“It
was the best of times, it was the worst of time, it was the age of
wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it
was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the
season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of
despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we
were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other
way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that
some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for
good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
Now
I did not intend to set out and find a longer, single sentence than
that of last week's message. But it seems that Charles Dickens' A
Tale of Two Cities was such an example of an even longer opening
sentence. And to that, I do love history, how the book seems to be
looking at London and Paris and how they are handling the brewing
wars each nation would soon be facing, one across the pond, while the
other down in the streets of the cities.
But
this morning, I am not going to be talking about the politics in
light of history and in the light of the times that we are now
living. Rather, this morning, I want to look at three cities that
were each unique (which, by the way makes for the shortest
introduction I've had in quite some time). Each church has a lesson
for us when we share our faith.
With
that, after Paul left Philippi, his next significant stop was the
City of Thessalonica. Here for 3 weeks, he talked with the Jews in
the Synagogue on the Sabbath. During the week, he'd talk with the
Greeks of the city. The key here is verse 4.
Here
is what we see: Paul preached and showed the Jews that Jesus is the
long awaited Messiah whom the Jews had been looking. Now reading
between the lines, Paul must have spent the rest week speaking to
people where they were, be it the marketplace or the parks or other
meeting places.
The
Good News is accepted by people who may not have been likely
candidates. I am not talking about the Jews, but also Greeks whose
hearts were open to the truth of Jesus. Not just Greeks, but women as
well. Now the question that I have to ask, are these women Luke
mentioned Greeks alone, or are there Jewish women as well?
It
is a question to consider because one of the largest complaints
against Christianity is that it is chauvinistic against women. Why
would women come to a faith that has them submitting to a man? This
is the argument that many critics put up. Of course, the sad truth is
that many people have used and do use the Bible as a weapon or a
source of power. True faith, we know doesn't. Where it says that
women are to submit, the previous verse says that we are all to
submit. Besides that, coercion is not the same as submission.
But
here's the point. When we share the Good News of Jesus, we cannot
know who all we will reach. We may even reach those who we weren't
seeing. Or perhaps another way is that we need to be open to reaching
everyone we come into contact.
Berea
is the next town in Paul's journey. My focus is on verses 11 &
12. Berea, however, is not what Paul's enemies would have thought. If
a person leaves a place, then he would travel to another via the main
road. Paul had to leave in the cover of darkness because people were
wanting him stopped. As Paul would tell the Corinthians, preaching
Christ is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the
Gentile. (1 Cor. 1.23)
Here
Paul found a bit of respite because the city wasn't on a major
highway. It was on a back road. Consider leaving Stuttgart to head to
Pine Bluff. But instead of heading to Pine Bluff, you decide to go to
Almyra. Here Paul was refreshed because it might be some time before
his critics found him. But then there was eagerness in his audience.
They had an open mind to hearing things of God and Jesus. But unlike
many today, they didn't just take his word.
How
many peopled do you know around you hear something and they
automatically assume that it's solid. A friend recently saw how Judge
Scalia resigned his weekend job as a scout master because of the
decision of the BSA. He forwarded it to me, and I pointed to him that
the source is satire. He was glad he didn't post that story as the
truth for what might have been thought.
But
this isn't just current events. There are many who will fall in line
with what a preacher says because of who he is, what he has earned by
way of pedigree or diplomas. I can imagine how comforting it is that
what I preach isn't accepted out and out, that you take notes and
consider what I've said in light of the Gospel message.
When
we open the Word, when we look at our Bibles, do we seek to
understand what we read, what we hear from other people, be they our
friends, family or preacher? This is the lesson that the Bereans are
teaching us. (Though it would also be an interesting study that I
hadn't thought until yesterday, why does Luke now mention Greek women
and men in that order?)
Then
Paul's break was over. His critics didn't find him readily, but they
did find him. He left in a hurry to Athens with half his team staying
behind to help establish the Church there. He arrives in Athens,
having taken a ship. My focus is on verse 16, 22-23.
This
city teaches us about the opportunities that present itself. Too
often, something comes along and instead of seeing ways to preach
Jesus, we react to it. For example, a family comes to church. The dad
is an accountant who is known for his shady practices. Rather than
seeing a person who is open to the Gospel, we tend to shun and rain
on him and the sins of thievery. Or perhaps we see a couple of men
seeking to become married.
What
would your reaction be? What should it be? Here are a couple of men
who have come to a church to be married. One hand, they may be trying
to set the church up. Perhaps. But they are at a church. What should
they see and hear?
Paul
took advantage of what he saw. He saw idols to everybody and
everything. And just in case the city forgot a god, they had one to
the “Unknown God”. The people, Paul surmised, were ripe for
hearing about the unknown God. After all, He is unknown. Jesus comes
from a no-count community in a no-count country. No one in Athens,
the home of modern philosophy and civilization, would have heard of
this Jesus of Nazareth.
We
have opportunities all around us all the time to share the good news,
to speak into another's lives if we see the invitation. Idolatry was
just a symptom. The cure was Jesus. They didn't need to hear a
message of how each of their gods were inferior. They needed to know
the Creator of the Heavens and His Son who came to pay our
punishment, not to dole it out, as their perceptions taught.
Three
cities have shown us that the most unexpected people will respond to
the Good News. Three cities have shown us that there is a need to
keep an open mind on the standard of God's Word. Three cities have
shown us that there are opportunities if we but look for them instead
of react to events. What else have these three cities shown you?
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