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    Sep 15, 2019

    Called to Go

    Called to Go

    Passage: Acts 11:19-26

    Speaker: Rev. Vivian McCarthy, Pastor

    Series: Paul, the Apostle

    Saul’s conversion was just the beginning of his call. It was in worship while Barnabas, Saul and the community were praying intensely, that they all heard the Spirit call Barnabas and Saul to go.

    Last week, I began the message by asking you to call out a biblical call story that you knew. In both services, Moses was mentioned first, and others mentioned were Abraham and Noah. Of course, the disciples were also called.

    These call stories are all unique. Moses had the burning bush. Noah heard God speak, telling him to build an ark. Scripture says that God appeared to Abraham in a vision and told him that God would give Abraham descendants and a fertile land to live in. I always picture those call stories as happening out in the wilderness somewhere and Abraham under an absolutely breathtaking midnight sky filled with stars.

    The disciples’ call stories are very different. They met a real-life-flesh-and-blood charismatic leader who drew them to himself.

    Last week, I talked about Saul’s conversion and described that, too, as a call story – a very dramatic call story, at that. But that’s not the end of Saul’s call. It was only the beginning.

    What was it that propelled Saul out of his normal, every day life and sent him on a series of journeys throughout Turkey and Greece and into Italy, not to mention the Middle East? 

    Worship. Worship with people who were on fire with the enthusiasm of new-found faith. People who were overwhelmed and overjoyed to know that Jesus had come for them. People who couldn’t wait to be together because when they gathered, they intensely felt the presence of the Lord. People who came expecting to hear a word from those who led them. People who opened themselves to a new experience of God by hearing stories and learning about the ways of God in Christ.

    It was all new. And even at a time when these new Christians were persecuted because the Jewish authorities felt threatened – and, to be fair, Jewish leaders who felt that these followers of Jesus were seriously breaking God’s law – the fledgling Christian church welcomed others who wanted new life – the kind of life abundant that these Christians had.

    Sent by the Jerusalem church to help the new church in Antioch, Barnabas seems to have gone in search of Saul because the community was growing at a fast pace. Saul was thrust into leadership, teaching and, presumably, preaching as well – although I wonder if there was much difference.

    Just a little aside. I had to chuckle over part of our study book this week. Hamilton is talking about how the church must have been back at the time of Saul, mentioning several things the church didn’t have – like great choirs and bands and an organ. And then he says:

    But at least there was great preaching, right? After all, Paul was one of their preachers! Not so fast. In 2 Corinthians 10:10, Paul notes what others said about his preaching: ‘His letters are severe and powerful, but in person he is weak and his speech is worth nothing’ (CEB).
     

    When the church gathered, the Spirit of God spoke.

    I wonder if that’s largely because people were hungry to hear from the Spirit of God? Did they arrive ready to hear? Did they arrive with a seeking heart? Did they arrive wanting a new understanding? Did they arrive open to receive?

    So, one day they were in worship, all in one accord, seeking direction from God. They were praying all together – praying intensely. Notice the content of the prayers. They were seeking God’s direction. These weren’t prayers of intercession. They were open-heart prayers, seeking not blessing for oneself and loved ones. It was prayer open to the movement of God – which, admittedly is very, very risky! And the scripture says,

    …the Holy Spirit spoke: “Take Barnabas and Saul and commission them for the work I have called them to do.”

    No one questioned it. They were to give up these pivotal leaders and send them to work elsewhere. They didn’t even know what the work was – just that they were to send them. That very day, the church commissioned Barnabas and Saul and sent them off in mission.

    This was the beginning of Saul’s missionary journeys – well, sort of. He and Barnabas had already delivered a missionary offering to the church in Jerusalem because they had learned through Agabus that the Jerusalem Christians were experiencing a famine. But on this occasion, Barnabas and Saul were simply sent “to do the work I have called them to do.” There is no indication that they had any more instruction than that.

    So, off they went, travelling first to Barnabas’ hometown on Cyprus where they drew a crowd by blinding a sorcerer named Elymus and then they sailed on to mainland Turkey where they walked through the mountains to another town named Antioch. They journeyed through Seleucia, Cyprus, Perga, Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, back through Lystra to Iconium and Antioch, Perga and Attalia and back to Syrian Antioch through Seleucia preaching and teaching, encouraging and establishing new faith communities. This trip was likely around 1500 miles, mostly on foot.

    When you read the stories of the missionary journeys in sequence, you begin to see that Paul’s work took on a shape:  preach and teach about Jesus, and identify leaders to encourage and help the new Christians to grow.

    It is in the sermons and teachings that Paul shared on these journeys that his theology took root. In his longest and the first recorded of his sermons in Pisidian Antioch, he finished by saying:

    Let it be known to you therefore, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you; by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.  (13:38-39)
     

    Set free. While acknowledging that humans often miss the mark or stray from the path, Paul’s central message was that Jesus set us free and gave us new life – a life not bound to guilt. He acknowledges that we are stubborn, not wanting anyone to tell us what to do. He acknowledges that while we may have the best intentions, we are prone to do things our own way. And in addition to that, we can also be lured away from the path by external forces that pull us this way and that – and some of those forces are spiritual forces.

    Paul understood that “Sin harms our relationships, brings pain to our world, and leaves us alienated from God…What human beings need is a Savior who could save them from themselves. (pg 72)” 

    Paul was a master at helping people to see that Jesus’ gift to us is priceless. He preached the heart of the gospel – that Jesus “came to save us, to deliver us from sin, to win forgiveness for us, to call us to a new way of life, to change our hearts and minds, and then to deliver us from death and to eternal life. He came to call humanity to be a part of the Kingdom of God. (page 73)”

    No wonder people worshiped with such intensity!

     

    Note: page references from "The Call: The Life, Ministry and Message of the Apostle Paul" by Adam Hamilton, Abingdon Press, 2015.