships involved were too much for him. Paul moved north into the region to Pisidia and visited Antioch, not the Antioch in Syria. To distinguish between them, biblical scholars call this town Pisidian Antioch.

 

[Slide] Paul spoke to the Jews and Gentile proselytes gathered in the synagogue. He identified himself as a messenger of salvation. He gave a brief history of Israel. He told them of Jesus, descendant of David, how He was handed over to the Romans and crucified, but God raised Him from the dead. Through Jesus, there is forgiveness!

 

Some wanted to hear more, so they invited Paul to return and speak again. The next Sabbath the whole town showed up. Some Jews became jealous of Paul and argued with him. Since they rejected the gospel, Paul decided he would turn to the Gentiles. [Slide] In Iconium, the same thing happened. The Jews ran Paul out of town, just as they had in Pisidian Antioch. So they traveled to Lystra.

 

[Slide] In Lystra, Paul healed a man who was born lame from birth. Paul commanded him, “Stand up on your feet!” Jesus had done the same several times, using similar words to heal.

The Greek, anistemi, translated as stand up or get up is sometimes used to speak of resurrection. Luke wants us to know that Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, is healing this gentile of his infirmity.

 

The man jumps up and starts walking around. [Slide] In amazement, the people concluded that Barnabas and Paul were gods come to visit in the flesh. What irony! Jesus, the very one they came to proclaim, is God in the flesh! Their priests came to make sacrifices for Paul, who they thought was Hermes, the messenger of the gods, and Barnabas, they called Zeus.

 

Paul and Barnabas were so upset they tore their clothes in grief. They rushed to stop them.

 

Have you ever done something you thought was a good thing to do and have it backfire on you? This story illustrates pagan ignorance. They imagine God as a whole bunch of gods with specific areas in life for which they are responsible. Zeus rules the skies and is king of the gods.

 

[Slide] The Odyssey is playing in theaters right now. Often, characters speak of the law of Zeus, a sacred code of hospitality. Odysseus broke the law of Zeus with the fabled Trojan horse. It was said to be a gift to honor Troy and their gods. In good faith, the Trojans took the great wooden horse inside the city, unaware that inside a squad of soldiers hid. As Troy slept, the soldiers emerged from the belly of the horse, killed the sentries, and opened the gates to their army. They slaughtered the Trojans and destroyed the city. Because of his guilt, Odysseus could not return home for many years. He broke Zeus’ law to win the war. The Trojan horse seemed like a good idea at the time, but it cost him dearly.

 

Paul didn’t do anything wrong by healing the lame man at the gates of Lystra, but it backfired. [Slide] The people’s assumption that Paul is a god, reminds me of a scene in Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Brian is hiding from Roman soldiers and pretends to be a prophet. He says a few words about love and peace and a crowd gathers.

Once the soldiers move on, Brian stops talking and moves on, but the crowd wants to hear more. They ask, “Are you the Messiah?” He told them, “no” but they just thought he was being humble and kept following him. As more and more join the crowd, Brian gets really frustrated.

 

He turned around and yelled, “I’m not the messiah. Now go home!” That only increased their confidence that he was the humble messiah. Nothing he said would deter their religious fervor.

 

[Slide] Paul told the crowd, “We are ordinary men, just like you!” He told them to turn away from idols and worship the living God. But they kept insisting on worshipping Paul.

 

[Slide] Like angry hornets, the Jews from Pisidian Antioch and Iconium followed Paul to Lystra. They turned the crowd against Paul. They drug Paul outside the city, stoned him, and left him for dead.

 

But the disciples surrounded him, and Paul got up and went back into the city. (Acts 14:20)

 

Can you imagine? Jesus told Ananias that He would show Paul all that He must suffer for Christ’s name. Paul was chased out of Jerusalem, Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, and stoned in Lystra. He will face many more trials before his martyrdom.

 

John Mark went running back to Jerusalem to the comforts of home. He turned his back on the mission. We are here today because people like Paul suffered for the sake of the gospel. The difference between Paul and John Mark is conviction. Paul knows in his heart that he must suffer for Jesus. Suffering leads to redemption.

 

 

 

[Slide] My aim is to know Christ, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10-11)

 

[Slide] John Wesley was pelted with rocks, robbed by thieves, and beaten by unwelcoming crowds. Not a few Methodist circuit riders died young from exposure to the elements, all for the sake of the good news.

What gave them such courage? It was their love and commitment to Jesus and His Church.

 

[Slide] Notice that the disciples circled around Paul as he lay there beaten. The circle of Christian fellowship gave Him the strength to get up. Christ, in the circle of Jesus followers, empowered Paul to keep going.

 

We all need the power of that circle. [Slide] Christian fellowship is essential to your path toward becoming like Jesus. This fall you will have an opportunity to join a small group, a circle of disciples. Please pray for the Church. And when the time comes, commit yourself to the circle of disciples.

 

I am praying for your revival. I am praying that you get up, rise in the power of Christ, and become His witnesses.