Sermon preached at Our Savior on 5/2/10 for the 5th Sunday of Easter. Sermon text: Acts 13:44-52
It was a very dark time in the history of our world. The most important, most precious message ever heard wasn't treated as something precious, but as something to suppress, something to silence. The message of Jesus Christ as the only Savior of the world, the one who died and rose for the sins of world -- that message should have been greeted with shouts of joy, but it wasn't. Many hated the message, and they wanted it to disappear forever.
This dark time that I'm talking about is from the time of our text from the book of Acts, but really it could have been referring to our time today. Make no mistake: there are enemies of the Gospel. People are out there who want to extinguish the light of the world forever. It might not seem like that here this morning. We're here worshiping safely in a beautiful building. But the opposition is there. Maybe it's in the little remarks that someone makes to you like, "why do you bother going to church?" Maybe it's the fact that it's easier to find anti-Christian ideas on tv or on the internet or on the radio than it is to find the truth. Maybe it's the opposition that comes from our own hearts: the part of us that doesn't think Jesus and his Word are really that big of deal at the end of the day. The part of us that reacts with apathy and a shrug to that precious message.
But look again. Look at the treasure we have! Despite how it's treated, by people around the world, or even by ourselves at times, the message of Jesus our Savior shines as a light in this dark world. The message is that Jesus didn't just die for the world, but he died for you. The message is that Jesus rose and someday all believers will rise, but you will rise to eternal life through faith in him. When we see how precious the message of Jesus is to us, we'll want to share it. Not because we have to. Not because it's what everybody else is doing. No, sharing the good news of sins forgiven in Jesus' name is a joy! And it's what God has made us for. He has empowered us and given us a mission in this world. He lets us reflect the brightness of Jesus in a sin-darkened world. He tells us, "I have made you a light."
Our text started out at a pretty positive time for the Apostle Paul. He was on his first missionary journey with Barnabas in the city of Pisidian Antioch. As usual, Paul went to the synagogue first. And on the Sabbath, he got a chance to preach. And did he ever preach! He took that group of Jews back to the Old Testament Scriptures they knew and showed how they all pointed to Jesus! And he summed up his message like this: "My brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified." (Acts 13:38-39)
But it didn't work out that way. The Jews who normally ran the synagogue looked at the crowd, and they weren't happy about it. "How come we never bring in crowds like this?" Have you ever worked on something, worked really hard, but never had much success with it? That can be frustrating enough. But then, when someone just shows up and starts doing that thing you were trying to do, but doing it better, immediately...well, it doesn't take long before jealousy has reared its ugly head.
With that jealousy in their hearts, this group of Jews "talked abusively against what Paul was saying." (Acts 13:45) Imagine someone standing up and yelling at the preacher during the sermon! This huge crowd was turning into an angry mob. But Paul and Barnabas didn't back down. If anything, they got even bolder. They said, "We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. For this is what the Lord has commanded us: "I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth." (Acts 13:46-47)
The Jews' jealousy had clouded their thinking. They were so busy being angry about people like Gentiles being interested in Paul and Barnabas's message, that they didn't realize they were throwing their salvation away. Paul knew that a message this precious couldn't just disappear because someone wanted it to. They had to share it. They had to bring it to those Gentiles. Because God had made them a light. He wanted them to shine in this dark world with the message of forgiveness of sins and life out of death.
That's exactly what Paul and Barnabas did that day. And God made sure that their light had its effect. "When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed." (Acts 13:48) No matter what those Jews thought of the Gentiles in the crowd, God had chosen many of those Gentiles to be saved before the world began. He brought that salvation to them through the light of the gospel message that Paul and Barnabas brought.
Now, I've never had someone stand up and shout at me during the middle of a sermon, like Paul did here. I'd be pretty shocked to have that happen. I also don't think that any of you would get jealous and enraged to see a large crowd show up here to hear about Jesus. I think you'd be happy about it. But remember. We live in a dark world. Don't think any of us are immune from temptation to act like those jealous Jews there in that synagogue.
It's just that our temptations are much more subtle. We're not tempted to stand up and shout during a sermon; we're more likely tempted to have our minds drift away from it. None of you would probably get violently jealous of new people joining the church and hearing God's Word. Instead, we're tempted to just never invite people to come to church. Maybe they won't want to come. Maybe they won't like it. Inviting them would be too embarrassing. I don't want to offend them in any way. And with that and a thousand other excuses in our minds, we cover up the light God has given us.
That light, that message of Jesus as our Savior of free forgiveness is the most precious thing we have! But how easily we lose focus on it. How easy it is for us to focus on aspects of the personalities of different people in the congregation, instead of the Savior that we share. How easy for us to get lost in the details of things we don't like or disagree with in this or that part of being a congregation, all while failing to give thanks for the unity of believing God's Word that we share. Those temptations that pull us away from God's Word are real. They can lead people to stop coming to church. They can lead people to lose even their faith itself.
But that doesn't need to happen! We have in God's Word the only light in this dark world that can change people, that can win hearts for their Savior. It is the most precious thing we have. And God has given us a mission with that Word: he says, "I have made you a light."
Yes, like Paul and Barnabas were a light for the Gentiles to bring them God's Word in our text, we are a light in our lives right now. I'm not saying you're all full-time missionaries or pastors and that you should all quit your jobs to preach full time. No! You have plenty of opportunities to be the light that God has made you right where you are.
But it helps to know why we're a light and why we'd want to share that light. Imagine this. You're on death row. You've been convicted of your crimes and sentenced to die. For me, it's hard to imagine a more horrible position to be in. Stuck in prison and you know your future holds death. Talk about hopeless! But then, the phone rings! It's the governor! You've received a pardon. Instead of hopelessness and death, you now have new life. Think you'd be excited about it? Do you think you'd just shrug your shoulders and not tell anybody about what happened?
No! You'd be so thrilled that no one could stop you from telling people about your good news. That's how it is with us. We were stuck guilty of sin and sentenced to eternal death in hell. But Jesus pardoned us. His blood washed our sins away. His resurrection guaranteed us our life. That's a big deal. We want to talk about it! Because, you see, there are plenty of people out there who are also under this death sentence, who would also be lost forever...but Jesus' pardon is for them, too! Don't you want to tell them? How lucky we are that we get to tell them!
I'm sure you know people in your life like this, people you can talk to, people with whom you can share the hope that you have from our Savior. I'm not saying that you need to memorize the entire Bible or feel like you have to convince someone about Jesus. You can't convince anyone! Remember what our text told us! "All who were appointed for eternal life believed." (Acts 13:48) It's not up to us to make someone believe; it's God the Holy Spirit who works faith in their heart. But we can help bring that Gospel message that the Holy Spirit uses to work that faith.
It can be as simple as inviting someone to church. You can invite them to talk to me. You can ask them if it's okay if I contact them, and if they say yes, give me a call and tell me how to contact them. Or maybe it's just encouraging someone who hasn't been in church a while to come back. Or maybe it's helping someone get back to Bible class or encouraging them to bring their kids to Sunday school. Or maybe it's that person at work or school who is open to hearing about what you believe. You have a chance to tell them! Remember what God said, "I have made you a light!"
And we might not always see the results, or even know what they are. After this incident in our text we hear that, "The word of the Lord spread through the whole region." (Acts 13:49) Paul and Barnabas ended up getting kicked out of that city! (Acts 13:50) But still, the Word of the Lord spread. When you share the message of Jesus your Savior, or when you invite someone to church, they might refuse! They might say no! But maybe the word of the Lord will spread. Maybe God will use that seed you planted, that light that you shined, to do his work at another time or in another place.
We live in a dark world, friends. All around us are sin and death. But we've been given the light of Christ! We have been rescued from our death sentence by his death! We've been given eternal life by his life! And now, God has a command for us. He tells us, "I have made you a light." So go! Be the light that God has made you! Shine with the good news of your Savior wherever you are in your life. God will use you. He will use his power and his love in ways you might not expect or imagine. Shine for him as the light he has made you.
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