June 3 - Acts 20 - "Gospel Passion"

MPC 3rd June 2018.

Micah Gibson

I got a message six months ago from a friend. Who I hadn't heard from in years. It was totally out of the blue.

We used to be pretty good friends. But things had kind of drifted. So why's he calling me now?

We chat for a while, then He starts telling me about this new business he's in that will change lives. He was really passionate and I was excited for him. He asked me to meet with him and a couple others, and so I did.

A little while later I'm sitting in this conference hall, with another hundred people. There's this nervous energy in the room about this "new life changing initiative"; I've got no idea what's going on, but I go along with it.

It was two hours into the meeting, before the first logo appears, and suddenly to me it all makes sense.

Amway, the most effective multi-level marketing company in the world.

And I couldn't believe how passionate they were. They followed me up for weeks after with emails and phone calls wanting to know if I'd join their team. All their conversations were about Amway.

Let me tell you, there's no way you could mistake their passion! They were always talking about it. It was on their hearts. And on their lips. Constantly.

I wonder today, what's at the heart of what you talk about? What's at the heart of your conversations with your family, and friends? What's at the heart of the things that you're passionate about?

We're going to be looking at what was at the heart of Paul's passion. Why he just can't stop talking about - the good news which is, that Jesus, the one who died for sin, is king.

The beginning part of Acts 20, is mostly just informational. Luke (the author of Acts) is just letting us know what happened.

Paul says goodbye to the Ephesian elders, before heading off on his big journey as he works his way towards Jerusalem, attempting to make it there for Pentecost.

He goes throughout Macedonia, then Greece, then back to Macedonia, before going to Philippi and then Troas.

Imagine this guy's passport! Stamp, stamp stamp!

But take careful notice of why he's racking up all these frequent flier points. Because he is verse 2, "speaking many words of encouragement to the people". He's building up the churches everywhere, to further the spread of the gospel. Paul is taking this message global. And he does it right from the get go.

Paul travels from place to place, church to church, all to encourage the believers. And as he lands in Troas, we get a great picture of God's people gathering together. Take a look at verse 7,

On the first day of the week we came together to break bread, to do church. Paul's speaking to the people, and because he's intending to leave the next day,he keeps talking until midnight.

Paul doesn't really take notice of the whole normal human attention span thing. But this message is so important to him, so critical to his mission, that nothing is going to stand in his way; nothing's going to stop him talking about this good news. Talking about Jesus.

And so there's this young guy Eutychus, right? who's really struggling to stay awake as Paul keeps talking for hours on end. As he tells the story, Luke actually says in verse 9 Paul was talking "on and on". I think I'd be struggling, don't you? Eutychus, He's getting the eye squints, he's getting the chin-to-chest nods, and before you know it, he's out! And not just asleep 'out' either, he literally falls out the window from the 3rd story of the building, hits the footpath; and he's dead.

So what does Paul do? Running down-stairs, Paul throws himself down on Eutychus; puts his arms around him; and raises him to life.

And then... ? Verse 11, "He goes upstairs, he breaks bread, and keeps talking until daylight." As if nothing's even happened. And here's poor old Eutychus thinking, man I thought I got myself out of this!

Paul's just unstoppable.

There's no mistaking his passion, is there? And there's no mistaking his urgency either. Paul has this single opportunity to encourage and continue to share the gospel with the church in Troas.

So he makes the most of it. His plane is leaving the next day, so he doesn't waste a minute. First preaching till midnight, then preaching till daylight, Paul grasps every second he can get to keep sharing Jesus with them. His passion is undeniable. And there's more to come.

You know, when I was reading through this passage over the last couple of weeks, this verse next always struck me as being really quite odd.

Have a look with me Verse 13,

We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard, Hehad made this arrangement because he was going there on foot.

Which at first look, doesn't really seem like a special verse.

In fact, we get no further information about it. Nothing as to why Paul decided to travel by foot instead of boat, which would have got him there much quicker.

Now I don't know about you but when I'm heading somewhere, I want to get there as fast as I can. I'm looking at Google maps, I'm finding the fastest route, the least traffic lights, the lowest kilometers. What's going to get me there, with the least amount of effort required in the shortest time!

Now there's no actual evidence for this in the text, but I wonder for Paul if it's almost the exact opposite, it's not about the shortest route or the fastest time it's all about the opportunities, it's all about "talking on and on" about Jesus to whoever's going to listen.

You see, I reckon Paul can't bear to miss one single opportunity, to tell someone about Jesus. So maybe he knows there's a chance he's going to encounter someone on the road that he could joyfully tell that Jesus is king. How about that for intentionality?

Once Paul eventually meets up with the others, they do another set of quick trips racking up those frequent flier points. From Assos, they go to Mitylene, to Chios, to Samos, to Miletus. Four locations in fourdays! Stamp, stamp, stamp, stamp! By this point in time, Paul is a Qantas Platinum One frequent fliers member.

Paul's mission, to share the good news about Jesus, is passion personified, as he travels and talks, "on and on".

He's got a message that he thinks is worth sharing. I wonder, how important does something have to be for you to want to share it with someone!

For me, one of things that I'll always happily share is the story of how I broke my knee. I was playing soccer, and was through on goal, when I slipped over and slid into the metal goal post, doing a good number on my knee in the process. If you're wondering if I scored the goal I did; if you're wondering if it was worth it? It certainly wasn't.

But I wonder, for you, how important does something have to be for you to share it? Is it the current news headline, what you got up to on your weekend, or something else? How important does something have to be for you to want to share it with someone else?

You see the things that we talk about the most, reveals what we think is important.

Paul, as we saw, just won't shut-up about Jesus. But why is Paul so passionate about this? Why won't he shut up about Jesus? Well he clearly thinks it's really important.

But he also knows that what he's saying is helpful to the Christian church. Take a look at verse 20. Where he's summarising his strategy to the Ephesian elders.

You want to know why I talk about Jesus so much? Here's what he says: Verse 20,

You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you, but have taught you both publicly and from house to house.

When Paul says he hasn't stopped preaching to them what's helpful, he's not talking about some good life tips.

He's not passionate about passing on a good business model.

He's not even going to tell them how to raise happier kids.

He's just been telling them who the Lord is. What they need to do about it. And this is what people really need to know.

You go to the self help section of a Christian bookshop, you get all that other stuff. Type self-help into Google and you find things like... "How to" get better self esteem. "How to" fix your marriage. "How to" get your finances in order. And sure, maybe some of it's helpful. But that's not the sort of helpful Paul's talking about.

He wants to help them get right with the king of the universe. And then know how to spread the word and share it with others.

Now it's worth pausing for a minute to look at what he says about how we get right with the king of the universe. We've seen that Paul's talking a lot. But what it is Paul's actually saying. With all his talking. What Paul considers to be worth sharing.

Have a look at what he says he's been saying. To everyone in vs 21.

Here he is, his last ever meeting with the Elders from the church in Ephesus, as he's saying goodbye he reminds them of what he's been saying to them. A summary of his teaching. He says,

I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance... and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

See, the flip side of the fact that the one who died for sin is king is that people need to do something about it. And the thing we need to do is to recognise that there's a king that's not us. To recognise that. To come to the point of responding to Jesus as the one who's paid the price for us. And is raised to rule over us.

Because our natural position is to just want to rule ourselves.

So how are you meant to respond? The word Paul uses when you realise you need to give up your reign and hand it over to Jesus, is repentance.

A turnaround, a complete re-adjustment from having you as the ruler of your own life, to giving Jesus the throne.

And then trust in Jesus, and all that he's done for you. Which is faith. That's his message. "I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance... and have faith in our Lord Jesus."

So simple. And yet if doing these things is going to make a person right with the real king of the universe... you can understand why sharing this with others is the best help we can give anyone.

And it's been exactly that same message ever since. Every generation of Christians, from the Apostle Paul to now, the message has been exactly the same. To Jews, to Greeks, to Chinese, to Australians: turn to God in repentance... and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

So if we've got this absolutely life changing good news, if we have the key to it all, the key to salvation, why wouldn't we share this with others. Why haven't we got a passion about that? Because the eternity of our friends and family is at stake.

Although it's hard, isn't it? If we're honest with ourselves.

Even yesterday afternoon at soccer there was an opportunity to talk about Jesus with one of my mates, but I just let it slide past. And didn't take it.

Even with my Amway friend. How is it that he can be so passionate about making money, which only benefits this life! When for me, I have the answer to eternal life, and I struggle to mention it at all.

Now if you're also like me and you also struggle with talking to people about Jesus, then you're not alone, I'm a ministry trainee, I'm paid by the church and I still struggle to talk about Jesus. Fortunately though Paul has some great advice for us.

Check out how Paul puts it in his final words to the Ephesians, in verse 32,

Now I commit you to God, and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

That's what we're committed to do here at MPC. Being focussed on God's word, being built up in it, so we can all share in the glorious inheritance of the kingdom of Christ. And we're doing it in God's strength. Keeping hold of the word of his grace.

Not motivated by guilt. But by thankfulness.

Which when you get that, is maybe a motivation to get beyond the awkward. Even here in 21st century Brisbane.

Most days you're probably not going to stand by the photocopier at work and launch into a sermon like Paul. Even if you do, it's probably not going to be all that helpful. It's really important that your friends and colleagues get to know you're a Christian in the workplace; that's square 1. But most times, really sharing the gospel with someone in a way that makes a mark, it needs the context of real relationship.

Which is what Sam Chan says in his new book Evangelism for a Skeptical World.

He says we've got to understand that in everyday life there are three levels of relationship... and they kind of exists like layers of an onion!

The deeper into those relationships we go, the more likely people will listen to what we have to say about Jesus.

The outside layer of relationships is kinda shallow. But it's the level we live in a whole lot of the time. We talk about our interests; anything that's not controversial. What did you do on the weekend? What books are you reading? What do you do for fun? Do you prefer Holden or Ford (or Toyota)? Soccer or rugby? These kind of safe small talk questions.

Go a layer deeper to the middle layer of the relational onion and you get to talk about values; this is where we talk about what you think is good or bad, better or worse, wise or unwise. Where will you send your kids for school? Who will you vote for? What do you think about euthanasia? How did you vote on same sex marriage? Maybe some danger zones there, but there's a level of trust. And sharing.

Then there's the core of the onion; the place we talk about worldviews. Conversations where we can share our views on God, life, death, humanity, spirituality, even the nature of reality. Which needs a deep level of relationship.

But here's the problem. If you're only ever relating to people on level 1. They'll only ever be a work mate to you. Or a neighbour. And you'll never get to experience relationships with anyone anywhere where they'll get to know the real you... and you'll get to know the real them. And you'll never get to talk about what's really real, at the core.

I heard about a Christian lady the other day, she lived in a unit block, and she used to pray for the people around her. The people next door. She said, I used to pray for them, but I'm shy. And I'd pray I didn't have to have them in my house. I wanted to keep a distance. Until one day her neighbour came to her door in tears. Needing someone to listen. And she invited her in. And a friendship started that ended up in her sharing the gospel.

We need to be building toward relationships where we get to talk about what's really important.

Where we get opportunities to talk about Jesus in a way that is listened to and heard. Not just dismissed, orignored.

Now again don't get me wrong I'm not saying you need to be best friends with someone for 10 years before you tell them about Jesus. Because being a Christian is our identity. There is no excuse for people not to know you're a Christian.

But Sam Chan says that usually in our post-Christian society, evangelism isn't just a one-time activity that interrupts our normal lives. It's not something we add in from the church calendar, it's relational, and time consuming, and hard work.

Even the evangelistic events that we hold here at MPC. They're meant to help open up level three issues with the friends you bring along. But that's the easy bit in the end. The hard bit is building relationships for sometimes years to get your friends there in the first place, isn't it? But it's necessary, and it's worth it. The gospel is worth the hard work.

We have such incredible news, that the one who died for sin, Jesus, is king of the universe. And so you need to stop what you're doing, turn around; repent. And trust him.

Life changing.

It's my prayer that we can follow in the footsteps of Paul, sold out for the Gospel. That we can look for opportunities to share Jesus with anyone, anywhere at anytime. That we won't stop talking about it.

That we'll be so committed that we'll even open up our lives and relationships so we can talk heart to heart with people and share the gospel deeply. If you want to be helpful to the people around you, there's nothing more helpful you can do. And we need to do it with a real passion. Because there's nothing better than having a passion for sharing the Gospel.