To The Ends Of The Earth
TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH Trinity
Acts 13:1-12 27.10.19
Some people do things that make a big difference in families, in communities, in business and even internationally. When that difference is a good difference, there is blessing all round.
Some people make a difference in a sphere which is bigger than all those. In a sphere that is bigger than anything in this world, and which lasts beyond it into eternity. They aren’t necessarily big people, but the difference they make is big, because the cause to which they commit themselves has no parallel.
The book of Acts is part of the story of that cause, and of some of those people. It is the story of the universal and eternal kingdom of Jesus the Lord of all.
May I highlight two themes today from the part of that story to which we come in the first part of chapter 13.
- JESUS’ KINGDOM IS A MIXED KINGDOM
That’s so obvious to us. Here we are young and old. Many of us were born Anglo Australian, and some of us here were born in Egypt, India, South Korea, the Philippines, South Africa, Iraq, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, China, and … who have I missed?
Of course the Kingdom of Jesus is mixed, and multi-racial. That is so familiar to us, you may be tempted to chime out right now, but this may be a bigger deal than you might have realised.
Last week, Acts 12 took us back to Peter and the church in Jerusalem. Chapter 13 brings us back to where chapter 11 left off – in the church in the Syrian city of Antioch, and to Saul and Barnabas.
Verse 1: “Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.”
- Barnabas? A Jewish priest from the Island of Cyprus.
- Simeon Niger? A black man from Africa – almost certainly a Gentile.
- Lucius of Cyrene? Also probably a black African Gentile.
- Manaen? A foster-brother to Herod Antipas, raised in a Roman palace – another Gentile.
- Saul? A Jew of the Jews – but born a Turk.
A Cypriot-Jew, two Africans, a Roman, and a Turkish Jew. The make-up of the leaders probably reflected the make-up of the church. It sounds like something is going on at Antioch that is not happening at Jerusalem where you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone in the church there who had not been born a Jew or was a Jewish convert.
Now, if you hear the gospel from someone in the Jerusalem church, what are you likely to think? That it is really a Jewish message, or it is only for people who embrace Judaism along with Jesus.
What if you hear it from someone in the church at Antioch? When you know that the leaders there are black and white, Jew and Gentile, African and Asian, it’s clear it’s for you also, no matter what variety you are.
Is this why God is switching his base for evangelising to the ends of the earth away from Jerusalem to Antioch?
Little wonder that God has laid it on the hearts of the church at Antioch to send Saul and Barnabas off to evangelise, while the Church at Jerusalem is still debating if Gentiles can fit into the kingdom of Jesus, and if so, with how much Jewish bits?
What a perfectly brilliant move to switch from Jerusalem to Antioch as Mission Central.
There is another change in these verses. In 13:9 Saul is called Saul for the last time, and for the first time he is called Paul.
Some say that his name was changed to match his change in character, having become a Christian, but he has been a Christian for maybe 13 years by now, and he has been Saul all that time.
No, “Saul” was an okay name if he evangelised only Jews, but his calling is to Gentiles and to members of the Roman hierarchy. So Paul or Paulus, simply a Roman name, will work better out there.
There was more than a name change for Paul. Paul says “Though I am free from all, I have made my servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became a Jew … to the weak I became weak … and so on … I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them its blessings (1 Cor 9:19-23).
It wasn’t about fitting in with others so that he might be liked or accepted, or free from hassle. He changed all kinds of personal preferences and privilege, to get the best hearing for the gospel.
His name? His Jewish citizenship? What he eats and does not eat. When and where he eats. Yes. Whatever gives him the chance to tell the gospel.
How do you go on that? What do you give away to make the gospel known to people who are not like you? Food preferences? Australian citizenship? Physical comfort? “Me time?” Your social, medical and physical entitlements?
How do we as a church go on that? What preferences should we be changing to get the gospel to people who may not look like us, have our background, or share our likes and dislikes? Especially since it is the default position of Anglo Australians to say that people should fit with us, and we’re not changing for anyone.
To be sure, some things shouldn’t change. Either because they are a matter of God’s law, they protect what really matters, or they simply make for a peaceful and cohesive society.
What about my name? My comfort? My entitlements? My privileges and my preferences? If it is a case of “whatever it takes?” for the sake of the gospel and the kingdom of Jesus, then they can all go.
Luke says in verse 3 that the church in Antioch sent off Saul and Barnabas. They are probably their best men. That would not have been easy but it’s a case of whatever it takes to make Jesus known to the ends of the earth and bring people into a new eternal race.
What did Saul and Barnabas have that qualified them to go to do things like this? They had all that mattered:
- They had a sending church behind them … when the church at Antioch laid hands on Saul and Barnabas that was their way of saying “you go, we’re with you”.
- They had the Holy Spirit who is mentioned 3 times here.
- They had the Word of God which they preached all the way across Cyprus and into the quarters of the Roman governor.
That’s still what’s needed. A sending church. The Holy Spirit. And the Word of God. There’s nothing that matters over that, and not a lot that matters after that.
Let me quiz you a little to see if I can help you to see whether God’s plan is part of your plan:
- Are you praying that we will be able to send out people from here to other cultures with the gospel – maybe some of our best people – maybe our children, our grandchildren?
- Are you praying for the SRE teachers who take the gospel of Jesus into Tamworth high schools every week?
- Will you be taking the Newsletter from the Middle East Reformed Fellowship today, so you can pray for its work?
- Are you determined to do all you can to make our new Home Base a centre for bringing all kinds of people into the kingdom of Jesus?
- Can you say specifically what privileges and preferences you are walking away from to get the gospel to people not like you?
1. Jesus’ kingdom is a mixed kingdom
- JESUS’ GOSPEL ALWAYS HAS MIXED RESULTS
Cyprus would be an ideal place for the first missionary venture for Paul and Barnabas. Barnabas is from there, as is his nephew John Mark who goes with them. Their family connections might be very valuable – for the gospel and for somewhere to sleep at night.
We read in verses 5 and 6 that they began preaching the gospel where they landed in Cyprus, at the town of Salamis. Luke says that they then preached it all 140 kilometres across the island until they came to the capital of Paphos.
What didn’t happen along the way? You can bet that if people had been brought to Jesus by the gospel in 140 kilometres of preaching, Luke would have told us. That’s what he usually does, and this preaching is a big deal – it is the first time the gospel has left the mainland. But nothing.
Then when they get to Paphos, there is one man who wants to hear what they are preaching, there is another man who stands up against them. The Holy Spirit is operating on Sergius Paulus who rules Cyprus in the name of the Roman senate. The devil himself is operating on Bar-Jesus, the court magician.
140 kilometres without any converts! Now Sergius Paulus may be knocked out. What a dismal prospect for the gospel.
Yes, Bar-Jesus is knocked out of the fight, and Sergius Paulus believes the gospel. But one man is not a lot to show for the first big missionary enterprise. Is this the way it is going to be once you cut racial ties with Jerusalem?
In 13:13 Luke tells us that once they got back to the mainland, to continue this missionary work there, John Mark left them to go back to Jerusalem. Why? From what we will read in chapter 15 it seems that Paul regarded John Mark as a deserter (15:38), though they are wonderfully restored later.
What had caused John Mark to go back home mid-way? We don’t know the back story but we could understand it if he found the opposition too challenging and the lack of results too disheartening. What was all that for?
The message about Jesus is wonderful, and the progress of his gospel astounding. We saw last week that the task of making it known wasn’t smooth sailing then and it hasn’t been since. You know how it works:
- Never speak about Jesus and you’ll not look like a fool.
- Never stand with Jesus on any social issue and you’ll not be rejected.
- Never reach out to those in need and you’ll not be taken advantage of.
- Never step out in faith and you won’t run the risk of failing.
- Never make a stand in a church, or in a Christian School, and you won’t people cross Peel Street so they don’t have to eyeball you.
- Never go to any version of Cyprus, and you can stay comfortable.
This chapter, and the whole book is a call to gospel realism. You may get with God’s plan to take the gospel to all kinds of people, but that doesn’t mean everyone is going to welcome you with open arms.
The fact that some people stand there with Sergius Paulus, and some stand there with the Bar-Jesus, proves nothing. No matter whether these are the big people, or those are the big people. If everyone believed the gospel, that doesn’t make it more true; just as no one believing it would make it untrue.
Jesus told us it’s like the sower who sows his seed, some falling on hard ground, some on shallow ground, some on rocky ground and some on good ground. He said that’s the way it will always be.
Why do it, then? Why tell the gospel to anyone? Because:
- God the Father has a plan to save his elect children in every tribe, nation and people group.
- The promise of God the Son is: “You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth” (1:8)
- The PRESENCE of God the Holy Spirit blinds some and gives sight to others, and the results are not down to us.
The Duke of Wellington was the English general who defeated Napoleon. He was at meeting convened by church leaders to talk about evangelising the world. One archbishop near him asked him whether he believed in the Christian mission. He asked what marching orders Jesus had given to his children. To do exactly that. Then what is there to debate? he asked. If the orders are clear, you had better do it.
Orders? Yes. But also the presence of the Holy Spirit who will have his way; the promise of Jesus to be made known to the ends of the earth; and the sovereign cross-ethnic plan of the Father to bring in every last one of his elect children.
We don’t have to worry about what the results are. Our work of making the gospel clear to as many people as we can is already difficult enough, without worrying about that.
The message is wonderful; the results are certain; the blessings that come to people who convert to Jesus are spectacular … so that although the results are always mixed, this is a great enterprise. It’s worth walking away from every preference and privilege to be part of, don’t you agree?