As part of our vision and prayer to become a church for the community, this year…
We are asking God to grow us in missional and invitational neighboring.
- Neighboring = opening up to relationship with whoever God brings
- Missional = being intentional with the unbelieving and unchurched for the sake of Christ
- Invitational = connecting the unbelieving to Jesus and the unchurched to Calvary
Here’s a very clear and very intense example of this missional, invitational neighboring. On the morning of Sunday, June 27, Pastor Kyle and his wife Brittany boarded American Airlines Flight 2775 in Charlotte and departed for Seattle. Just minutes after takeoff, the plane experienced engine failure moments. As pilots prepared an emergency landing and passengers contacted loved ones, a pastor was moved to share the Gospel with any who would listen. He said, “I don’t want to scare anyone, but I want you to know why my wife and I have hope right now. We have peace with God! The God who made everything wants to make peace with us, even though we’ve broken his world. He loves you so much that he left heaven to make peace with sinners by dying on a cross. His name is Jesus. Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is the risen Lord, and you’ll have peace with God!” As he talked, no one scoffed at him or told him to be quiet. Some looked over with fear on their faces, some clearly listening to what he was saying.
What help did the passengers of Flight 2775 want? A safe landing. The ability to say goodbye to loved ones. What help did they need? Ultimately, they needed the good news of Jesus, who alone is our Hope and Comfort in both life and death. It may not have been what they wanted, but it’s what they needed. Thanks to God working through Kyle, “Help was on the way!” Kyle exemplifies the great compassion for the unbelieving and unchurched. This is the compassion we need, compassion we pray the Lord will give. 2 out of 3 people in Muskegon County are unchurched–over 120,000 people. Some 6 billion people throughout the world don’t know Jesus.
In Acts 16, God moves Paul with similar compassion to help those in their area of greatest need. For the rest of this year in the New Testament book of Acts, we will follow closely in the footsteps of one of the most famous and fruitful missionaries ever: the Apostle Paul. My hope is that we’ll enjoy his adventures, give glory to God for working through him, and learn from him as an example of how to share Christ any time, any place. In a letter he wrote to the church in the Greek city of Corinth, Paul explains his personal approach to sharing Jesus…
19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible… 22 I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. (1 Corinthians 9:19, 22-23 NIV)
Paul was ready to surrender any piece of his identity except Christ, as long as it gave him a chance to share Christ with someone. He wanted to reach people for Christ’s sake, their sake, and his own sake. I hope that we learn from Paul’s motivation, methods, and message so that we too might become fruitful witnesses in our homes, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, and beyond, making disciples any time, any place. Maybe on an airplane experiencing engine failure? Today, we’ll see the Apostle Paul and his team share the Gospel wherever the Lord leads…
The Story
#1 A cry for help (16:6-12)
6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
Paul and company assumed they would continue spreading the Gospel in Asia, where the Spirit had been fruitful before, but for reasons yet unknown, God was closing those doors. We don’t know how He did this. Perhaps, they faced extreme persecution. Perhaps, nobody was willing to listen, not even in the synagogues. Perhaps, they had a direct word from the Spirit. Whatever the case, they kept moving from one closed door to another. How frustrating it must have been for these disciples called by God to witness to be prevented by the same God from witnessing.
Have you ever been in a position like Paul’s where you are trying to follow Jesus, but the doors keep closing? You’ve sought counsel from God through Scripture, prayer, and your Christian brothers and sisters. Your conscience is clear. You think you’re doing the right thing. And yet the doors slam shut. Maybe choosing a college or career, struggling with dating or marriage, trying to have kids, seeking treatment for a physical or mental ailment, serving the church or community. But nothing is working out like you thought? I’ve been there! “God, what are You doing?” I’m sure Paul and company wrestled with this as the Spirit prevented them from carrying out their calling in Asia. But what do these brothers teach us? Patience and faithfulness. They didn’t give up; they didn’t cave in; they just kept trying doors.
Side note: Paul WILL eventually minister in Asia, in the key city of Ephesus during his third mission in Acts, but not yet. The Apostle Peter will write his 1st New Testament letter to churches in Bithynia, so eventually the Gospel will go there, and God will birth new churches and strengthen them. All in God’s good plan. But here is what God has for Paul and company now…
9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
This message kind of reminds me of that scene from Star Wars where Princess Leia sends a message through the robot R2D2 to the great Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobe, “Help us, Obi Wan Kenobe, you’re our only hope.” If you have no idea what I’m talking about, that’s ok; here’s my point: Leia actually sent a message for help, but the Macedonians were not actually inviting Paul to help. This message was a dream from God because HE KNEW THEY NEEDED HELP! The Macedonians didn’t know they needed help. The Macedonians didn’t know about sin and death and the need for forgiveness through faith in the crucified and risen King Jesus. But God knew, and He burdened Paul with the compassion to go and help those helpless people.
This vision is reminiscent of other visions in Acts that advance God’s mission. God gave Paul and Ananias visions to meet each other at Paul’s conversion. God gave Peter and Cornelius visions to meet each other so that Peter could share the Gospel with him. This is yet another example.
10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. 11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
Paul interprets the Macedonian’s cry for help as needing to preach the gospel. That’s amazing because the Macedonians had all sorts of needs: poverty, racism, mistreatment of women and children, demonic oppression, disease, etc. But Paul concludes the best way to help is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So, Paul and company travel obediently to Macedonia, specifically a city called Philippi. Philippi was not one of the larger cities in the Roman Empire, but it prided itself in being a Roman colony, which will be important later in the story.
As a side note, the author of Acts–Luke–switches to the first person plural “we” here, meaning that Luke has joined Paul and Silas and Timothy. In Luke’s Gospel and the earlier parts of Acts, Luke relied on eyewitness accounts, but in much of the rest of Acts, he is an eyewitness. This is a key reason to trust the Bible. It’s not only based on eyewitness accounts–it’s written by eyewitnesses.
#2 A new disciple (16:13-15)
13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.
Apparently, there is no synagogue to visit (as is Paul’s custom), so they find the next closest thing: a Sabbath prayer gathering. Gentiles had gathered to worship the God of the Jews. One of these God-fearers was Lydia. She was also probably wealthy from selling dyed clothes, especially the color purple (it took about 10,000 crushed snails to extract 1g of dye, which was enough to color just the trim of one garment.) These were very rare and expensive luxury items.
Notice what happens here. Paul and company begin to share Jesus with these praying women, and, as they listened, “the Lord opened Lydia’s heart to respond.” There’s a big difference between listening and responding. You can hear about Jesus, even know about Jesus, without actually responding to Jesus from the heart, saying, “Jesus, I’m a sinner; please have mercy on me. I want to follow You for the rest of my life,” and being baptized publicly to display that Jesus is your King and beginning to follow Jesus together with your church. This was true for me. I had heard the Gospel probably dozens of times before it first clicked in my 6-year-old brain that Jesus loved me and forgave me and deserved all of me.
Know this too, brothers and sisters who are learning to share the good news of Jesus. It’s the Lord’s responsibility to open hearts to the Gospel; it’s our responsibility to share it. God might make it click for someone on the first time or the hundredth time! Keep sharing, and trust God!
15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
As has so often been the case in Acts, a fruit of saving faith in Jesus is generosity towards others. In this case, Lydia shows hospitality to Paul and company and invites them to stay and eat in her household. Lydia’s house becomes a homebase of sorts for Paul and company for some time as they continue to bear witness about Jesus…
#3 A rescued victim (16:16-18)
16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.
This poor woman had been horribly abused and exploited for who knows how long by an evil spirit and by her owners. Presumably this evil spirit could reveal secrets about people, and Philippians could pay for this information. Evil spirits know and see a lot, so you could in theory ask them anything because knowledge is power. Want to know your competitor’s secret? Want to know someone’s weakness? For a price, you could, but the horrifying thing is that it was destroying this woman’s life while her owners profited. She was a victim in multiple senses.
17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.
Paul was annoyed or “greatly disturbed.” Why? I don’t think she bothered Paul; I think her evil spirit and owners bothered Paul. He was probably disturbed because the evil spirit in her was not a credible witness to the good news of Jesus. In the Gospels, evil spirits would regularly recognize Jesus and Jesus would tell them to shut up. They have no business telling others about him because they don’t love Him. In a similar fashion, Paul probably does not want the good news of Jesus to be associated with this evil spirit! Paul is probably also increasingly disturbed by her horrible exploitation. As bold and intense as Paul appears to be, he’s actually a big teddy bear. He was full of compassion for the hurting, especially the poor. I think he hurts for her.
But everything changes for her at “the name of Jesus Christ.” We don’t really hear the rest of her story, but I don’t think Jesus would set her free only to have no hope or family to belong to. Perhaps Lydia bought her freedom and took her in and she trusted Jesus and was baptized and became part of the Philippian church. I don’t know, but I can imagine that’s how it might play out. Whatever the case, Luke’s focus stays on Paul and Silas.
#4 An unjust response (16:19-24)
19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”
This is not right. Paul did nothing wrong, of course, and yet he faces pushback. While Paul threatened the slave-owners income, the slave owners portray Paul and Silas as a threat to their entire Roman way of life. These slave-owners–and most people to be honest–don’t consciously hate Jesus; they just love the things Jesus threatens more. In the slave-owners case, it was wealth. In Philippi’s case, it will be their values and way of life. But, for any of us, Jesus could threaten our comfort, sex, prestige, hobbies, relationships, pride, power, philosophy, opinions, heritage, habits, lifestyle, identities, etc. Jesus calls us to give anything up that falls outside of His commands to love God, love our neighbors, and love one another.
22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
Good news for the woman means bad news for Paul and Silas. Freedom for the enslaved demoniac means prison for Paul and Silas. Prisons, by the way, were awful places in the Roman Empire. It’s not that prison is some great place to be today, but relatively speaking, prison conditions were brutal. Prisoners were abused, neglected, and denied connection with the outside world. They could and would literally rot in prison. And that’s where Paul and Silas end up, and that’s where they’ll stay there until we continue the account next.
The Lessons
#1 Jesus wants to save all kinds of people, even those who don’t realize they need saving.
This story is a key example of what we call the exclusivity of Christ. Jesus wants everyone to be saved, but only those who believe in Him will be saved. Jesus is the only way of salvation. That means people all over town and all over the world need to hear about Him!
Here’s the thing: Just like the Macedonian in Paul’s vision, most people probably don’t realize how much they need Jesus. But Jesus does, and He wants to help them, to SAVE them. He came into this world for all of us. He died for all of us. He rose for all of us. He deserves to be King over all. Let me ask you this: Do you know you need Jesus? Have you asked for and embraced His forgiveness of your sin with gratitude? Have you submitted to His rule in your life?
For those of you who are followers of Jesus, try this: When you see people, even strangers, even online, imagine them as that Macedonian crying out, “Come over here and help me!” Help with what? Forgiveness from sin, hope in the face of death, healing and purpose in the present. Help from whom? Jesus! It all begins with the story of the crucified and risen King Jesus. But we must be the messengers. They won’t always come to us and ask for help; we have to go to them as missional, invitational neighbors.
#2 Jesus saves others using the witness of His faithful servants.
Like Paul and company, we must simply remain patient and faithful on the mission. Get to know Christ, His teachings, His wisdom. Trust and follow Him each day. God will open and close doors and open some closed hearts to respond to the Gospel you and I share.
Sometimes God closes doors. Pastor Kyle, the one whose plane was preparing for emergency landing, noted that, after they landed safely, everyone seemed just fine. Life went back to “normal,” even after their close brush with death. But who knows what God will do with the Gospel seeds planted on American Airlines Flight 2775?
Sometimes God opens doors. I had a chance to meet with our mission partners Larry and Donna Salisbury this past week, and he shared an amazing story. Their adult son Josh died in a tragic accident one and half years ago, and, as heartbreaking as that has been, God has opened doors for the Gospel that would have previously been closed. Josh was involved in the rap music industry as a videographer, and many of his friends had never really heard the Gospel. But after his death, Larry and Donna were able to connect with and love and minister to these unbelievers. One such friend, a Muslim actually, had a dream(!!!) one night that Josh had visited him and told him that he was happy and safe because he was with God. He invited Larry over to share about the dream because he thought it would comfort Larry. But Larry told him, “I already knew that! I think God gave you that dream so that you would find comfort in Christ too!” Larry went on to share the Gospel yet again with him. “Help is on the way!”
Brothers and sisters, our families and friends and coworkers and classmates and neighbors and strangers are pleading with us, “Come over here and help us!” What does Jesus say through us, “Help is on the way!”
Questions for Reflection and/or Discussion
- How might thinking of the lost as not even knowing they’re lost motivate you to share the Gospel?
- Have you/can you explain the good news of Jesus?
- How might sharing the good news of Jesus to others sometimes mean bad news for you? How can you prepare yourself for that?
Calvary | Muskegon 