"Always Have a Reason" Sermon: Acts 21:37-22:21

“Always Have a Reason”
[Acts 21:37-22:21]
February 13, 2011 Second Reformed Church

Peter wrote that we ought “always be[] prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (I Peter 3:15b, ESV). We ought to always have a reason – to be able to offer an explanation – for why we do what we do and say what we say when it comes to matters of the faith. It we say we believe something, we ought to be able to say why. If we do something, we ought to be able to say why.

Paul had come back to Jerusalem to report about his work among the Gentiles – and he came to worship in the Temple. While he was finishing his purification rite, Jews from Asia – what we now call Turkey, came and accused him to teaching against the people of Israel, against the Law of God, and against the Temple, and they accused him of breaking the Law by bringing Greeks – Gentiles – into the Temple.

The mob went wild and tried to kill Paul, but it was broken up by the Roman, Claudius Lysias, and the thousand centurions under his authority. He asked for an explanation, but all he got was the mob yelling in confusion, so much so that the centurions had to carry Paul to the barracks to keep him from being puled back into the mob.

When they reached the door of the barracks, Paul asked Claudius Lysias if he might say something to him. And Claudius Lysias was surprised, because Paul spoke to him in Greek. Lysias had assumed that the only person that could make the mob go wild like this was the Egyptian who had recently led an ill-fated attack on Jerusalem with four thousand mercenaries, but he wouldn’t have known Geek, and Paul knew Greek. Lysias was even more confused as to who this was and why he was taking him away.

Paul explained that he was a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia – in modern-day Turkey – in a city that everyone knew. And he asked if he might address the crowd – that he might make himself clear – that he might give a reason for the actions that he had actually taken. And Lysias permitted it. Paul had taken a chance at angering Lysias by speaking to him in his own language and requesting to speak to the mob, because there was nothing more important to Paul than to make sure that the Gospel was heard by this people.

Was Paul going to jail? Was Paul going to be killed by the Jews? The Romans? Or, perhaps, set free? These were, at best, secondary questions. What was foremost in Paul’s mind was he had the opportunity to tell this mob the Gospel of Jesus Christ – that God the Son came to earth in the human Person of Jesus, lived and died to pay the debt for our sins, rose from the dead and ascended back to His Throne, just as the Scripture said He would. Paul could not let the possibility of speaking about the Gospel pass Him by.

So, let us notice first that we should be most concerned that we have the opportunity to tell others the Gospel. Everything else is secondary – including our lives. We ought to look and pray for opportunities to tell other people about Jesus. Knowing Him and believing in Him is the most important thing that anyone can ever do.

“Well, you’ve been to seminary, so you know how to do these things. I wouldn’t know what to say.”

I didn’t learn how to tell others the Gospel in seminary. I learned from friends and family – other Christians – we can learn from each other and find out how we each – with the gifts and graces God has given us – we can learn how to let others know that we believe in Jesus Alone for our Salvation.

After Paul addressed Lysias, and he consented to his speaking, they put Paul down, and Paul began to wave his hands to get the mob’s attention. And everyone was silent. And Paul began to address the crowd in Hebrew.

Let us notice that Paul spoke the language of the people. When he spoke to the Romans, he spoke in Greek. When he spoke to his fellow Jews, he spoke in Hebrew – or, more likely, in Aramaic, the common form of Hebrew.

From this let us understand that we ought to proclaim the Gospel in a language that the people we are addressing can understand. And that is not merely in the type of language – like Greek and Hebrew – but in the style of language. Just as a chemist would not use the same language with someone who has no knowledge of chemistry and one of his colleagues in the lab, so we would not necessarily speak in the same style of language – use the same words and phrases – with each person. We need to understand the ability and capacity of the people we are talking with and address them in a way that they can understand.

So Paul began to speak to them in Hebrew, calling them brothers – equals with him in the faith and heritage – and fathers – those to whom Paul humbly submits. And he captures their attention – they get even more quiet. And Paul explained who he was. Why?

Paul had been traveling throughout the known world for about thirty years now. It is around 60 A.D. at this point, and many people only knew stories and rumors about Paul, but they didn’t actually know him. So, he began by explaining who he was.

“I am a Jew, born in Cilicia – in a place well-known to everyone. I was educated in this city by Gamaliel – perhaps the greatest scholar of Judaism ever to live. Someone who is well known among even those who never met him. He taught me, as you would expect, to respect the Law of God and to adhere to it with utmost strictness, and I was zealous for God, just as all of you are. I persecuted the followers of the Way – the followers of Jesus, Who was called the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior. I killed men and women and children who put their faith in Jesus. The high priest and the whole council of the elders can verify what I am saying – the Sanhedrin knows that this is my background – this is my history – it is true. They were even the ones who gave me letters to pass through Damascus and bring the followers of Jesus back to Jerusalem to be tried and put to death. Just ask them – I worked for the Sanhedrin.”

Paul explained that his life was not a secret. He was a very public figure – highly educated and employed by the ruling body of the Jews. The Sanhedrin was a witness to his zeal for the people of Israel, God’s Law, and the Temple. And he continued –

“But as I was on my way to Damascus – at about noon – a great light from heaven surrounded me, and I fell to the ground, and a voice said to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ So I asked, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He answered, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’”

Paul made sure he was specific in identify Jesus – Jesus of Nazareth – because Jesus was a common name, and he wanted to make sure that they understood that the Lord Who spoke to him from heaven was the Jesus Who claimed to be the Savior – Whom they had crucified.

“The men who were with me were witnesses to what happened – though they did not understand the voice – they can testify to everything else I said. And I asked Jesus what I should do, and He told me to go to Damascus, and there I would meet someone who would tell me what to do. I had to be led to Damascus, because, as the light went away from me, I was left blind.

“When I got to Damascus, I was led to Ananias, a devout man who follows the Law of God, who is well-spoken of by all the Jews of Damascus – you can ask anyone there today, and they will remember him. And he called me ‘brother’ and he restored my sight. And he told me that the God of our Fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, chose me to see and hear the Righteous One, Jesus the Savior, and to be a witness to Him and His Gospel – telling everyone what I had seen and what had happened. And baptized me in the Name of Jesus for the forgiveness of my sins.”

Notice the witnesses that Paul has lined up – the Sanhedrin, the men who were with him on the road to Damascus, the well respected, zealous Jew, Ananias. Why? Because Christianity is a historical faith. One of the truths of Christianity is that Jesus and the coming of His Gospel among humans did not happen in secret – it happened publically, so there is an enormously vast amount of historical and archeological evidence to support everything that is written in the Bible. No one has ever show a single item to be historically wrong – and vast amounts of the Bible can easily be shown to be historically accurate. Christianity is a historical faith – it is not a fantasy; it is rooted in history.

“After I left Ananias, I went back to Jerusalem, and when I returned, Jesus appeared to me again while I was praying in the Temple, and He told me to get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they would not receive my testimony and the Gospel of Jesus. But I objected that you all know that I went from synagogue to synagogue searching out all those who confessed faith in Jesus. They all know that I approved the stoning of Stephen and rejoiced to see him put to death, as I stood by, watching everyone’s coat. But God told me to leave – that He had a mission for me – not to love the Jews less, my brothers and sisters, but to go on His Mission – God sent me to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles – to the non-Jews. You see, I have never departed from the faith of my fathers. I have never renounced Judaism; I still believe the Law and the Prophets and everything that God promised. That has not changed. But God has open my eyes so I understand that Jesus fulfilled the Law and the Prophets, being the Savior of all those who will believe. And just as God promised our father, Abraham, that he would be a blessing to every nation, so God sent me to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the non-Jews.”

And so, Paul spoke to the Jews.

Paul explained that he was not against the people of Israel. He loved and respected the people of Israel and knew that God had chosen them to be the people through whom God would sent the Savior of all those who would believe.

Paul explained that he was not against the Law and the Temple. He was rigorously trained by the greatest mind of Judaism. He was zealous for the Law. So much so, that the high council of Israel hired him to hunt down the Christians – and Paul was recognized by Law- abiding Jews throughout the known world.

Paul was not fighting against God and His Word, Paul was fighting for it – preaching it – explaining it. Paul was the foremost proponent of the Law and the Prophets. But Paul understood that Jesus is the Savior. And God sent Paul to bring the Gospel to the non-Jews, as God has promised to Abraham.

That was Paul’s defense – that was Paul’s reason for all that he had done for the previous thirty years – complete with high powered and believable witnesses to confirm his testimony.

What’s your defense? What’s your reason? Why do you do what you do? Why are you who you are? Why are you working to become who you are becoming?

Let us work to become a people like Paul:

Let us know what we believe and why we believe it.

We can only tell others what we believe about Jesus if we know ourselves. We need to know Who Jesus is and what He has done and why He has done it and what that means for us. If we believe that the Gospel is the most important thing we can ever tell another person, we ought to know what it is. How do we do that?

Let us spend time in God’s Word, other good Christian books, and in discussion with other Christians so we might better understand together. Paul writes, “And [God] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12, ESV). As a pastor, I am called to do everything I can to equip you so you can do the work of the ministry – you are not free once you leave this sanctuary – we all must be working to be the men and women God has called us to be – especially as God uses us to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Let us be able to explain to others what we believe in a language that they will understand. That does not mean that we should do away with language that is specific and important to Christianity – especially language in the Scripture, but we need to learn how to explain it in a language that the people we talk with will understand – and that will be different for each of us. We must begin by understanding what and why we believe, and then, as we make friends and learn their “languages,” we can “translate” so they understand.

For example, the first paper I wrote for school this Fall, I wrote in the style that I am currently accustom to writing for preaching and teaching. And my professor noted that the way I was writing was not the style and the language that was required in the program – I had to adjust to a different style and vocabulary to be accepted and understood in the work that I am doing with them. So, we must make adjustments – not in what we believe – but in how we speak and explain to make sure others understand.

Let us strive to live lives in accordance with what we believe. We need to understand that people watch us. What we say is important, but if our actions betray us – show us to really be about something else – to be acting against those things we profess to believe, no one will listen.

Paul challenged his listeners to listen to the witnesses of the Sanhedrin, to check his upbringing and education and his call from them, to question the men who were on the road to Damascus, and Ananias and the people who know him. That is not to say that Paul was sinless, but he had a general track record of faithfulness to what he said he believed and what he taught others.

Let us be honest with ourselves and others. The truth of the matter is that we all sin – we all go against what we believe and profess to others – and we ought to be honest about that. People are watching, and they will notice when we fail – when we sin – and it is much better to admit that we failed at our calling in a certain instance than to try to cover it up, because we will be discovered – and we will have lost the opportunity to speak for Jesus and His Gospel.

Paul told his listeners that he was a murderer – hired by the Sanhedrin – and he acted according to his zeal for what he thought was God’s Will, but he came to understand that he sinned, and now he was preaching the Truth of Jesus, the Savior.

So let us do all we can to be ready.

Jesus, speaking of the work of calling people to faith in Himself said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor” (John 4:34-38, ESV).

The point is this: God has called His people to Himself, and all those who have been elect to salvation will respond in faith. Now God sends us – God uses us to His Glory – and sends us out to proclaim His Gospel so that those who have been chosen will respond. So let us always have a reason for the hope that is within us.

So let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for calling us to faith and for using us to spread Your Gospel. Help us to understand what we believe and why we believe it and to be ready to tell Your Gospel to others in a language that they will understand. Give us wisdom and strength, and may You be glorified in all that we do. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.