"The Judge" Sermon: Acts 1-17

“The Judge”
[Acts 18:1-17]
September 5, 2010 Second Reformed Church

Last week we saw Paul argue with the Jews, the Greeks, the Epicureans, and the Stoics about Jesus being the One True God Who reconciles us to God through His Life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. When they heard Paul speak of the Resurrection, most of them laughed, because the Greeks thought of the body – the physical/material realm – as evil. Still, some said they would like to debate him more. Only a very few believed in Jesus savingly. But Paul did not stay. Instead, he went about fifty miles west to the capital city of Corinth.

Corinth was along the trade route – it was a rich, metropolitan city – with everything a person could want in goods and thought and, especially, things of the flesh. The chief goddess of Corinth was Aphrodite, and in the name of worship, the Corinthians engaged in every depraved physical pleasure one can think of.

When Paul arrived, he met up with Aquila and Priscilla, believers in Jesus who had come to Corinth from the expulsion of the Jews from Italy. (Aquila and Priscilla will become important in the work of the Church as Paul reveals in his epistles.) And Luke tells us that when Paul was not preaching, he helped Aquila and Priscilla in making tents, since that was the craft he had been trained to do.

Claudius Caesar had grown tired of the uprisings caused by the followers of “Chrestus.” (He probably misunderstood – the uprisings were likely between the Jews and the Christians about whether or not Jesus is the Christ.) In order to stop the uprising, Claudius Caesar had expelled all of the Jews from Italy – which included the Christians, as they were seen as a sect of the Jews.

Paul followed his usual routine and preached first in the synagogue on the Sabbath, and then in the marketplace during the week. But the Jews rejected the Gospel, and they were so vicious in their rejection of Jesus, that Paul responded in kind: first he shook out his robe, after the command of Jesus: “And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave the house or the town” (Matthew 10:14, ESV). (Paul shook out his robe, because his shoes would have been off and his feet clean in the synagogue.) Then after the prophet Ezekiel, he cursed them, “Your blood be on your own heads I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” (God had told the prophet, Ezekiel, that if he preached to the people and they did not listen, their blood – their punishment – would be on their own heads, but if he did not preach to them, their blood – their punishment – would be on his head. It’s like the modern expression, “you made your bed, now sleep in it.”)

It is at this point, Luke tells us, that Silas and Timothy rejoin Paul on his missionary journey.

Let us notice two things:

First, it is often the people we think ought to be most responsive to the Gospel that reject it. The Jews had the Law and the Prophets. They had been taught everything God said – God had a special relationship with the Jews as His people. Still, most of them rejected the Savior God sent.

Second, there may be a time to move on. Although we ought never regard a person as hopeless, there may come a time when you and I should stop and move on. It may be that God will reach a person through someone else, rather than us. Paul knew he was done at that synagogue and shook out his robe and cursed them. Jesus said, “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you” (Matthew 7:6, ESV). There may be a time when you or I have to say, “I have done all I can here” and move on, leaving the work to someone else.

So Paul left the synagogue and began to preach in the house of Titus Justus, which was right next door to the synagogue, and God blessed his preaching there. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, came to saving faith – as well as his entire family – and many other Corinthians came to saving faith and were baptized in the home of Titus Justus.

Even so, Paul must have been experiencing serious persecution, because Luke tells us that Jesus appeared to Paul to comfort him and said, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” Paul believed the Lord and he stayed in Corinth for one year and six months, preaching the Gospel of Salvation in Jesus Alone.

What does that tell us?

First, we ought not to be afraid, but to tell all people the Gospel of Jesus Christ, no matter how they may respond. Jesus said, “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:26-33, ESV).

In the days of the Apostles, Christians were put to death for believing and telling others about Jesus. In countries around the world today, Christians are put to death for believing and telling others about Jesus. In the United States – we usually don’t get put to death – not yet. People might roll their eyes, or walk away, or call us narrow-minded or bigoted.

Paul wrote, “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches” (II Corinthians 11:24-28, ESV). Yet “I consider the suffering of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18, ESV). “For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (II Corinthians 4:17, ESV).

Don’t be afraid to tell others that there is Only Salvation in Jesus Alone.

And second, take comfort, when it seems like you’re all alone in telling others about Jesus – you’re not alone God assured Paul that God had many people in the city.

It can be easy to get discouraged when it doesn’t seem like there’s a response or “progress,” as we understand it. The prophet Elijah had seen many of the prophets of the Lord killed, paganism in the Temple, and he was on the run from day to day. And he called out to God and told God that he was tired, that everyone was out to kill him, and he couldn’t take it any more. And once God got Elijah to calm down, God told Elijah not to worry, that God was going to kill everyone that was seeking his life and “I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (I Kings 19:18, ESV). “Elijah, leave judgement to Me. Trust Me. And I’ll let you in on something: you’re not alone; I have seven thousand faithful followers in Israel.”

So Paul stayed in Corinth for one year and six months preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We see, however, that God’s protection did not mean that Paul would be unopposed in preaching Salvation in Jesus Alone: when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews hauled Paul before Gallio and accused Paul of trying to get people to worship God in ways other than were proscribed in the Jewish Law.

It helps us to know a little bit about Gallio. Gallio was the brother of the Roman philosopher, Seneca, the great proponent of Stoic philosophy. Remember as we saw last week, the Stoics believe that you should keep even and not be moved one way or another – happiness and sadness, they believed, were a waste of time. Everything is what it is, and we just need to accept it and get on with life because nothing will change. Gallio also was a Stoic, though he is described as being fair and kind to all people, a no-nonsense judge, but one who had no use for religion.

So, when the Jews brought Paul before Gallio and explained to him that Paul was teaching that Jesus was the Savior, contrary to their understanding of Jewish Law and worship, Gallio said, “I don’t care. What is this to me? This isn’t a vicious crime. You’re getting all excited about names and words and things that are meaningless. Take care of this yourself.” Gallio understood this to be an in-house Jewish squabble, nothing that rose to the level of calling on Roman Law. And he had them thrown out.

The Jews were likely in shock. But they grabbed Sosthenes, another ruler of the synagogue who believed in Jesus, and beat him for good measure. But this didn’t rise to the level to move Gallio to do anything but wave them away.

How ought we to respond to these things?

Let us remember the work that Jesus has called us to: “Go into the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15b, ESV). It is our God and Savior Who has command us to tell the whole creation Who He is and what He has done. So we ought to be about this work.

Let us remember that only those God has called to believe will believe the Gospel, and we may be surprised or disappointed by the reactions of some. Nevertheless, ours is to tell the Gospel; we do not make people believe.

Let us remember Jesus’; Promise, especially when we feel alone: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5b, ESV). And, as we saw in today’s text, there are other believers that we don’t know about. God has people in this city.

Think about it: if the Gospel could effect a city like Corinth – a city that dedicated itself to debauchery – and we know it did because we have two of Paul’s letters to the church at Corinth – Paul wrote, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (I Corinthians 6:9-11, ESV) – if God did that through the preaching of His Gospel, God can do the same thing in any city. God can do that in this city, if He is willing – if we follow Him and tell others about His Gospel.

Finally, as we prepare to receive the bread and the cup, let us remember that Jesus meets with us in the elements of the Sacrament to minister to us and give us His Grace that we might be strengthened and assured – able by the Power of the Holy Spirit – to do all those things He has planned for us to do.

Shall we obey our God and Savior? Or shall we be like Gallio and dismiss all these religious words and names?

Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You that You have given us work to do. We thank You for Your Salvation through Jesus Alone and for the call on all of our lives to let others know. Help us to know what to say, keep us from being afraid, and assure us that You are with us each step of the way, even now as You prepare us through the Holy Sacrament. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.