Pastor Steve Richards

What do we believe? Either the people would believe that God is the God he says he is and then they will stand on the promise of a new land OR God is a fraud and it is Moses who is to blame for bringing them to a new land that They believe is impossible to enter. There is no middle way. Either God is or God is not.

So what is the unforgiveable sin in Mark 3:29? Jesus’ critics had painted themselves into a corner by labeling Jesus’ work as the work of Satan. Here’s what New Testament scholar, N. T. Wright says about this verse: “It’s like holding a conspiracy theory – all the evidence you see will simply confirm your belief. You will be blind to the truth. It isn’t that God gets specially angry with one sin in particular. It’s rather that if you decide firmly that the doctor who is offering to perform a life-saving operation on you is in fact a sadistic murderer, you will never give your consent to the operation.”

There is no middle way. Either Jesus is the one who brought the kingdom of God or a dangerous madman. What do you believe? What you believe will determine whom you follow and how you live.

As I’m reading, I am thinking about how different God’s way is. To accept God’s way is not an easier way. The land before them was flowing with milk and honey. God’s promise was real. The first scouts were able to taste it. After months in the desert, it must have been incredible. But getting there would involve challenge and most looked within themselves and decided the challenges and risks were too great for them. The more they looked within the larger the obstacles became until they could no longer see God’s promise.

Then in reading Mark 2, Jesus’ way is a very different way. Different attitudes and behaviors get noticed especially when such attitudes and behaviors rub against conventional religious practices. But Jesus’ answer to criticism goes to the heart of the Christian way. Jesus is being obedient to a calling. Jesus’ whole ministry is to bring health not just to the physically sick but to Israel as a whole and the world as a whole. However, this is not an easier way. A lot of people will get upset. There are great challenge and risks that will require sacrifice and hardship. That’s also true for Jesus’ followers, even today. Can you see the promised land – that is, God’s vision of reality? What are the obstacles within me that keep me from seeing what God sees?

Jesus’ actions and words ring out like a loud alarm in today’s world telling us what time it is (time for the doctor to see the patients), warning us to look at things from God’s point of view (our perspectives often block God’s view), encouraging us to extend his healing and transforming power wherever and whenever it is needed.

May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us – yes, establish the work of our hands. (Psalm 90:17)

“Thank you for your patience.” I’ve heard those words countless times when I was expected to wait. My immediate thought to such words is “you have no idea how little patience I have right now.” Whining and complaining come easy when I am not getting what I want, when I want, how I want. If necessary, I will appeal to a higher authority. For me that means the store manager. For the Israelites, that meant Moses.

You would think the Israelites would have more patience and a lot more gratitude. For four hundred years they had been in Egypt – as slaves. Then one day they are given freedom. They experience the miraculous escape through the Red Sea, and what do they do? Within days of freedom, they are whining that life is too hard. They complain about now having enough to eat. So, God provides manna. After eleven months of being sustained in Sinai by eating manna, they head toward the Promised Land. And what do they do, but start whining about the manna that God provides. They want meat. So, God gives them meat – and a consequence of eating too much meat. They get sick.

Some days, I get tired or hungry or both. Something else in my day has not gone the way I wanted – and I whine. Usually to myself, sometimes to whomever is within the range of my voice, and I wonder what God hears.

The Israelites quickly focused on themselves, forgetting God’s promise. Did God exist for their purposes or did they exist for God’s purposes? Who gets to be God? I have discovered that when I get what I want I am not necessarily in a better place – not unless that place is God directed. The Israelites got what they wanted. It came with a cost – a very unpleasant one.

So, for today, I will carry with me the words from Psalm 27: I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ – with all boldness and without hindrance. With these words, the book of Acts comes to an end. What happens next? Luke does not tell us. Will Paul have his trial before Caesar? The New Testament does not tell us.

But then, this is not really the story of Paul, is it? This is the story of the Lord Jesus Christ. The book of Acts is not an ending but a beginning. We now step into that beginning – with all boldness and without hindrance.

Lord, enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders in the name of your holy servant Jesus. Amen.

Last week, I was part of a committee that interviewed persons seeking ordination. Each person had a story, a testimony – this is what God has done for me. After one such interview, I was standing next to the elevator. Another person from the committee suggested we get on the elevator and practice our elevator speech. Being the elevator only traveled one floor, it would be a very short speech.

Are you ready with your elevator speech? As I understand it, the elevator speech comes from the idea that inside the elevator one has a captive audience and anywhere from 30 seconds to two minutes (depending on the distance the elevator is traveling) to make a sales pitch.

Paul never missed an opportunity. Every opportunity was an opportunity to tell his story of what God had done in his life. Whether standing trial before King Agrippa or while shipwrecked or countless other places, Paul was ready. As we approach the end of the book of Acts, we have read Paul’s story often enough that we know his story. What is your story? What has God done in and through you? Is today the day to write your story or tell your story?

Acts 26:29″Short time or long – I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”

“I appeal to Caesar!” We have read several chapters where Paul is brought before one official after another. His fate is uncertain. The charges against him are unclear. Back to prison he goes. For two years, he waits. We are not told what Paul is doing while he waits, but surely he is praying.

Paul is living what he feels God called him to do and that will take him to Rome (I must visit Rome – Acts 19:21). In a special vision, Paul is promised by Jesus that he will get to Rome (“Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.” Acts 23:11). We are learning something about God’s purposes and prayer.

Sometimes when we pray and wait for God to act, part of the answer is that God will act, but God will do so through our taking proper responsibility in the matter at hand. It can be hard to know what is the right answer. Is it that God will fight for me or is it “take courage” and it is time for me to act? Discovering which applies in which instance is the discernment that all Christians must do.

After two years in prison – waiting, praying, discerning - Paul takes action. “I appeal to Caesar!”

Numbers. As I read the opening chapters, I am reminded of trips that I have taken where before getting back on the bus we counted. We wanted to be sure everyone was present; no one left behind. The book of Numbers does not indicate why it was necessary to list the name of everyone who was counted (note that only the men/households were counted) but it must have been to create order.

The Bible is not organized in chronological order. With Numbers, we are taken back to the time just after the Israelites have escaped to the wilderness of Sinai. From slavery to new-found freedom, it was like the counting that I have experienced when traveling. Every household was organized within a tribe that could be traced back to one of the twelve sons of Jacob. Every household counted. Every household mattered.

In Acts 24, we learn that Paul was in prison – for more than two years. Periodically, he was brought before the governor who hoped Paul would offer a bribe. All Paul had to offer was the message of the gospel that God had given him. I wonder if Paul ever felt left behind. During the long periods that he would sit in prison, perhaps he remembered the care given in the scriptures to counting. Everyone matters – to God.