Last Words & First Words
Preached by Benjamin Vrbicek
July 5, 2020
Scripture Reading
Acts 9:19b–31
19 …For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. 20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.
23 When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.
26 And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him. 30 And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
When many of you come to church, I can see it in your countenance. I see it in your posts on Facebook too. And when I talk with you on the phone or text and email with you, I can tell. Life is hard. You’re discouraged.
If we were able to go back in time and at different moments we were to pull aside people in this passage, and we interviewed them, I suspect they might say the same. In this passage, life was hard.
We’ve been preaching through the book of Acts this summer. Last week we learned about the conversion of Paul, the wonderful conversion of Paul. The greatest missionary and theologian who has ever lived became a Christian last week. The story is one of the more familiar stories within the book. Someone in our church could even use the phrase “on the Damascus road,” and many of us would know you’re referring to Paul’s conversion, which took place on the road to the city of Damascus. That’s all encouraging. But that is last week. This week we have this passage. Look at all the hard things that happen.
Life is hard.
Look at v. 21, for example.
And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” (Acts 9:21)
In other words, they are amazed—but not convinced yet. They wonder if his “conversion” is a ploy to capture them.
When Paul does convince them that he loves Jesus and Jesus loves him, look at v. 23.
When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him. (Acts 9:23)
What a plot twist for Paul the persecutor to become Paul the preacher. And you’d hope that the next line reads, “All the friends he used to have started to love Jesus just as he did.” Maybe you’ve recently become a Christian, and that’s what you’re hoping for. But it doesn’t seem to be happening for you. It didn’t for Paul. So he has to flee from the city in a basket. I thought following God made your life better. What’s up with this?
Then v. 26 tells us he goes to Jerusalem and “attempted to join the disciples.” The Greek implies that he was repeatedly trying. It’s like there is a lunch table where kids sit, and every time Paul goes to sit down, people squish together to stop him from sitting. He can’t get a seat at the table of Christian fellowship. Some of you know what that feels like. It’s not fun. Life is hard.
When they finally do let him in, and he starts preaching, what happens? Look at v. 29. He preaches to Greek-speaking Jewish people (the Hellenists), and they want to kill him. So, Paul was lowered in that basket out of the frying pan right into the fryer.
What happens next? There’s no basket this time, but Paul had made it to Jerusalem, the epicenter of the gospel, yet now he has to be sent away again. And we don’t hear from him for eight years, not until chapter 11:25 does the name Paul come back into the story when we read that ol’ Barnabas has to make the trek to Tarsus to find him.
Can this passage be more discouraging? How would you summarize this passage? You might say something like, A really great thing happened—Paul was converted—but then nothing seemed to go their way, a deluge of discouragement. Someone from my former church shared a picture on Facebook of a hornet’s nest. The caption said, “If 2020 was a piñata.” If you watch the news and you look around at the trials people around you are dealing with, then that might be what it feels like—whacking a hornet’s nest with a stick in your living room.
Except that’s not the full story. There is more to the story, more to this passage. We must look closer.
God is working.
Look with me again at v. 20.
And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” (Acts 9:20)
Normally in life, we’ll talk about a child’s first words. From the time my children were born, I kept saying to them, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy” in the hope that I would get one of them to say “Daddy” first, but the first words were always “Mommy,” which is true for most children. Some of you, your first words might have been “Mine!” or “No!”
As we make a big deal of first words, we also make a big deal of last words. You could research famous last words, finding memorable words from someone obscure who said something profound or perhaps someone famous who said something bazaar. But once a man has spoken his last words, he doesn’t speak again—unless he’s born again.
When you go back to last week’s passage, Paul’s last words as a non-Christian were, “Who are you, Lord?” (v. 5). Paul’s first words in this passage are, “[Jesus] is the Son of God.”[1] Last words, then first words. And they are very different. That’s because the old Paul has died; he’s been re-born. Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus is the Promised One, Jesus is the man who is also God. And this Jesus is alive. Notice the specific tense used. Paul claims not that Jesus was the Son of God but that he is the Son of God. And he still is.
And there’s more encouragement. I pointed out v. 23 before saying it’s discouraging when you become a Christian, and you try to tell your friends that Jesus is awesome, but they don’t see it that way. But I’ll point out that I find this verse encouraging, too, because it means that if your friends do not become Christians when you do, and if instead they want nothing to do with you, or if they slander and mock you, this verse reminds us that it might not be our fault. There is this sentiment that floats among Christians that if we were all more like Jesus than everyone would love us. Maybe. And maybe not. They didn’t all love Jesus, and as he told his followers, “‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20).
Then there is Barnabas. What a guy! What a risk-taker and what a friend! Do you have a friend like Barnabas? Are you a friend like Barnabas? When everyone else dismisses Paul, Barnabas vouches for him. I wish we had time to do a whole sermon on Barnabas just on what we know of Barnabas throughout the book of Acts. Maybe we will someday. We’ll see more of Barnabas later in the book.
Church, if you’re a seasoned Christian, are their ways you can be more like Barnabas? Are their younger Christians you can befriend? Do you know a seminary student who you can go to and tell that seminary student to have his school send the next tuition bill to you instead? Are there men’s and women’s Bible Studies where it would be good to let a younger Christian lead? Is there someone who has done something lousy, and they have now repented and sought forgiveness. Maybe you can risk extending friendship.
There’s more I could say. But I’ll go back to the question I asked before: if you were to summarize this passage, how would you do it? You might say something like, A really great thing happened—Paul was converted—but then nothing seemed to go their way, a deluge of discouragement. Look how Luke summarizes this moment.
So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. (Acts 9:31)
Notice the phrase the, “church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria . . .” Why does that matter? Samaria has a church! Samaria was a despised land full of despised, random people who heard the gospel. So far, only random people in Samaria heard about the forgiveness of sins offered in Jesus, and so far only random people have heard about the power to live a changed life that comes from the risen Lord. But that’s all that they are—random. Now, Luke refers to Samaria as part of the church. A fragile group of despised believers keeps multiplying. Indeed, we also read they walk in the fear of the Lord—meaning they walk in obedience. And we read that the church is multiplying. Some pastors tend to talk about numerical growth (multiplication), and others tend to talk more about growth in maturity of faith (obedience). This passage talks about both.
And behold that the work of God building up his church and walking in the comfort of the Holy Spirit happens in the midst of affliction and adversity. It was true then. And it’s true now.
Our church was short-staffed all of last year. Then a global pandemic hit, and we shut down worship services for 13-weeks. Some among us were furloughed from jobs, and a few others lost them completely. Healthcare workers straight out of college prepared themselves to work in an ER that was going to be flooded with dying people, they were told.
All of that is true. But it is also true that generosity at our church has never been higher. I can’t even remember how many people pulled me aside and said just let me know who needs help, and I’ll do it. And we were short-staffed, but God brought us a wonderful pastor in David who will lead us in connections. And boy, he can preach well too.
If you haven’t ducked your head into the church basement, I’ll tell you that renovations will be done in three weeks, which means we’ll have a wonderful space for refugee gatherings and Sunday school classes. And the basement will be a gift to the community as we host ESL classes three days a week, starting again in October.
I’ll also mention that I’ve seen extraordinary unity exhibited by our church as we’ve relaunched. I know we’ve not made everyone happy with the reopening choices we made. I’m not happy about everything either, and I helped make a lot of the decisions. But I’ve seen people sacrifice their personal preferences for the benefit of the whole church. There has also been a joy among us, especially in the times after services as people linger and laugh together.
And among some of the people who have had very difficult things happen, in many cases their faith and joy in God have gone deeper. I think of the two couples who were married during the lockdown, and their ceremonies were radically altered. That was hard. But I think more highly of those Christian couples for the way they exhibited maturity in the adversity. I had a community group Bible Study leader the other day tell me that his group is spiritually thriving.
Let me be clear. What I see in this passage is not about how Christians should put a positive spin on lousy situations. It’s not about faking optimism until we feel like life is better than it really is. This is not about seeing a glass more than half empty as though it were really more than half full. No. This passage is about seeing the risen Lord, the Messiah, the Son of God seated on the throne of the universe. I’m preaching about being Christians and having the eyes of faith that see Jesus working even when it’s hard.
If you watch 15 hours of news each week, a commodity that you already know gets better ratings by airing more bad news than good news, and if that deluge of discouragement has killed your ability to see what God might be up to, than take a break. And spend time asking the Lord to show more of what he is doing than what can be seen on television or social media.
Trials in the life of a Christian and in the life of a church, purify the Christian and the church into a radiant, beautiful bride. And if we don’t see her beauty today, we might tomorrow. And if not tomorrow, then someday we will, because Jesus was not the Son of God, but as Paul said, Jesus is the Son of God.
[1] John Piper made this point in his sermon “Jesus Is the Christ the Son of God” from Acts 9:19–22 on October 6, 1991.
