Acts 2:14-41

THE THANKSGIVING DAY SERMON

THAT LAUNCHED THE CHURCH

Pentecost was the Jewish version of our Canadian Thanksgiving Day. It came at the end of one harvest and the beginning of another, just as many of our harvests are coming to an end. Pentecost was a time to give thanks to God for his faithfulness in providing the Jews with their material needs.

            We give thanks to God today for the same reason. Our nation sets aside a day to be thankful for food, for life, for liberty, and for many of the gifts we would otherwise take for granted. It is good to be thankful, to develop an attitude of thanks. Unlike many Canadians, we do not merely say “I am thankful,” we know to whom we owe a debt of thanks.

            I ran across a list of things to be thankful for, but it comes with a delightful twist of perspective. (Read list)

I am Thankful for......... 

....the taxes I pay 
....because it means I’m employed. 

....the clothes that fit a little too snug 
....because it means I have enough to eat. 

....my shadow who watches me work 
....because it means I am out in the sunshine. 

....a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and 
....gutters that need fixing 
....because it means I have a home. 

....the spot I find at the far end of the parking lot 
....because it means I am capable of walking. 

....my huge heating bill 
....because it means I am warm. 

....all the complaining I hear about our government 
....because it means we have freedom of speech. 

....the lady behind me in church who sings off key. 
....because it means that I can hear. 

....the piles of laundry and ironing 
....because it means my loved ones are nearby. 

....the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours 
....because it means that I’m alive. 

....weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day 
....because it means I have been productive.
           

            I love twists in stories. They turn things upside down in ways you don’t expect. That’s probably why I like the new TV show This Is Us, because at the end of every episode there is always a plot twist that makes you want more.

            Into this context of Pentecostal thanksgiving, Jesus introduced a twist. Just as the Jews offered God the firstfruits of the harvest, Jesus, raised from the dead, was the firstfruits of the resurrection. Suddenly, the meaning of Pentecost moved from the harvest of essential crops to the deeper impact of Christ’s sacrifice and triumph and what that meant for the audience that day.

            The twist that Jesus introduced, the hook, came with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. But the experience left the audience in Acts 2 bewildered. “What does this mean?” they said. Peter rose to the occasion and preached a sermon that resulted in the launching of the most significant movement the world has ever known – the church.

            As I wrestled with the text to summarize in one sentence the thrust of Peter’s sermon, I found none better than his punch line in v. 36, “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” How did God do that? How did he make Jesus so central to the church? And why are believers more thankful for Jesus Christ than anything else?  

            Luke’s account of Peter’s sermon is but a thumbnail of the actual sermon. The Acts version would be over in three minutes. Peter spoke much longer than that, but Luke provides us with the gist of what Peter was getting at.

            To explain the wind, fire, and tongues of that day, Peter briefly addressed the Holy Spirit with the passage from Joel 2:28-32. But he spent more time on Jesus. Peter knew that the outpouring of the Spirit found its root in Jesus and God’s endorsement of Jesus as the Christ. Peter revealed four ways that God endorsed Jesus.

           

God approved Jesus’ earthly ministry

Peter had the attention of the crowd. They were eager to hear the meaning of these wonders. So Peter spoke, “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know” (2:22).

            Everyone knew of Jesus. The drama of his death only 50 days earlier still reverberated in the city. There was no question that a man named Jesus, a great prophet to many, lived and died. Even today, magazines like McLean’s still ponder the meaning of Jesus’ life, not as some legend, but as an historical figure that impacted our world. Few scholars deny that Jesus lived.

            But Peter makes it clear that Jesus was more than a good teacher. Jesus healed, cast out demons, restored sight to the blind, turned water into wine and raised the dead. These miracles, signs and wonders indicate something more.

            Nicodemus acknowledged that “something more” when he said to Jesus, “Rabbi, we know you are teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him” (John 3:2).

            Both Peter and Nicodemus clarify that they know that it was God working in Jesus and through Jesus to do these things. This crowd was a witness to the facts. When Jesus spoke, God authenticated his words with miracles.

God planned the death of Jesus long ago

Heads were nodding in the crowd. Then Peter lays a heavy on the crowd: “This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross” (2:23).

            The only thing they heard at first was Peter’s accusation – “You did this.” How is this an endorsement of Jesus? All it says is that God collaborated with lawless men to crucify Jesus. This could hardly validate Jesus’ messianic claims. But this is a superficial response.

            Peter was not making a victim out of Jesus; he was not killed because his plans went awry and everything fell apart. He was killed because that was God’s plan from long ago. Isaiah prophesied 700 years earlier, “Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer…” (53:10a). And Jesus continually told his disciples that the Scriptures foretold the Christ should suffer and die for the sins of the world (Luke 24:46). He was fully aware that his mission was to die and become the Savior of the world.

            The death of Christ, albeit at the hands of Jews and Gentiles together, fulfilled God’s plan. Christ’s death actually validated Jesus as the only one worthy enough to die for the sins of the world.

            At the same time, the crowd must take responsibility for the death of Jesus. Even if they did not realize they were fulfilling God’s plan, they took Jesus and murdered him. It was their sin that put Jesus in this position; it was their sinfulness that led them to reject God’s Son. So the guilt still fits.

God raised Jesus from the dead

If Jesus remained dead, he would have been a martyr. If Jesus were still in the grave, he would be a failed figure of history that said some good things, but died. The resurrection of Jesus does not allow for such a conclusion.

            Peter gives God’s third endorsement, “But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him” (2:24).

            The imagery Peter uses of Jesus’ resurrection reminds us of a pregnant mother at full term that cannot and does not want to keep that baby in the womb any longer. Death could not keep its hold on Jesus but must give him up and let him live.

            Peter spends much more time on the resurrection than any other of God’s endorsements of Jesus. He quotes a psalm of David (16:8-11) that speaks of one who does not get abandoned to the place of the dead, nor does his body see decay. But David died, so he could not be speaking of himself. Peter and everyone present knew that David died; his tomb was known to everyone in the city. David must be talking about someone else.

            Peter answers that question, “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it” (2:32). What the audience was meant to understand was the clash between their rejection of Jesus and God’s acceptance of Jesus; their defamation of Jesus and God’s affirmation of Jesus. Now it is not simply a matter of killing a man, but of opposing God.

            Remember that the people gathered there that day were devout, religious Jews. These are good people, worshiping people, people who knew scriptures by memory, and Peter was telling them that they were at odds with God. They claim to know God, to love God, and to follow God. But Peter says they are opposed to God. This is what will cut them to the heart.

            Someone may claim to know God but in fact may be against God. How do we know? Because that person does not embrace God’s endorsement of Jesus in the resurrection.

            Paul takes this theme of resurrection and fleshes it out in his letter to the Corinthians where it seems that some doubted the resurrection. (Read 1 Cor. 15:12-19).

            God raising Jesus from the dead overwhelmingly authenticates Jesus as Lord and Christ.

God exalted Jesus to his right hand

Peter presents one more validation of Jesus, one more piece of evidence that God approved of him. “Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear” (2:33).

            After Jesus was raised from the dead, he appeared to his disciples and others giving many proofs that he indeed lived. Then, after 40 days, he ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father.

            The roaring wind, the flames of fire on the heads of disciples, and the speaking of many tongues all make sense now. Peter’s listeners can see through the signs and wonders that Jesus has been given power and authority to gift His Holy Spirit to those who believe.

            Peter again quotes David who said, “The Lord said to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’” Who are these enemies? The enemies of the Messiah are those who crucified him. Who crucified Jesus? Peter says, “You did!”

Here is the punch line again: “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

            The audience on the day of Pentecost was cut to the heart when they heard this final indictment. Peter had presented them with four ways God had endorsed Jesus as Lord and Christ. When they realized who Jesus was, and that they were responsible for his crucifixion and death, they felt it deeply.

            Spurgeon said, “It is idle to attempt to heal those who are not wounded, to attempt to clothe those who have never been stripped, and to make those rich who have never realized their poverty.”[i]

            So let me make this quite plain: Who crucified Jesus? You did. I did.

            Why is it important to acknowledge this responsibility? Just like the crowd, we did not yell “crucify him!” or hammer the nails in his hands and feet. We did not literally kill Jesus in the most physical sense. Why do we need to confess to such a crime?

            The crowd asked Peter and the disciples what they should do. Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (2:38).

            Unless you admit that you killed Jesus, you cannot be a part of his church. Many will balk at confessing this because they reject the idea that they had any part of killing Jesus. We still hear the objection, “I’m a good person. My sins aren’t that bad.” But James reminds us that if we break one law, we’ve broken them all (James 2:10).

            Unless you repent from that attitude, you cannot be a part of his church. Some may consider Jesus as the Christ and change their mind about who he is. But repentance means more than a change of mind or attitude. Repentance is a change of direction in one’s life, a physical or literal turning away from a sinful and godless life.

            Unless you are baptized, you cannot be a part of Christ’s church. The NT makes that clear. The apostles could not conceive of a person who followed Jesus but was not baptized. It just never entered their minds.

            God has endorsed Jesus as Lord and Christ through his miracles and ministry, through his death, and through his resurrection and exaltation. If you accept this and repent and are baptized according to these scriptures, you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And it is through the Holy Spirit’s work that we become the Church of Christ.

On this Thanksgiving Day, I give thanks to God for exalting his Son, Jesus Christ to the highest place, proving that He is Lord and Christ. I give thanks for His church, the community of faith that believes in Jesus Christ as Lord.

                                                            AMEN

Prayer:

Our Father, we thank you for the truth in this mighty declaration that Jesus Christ is indeed Lord, that you have exalted him and give him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. We pray that any who have never come to know this One as Lord may now open their life and cry out to him as these men and women did: "What shall we do?" and hear this delivering word to repent and to believe, and thus receive the promised Spirit, who is available to all. We thank you in Jesus' name, Amen.  (Ray Stedman)

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[i] (Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit [Ages Software], vol. 44, “A Far Reaching Promise”)

Acts 2:1-13

WHAT PENTECOST MEANS FOR US

John Henry Newman, a Catholic theologian, once said that the church is like an equestrian statue: the front legs are lifted up ready to leap forward, every muscle in the back legs is standing out and throbbing with life. Observing the remarkable workmanship of the statue with its lifelikeness and detail you expect it to spring forward at any moment. But if you were to return twenty years later to observe this same statue, you would find, unfortunately, that it has not moved a fraction of an inch.[i]

            Yet look at the early church twenty years after the outpouring of the Spirit; they had moved forward by astonishing leaps and bounds. The gospel of Jesus Christ had spread throughout the known world and lives had been transformed. There was one simple reason for this incredible growth of the church: the power of the Holy Spirit.

            While the reason can be called simple, there is nothing simple about the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit was poured out on the apostles at Pentecost with the signs of wind, fire and tongues, those who witnessed this phenomenon said, “What does this mean?”

            That question nags us today. We struggle with the presence of the Holy Spirit, or the seeming absence, and try to grasp his role in our lives. We know that Pentecost changed the shy disciples into world-changers and that the experience birthed the church, but we wonder what Pentecost means for us today. Are we baptized in the Holy Spirit? Are we different because the Spirit lives in us, in this church?

            To answer this question “What does this mean?” we must discover the point of Pentecost as told to us in Acts 2. I believe we will see that the point of Pentecost is mission, and that the goal of mission is the whole earth. The reason for Pentecost is found in God’s equipping His Church with the power of the Holy Spirit so that we can be witnesses of Jesus Christ to the world. Consider this in light of the text…

Why the Feast of Pentecost?

The disciples had forty days with Jesus following his resurrection from the dead. Jesus ascended into heaven so that the Holy Spirit could come. They waited in Jerusalem for ten days to receive this promise of Acts 1:8 “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you…”

            They waited, they prayed, they selected a replacement for Judas. Then we read, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place” (2:1).Was there something significant about the feast of Pentecost? Why did Jesus choose this specific day to pour out his Spirit on the disciples?

            There are two reasons that make Jesus’ intention and purpose quite profound:

            The first was that on this Jewish holiday there would be great crowds of pilgrims from all over the known world. Jerusalem was the focal point of Jewish worship. Attendance at three feasts was mandatory for devout Jews: Passover, Pentecost (Weeks), and the Feast of Tabernacles. Passover saw Jesus crucified that year. Pentecost (meaning 50) was fifty days after Passover.

            The second reason Jesus chose Pentecost was for the theological symbolism. Pentecost was a feast of the harvest (Deut. 16:9-12). It was intended to teach the people to acknowledge the goodness of God in giving the harvest. It was the Thanksgiving day of Israel. In celebration of the harvest the firstfruits were presented to God. Jesus took that meaning to a higher level with the pouring out of his Spirit in extraordinary power for witness and world evangelism. A greater harvest than wheat had begun, the harvest of souls. Jesus said to his disciples, “…look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest” (John 4:35).

            What incredible intentionality! People from all over the world had come and witnessed this amazing thing, this outpouring of power through the Holy Spirit.

Suddenly…

That word says so much. Without warning…when least expected…quickly. “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting” (2:2).

            Suddenly! It drives home the point that the Holy Spirit is free and sovereign. He is not bound to anyone’s begging or pleading or piety. If we sing a great verse of praise and worship for the fifth time (but with feeling) we cannot make the Holy Spirit come.

            The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He is a person not a force, not an it. Jesus calls him “another counselor,” someone who comes alongside to help us serve and live the Christian life (John 14:16). The Holy Spirit can be grieved – you can’t grieve an it – he is a person who can be grieved, that is, offended when we resist him (Eph. 4:30).

            When he comes, he comes suddenly. He comes when he wants to, when it is best for us and for his purposes for us.

            In college I had an experience that I can hardly describe. Three of us gathered in a dorm room to pray and to seek the Holy Spirit. We prayed on our knees and asked God to fill us. One fellow was weeping, the other rejoicing, but I went back to room wondering what that was all about. Then suddenly, I could not sit, I could not stand. Rushing upon me was a feeling of incredible joy and revelation. Every song and Scripture verse made sense to me in that moment.

            I have tried to replicate that moment in the past. But I can’t. The Holy Spirit comes when he wants to come. And he doesn’t like to repeat himself, I have found.

Wind, Fire, Tongues

If the Holy Spirit wants to, he can make himself known in visible, audible, and touchable manifestations. In the OT God met Moses in the burning bush, he led the Israelites with a pillar of fire in the wilderness. At Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit came as a dove and lighted upon his head. In Acts 4 the building where the church met shook. In Acts 6 Stephen’s face shone like an angel.

            He is not fire; he is not wind; he is not a dove; he is not a warm glow in your bosom. The Holy Spirit may express himself in those terms but we must not confuse him with those expressions.

            On the day of Pentecost, there was a sound as of a mighty rushing wind. The sound was arresting and undeniable. They knew it was a heavenly sound. It was not wind but sounded like wind and it filled the whole house. Even those outside the house could hear something going on. Wind makes sense. At Creation, the Holy Spirit is described as a powerful agent of creation, the breath of God, a wind.

            They heard the wind but they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire. Each one had what looked like a flame rest on their heads which remained there for some time. Peter infers in v. 33 that the crowd saw this flame.

            In that same moment they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Suddenly – this all began in a moment. Something happens that utterly transforms their knowledge of God’s presence. What they knew of God became an experiential certainty through outpouring of the Holy Spirit. They didn’t just know about God, in that moment they knew God.

            They were baptized with the fire of the Holy Spirit. John baptized with water but Jesus baptized with fire. Even so, just like John’s baptism, Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit. The symbol of water immersion reminds us our death with Christ, but the OT term for baptism which John refers to means “to pour out.” [ii]

            Baptized with the Holy Spirit, those disciples came busting out of the house they were in speaking in dozens of languages that they had not previously known. We see in verses 8-10 a table of nations representing languages from every direction. Each of these language groups heard the gospel of Jesus in their own tongue as the disciples spoke.

            As John Stott wrote, nothing could have demonstrated more clearly than this the multi-racial, multi-national, multi-lingual nature of the kingdom of Christ. We cannot help but see this event as the great reversal of the curse of Babel (Gen. 11). At Babel human languages were confused and the nations scattered; in Jerusalem the language barrier was supernaturally overcome as a sign that the nations would now be gathered together in Christ. At Babel earth proudly tried to ascend to heaven, whereas in Jerusalem heaven humbly descended to earth.[iii]

           

Overwhelming Power to Praise

We might wonder if speaking in tongues are a necessary part of the life of the Church today. What we read in the Pentecost account is revealing: The people asked, “Aren’t these who are speaking Galileans?” (2:7). We get the idea that Galileans are uncouth, uneducated hillbillies who know only their own guttural tongue. How could they possibly be speaking Persian or Arabic to our ears?

            What is important to Luke, since he gives very little attention to the speaking of tongues, is the result. These people cry, “We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” (2:11). We must not be distracted by the seeking of this gift, I think (though it is a wonderful gift), but stand in awe of the wonderful result of being filled with the Spirit of God and overwhelmed as a result with the greatness of God. This is what shocked the Parthians, Medes, Cretans and Arabs so beautifully.

            Speaking in tongues had a purpose that day: to communicate the wonders of God in powerful praise to Jews and Gentile lovers of God from all over the world. Is the gift needed for this purpose today?

            I would say no, not in the same way. A wonderful opportunity has been dropped in our lap by the same Holy Spirit who orchestrates this gospel telling. Foreign students from across the globe are coming to learn English and attend our universities. As they learn English and study the Arts, many are being introduced to the gospel by other students and workers. Even at Providence, down the road, Sikh students are hearing the gospel and wanting to know about Jesus.

            The same Holy Spirit who gave languages to uneducated fishermen gives power to proclaim Jesus to you and me.

Amazed and Perplexed

We might assume that such a powerful experience would be met with enthusiasm, but the crowd that gathered around the disciples had a mixed reaction. “Bewilderment” (2:6), “Utterly amazed” (2:7), “Amazed and perplexed” (2:12), are words Luke uses to describe this reaction. And the worst reaction, “Some, however, made fun of them and said, ‘They have had too much wine’” (2:13).

            John Piper issued a caution with respect to Holy Spirit movements. He said, “Whenever revival comes division happens in the Christian community.”[iv]

            Why would the crowd make fun of the disciples? Why would the church today be divided by something the Holy Spirit does in our midst? I suspect similar reasons.

            One is fear. We fear losing control and being made to do things we don’t want to do or normally wouldn’t do. We don’t want to look silly or ridiculous. But the fruit of the Spirit includes “self-control,” so we will not “lose it” but will actually receive courage to be who we really are in Christ.

            Another reason is complacency. We just want to fit in and have our quiet little faith. Do we really want to be changed? Jesus tells the story of a man who was disturbed at midnight by a friend knocking on his door asking for food for a visitor. The sleepy man is reluctant but the friend persists and he gives in. Now God is not reluctant in giving good gifts, but are we persistent in seeking them? That is the question.

            Lastly, but not finally, the reason we may not experience or appreciate the filling of the Spirit is that we lack personal commitment. Firstly, you do not have the Holy Spirit if you have not confessed that Jesus is Lord. Secondly, if you harbor sin in your life, you resist the work of the Spirit in your life. A truly transformed life can only come through faith in Christ and the infilling of the Holy Spirit who works out those changes in us.

One might say that the Pentecost experience of Acts 2 was but the first of four Pentecosts. The second occurred in Acts 8 when the despised Samaritans were suddenly baptized in the Holy Spirit. The third (Acts 10) when the Holy Spirit came upon Cornelius and his family (Gentiles) and they spoke in tongues. Fourthly, some believers in Ephesus who only had the baptism of John the Baptist received the Holy Spirit (19).

            So, you may ask, do we need another Pentecost in Kleefeld? I would say “No” because the Holy Spirit has come; he came at the first Pentecost of Acts 2, and he has never left.          What we do need is a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit. Not that the Spirit has gone stale; on the contrary, it is we who grow stale.

            While the baptism of the Spirit is a onetime event, you receive the Spirit when you believe in Jesus, being filled with the Spirit happens repeatedly (Acts 4:8, 31; 6:5; 7:55; 9:17; 13:9). Paul teaches that we are to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 4:18).

            I have often wondered what that means, “be filled with the Spirit,” and how we get there. But in a parallel passage in Colossians, which is almost identical, tells us to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly. The Spirit and the Word work together (Eph. 6:17). The filling of the Spirit cannot be divorced from God’s Word being at home in your heart.

            Do you want to be filled with the Spirit? Why?  Consider these premises of Acts 2:

1) The power promised by Jesus in Acts 1:8 is an extraordinary power.

2) The promise of power was given for the evangelization of the nations.

3) That job isn’t done yet. Therefore the promise of this power to sustain and carry forth the work is still valid.

            Will you allow the Holy Spirit in to your life?

                                                            AMEN

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[i] Cardinal Newman (1801-1890), from David Watson, Discipleship (Hodder and Stoughton: Toronto, ON, 1981), 112.

[ii] Bob Deffinbaugh, an immersionist (someone who performs full water baptism plunging the candidate under the water) discovered the OT terminology meant “pouring out.”

[iii] John Stott, The Message of Acts BST, 68.

[iv] John Piper, sermon “Tongues of Fire and the Fullness of God,” Oct. 14, 1990.

Acts 1:1-11

THE ACTS: BE MY WITNESSES

When you experience a life-changing event in your life everyone will know about it. How could they not?

            Imagine winning the Lotto 6-49; the experience of being suddenly wealthy would certainly show in your decisions and lifestyle, even if you didn’t tell anyone. Imagine being a survivor of 9-11 when the Trade Towers fell; our traumatic experiences become a huge part of our life-story.        But let’s tone it down to a realistic level: We have had three weddings in our church in the last week. Everyone knows about them for various reasons; bulletin announcements, wedding guests (witnesses), and the couples themselves. If the couples kept it quiet you would wonder what they are ashamed of or trying to hide. We proclaim that which we experience, either by word, by action, or by being.

            If you have experienced the life-changing forgiveness of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, how do you keep from being a billboard (or witness) of this powerful event?

            For the next few months we will be studying the book of Acts as our text. The book of Acts is the action book of the NT; it is the story of the Early Church and her witness of Jesus to the world. Its full name is sometimes known as “The Acts of the Apostles” even though only four apostles are really highlighted. So we might call it the Acts of the Early Church. But that focuses too much on what people do in the story. We could call it the Acts of the Holy Spirit, but that leaves out the disciples entirely.

            It would be impossible to explain the progress of the gospel apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. But it would be erroneous to overlook the apostles through whom the Spirit worked. And where is Jesus in this focus? To truly understand the message of Acts and what we want to take to heart as we study this book, the truest title might be “The Continuing Words and Deeds of Jesus by his Spirit through his Apostles.”[i] With this title we begin to understand that the Acts center on Jesus’ continuing ministry and the power of his Spirit to enable believers to witness, that is, to proclaim what Jesus has done and is doing.

1. Preparing the Disciples to be Witnesses

From the first words of Acts, we are clued in that the person who wrote Acts also wrote the Gospel according to Luke. This companion of Paul was a careful chronicler of the life of Jesus and the birth and growth of the Early Church. It is said that while Paul was imprisoned in Judea for two years that Luke spent his time interviewing eyewitnesses of Jesus for his gospel.

            Both books, Luke and Acts, are addressed to a person named Theophilus. The name means “loved of God” or “lover of God.” He was a real person but his name may have been a pseudonym (some suspect he was a cousin of Caesar). In any case, Theophilus seems to have become a believer, and Luke instructs Theo in the way of Christianity.

            This book begins where Luke ends – with Jesus’ ascension. We will talk about the ascension at the end, but for now it marks the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry and the beginning of his heavenly ministry.

            The first few verses of Acts (1:1-5) reveal the amazing 40 days from the resurrection of Christ until his departure. In those 40 days, Jesus was preparing his disciples to be his witnesses.

            If you watch courtroom dramas, you know that lawyers will prep their witnesses before a trial to make sure they have their story straight. Good lawyers will not alter the story but will point out discrepancies and help them sound credible. Jesus did this and more.

            To prepare them as witnesses Jesus did four things:

a) Jesus chose them – They were a chosen group. Luke said, “after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen” (2b). This is a reaffirmation of Jesus’ original calling to each of these men. They were not self-appointed; they were not selected by mere human choice, or a committee, a conference, or a church, but directly and personally chosen and appointed by Jesus Christ to be his witnesses.

b) Jesus showed himself – Witnesses of what? Of the truth that he was not some ghost or legend or figment of someone’s imagination. Look at the words Luke uses: “he presented himself to them,” “gave many convincing proofs that he was a alive,” “appeared to them over a period of forty days,” “while he was eating with them.”

            The first witnesses had to be eyewitnesses. They had to see the resurrected Jesus. The word used here for “appeared” gives the sense of “eyeballing” Jesus. They saw him again and again and he looked exactly the same. And just for good measure, Jesus ate with them. This was no hallucination. Living, flesh and blood, breathing people eat. They knew he was alive.

c) Jesus instructed them – Showing them himself, Jesus explained to them again what his death and resurrection were all about. Back in Luke 24, Jesus said that the effect of his crucifixion and resurrection was worldwide preaching. He said, “…and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (24:47).

d) Jesus promised the Holy Spirit – Finally, Jesus tells them to wait for the Holy Spirit. We saw repeatedly in Luke how the disciples failed to understand the things of Christ until the Holy Spirit came upon them. Jesus now tells them that they need to wait for that precise moment when the Spirit would be poured out on them, they will understand Jesus more clearly, and they will be his witnesses.

            The power and the outflow of this in the lives of the apostles can be seen in the testimony of John (1 John 1:1-3). Experiencing Jesus in this way made proclaimers of them all.

2. Empowering the Disciples to be Witnesses

Forty days with Jesus would be so awesome – life changing. Walking with him, eating with him, asking questions, Jesus explaining the kingdom of God.

            But the eleven apostles were still confused, still without the Holy Spirit. They asked Jesus, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (1:6). The question is dull, but Jesus uses it to reveal his purpose for them. Let’s consider the question:

Restore – they were still expecting a political, territorial kingdom. When Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God, they could not help think of geography and politics.

Israel – more specifically, they were expecting a national kingdom, the glory of the Davidic Israel come again.

At this time – with the triumph of Jesus over the grave, they were expecting an immediate establishment of the kingdom of God.

            The Jews were “obsessed” with the restoration of the kingdom of God. The Pharisees asked Jesus one time about when it would come. Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come visibly, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21).

            But Jesus replies that this is not a prophecy conference, he is holding a missions conference. This is not why I called you to myself, he says. This is not your work. You are not sent into the world to be foretellers of apocalyptic doom, but to be witnesses of the risen Christ. You are to pray “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” You keep watch for the coming of Christ, live in expectation of it, but all the while obeying the command to be a witness.

            Jesus says “never mind that” and instead says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (1:8).

            That power is a mystery to some. I must admit I find the presence and power of the Holy Spirit to be an ongoing quest. If we are waiting for an ecstatic feeling, some out-of-this-world experience, we may miss what God is actually doing. Time and time again in Acts we find that the Holy Spirit cannot be manipulated or bought or conjured. But when faithful witnesses open their mouths to speak, the Holy Spirit fills them with words to speak. Not before, but while they are speaking.

            The important thing is to go. The OT mindset easily slips into that default gear in us and in the church. In the OT, Israel was to be a witness as a nation, a kingdom devoted to God. People would come, nations would see Jerusalem and behold the glory of Yahweh. But in the NT, with the death and resurrection of Jesus, the paradigm shifted. Now Jesus says that we are to go to the nations with this good news.

            For the disciples, and indeed for us, the mission begins at home. Now a witness must first know what he or she speaks of. Those who witness for Christ must know Christ. They must know Christ so well that no amount of cross-examination can make them stumble. We must be consistent in our testimony because the world is watching. The world sees us in our work, in our trades, in our buying and selling, in our homes, in our worship, in our prayers, in all our ways of living. If our witness breaks down in any part it can lose its effectiveness. “The disciples were to be witnesses first in Jerusalem, or at home. The warm-hearted disciple of Christ today will begin to witness wherever he is, he will not wait for a golden opportunity, he will make one. It may not be easy to witness at home, nor is it easy to witness away from home. The witness should make up his mind from the very outset that he (or she) will have to bear his (or her) cross.”[ii]

            Knowing Christ, being a witness to his person as the Son of God, the man who died and rose again, and empowered by the Holy Spirit is our calling. People may say of us what they said of Peter and John. “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled ordinary men, they were astonished and took note that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). Wouldn’t you just love to be described that way?

3. Sending the Disciples out as Witnesses

At the end of the 40 days, Jesus was taken up before the disciples into a cloud. The disciples stood there staring into the sky. Two questions arise out of this event we call the ascension. 1) Did Jesus actually ascend, and 2) Why does it matter?

            First, the language Luke used suggests an historic event. Five times he repeats the fact that the disciples saw Jesus rise and disappear in a cloud. Note the expressions used (“very eyes” “from their sight” “looking intently” etc). This is something that they saw and testify to. The language of “rising” is what we call pre-scientific – meaning that the ancients thought of heaven as “up.” What really happened to Jesus? Did he enter a different dimension? We don’t know. But the reason he left in such a visible way was to emphasize that he had really left for good. During those 40 days he kept reappearing; now he was gone, and they were to wait for somebody else to come, the Holy Spirit.

            Second, as they stood there staring into the sky, two angels appeared and said to the disciples that they were wasting their time looking into the sky. They could not bring Jesus back by gawking into space. But his leaving meant that he would come back again someday. In fact, he will come back the way he went away, on clouds of glory. Plus, staring into the sky does not help get the mission done.

            I wanted to call this point “Stop gawk(ing) and roll” but decided against it. Staring into the sky (star-gazing) was in direct contradiction to what Jesus told them to do – go into all the world and preach repentance and forgiveness of sins. There is an order to the events of the divine program: Jesus returns to heaven (ascension), the Holy Spirit comes (Pentecost), the church goes out to witness (mission), and then Jesus comes back (Parousia). When we forget one of these events or rearrange the order confusion reigns.

            The witness has been passed on to us, so we need to hear the angels’ message as being for us: You have seen him go. You will see him come. But between the going and coming there must be another. The Spirit must come, and you must go – go into the world for Christ.[iii]

Be my witnesses.

When you have accepted Jesus, the Son of God, as the One who died for your sins and rose again, there is a reasonable and logical result of this experience – being a witness for him.

            Did you know that after a little more than 100 years, surveys show that 97% of the world has heard of Coca-Cola? 72% of the world has seen a can of coca-cola. 51% of the world has tasted a can of coca-cola. All due to the fact that the company made a commitment years ago that everyone on the planet would have a taste of their soft drink.

            We should stand up and take note here...97% of the world has heard of this sugar and water concoction while 1.7 billion people world-wide have no access to the good news of Jesus Christ! It is estimated that 17 million people die every year without having heard the name of Jesus!

            I say this not to shame us, but to challenge us all.

            We are beginning a series on Acts. Yet if you look at the last chapter you will note that of all the books of the Bible, this is the only one that doesn’t actually end. The Holy Spirit is still writing these chapters. Will you and I be Acts 29?

                                                AMEN

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[i] John Stott, The Message of Acts, BST, 34.

[ii] Frank Allen The Acts of the Apostles 1931

[iii] Stott, 51.

Minor Prophets #9

GOD’S VISION FOR BUILDING HIS CHURCH

What kind of church would we like to be? That’s a vision question. Vision statements have emerged out of the business world and filtered into church language. Some of us may balk at using business language in the spiritual realm thinking that the two have nothing to little in common.

            But the question has some value: What kind of church would we like to be?

            Part of the problem with vision statements is the purpose or goal that we associate with them. Vision leads to growth. What kind of growth? Most of us think numbers; we want our congregation to grow in numbers. Others desire spiritual growth. If we are honest, we hope that with spiritual growth comes numerical growth. The tension mounts.

            The question is still good: What kind of church would we like to be?

            Can anyone quote the KEMC vision statement? Does anyone have it memorized? If even a handful of you can recite its stanzas it’s not really enough – not if we share this vision. Vision is essential to a church. However, while our core values, mission and purpose remain the same, the vision is subject to change. It is dynamic and does not remain static. The vision must be renewed and adjusted as the congregation and its context changes. The core – the Great Commission – stays the same, but the wording changes. Vision statements give us a picture of what the mission will look like as it is realized in the community.

            This is why we ask the question: What kind of church would we like to be?

            Zechariah’s fifth prophetic vision (4:1-14) does not give a direct answer to our specific question for Church vision. It does, however, provide a view to HOW God wants to work in the faith community of Kleefeld to build his church. What it reveals will be shocking to those who have big plans and instructive to us who feel the need to have a five year plan. The Psalmist says it best: “Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain” (Psalm 127:1a).

1. The LORD is the Source

After 70 years of captivity in Babylon, the Jews returned to Palestine to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. But Jerusalem is a heap of rubble and the temple of Solomon is a pile of stones. The task looks and feels impossible.

            Zechariah’s role as prophet was to encourage the people to keep at the work and remember the purpose behind the work. His book of visions from the LORD recounts how God motivated his people by sharing his vision for the rebuild.

            Zechariah’s fifth vision reminded the people that the LORD was their source. Since the people were very poor and could not afford building materials, the challenge to have faith in God as their source was very great. What the prophet sees in his vision emphasizes the LORD as their source:

            “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps. Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left” (4:2-3). What does this mean? How does this help the Jews in their frustration?

            The gold lampstand was a fixture in Solomon’s temple. It was a reminder that God had called the nation of Israel to be a light to the world, how Yahweh shone his glory through his people. One of the tasks priests performed in the temple was to make sure there was enough oil in the reservoirs to keep the flame burning. The flame was to burn perpetually. But in this vision, there are two olive trees. The trees somehow provide a continual flow of oil to the lamp so that the flame never goes out.

            Oil represents the Holy Spirit in all of Scripture. Oil had many functions in the Bible, as it does today. Oil lubricates, minimizing friction and wear; oil was often applied to wounds for healing; oil was used in lamps for light; oil was used for anointing people for special tasks. Here in Zechariah’s vision, the Holy Spirit is shown to be God’s greatest resource for his people.

            This is why the LORD says to Zechariah, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty” (4:6).

            What’s the LORD talking about? “Might” refers to military strength. In 1 Kings 5 we read that Solomon employed thirty thousand laborers, seventy thousand carriers, eighty thousand stonecutters and 3300 foremen to build the temple. That’s over 150,000 workers. Of the fifty thousand Jews who returned from Babylon, many were aged, women, or children. They did not have the might or power of Solomon to build the temple and in short order. But God says “by my Spirit” you will build the temple.

            From a human point of view, they didn’t have the bodies to do the work. What does having the LORD’s Spirit help in this enormous undertaking? The word “Spirit” refers to the LORD’s breath. And it was the LORD’s breath that created the world (Gen. 1:2); it was the LORD’s breath that parted the Red Sea (Ex. 15:8); in Ezekiel’s vision, it was the LORD’s breath that brought the valley of dry bones to life (Ezek. 37). Was this breath needed to complete the building of the temple? Yes, because the work, the way it was done, the provision of building material, even the building itself, were all going to be a witness to how God, not people, accomplished this feat. This humanly impossible task would glorify God all the more because it would be plain to everyone that God did it. If God can create the world with the breath of his voice, surely he can build a little temple to his own name.

            Why was it so important to build the temple? The temple was the center of worship in the life of Israel. It symbolized the presence of the LORD in the midst of his people. It was a constant reminder to give glory and worth to their God.

2. The LORD will remove Barriers

From our perspective molehills look like mountains. With a mountain before us it is hard to conceive of a way around it or through it. Going over it may be impossible.

            To Zechariah’s congregation, the construction of the temple had its mountain challenges. The LORD responds to these mountain obstacles saying, “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’” (4:7).

            What were the mountains the people faced? One mountain was literal or physical: there were mounds of rubble to be removed, huge broken blocks that were compromised and other waste that had piled up. Another mountain involved people: enemies of the Jews opposed the work because they feared the Jews becoming a great people. Some Jews resisted the work because they were naysayers (there’s always a few). And when the temple was finally built, some of the old-timers wept because it was a poor replacement for the glory of Solomon’s temple.

            But these, God says will not hinder the work. Your enemies, your skeptics and naysayers, and your pouters will not thwart what God wants to do. Its completion is symbolic of victory by God’s Spirit.

            Jesus would later say, “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him” (Mk 11:23). Were these the mountains, the obstacles to God’s vision that Jesus had in mind?

            When the capstone is brought out, the chief cornerstone, the people would literally say, “Grace! Grace to it!” By the grace of God this temple has been raised.

            We cannot help but think of the new temple that God is building when we read these prophetic words. In Ephesians, Paul speaks of Jesus Christ removing the barrier, the dividing wall between the Jews and Gentiles, creating one new people out of the two. The new temple is not made with granite or marble, but with those who believe in Christ Jesus, the chief cornerstone. As Peter declared, “As you come to him, the living Stone – rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him – you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4-5). This is what the LORD is building.

3. The LORD uses Small Things

And how does the LORD build? The LORD uses small things. This is what astounds the reader of Zechariah surely. As the LORD says, “Who dares despise the day of small things…” (4:10).

            The impression that Zechariah gives from this vision is that Zerubbabel, the prince of these Jews, must continue the work, slow as it might seem, brick by brick. One brick at a time is faithfulness to the LORD.

            To the unenlightened, the small things which prepare the way for God’s great work seem trivial and unworthy of their involvement. They mock the smallness of the job. They want to do important, significant work. So they despise the lesser roles.

            In his book, No Little People, theologian Francis Schaeffer wrote: "In God's sight there are no little people and no little places. . . ." The world loves the sensational and stunning, but God loves to work through the ordinary and insignificant. In His Kingdom, bigger isn't always better.

            We see in the Bible how Jesus loves to use small things. Crowds in the thousands followed Jesus, but he chose only 12 to begin building the kingdom of the gospel. Jesus fed 5000 people with five loaves and two fishes from a child’s lunch. He compared the kingdom of God to a mustard seed, the smallest of seeds that grows into a massive tree. And Jesus said, “Whoever…gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward” (Mt 10:42).

            The LORD uses small things to do great things.

            D.L. Moody had this perspective with regards to people. One afternoon he noticed a young lady at the church service whom he knew to be a Sunday School teacher. After the service he asked her where her class was. “Oh,” she said, “I went to the class and found only one little boy, so I went away.” “Only a little boy?” Moody said, “Think of the value of one such soul! The fires of a Reformation may be hiding in that little boy, there may be a young Knox, or a Wesley, or a Whitefield in your class.”

            Brick by brick. We do not notice the great thing God is doing as we work at our “small” projects, but we faithfully lay brick by brick.

            I pray that we Sunday School teachers would have the vision of D.L. Moody, that we would see the potential in our students and in the material itself, to believe that God would take the small things and do more than we can imagine.

We began this study by talking about a golden lampstand and building a temple, things that are not familiar to us in our present context. But if you remember, the opening of the book of Revelation begins with Jesus walking among the golden lampstands. These lampstands represent the churches, the people of God lighting up the world.

            We said that the temple represented the presence of God among the Jews. Solomon’s temple and Herod’s temple are long gone and the symbol of God’s presence gone with them. So where does God dwell now? We saw that God has been building a better temple with each believer as a living stone and Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone.

            The church, the people of God in Christ, is the dwelling place of God today. Even the names for “Church” bear witness to this. Two words in Greek express what the church means to the world: One is kuriakos, which means “the Lord’s”, and from where we get the German word “Kirche,” and thus “church.” The other word is ekklesia which means “called out” as in “a people called out of darkness into God’s wonderful light.” If we are allowed to mash the two words together, the church is really “the Lord’s people called out of the world to be his light of his glory.”

            We return to the question of vision then: What kind of church would we like to be?

            Among the many characteristics we could apply to KEMC, friendly, missional, Bible-believing, family-oriented, and so on, I know what I envision. I see a body of people, called the church, that knows that the Lord Jesus is their source for all things, and faithfully work, not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit. I envision a church that sees no mountain, no barrier that can stand in our way when we see what the LORD wants us to do. I tell you, a church like this, the gates of Hell will not prevail over it (Mt. 16:18). And I envision a church that believes that no job is too small to be significant and of incredible worth to the Lord Jesus whom we serve.

            Brick by brick, little by little, we are building the kingdom of God right here in Kleefeld.

            Paul declared, “And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment – to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head even Christ” (Eph 1:9-10).

            If we believe this to be true, then we believe that what we are doing, even the small things, are not a waste, but will find their fulfillment in Christ when he comes again.

                                                            AMEN

Minor Prophets #8

JONAH: GROWING A HEART FOR LOST PEOPLE

Have you seen the new movie “Hell is for Real”? No? You probably won’t see anything like that in theaters. Heaven is more acceptable subject in our culture.

            We don’t talk much about people going to hell these days. It is not politically correct to speak of hell let alone suggesting anyone deserves to go there. There are a couple of reasons for this according to Jonathan Merritt of the Religious News Service:  

            Hell doesn’t feel fair to the contemporary mind. Some compare the punishment of hell to a 5000 dollar punishment for a 50 dollar crime. Unless your name is Hitler, Pol Pot, or Pinochet, most people don’t feel they deserve to go to hell.

            Hell sounds harsh. The only people who talk about hell are hateful Christians. Think of Westboro Baptist Church and you get a glimpse of popular opinion regarding “hate” and “hellfire Christians.” Hell is bad news; we’re hooked on good news and positive messages.

            Hell scares off spiritual seekers. So the church avoids talk of hell for the sake of drawing people “in.” We’re trying to attract new followers, not repel skeptics.

            What then, is our motivation for sharing the good news of Jesus with those we call “lost”? What are we trying to save them from if there is no hell? If there is a hell, why are we so loathe to talk about it? Jesus plainly taught that believers and unbelievers will be separated on the last day, the “cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41). Is this our motivation for evangelism?

            In the story of Jonah, the Lord never mentions hell. He does say, “Should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh…who cannot tell their right hand from their left?” The Lord’s main concern is their moral lostness. These people can’t find God and thus don’t know him. Since God has compassion on lost people, shouldn’t we have the same compassion?

1. God’s Grand Scheme of Grace for every race

We have read Jonah 3, and a quick review will reveal that after the fish spit Jonah out on the shore, he went and obeyed the Lord and went to Nineveh. Jonah preached an eight-word sermon of judgment on the people (3:4). There was no hope offered, just a simple condemnation that in 40 days they, their city, and all their animals would be destroyed.

            Nineveh’s response is the envy of every preacher – revival! They repented! First the common people, then the king, and then a royal decree proclaiming a city-wide fast. Most important, the king decreed that everyone give up their evil ways and violence (3:8). Note that they did not need to be told what their sins were, they simply knew.

            This is what touched God’s heart. Their confessions and their sackcloth were all very well and good, but what the Lord noted most was their change of behavior, that they were willing to turn from wickedness. We don’t know why the city was so compelled to repent, but the result was amazing.

            The key verse is the Lord’s response, “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened” (3:10). Did God change his mind? Some of us may be appalled to think that God can be swayed. Biblically and theologically we must remember that God does not change. Yet his program of grace for every person and nation has been clearly taught in the OT. Consider the prophecy of Jeremiah (read 18:5-8). Here, the Lord specifically declares that a nation, including but not exclusive to Israel, that repents will not be destroyed.

            Like the Ninevites, anyone who shows genuine repentance can be saved. This is not the recitation of mere words, no trite “I’m sorry,” but a change of heart and mind and resultant behavior. Turning to the Lord and acknowledging his right to be God leads to abundant grace. And God wants to show this compassion to everyone.

2. Jonah’s small-minded plan for man

But that is exactly what infuriates Jonah. Jonah does not believe that his Lord should show compassion on anyone but an Israelite. There are those who are “in” and those who should and never will be “in.”

            Jonah should have been overjoyed that his preaching produced these amazing results for God. Preachers dream of congregations falling down before the Lord because their messages were so powerfully felt. Not Jonah. He gets angry. Why?

            His worst fears have been realized – God was consistent with his character – God was gracious. See how with such ironic petulance he blames God for being God (4:2-3). This, Jonah says, is why he fled for Tarshish, to keep God from making a theological mistake (as if he could). Jonah practically quotes Exodus 34:6, the orthodox doctrine of God’s character. Knowing all this, Jonah is still embarrassed.

            Jonah is angry at God because he is surprised by grace. His idea of what God is supposed to do and what God actually did were radically different. His imagination was stunted by his prejudice and pride. He feels like a failure as a prophet because he predicted the destruction of Nineveh, and it didn’t happen. His competence as a prophet is in question.

            Jonah is angry at God. Anger can be a useful diagnostic tool. When we are angry, it tells us something is wrong – an evil or incompetence or stupidity. Anger is infused by a moral/spiritual intensity that carries conviction. What it fails to do is tell us whether the wrong is outside or inside us. A spouse or a child or a friend may do something that angers us. But if we track the anger, we often find that it leads to a wrong inside of us – wrong information, poor understanding, a small-minded heart. If we can admit that, we can move past being angry with God and begin to understand his grace. Like Jonah, the wrong may not be in our heads, but in our hearts. God’s grace and mercy are beyond our comprehension.[i]

3. Jonah’s rant about the plant

Does anyone find it strange that when God relents and shows compassion to Nineveh, Jonah goes outside of the city to watch God destroy Nineveh? He builds a shelter, waits the 40 days we presume, and awaits the fireworks. Jonah fully expects that the Ninevites will mess up and tick off God. Then – then look out!

            Isn’t that the way the suspicious nature of the self-righteous works? Someone comes to Christ who was a “lost cause” and we fully expect them to revert back to their addictions and bad habits. Or not. Frankly, our problem may be that once they’re “in” we’re satisfied with their being “in” so long as they don’t rock the boat.

            God doesn’t leave Jonah alone. He wants the prophet to understand grace. Jonah’s shelter is sparse, so God causes a leafy plant to grow up over Jonah and shade him. For the first time in this book, Jonah is happy – exceedingly. Next day God sends a worm (a weevil) to kill the plant. Jonah is angry again.

            You would think that Jonah would identify more with the worm than the plant. Jonah, like the worm, found greater fulfillment in the destruction of God’s creation than in bringing pleasure or relief. Jonah is more like the worm than like God. Consider the contrasts:

-          Jonah had compassion on the plant; God had compassion on people.

-          Jonah had compassion on the plant in which he had no investment; God had compassion on people whom he created, whom he wanted to bless.

-          Jonah was upset with the destruction of a plant; God was concerned with the eternal damnation of people.

-          Jonah had compassion on himself; God had compassion for others. Jonah did not really care about the plant, but for what the plant did for him. The plant made him happy. If the plant did not make him happy, he wouldn’t have cared if it died. God cared for people, even people who had sinned and greatly offended him.[ii]

The Lord showed Jonah how tiny the prophet’s heart was and how immense his own was in comparison. One would hope that like the Grinch, Jonah’s heart grew a little.

4. God’s Passion for Compassion

God’s grace can be as offensive as hell. Why would I need forgiveness if I believe that I am not that bad? Why would I need grace unless God saw something in me that wasn’t right? Grace presumes that there is a deep-seated need in me born out of sinful existence and offensive behavior to God. So grace is offensive.

            The Lord tells Jonah, “And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left – and also many animals?” (4:11). What is wrong with the Ninevites? They have their shoes on the wrong feet? The right-left word picture describes their inability to tell right from wrong. Didn’t Jesus say, “Forgive them Father for they don’t know what they do?” Sounds like our world today. Isaiah said, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (5:20).

            But God does not want to leave people in such ignorance, even though they deserve it. That’s the whole point of grace. Grace is unmerited favor, a blessing undeserved. Jonah didn’t like grace because it was not something a person could earn. Recipients of grace are exactly that – unworthy of grace. Jonah did not want to see himself as unworthy, and it’s possible many of us don’t think we need grace (and so don’t show it to others). God is not like us in this matter, as God put it, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion” (Ex 33:19).

            The Lord does not simply shower grace on the unworthy and then leave them to their ignorance. The goal of God’s grace is holiness (as opposed to happiness); the ultimate goal is fellowship with God. By his grace he declares us acceptable to come into his courts and know how holy he is, so that we can be holy too.

            God’s passion for compassion didn’t fit Jonah’s program. Jonah was unwilling to admit that, even though he was a Jew, he did not deserve God’s blessings. If our program doesn’t fit God’s, we gotta change the channel.

There is a world of lost people all around us. Do we have God’s compassion for the lost? Do we believe they are lost in their moral and spiritual direction?

            Tony Campolo once drew his audience to attention about their priorities when he made a rather shocking statement. As part of his message he angrily said, “Yesterday 30,000 children around the world starved to death and you don’t give a “blank about it.” And the pastors that were there admitted that they were thinking, “Oh Tony, you shouldn’t have said that. You’re only going to get us mad at you.” And many of the pastors admitted that they were indeed angry at his cursing. But then just as all of them moved up to the edge of their seats in sort of a defensive posture Campolo said, “The sad thing is you pastors are more upset that I said ‘blank’ than you are about 30,000 children who starved to death yesterday.” Silence descended over the room and they said that almost in unison all of the pastor’s slunk back into their seats thinking, He’s right! O God, how did our priorities get so mixed up? When did we become so calloused to human need?

            My concern is that followers of Christ have lost their concern for the lost. And I stand among those Jonahs who are more concerned about the plant than about the 120,000 lost souls. So how do we change that?

            By growing a heart for lost people; by understanding the heart of God who longs to show compassion on all people, including you and I; by realizing that we need grace and are as undeserving as anyone of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who died for our sins. But here we stand – covered in grace.

            This is the heart of God: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

                                                            AMEN

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[i] See Eugene Peterson’s Under the Unpredictable Plant, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1992), 157- 158.

[ii] Bob Deffinbaugh, sermon “Nineveh’s Repentance and Jonah’s Wrath”