WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.780 Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. It is wonderful 00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:20.780 that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, either 00:00:20.780 --> 00:00:25.179 by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray for 00:00:25.179 --> 00:00:31.519 us that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself? 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:37.939 The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, we really, 00:00:38.179 --> 00:00:42.579 I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the Bible, 00:00:43.260 --> 00:00:48.760 they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will 00:00:48.760 --> 00:00:54.560 do what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:59.340 non-Christian checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't 00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:04.680 hesitate to send us questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the 00:01:04.680 --> 00:01:07.780 types of things that you're really struggling with. So God bless. 00:01:07.780 --> 00:01:29.500 Father, you know that our minds need food to grow, and that our hearts and wills need goodness and beauty 00:01:29.500 --> 00:01:37.180 to grow. That in all things, Father, what we most need is you to grow. You know in Father through the 00:01:37.180 --> 00:01:43.579 gospel. And so we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would move with gentle but deep power upon 00:01:43.579 --> 00:01:50.280 each of us, so that we might know you, that we might know Jesus, that we might be filled with the 00:01:50.280 --> 00:01:57.939 Holy Spirit, that your word might do its wonderful work of grace deep in our lives. And we ask this in 00:01:57.939 --> 00:02:07.060 the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen. Please be seated. So I'm going to tell you an opening 00:02:07.060 --> 00:02:15.300 story, and it's really funny. For some reason, I keep having this sense that I shouldn't tell you the 00:02:15.300 --> 00:02:21.260 story. But on the other hand, I also have this other deep sense that I should tell you the story. So I'm going to 00:02:21.260 --> 00:02:27.160 tell you the story, and then I guess we'll find out whether it was Jesus telling me to... Anyway, we won't go all that 00:02:27.160 --> 00:02:37.340 place. In 2007, in November of 2007, I was called in on a Saturday afternoon to the Bishop of Ottawa's office to be 00:02:37.340 --> 00:02:45.100 fired. You know, some of you know a little bit about the history of our church, and it wasn't because I had done 00:02:45.099 --> 00:02:50.280 anything grievously wrong. But our church was in a struggle with our diocese. We were part of the 00:02:50.280 --> 00:02:55.599 Anglican Church of Canada at the time. And the presenting issues were certain types of issues 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:00.319 between us and the diocese. But at the end of the day, the issue is really whether the Bible is God's 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:05.819 Word written, and rather Jesus is Lord and Savior. Like, that's really what the issue is about. The other, 00:03:05.819 --> 00:03:12.979 you know, the other issues are what reveal the deeper issue. And we had been in a period of witness, 00:03:12.979 --> 00:03:18.699 and because of witness, some conflict with the Diocese of Ottawa. And I mean that the Bishop of 00:03:18.699 --> 00:03:24.379 Ottawa might say something different, but for... I'd been a priest in the Diocese of Ottawa for over 22 00:03:24.379 --> 00:03:29.179 years, and everybody and their dog knew that if you get called in on a Saturday morning to see the 00:03:29.179 --> 00:03:35.219 Bishop in his office on Saturday afternoon, you come out fired. You don't come out with a gold star and a 00:03:35.219 --> 00:03:42.560 happy face and a raise. And so I was very nervous. I got that call. I didn't feel particularly brave about it. 00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:47.620 I was very, very nervous about it. And so the word went out. You know, my wife prayed. The word went 00:03:47.620 --> 00:03:55.099 out through the internet to pray into this. And one of the people who called me up to pray with me 00:03:55.099 --> 00:04:00.319 also wanted to give me some legal advice. She was a lawyer. She lived in Vancouver. 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:05.520 And one of the things she said to me is she said, George, that he's going to make lots of accusations 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:09.599 about you before he fires you, and he's going to ask you to try to defend yourself against these 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:16.560 accusations. And you have to know that the laws, the fundamental laws of Canada govern the Diocese of 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:23.019 Ottawa. And that means that you are innocent until proven guilty. You do not have to defend yourself 00:04:23.019 --> 00:04:28.579 and prove that you are innocent. He has to prove that you are guilty. So he said to me, so I want you 00:04:28.579 --> 00:04:33.659 to promise me that you're going to just, to everything he accuses you of, that you're just going to say 00:04:33.660 --> 00:04:43.400 two things. I am an Anglican priest who is faithful to his ordination vows, number one, and I am a 00:04:43.400 --> 00:04:48.460 member of the Anglican Church of Canada, number two. Doesn't matter what he says to you, you answer 00:04:48.460 --> 00:04:54.040 every time with that, in a sense, a sentence with a semicolon or two sentences to how you, I am, 00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:59.700 I am an Anglican priest who is faithful to his ordination vows, and I am a member of the Anglican 00:04:59.699 --> 00:05:05.959 Church of Canada. And that's all you say, don't say anything else. So I went, they'd asked me to come 00:05:05.959 --> 00:05:16.019 by myself, but I came with two of my deputy wardens, which made them angry. But they made a big mistake. 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:21.659 And the big mistake was, is that the bishop had not just his executive archdeacon with him, but he had 00:05:21.659 --> 00:05:27.639 a lawyer with him. And so that was when the Diocese of Ottawa discovered that I had a lawyer, because 00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:31.579 I came up to him, and he sort of was puzzled as to why I brought two wardens. 00:05:32.219 --> 00:05:36.139 And I said, well, I'm not going to say much about that, Bishop, but I want you to know 00:05:36.139 --> 00:05:42.240 that my lawyer told me that I should never be in a room with you when you have a lawyer present, 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:49.159 and my lawyer isn't present. So I gave him my lawyer's card and said, your lawyer can call my lawyer and 00:05:49.159 --> 00:05:55.000 set up a meeting, and I'll come to that meeting with my lawyer. And then there was another moment or so 00:05:55.000 --> 00:06:00.819 of conversation, and then I left. Now, I mention this story to you because it's very, very, very 00:06:00.819 --> 00:06:07.360 relevant to the story which we're about to look at today in the Bible. And it's very relevant for 00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:11.660 several reasons, is that some people after that said, George, you must have been very brave, you 00:06:11.660 --> 00:06:20.800 know, to do that, take that stand. Let me tell you, I did not feel brave. I didn't. But I, you know, 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:27.759 I did it. But the other thing is, it, it, it, it, this story helps you to understand, and this is 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:32.720 maybe one of my messages for those who are outside the Christian faith. It's only as you get deeper 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:38.400 into the Christian faith that you understand how profoundly emotionally satisfying it is, not just 00:06:38.400 --> 00:06:45.120 intellectually satisfying, but emotionally satisfying, and how it builds courage. Anyway, so let's look. 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:52.019 It's a very, very stark story. And if you turn with me in your Bibles, it's in Acts chapter 22, 00:06:52.680 --> 00:06:57.639 verse 30, just that one verse, and then we go, basically, it's chapter 23. So I invite you to 00:06:57.639 --> 00:07:05.000 turn with me in your Bibles, Acts chapter 22, we'll begin reading at verse 30. And so the context is this, 00:07:06.120 --> 00:07:10.360 you know, in a sense, if you were looking at this as an Amazon Prime or a Netflix series or something 00:07:10.360 --> 00:07:14.639 like that, there's, you know, this is the, the book of Acts is a whole pile of episodes, and what just 00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:22.779 happened in the last episode for a recap is that Paul had been in the temple, he's falsely accused 00:07:22.779 --> 00:07:29.919 of doing something to desecrate the temple and desecrate the worship, and the people who falsely 00:07:29.919 --> 00:07:35.699 accuse him do it in such a way that a mob is formed, and the mob try to punch and kick him to death. 00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:42.579 And the Tribune, the Roman army, which is over the Jewish people, because the Jewish people were part 00:07:42.579 --> 00:07:48.459 of the Roman Empire, conquered by Rome, they see that there's a riot forming, a mob going on, and so 00:07:48.459 --> 00:07:54.439 they act to stop the riot before it spreads. They're not really interested in rescuing Paul, 00:07:54.519 --> 00:07:59.759 they're really interested in stopping the riot from spreading. And so, and those of us, you know, 00:07:59.799 --> 00:08:04.219 we're all aware of the fact that governments and military and police, they regularly do things like 00:08:04.219 --> 00:08:09.319 that. So they, and it's a completely fine thing to have as an objective, who wants mobs and riots 00:08:09.319 --> 00:08:16.800 to spread. And so they march in, they're able to get hold of Paul, but then later on, as they're 00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:22.860 trying to get Paul out of trouble, the crowd is, the mob is so enraged, they keep trying to attack 00:08:22.860 --> 00:08:28.060 him to kill him, and they yell, kill him, kill him, kill him, kill him, death to him. And they get him 00:08:28.060 --> 00:08:34.159 up on the steps to go into the fortress, and before Paul does that, Paul asks if he can speak to the 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:38.480 crowd. And that's sort of what immediately happens before this. Paul speaks to the crowd, 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:42.600 they're all quiet for a moment, but then they get really enraged by something that he says. 00:08:43.340 --> 00:08:54.580 And then Paul is taken back into the fortress, and Rome did not have the law that you were innocent 00:08:54.580 --> 00:09:03.379 until proven guilty. I mean, they did for certain people, but not as a general principle. So the tribune 00:09:03.379 --> 00:09:09.799 assumes that Paul is at fault and decides to torture Paul to find out what the reason is. Isn't that a 00:09:09.799 --> 00:09:14.779 reasonable thing to do? You just torture the guy who's been murdered to find out what he's done wrong, 00:09:14.840 --> 00:09:21.580 to make them so angry. But before Paul gets tortured, he reveals that he is a Roman citizen. He's actually 00:09:21.580 --> 00:09:26.059 one of that very small percentage of people in the Roman Empire who has certain types of rights. 00:09:26.059 --> 00:09:35.079 So they take a step back. They don't release him. They keep him in custody, but they don't torture him. 00:09:35.579 --> 00:09:40.699 And you'll notice, and this is where now our story catches up, and look how it goes in verse 30. 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:49.159 But on the next day, right, the next day, desiring to know the real reason why Paul was being accused by 00:09:49.159 --> 00:09:54.579 the Jewish people. The tribune unbound him, in other words, took the handcuffs off, so to speak, 00:09:54.819 --> 00:10:00.120 and commanded the chief priests in the council to meet. In other words for that is the Sanhedrin. 00:10:00.779 --> 00:10:06.639 That sort of, under the, the Rome, Rome had ultimate authority, and no law could violate Roman law, 00:10:06.740 --> 00:10:14.039 but they allowed local discretion on matters of custom in that area. And that's, so he took them to 00:10:14.039 --> 00:10:20.120 the people who would decide that. And he brought Paul down and set him before them. So that's, 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:25.179 that's what the tribune does. He's trying to figure out what on earth to do with Paul. He doesn't want 00:10:25.179 --> 00:10:29.120 to let Paul go if it turns out he's done something really terrible. He doesn't want to let Paul go out 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:35.639 and have, there's more riots come. He's also a bit caught because, you know, those of you who are 00:10:35.639 --> 00:10:39.079 bureaucrats, you can understand he's a bit caught as well because he wants to do his job. The last thing 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:46.000 he wants is to be the guy on, on duty when a Roman citizen gets, you know, killed or murdered. So he's 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:52.200 a bit caught. He, he does the responsible thing. He keeps him in custody, but he allows Paul to go. 00:10:52.300 --> 00:10:57.720 And if you could envision here, there's, you know, maybe up to 70 people in the room. It's sort of a 00:10:57.720 --> 00:11:02.139 circular type of area, semi-circular, and Paul's in the middle of it. And the tribune would have been 00:11:02.139 --> 00:11:07.180 sort of like back where the exit door is over there. So the, he wasn't right in the Sanhedrin, 00:11:07.179 --> 00:11:11.199 but he's watching and observing because he wants to figure out, you know, what's going on. 00:11:12.019 --> 00:11:17.779 And so then the story continues and Paul does something a bit surprising and a little bit 00:11:17.779 --> 00:11:24.000 unsettling to the powers that be. He, verse one of chapter 23, and looking intently at the council 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:30.500 at the Sanhedrin, Paul said, brothers, because it's all men, I have lived my life before God in all good 00:11:30.500 --> 00:11:37.159 conscience up to this day. And so that's what he says. And as soon as he says it, look what he's 00:11:37.159 --> 00:11:43.899 what happens. Verse two, and the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by Paul to strike 00:11:43.899 --> 00:11:52.899 him in the mouth. They sock him in the mouth. Boom. We're not in an Ottawa courtroom here. 00:11:54.679 --> 00:11:59.159 And so there's a couple of things here that are going on. The first thing is, and you know, one of 00:11:59.159 --> 00:12:04.240 the things about the New Testament is it doesn't tell you the emotions that are going on. It tells you 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:09.639 what happens, what you can observe. And it often gives you that, as we're going to see at the heart 00:12:09.639 --> 00:12:14.720 of the story is the meaning of what's going on as well, but not the emotion. So we have no idea 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:18.700 whether Paul was sort of like me before the bishop, not that I'm saying the bishop is like this 00:12:18.700 --> 00:12:24.159 situation, but I mean, if you could see me, I mean, I was probably gushing fountains from my armpits. 00:12:24.299 --> 00:12:29.159 You know, my knees were shaking. I'm, I'm very, very nervous and afraid. I'm not, I'm the opposite of 00:12:29.159 --> 00:12:36.259 what you would think of as somebody being courageous. But Paul looks each of them in the eye. 00:12:38.980 --> 00:12:44.480 In other words, he stands in front of them unbowed, unintimidated. 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:53.980 Now there's lots and lots of, well here, and so what, what the Ananias does is he said to himself 00:12:53.980 --> 00:12:58.560 in a sense, well, we can't allow this guy to look like he's going to just stand up to us. 00:12:58.700 --> 00:13:03.940 So there's two things that go on. The first thing is he's trying to intimidate Paul by slapping him, 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:08.700 having him slapped, punched in the face. And the second thing he's trying to do is he's trying, 00:13:08.860 --> 00:13:16.800 it's in a sense a public, he's publicly declaring by this action that Paul is lying, that Paul is a liar. 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:23.439 Okay. So, well, what happens? Well, you know, one of the things you can say about Paul from what you 00:13:23.439 --> 00:13:29.379 know about him is you never can accuse him of not saying what he thinks. I'm sure there were lots of 00:13:29.379 --> 00:13:33.159 times his friends were saying, Paul, you don't always have to tell people exactly what you think. 00:13:33.259 --> 00:13:36.879 You know, like sometimes you can just be a bit quiet about things, you know, but we see this 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:41.059 characteristic of Paul. So for some of you who are that type, who just tell people what you think, 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:44.759 I mean, you can relate to Paul. That's what he does. Look what he does in verse three. 00:13:44.759 --> 00:13:52.919 Then Paul says to the high priest, God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall. Whoa. 00:13:53.740 --> 00:13:58.220 That means that the whitewash, the imagery there is that it's, you know, it's as if you have something 00:13:58.220 --> 00:14:04.500 that's all broken down, completely useless, completely decrepit, but you just cover it up 00:14:04.500 --> 00:14:09.679 with some white paint so you can't see that it's rotten and not going to hold anything up. And he says, 00:14:09.799 --> 00:14:14.399 God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall. Are you sitting to judge me according to the law? 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:22.299 And yet contrary to the law, you order me to be struck. That's what Paul says. Boom. 00:14:23.319 --> 00:14:30.759 Now what Paul is doing here is he's pronouncing God's judgment on the high priest. Whoa. The high 00:14:30.759 --> 00:14:35.679 priest would say, listen, I'm in the pronouncing of God's judgment business. I'm way over you. You 00:14:35.679 --> 00:14:43.299 don't say that to me. You can just imagine how furious he is at this denunciation. And the 00:14:43.299 --> 00:14:48.299 interesting thing about here, and this is a little bit goes to the situation of the lawyer giving me 00:14:48.299 --> 00:14:56.759 advice beforehand. The Old Testament law assumed, taught, and was structured around the principle that 00:14:56.759 --> 00:15:05.240 you are innocent until proven guilty. The idea of being innocent until proven guilty is not something 00:15:05.240 --> 00:15:11.620 that came to Canada through the Enlightenment or through atheists. It's an Old Testament idea. 00:15:11.620 --> 00:15:19.840 And it's very wise and very profound. And so Paul is innocent until proven guilty. And the high priest 00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:27.919 violating a fundamental tenant of the law, yet wanting to be the judge, accuses Paul of lying and 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:32.980 also does something to intimidate him by having him slug on the mouth. And so that's what Paul is saying 00:15:32.980 --> 00:15:40.700 here. Now the response of the room is going to be very important. And look what happens in terms of 00:15:40.700 --> 00:15:48.840 the response of the room. Verses 4 and 5. So in verse 4, so here's the thing, right? Do they say, 00:15:49.160 --> 00:15:54.960 the other 69 people, do they say, hey, come on, Ananias, come on. Like, you're not allowed to hit him. 00:15:55.060 --> 00:15:59.780 Like, he's innocent until proven guilty. Like, you can't abuse your power. Is that what they all say? 00:15:59.860 --> 00:16:06.020 Well, no, they don't say that. They turn on Paul. They turn on Paul. Look what happens. Verse 4. 00:16:06.019 --> 00:16:15.059 Those who stood by said to Paul, would you revile God's high priest? And Paul here, you know, 00:16:15.460 --> 00:16:22.319 part of the lesson of the story is if God is giving you sufficient wit to use your wit to help you in 00:16:22.319 --> 00:16:30.159 situations of conflict, go for it. Because Paul gives this witty type of response, which is both an 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:36.019 insult, but on a technical level, he can say that he's innocent. Because hear what he said, 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:44.360 verse 4, sorry, verse 5. And Paul said, whoa, whoa, whoa, I did not know, brothers, that he was the high 00:16:44.360 --> 00:16:50.120 priest. For it is written, you shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people. And the implication here is 00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:56.279 it's a bit of a put down. He's saying, oh, you know, obviously anybody who does so something so wrong 00:16:56.279 --> 00:17:01.179 and so against the law. Of course, I didn't think he was the high priest. That's in effect what he was 00:17:01.179 --> 00:17:07.700 saying. He was really dissing the high priest, but he says it in a way that there's not much that they 00:17:07.700 --> 00:17:15.319 can do. Now, here's the thing about it. And this is what's important about this story. This is a story 00:17:15.319 --> 00:17:20.279 of Paul. And in a sense, this is something that can speak to Christians and to non-Christians about 00:17:20.279 --> 00:17:26.220 how do you deal when you are in a situation, potentially a life and death situation, or if 00:17:26.220 --> 00:17:32.619 not life and death, at least a situation that has huge personal ramifications to you, when you are 00:17:32.619 --> 00:17:41.099 dealing with a group of people who hate you and are willing to abuse power to get what they want. 00:17:42.519 --> 00:17:48.079 That's what the situation is, which is here. You know, one of the things that's so wonderful about 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:53.579 the Christian faith, I'm going to probably try to talk about this a little bit in my vestry report, 00:17:54.259 --> 00:18:00.799 is, you know, the Bible isn't just written for Canadians living in, you know, post-modernist, 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:07.659 advanced capitalist Ottawa, where you still have a strong legal tradition of eating until proven guilty 00:18:07.659 --> 00:18:11.359 and a whole pile of rights and everything like that. And we can all talk about whether they're being, 00:18:11.799 --> 00:18:18.059 you know, weakened or whether they're strengthened. That's a whole. We can all disagree on that. 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:24.779 But the Bible is written for, so I guess what I'm saying is this. If you were an Iranian Christian 00:18:24.779 --> 00:18:31.079 reading this in Iran, you would go, wow, Paul had to deal with what I would have to deal with if I 00:18:31.079 --> 00:18:37.859 was brought before a court. If you were in large parts of China or Pakistan or North Korea or Saudi 00:18:37.859 --> 00:18:42.740 Arabia, and you're a Christian reading this, in many of those places it would have to be an underground 00:18:42.740 --> 00:18:47.240 church. You'd go with this and say, okay, wow, Paul actually, this is what, you know, boy, 00:18:47.240 --> 00:18:52.759 the early Christians had to go through this as well, like dealing with a group of people who don't care 00:18:52.759 --> 00:18:57.180 what the law says. You know, some of those places might formally say there's freedom of religion, 00:18:57.339 --> 00:19:03.019 but functionally, no, that's not the case. The USSR always said they had freedom of religion, 00:19:03.019 --> 00:19:09.299 but they mercilessly persecuted the Christian church. And so you can, they can look at this and say, 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:13.059 okay, this is a story written for me. And it could also be us, because we as well 00:19:13.059 --> 00:19:19.000 can also be caught in situations, maybe it's a family that are out to get us, maybe it's a teacher 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:24.240 or some institution or a boss, maybe it's some underlings who have worked together to get you in 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:27.899 trouble, and you know that they're not actually interested in justice or anything like that. 00:19:28.359 --> 00:19:34.200 And so this is a story of trying to deal with this, and it's going to open up the profound 00:19:34.200 --> 00:19:40.240 emotional and intellectual comfort that's going to be the culmination of the story, 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:44.599 but we have to get there first. So now Paul does something a bit different, 00:19:45.099 --> 00:19:49.460 and it's something which is a bit odd at first sight. Look what he does in verse 6. 00:19:50.680 --> 00:19:55.359 Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, 00:19:55.460 --> 00:20:00.240 he cried out on the council, brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of a Pharisee. 00:20:00.980 --> 00:20:06.400 It is with respect to the hope of the resurrection, the hope, it is with respect to the hope 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:13.220 and resurrection of the dead, that I am on trial. Now when he had said this, a dissension arose between 00:20:13.220 --> 00:20:18.860 the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no 00:20:18.860 --> 00:20:24.880 resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledged them all. Then a great clamor 00:20:24.880 --> 00:20:30.340 arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisee's party stood up and contended sharply, we find nothing 00:20:30.339 --> 00:20:36.919 wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him? And when the dissension became violent, 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:44.000 the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:50.079 and take Paul away from among them by force among, and bring him into the barracks. Now this is a very 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:54.319 interesting thing that just happened. So the first thing is this, Paul did not cause dissension 00:20:54.319 --> 00:21:03.919 dissension and dysfunction. His comment revealed dissension and dysfunction, and Paul's comment did 00:21:03.919 --> 00:21:13.119 not cause violence. It revealed that these were violent people who would use force to get their way. 00:21:13.899 --> 00:21:18.799 And the question that he poses before them that he wants to do is actually, if you go back and read 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:24.220 1 Corinthians 15, something that Paul wrote, you'll see that he deals, in fact, in 1 Corinthians 00:21:24.220 --> 00:21:29.400 15, with people who say there is no resurrection from the dead. And Paul says, well, obviously, 00:21:29.400 --> 00:21:33.900 if there is no resurrection from the dead, Jesus can't have risen from the dead. And so what Paul 00:21:33.900 --> 00:21:40.120 is doing here is, he's talking to these people, it's probably in the year 57, so it's 24 years, 00:21:40.740 --> 00:21:46.900 if, you know, Jesus rose from the dead either in this April of 30 or April of 33. I think he rose from 00:21:46.900 --> 00:21:54.740 the dead in April of 33. And so 24 years after that, these men have not been at all affected by the 00:21:54.740 --> 00:22:00.740 historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. And there's two completely different types of claims 00:22:00.740 --> 00:22:05.100 here about why they don't believe in the resurrection from the dead. One is a group of, in a sense, 00:22:05.180 --> 00:22:10.759 skeptical type of people who just believe that when you die, you die, that's it. And the other group 00:22:10.759 --> 00:22:14.600 who say, well, you know, there is, in a sense, no resurrection from the dead, which is a physical 00:22:14.599 --> 00:22:19.179 resurrection. It's just a type of spiritual resurrection. And so Paul wants to begin there 00:22:19.179 --> 00:22:27.619 because, you see, what he's going to do, even in the face of a murderous, unjust, dysfunctional, 00:22:28.139 --> 00:22:35.500 violent court, he wants to bear witness to Jesus anyway. Like, whoa. 00:22:38.619 --> 00:22:43.619 And what he does is it ends up revealing that they don't have any interest in this. 00:22:43.619 --> 00:22:50.759 They just have interest in using force to get what they want. And so the tribune takes them away. 00:22:50.899 --> 00:22:58.159 And then here now is, in a sense, not only one of the heart of the whole story, but it's one of the 00:22:58.159 --> 00:23:03.039 most important verses in the whole book of Acts, and it's very important in the Christian life. 00:23:03.539 --> 00:23:11.279 Look what verse 11 says. The following night, right? So Paul has spent that afternoon and a night 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:18.500 in jail, and it's during this night. The Lord stood by Paul and said, take courage, 00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:26.139 for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome. 00:23:26.139 --> 00:23:33.099 I'll read it again. The Lord stood by Paul and said, take courage, for as you have testified to the 00:23:33.099 --> 00:23:45.039 facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome. Now, here's what's going on. I went 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:50.500 looking for some public domain images of this. I couldn't find it because I'm completely, I'm a 00:23:50.500 --> 00:23:55.480 doofus when it comes to navigating the internet, and I didn't think of it early enough to ask somebody 00:23:55.480 --> 00:24:02.539 who actually knows how to use the internet very well to find it. But if you have a tapestry, and, you know, 00:24:02.620 --> 00:24:06.259 a tapestry is something where there's, you know, thread or some other type of thing, you know, through 00:24:06.259 --> 00:24:12.440 some type of a medium, and it's used those threads to create some type of a picture, some type of an image, 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:18.799 and some of them can be very, very intricate. And on one side of the tapestry, you can see the beautiful 00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:23.700 picture and the beautiful image, but if you go to the other side of the tapestry, you don't see anything 00:24:23.700 --> 00:24:28.480 like that at all. In fact, you might have to be able to vaguely guess about what the picture is like, 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:34.000 but the other side of it, all you see are lots of different knots and tied off ends of thread, 00:24:34.100 --> 00:24:38.400 right? Because you use maybe red for a couple of stitches, then, you know, blue, and then green, 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:42.240 and then yellow, and each one of them has to be tied off, and depending on how you tie it off, 00:24:42.279 --> 00:24:47.160 but the bottom line is that if you look on one side of the tapestry, you don't see anything at all. 00:24:47.160 --> 00:24:54.200 You just see, in a sense, random colors, and random knots, and random pieces of, you know, 00:24:54.240 --> 00:24:58.600 whatever the medium is, wool or whatever thread used to make the image. But if you see the other 00:24:58.600 --> 00:25:02.860 side of the image, you can see something which can be very, very beautiful. And so one of the, 00:25:02.940 --> 00:25:11.620 what Paul is, what Jesus is doing here is Jesus is telling Paul this. He doesn't give all the details, 00:25:11.619 --> 00:25:17.619 details. But over the next two plus years, Paul is going to always remain in legal limbo, 00:25:18.419 --> 00:25:25.479 and but in custody with Rome, and yet be in limbo. And he's going to undergird, undergo, 00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:30.639 he's going to have to live with a Roman governor who doesn't let him go because he wants to be 00:25:30.639 --> 00:25:36.279 bribed. He's going to undergo other types of attacks. He's going to undergo, as we'll see in a moment, 00:25:36.279 --> 00:25:42.980 40 military-aged men deciding they're going to launch a conspiracy with the council to have Paul 00:25:42.980 --> 00:25:48.779 murdered. He's going to undergo shipwrecks. He's going to undergo all sorts of terrible things. 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:54.359 And that's going to be going over the last, the next two plus years of his life. And in fact, 00:25:54.420 --> 00:25:58.940 when the book of Acts ends, but from the book of Acts, from that few chapters earlier to the end of 00:25:58.940 --> 00:26:06.200 the book of Acts, Paul is always in legal limbo, but under custody of Rome. And so it can look like 00:26:06.200 --> 00:26:12.000 things are chaotic, and things don't make any sense. And why, God, is this going on with me in my life? 00:26:12.299 --> 00:26:17.500 And where are you, God? And how come there's these, all these things? And just nothing seems to make 00:26:17.500 --> 00:26:25.000 sense. And what Jesus is, in effect, telling Paul is you are looking at things from the, underneath the 00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:38.119 tapestry. But I see the side of the tapestry, which is a beautiful and profound image. And I am making a 00:26:38.119 --> 00:26:49.240 tapestry. And part of me making a tapestry is not that you've got to do this, but you get to do this 00:26:49.240 --> 00:26:58.039 for me. So on one side, it looks chaotic. It looks empty. It looks as if nothing good is happening. 00:26:59.559 --> 00:27:06.339 But from the view of Jesus, the risen Lord, that's not what's happening. He's in control. 00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:15.079 He's weaving a beautiful tapestry. And Paul is part of that weaving. His suffering is not meaningless. 00:27:15.079 --> 00:27:25.220 His suffering has meaning. A transcendent meaning. We live in a world where the average Canadian, 00:27:25.379 --> 00:27:31.579 if pushed, will just say one of two things. Life is one dang thing after another, and then you go to a 00:27:31.579 --> 00:27:37.919 better place when you die. But they don't really believe that. Because really, in our heart of hearts, 00:27:38.220 --> 00:27:43.899 they think life is just one dang thing after another, and then you die. And most of them won't say the word 00:27:43.900 --> 00:27:51.860 dang, they'll use something stronger. But you know that underneath that is a desire that it 00:27:51.860 --> 00:27:57.960 shouldn't be true and can't be true. Because you see, if you live in a world where it's one dang thing 00:27:57.960 --> 00:28:04.700 after another, there's no, it's just, there's no meaning. And if there's no meaning, how can you show 00:28:04.700 --> 00:28:11.240 courage? Like how, you know, how, how much, how, is this really going to give you courage? By the way, 00:28:11.240 --> 00:28:15.140 friend, life is one dang thing after another, so you, and then you're going to die. So you should 00:28:15.140 --> 00:28:21.019 be courageous. Like what? That doesn't follow. Life is one dang thing after another, then I'm going to 00:28:21.019 --> 00:28:28.319 die. Therefore be courageous? No. You know, create courage isn't the thing that's going to spring to 00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:35.620 your mind in that. And, and so that's what, that's what Jesus says to Paul. And, and it's some, 00:28:35.619 --> 00:28:40.579 in some says, in some sense, when we see what Jesus says to Paul here, I'm going to come back to it 00:28:40.579 --> 00:28:45.479 as to how this is a profound comfort and how it creates a context for him to be courageous 00:28:45.479 --> 00:28:53.379 that's relevant for us. But it's also connected to another, even more, the most famous time where 00:28:53.379 --> 00:29:00.059 Jesus does something similar. What is the most famous time when Jesus does something similar? 00:29:00.059 --> 00:29:03.819 It's in the institution of the, of the, of the Lord's Supper. 00:29:06.879 --> 00:29:11.539 On the night that he's been going to be betrayed, and he knows he's going to be betrayed, 00:29:11.539 --> 00:29:19.019 in the context of a Passover meal, he sits his disciples down and he said, this is my body, 00:29:19.399 --> 00:29:25.559 broken for you. This is my blood, shed for you. This blood is a new covenant that I am inaugurating 00:29:25.559 --> 00:29:34.319 for you. You are to get me inside of you. And if you are inside of, if I am inside of you and you 00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:42.039 are inside of me, then you are part of this new covenant. A new covenant that's eternal and has, 00:29:42.639 --> 00:29:47.259 will make all the difference in the world. You will know my presence and my power and my comfort 00:29:47.259 --> 00:29:55.039 and my meaning in this life. And why is that a tooth? Why is that the same thing as the tapestry? 00:29:55.160 --> 00:30:02.200 Because in a sense, what Jesus knows is this. What they're going to experience, and they can't 00:30:02.200 --> 00:30:09.680 remember at the time with the Lord's Supper, is they're going to experience Jesus crying out in 00:30:09.680 --> 00:30:16.200 desolation, Father, may this cup be taken from me. But then they hear not my will, but thine be done. 00:30:16.200 --> 00:30:22.700 They will see Jesus so emotionally distressed that his sweat looks like blood. They will see their 00:30:22.700 --> 00:30:30.860 best friend, Judas, come with a crowd and have Jesus arrested. And they will see Jesus not use his 00:30:30.860 --> 00:30:38.980 power to keep himself alive. And they will all scatter in terror when their Lord is gone. And they will go 00:30:38.980 --> 00:30:46.059 and hide. And even Peter, who will try to follow along, will deny Jesus three times. And they 00:30:46.059 --> 00:30:53.279 will watch as Jesus is falsely accused, as he is whipped, as he is taken through the streets, 00:30:53.639 --> 00:30:58.519 carrying a cross, and then collapsing from being whipped almost to death. And they will see him 00:30:58.519 --> 00:31:04.720 stripped naked. And they will see him hang upon a cross. And they will see all of the crowds mocking 00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:11.079 him and making fun of him. This is all after the crowds have turned against him and chose a terrorist 00:31:11.079 --> 00:31:15.839 rather than Jesus. And they will see him. And they will see him mocked on the cross. And they will see 00:31:15.839 --> 00:31:24.480 him die on the cross. They will see his side pierced. And they will be completely and utterly desolate. 00:31:24.480 --> 00:31:32.920 And it will only be after Jesus appears to them in his resurrection, when they see the grave empty, 00:31:33.019 --> 00:31:40.539 they see the grave closed there, and they see him alive, that they will understand that on this side of 00:31:40.539 --> 00:31:50.279 the tapestry, it just looks like chaos and evil is winning. But the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the 00:31:50.279 --> 00:31:58.460 world, who institutes a new and most perfect covenant, a covenant that brings the Holy Spirit, 00:31:58.639 --> 00:32:04.139 that is not just that there is a circumcision of the outer flesh, but there is a circumcision, 00:32:04.279 --> 00:32:09.980 a tearing, and a rebuilding, and a planting of the Spirit in the inside of your soul, that will make you 00:32:09.980 --> 00:32:14.839 God's children by adoption and grace, and that you will be born again, and that there will be 00:32:14.839 --> 00:32:20.220 the eternal life actually comes into you, and that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit will 00:32:20.220 --> 00:32:27.220 actually indwell you, and that you will, in a very true sense, be in Christ, that this completely brand 00:32:27.220 --> 00:32:34.579 new covenant is what was actually being instituted. So from the underside of the tapestry, it is chaos, 00:32:34.579 --> 00:32:43.679 and tragedy, and despair. On the other side, it is the most profoundly beautiful, 00:32:43.680 --> 00:32:52.380 beautiful story imaginable of God's good justice, God's good mercy, God's good grace, 00:32:52.640 --> 00:33:06.500 extended to people like you and me, extended to unjust judges and unjust rulers. The world is no longer 00:33:06.500 --> 00:33:13.620 going to be divided between those who think that they are good and those who are bad. The world is 00:33:13.619 --> 00:33:19.139 divided between those that they need to receive the gift of God's grace and those who reject it, 00:33:19.139 --> 00:33:27.119 and there is no person so broken, so far from God, so evil. There is no one who has done 00:33:27.119 --> 00:33:34.839 so many horrendous deeds that they are beyond the scope of God's mercy, and this is actually, and this 00:33:34.839 --> 00:33:38.599 other thing is very important to others. I know there are many people in our culture. 00:33:38.599 --> 00:33:48.240 Years ago, there was a woman in my rural parish, and I never knew if she was married or single, 00:33:48.959 --> 00:33:53.859 because it's very common to see women in churches and never see their husbands, right? I've done, 00:33:54.119 --> 00:33:59.159 you know, and so I said to her, should I call you miss or missus? And she was really funny. 00:33:59.879 --> 00:34:05.219 She was really, really funny. She was this short little woman who was probably as wide as she was tall, 00:34:05.220 --> 00:34:12.380 and she had a big smile, and she said, no, no, you should call me missed, not miss, M-I-S-S-E-T. I'm 00:34:12.380 --> 00:34:18.720 missed. Nobody chose me to marry me. She was really funny. And, and, but there are many people in life, 00:34:18.860 --> 00:34:23.280 that's what their experience is, and they might say, okay, George, this, this does sound profoundly 00:34:23.280 --> 00:34:29.099 emotionally comforting and all, but that's not for me. You know, my parents didn't care for me. 00:34:29.099 --> 00:34:36.159 My siblings didn't care for me. Bosses overlook me. Underlings ignore me. I don't get those promotions. 00:34:36.679 --> 00:34:42.860 I don't get the house. Like, I'm missed. But the message of the gospel is you're not missed. 00:34:47.400 --> 00:34:52.339 I mean, in fact, if you're hearing me right now, all I can tell you is, as Jesus is herald, 00:34:52.679 --> 00:34:57.839 is it's Jesus speaking to you right now. He's speaking to you. You're not missed. 00:34:57.840 --> 00:35:04.320 Christ. This, this offer is for you. It's for you. 00:35:08.280 --> 00:35:13.800 And so what we see here is something which matters to, to, to all of us. 00:35:15.180 --> 00:35:21.360 It might be that none of us will ever face such a horrendous situation that Paul had to face. 00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:31.740 But the basic picture here is a profound truth, is that when you are in Christ, you are in this large story, 00:35:32.079 --> 00:35:39.460 this large tapestry of beauty and goodness and truth and justice that he is weaving. 00:35:39.460 --> 00:35:46.320 And to know that that is the case doesn't make you complacent. 00:35:47.820 --> 00:35:52.059 But it means you have the courage to step forward and do hard things. 00:35:52.059 --> 00:35:58.880 Because you know that it's worth it. You see, if you live in a world where it's one dang thing after another and then you die, 00:35:58.980 --> 00:36:01.320 why should you step forward and do hard things? 00:36:01.320 --> 00:36:08.780 But if you know that God is weaving a tapestry, that Jesus is ultimately in control, 00:36:08.840 --> 00:36:11.059 and it's not just fate, it's not just something like that. 00:36:11.080 --> 00:36:12.860 It's the one who died on the cross for you. 00:36:13.680 --> 00:36:17.019 You know, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son to the end, 00:36:17.059 --> 00:36:19.900 that all that believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 00:36:19.940 --> 00:36:22.940 Those words of Jesus, that's Jesus speaking to you. 00:36:22.980 --> 00:36:26.340 And he's the one who has redeemed you as he is the one who is in control. 00:36:26.340 --> 00:36:32.120 And so some of us have, all of us have different very, very hard things that we have to face. 00:36:32.220 --> 00:36:37.860 Maybe for some, you know, it's the hard thing of being single or not having children. 00:36:38.019 --> 00:36:39.860 For others, it's the hard thing is the children. 00:36:40.100 --> 00:36:44.780 For some things, it's things that are going on in your work which are not right. 00:36:45.280 --> 00:36:50.920 You know, for others, it's just, you know, maybe you feel like you're a drudge in cubicle land or something like that. 00:36:50.920 --> 00:36:55.539 But you see, the point of all of this is to understand that your situation in a very different way, 00:36:55.539 --> 00:37:00.119 that you may be that drudge in that land and everybody else views you as a drudge, 00:37:00.179 --> 00:37:01.920 but that's not how you should view yourself. 00:37:02.400 --> 00:37:07.139 Jesus has placed you in a place where only you can share the gospel with those people who are around you. 00:37:08.340 --> 00:37:15.380 Or you can show through your actions when people hate you or deride you or miss you or misuse you 00:37:15.380 --> 00:37:18.779 or when there's things that mean that you don't get the type of social things 00:37:18.779 --> 00:37:21.099 or just even the natural human things that you want, 00:37:21.219 --> 00:37:24.360 that by your response that you walk towards those things 00:37:24.360 --> 00:37:26.940 and the grace to accept it and the grace to move forward 00:37:26.940 --> 00:37:32.200 and the grace to allow that weakness to be something that has transformed within you. 00:37:32.440 --> 00:37:35.740 Because the fact of the matter is, is that every single one of us as human beings, 00:37:35.820 --> 00:37:41.180 we have all of the weakness needed for Christ to do remarkable things through you. 00:37:42.140 --> 00:37:45.780 Whether it's dealing with colicky kids or grumpy husbands 00:37:45.780 --> 00:37:51.220 or whether it's dealing with bad bosses or just being stuck in a dead-end job, 00:37:51.300 --> 00:37:52.560 that you have all of the weakness. 00:37:52.960 --> 00:37:57.080 You are in places where you can make a profound difference to bear witness to Jesus, 00:37:57.400 --> 00:38:00.220 not just about the truth of his death and resurrection, 00:38:00.500 --> 00:38:04.580 but also just in the way that you forgive and you're generous and you're kind 00:38:04.580 --> 00:38:08.620 and you step forward and you stop the bullying or you stick up for the underdog 00:38:08.619 --> 00:38:11.699 where you speak against, like in all of those things, 00:38:11.699 --> 00:38:19.799 you can do this knowing that you might not have Paul's direct experience 00:38:19.799 --> 00:38:23.339 of having Jesus reveal himself before you and say, 00:38:23.880 --> 00:38:26.639 all these things are part of my tapestry. 00:38:27.619 --> 00:38:29.619 But you get to hear it from the word today. 00:38:31.619 --> 00:38:36.539 They're part of the tapestry that I am weaving because I am in control. 00:38:36.539 --> 00:38:39.300 And evil doesn't win. 00:38:40.059 --> 00:38:41.039 Death doesn't win. 00:38:42.079 --> 00:38:44.119 The powers of this world do not win. 00:38:46.099 --> 00:38:48.500 Jesus says, I have overcome the world. 00:38:49.820 --> 00:38:51.000 I invite you to stand. 00:39:01.179 --> 00:39:02.460 Bow our heads in prayer. 00:39:06.539 --> 00:39:13.300 Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would bring this story deep into our heart 00:39:13.300 --> 00:39:16.139 and that your word would form us at a very deep level. 00:39:17.199 --> 00:39:20.099 We ask, Father, that as we celebrate the Lord's Supper, 00:39:20.279 --> 00:39:24.159 that we will remember how it is, in fact, 00:39:24.219 --> 00:39:29.779 that Jesus did die for us so that we could be made right with you 00:39:29.779 --> 00:39:31.679 when we put our faith and trust in you. 00:39:31.679 --> 00:39:33.919 And, Father, if there are any here hearing this, 00:39:34.299 --> 00:39:36.539 whether in this room or online or downstream, 00:39:36.899 --> 00:39:38.319 Father, as these words hear them, 00:39:38.379 --> 00:39:42.859 may your Holy Spirit move in their lives so that they will move in their heart, 00:39:43.460 --> 00:39:47.599 whether at first just with their lips quietly or out loud, 00:39:47.699 --> 00:39:49.759 that they will call upon you, Jesus, 00:39:49.940 --> 00:39:53.179 to be their Savior and Lord as they understand what you have done for them. 00:39:53.719 --> 00:39:57.559 We ask, Father, that you help us to understand that none of us are missed, 00:39:57.559 --> 00:40:02.679 that the Lord is by each one of us, 00:40:03.179 --> 00:40:07.460 that he is bringing things to their proper end, 00:40:08.460 --> 00:40:11.940 that we can trust that we are in his hands, 00:40:12.539 --> 00:40:16.000 and knowing that, not that it will make us lazy or complacent, 00:40:16.119 --> 00:40:17.539 but that it will give us the courage. 00:40:17.619 --> 00:40:18.159 It's worth it. 00:40:18.519 --> 00:40:20.360 It's worth it to bear witness to Jesus 00:40:20.360 --> 00:40:23.259 in truth and goodness and justice and mercy and beauty. 00:40:23.260 --> 00:40:27.120 It's worth it, Father, for us to know that Jesus, 00:40:27.600 --> 00:40:29.220 that you, Father, are truly sovereign. 00:40:29.360 --> 00:40:32.740 Father, grow these truths deep into our heart. 00:40:33.580 --> 00:40:35.760 And we ask these things in the name of Jesus. 00:40:37.040 --> 00:40:37.440 Amen.