Transforming the World: Reclaiming Our Methodist Legacy, Part 2

by Dale Tedder
click here to read Part 1

Story #1

Our first story beings with Paul and his companions, who had just come from Philippi. In fact, they had just gotten out of prison there and had been escorted out of the city by the officials. Their next stop was going to be Thessalonica, which was about 100 miles away. On their way there, they passed through a couple of cities, Amphipolis and Apollonia, staying at each only to spend the night before heading out the next morning.

When they arrived in Thessalonica, Paul began his usual routine of going to the local synagogue of the city. Why did he go there first? Take a look at verses 2 and 3…

As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, [3] explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he said.

 Paul was a Jew. His heart was for his fellow Jews. He loved them. So even though he was called to be the Apostle to the Gentiles, he just couldn’t help himself. He would always go to his own people first. What did he do with them? He reasoned with them. He taught and preached from the Old Testament. He used it to explain and prove that Jesus was just who he said he was… and that the prophecies in the Old Testament were fulfilled in Christ.

Furthermore, he showed them that Christ had to suffer and die on the Cross for the sins of the world – but that he had to also rise from the dead for our salvation. Paul proclaimed that Jesus of Nazareth was no less than the Christ – the Messiah of God.

Beloved, this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ… the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. The Gospel first calls us to turn away from our own sin – our fallen, broken, and selfish thinking, desires, words, actions, and attitudes.

It also calls us to trust in Christ alone to forgive us, to save us, to heal us, to mend us, lead us, and to make us holy. That’s the Gospel… and that’s what Paul preached and taught in Thessalonica… and people responded. Take a look at verse 4…

Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.

 People responded. Lives were changed. Supernaturally speaking, disciples of Jesus Christ had been made.

But, as often is the case, some folks weren’t happy about this. In fact, where the Gospel is preached and where God is doing a great work of deliverance, there will often be opposition.

Take a look at verse 5…

But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.

 You see, the Jews weren’t at all happy about this work of Paul and company… nor the message they proclaimed. So they got the meanest, toughest, nastiest folks they could find to stir up trouble for Paul and Silas and their newest converts. Thessalonica was something of a harbor town. There were plenty of drifters roaming around the market place with a lot of time on their hands. It wouldn’t have been a great effort to round up and “encourage” some of these folks to cause a little trouble for Paul and company.

And that’s exactly what they did.

But there was a problem. Paul and Silas evidently got word of this and got out of there. And so the mob did the next best thing. They grabbed Jason and a few others. Jason was one of the converts who was hosting Paul and Silas. It seems that Jason and some of his new brothers in Christ were guilty by association.

At any rate, I’ve now arrived at the whole reason I chose this text. Let me read verse 6 for you…

But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here,

 Those who have “caused trouble all over the world”… have now come here.

That translation from the NIV is my least favorite. Here are a few other translations of that verse that help to capture what was being said…

These men who have upset the world have come here also; (NASB)

 These people are out to destroy the world, and now they’ve shown up on our doorstep, attacking everything we hold dear! (The Message)

 Here’s my favorite…

These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, (ESV and KJV)

 What were they referring to? How could this little insignificant group of people do anything to the mighty Roman Empire? They weren’t even armed. Or were they?

They were indeed. They were armed with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which Paul tells us, is the power of God for the salvation for Jews and Gentiles alike. And everywhere that disciples of Jesus Christ went throughout the Roman Empire, both Jews and Gentiles were being transformed into new creatures in Christ. Their lives were changing. Their values were becoming different. Their new beliefs were colliding with their old beliefs.

They were upsetting the established comfort zone. The kingdom of this world was being turned upside down with the message and order of a new kingdom.

Look at the second part of verse 7…

“They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.”

 Do you see what their accusers were doing? The same charge that was brought against our Lord Jesus – namely treason against Caesar and the Empire – was now being leveled against Paul and Silas. They were accusing them of declaring that there was a new king, one called Jesus. They knew that was the way to get Rome’s attention.

Well, after the city officials decided that there was no reason to hold Jason and his companions, they basically made Jason promise that Paul wouldn’t preach anymore… or at least until they were out of office. Paul probably wasn’t happy about having to leave, but he seems to have honored Jason’s promise and left for a season. Of course we know from the two New Testament books, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, that Paul had an extended relationship with them. This doesn’t appear to be his only time there. That’s the first story I wanted to share with you.

We’ll take a look at Story #2 tomorrow.

Grace and Truth,
Dale

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Faith and Courage

Assorted Scripture

What are two of the marks of our forbearers in the faith who were used mightily of God – against all apparent odds? These loved ones of the covenant had faith and courage.

There is a lack in our day of both. More often than I care to think about, doubt and fear have won the day and left God’s saints in a puddle of impotence and despair. I know this has been true of me. But this ought never be the case for God’s people.

When Moses sent an expedition to Canaan to explore what awaited God’s children in the land of promise, the report confirmed all that God had promised – it was lush and flowed with milk and honey…as advertised. But there was a catch. There was also quite an obstacle before them. In the land there were also “giants” who made the Israelites seem like hobbits in a land of orcs. The report from the expedition team was that, “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them” (Numbers 13:33).

But this wasn’t a unanimous report. For in Numbers 13:30 we read:

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

Caleb had faith in God and in his covenant promises, and therefore, could be as courageous as Frodo and Sam in Mordor.

David faced similar circumstances later on in redemptive history…with a similar response. As the Israelites shook in their sandals before the great Goliath and the Philistine horde, the young shepherd boy looked on in bewilderment. In what seemed like arrogance at worst and naiveté at best, this “king-to-be” just couldn’t understand why his people had not already taken the uncircumcised behemoth apart – especially in light of Goliath’s jeering and insolence before the living God. David queried:

“Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26)

And so like Caleb before him, David volunteered to take Goliath on. So what if he seemed like a grasshopper before this giant of a man – all nine feet of him. David drew courage from his faith in the One who had never failed him before.

Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:36-37)

With faith and courage David faced the giant, and the rest as we say, is history.

What was the foundation for such faith and courage in the lives of Caleb and David? We are told in Jeremiah 1:8 and 19.

Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

Caleb and David knew in their day what God told Jeremiah in his. That is, that God’s people will be opposed…that’s a given. We will seem like grasshoppers in comparison. The “apparent” odds will be overwhelmingly against us. But God calls the weak, poor, small, seemingly insignificant hobbits of this world to serve as his subjects – his knights – to advance his Kingdom – even in the face of the enemy (perhaps especially so).

What are the obstacles you are facing? Is anything greater than the covenant-making, covenant-keeping Lord of Glory? It is this very God who promised never to forsake us. That in itself is our grounds for faith and courage – in the midst of insurmountable odds.

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Cor. 15:58)

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. (1 Cor. 16:13)

Stand Firm,
Dale

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The Loyalty of Ittai

2 Samuel 15:21

But Ittai replied to the king, “As surely as the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be.”

 Who was Ittai? He was a foreigner. He was an exile. He had barely even been with David. And so David tells Ittai to leave while he can; this wasn’t his fight. David even sends him and his countrymen off with a blessing.

But Ittai’s loyalty runs deep. We don’t know why, and I’m not sure that even matters. Ittai responds to David with these words:

“As surely as the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be.”

 David clearly recognized and appreciated this loyalty and so honored Ittai by permitting Ittai, his men and his families to stay on.

Such loyalty it rare today. Whenever I see such displays in a movie or a book, they virtually jump off the screen or page at me, demanding to be noticed and honored.

I wonder how many followers of Christ would follow their Lord wherever he may go and to whatever end. Our Lord goes everywhere. He goes into our families, our homes, our workplaces, our thought-lives, our churches, our TV rooms, our cars, our grocery-store checkout lines, our conversations, and on and on and on. Not only does he go to those places but he claims Lordship over those places. And it is not an empty claim. He has been given authority in those places. Ephesians 1:22 says:

“And God placed all things under [Christ’s] feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church…”

 

Christ is the King over all things, the Lord over every sphere of life. That’s simply a fact about reality. And yet there is a sense in which, in this present age, he is still seeking to extend his Kingdom into every sphere of life. It’s part of the “already and not yet” nature of his Kingdom. And what is so very odd is that he calls those of us who are his followers to be the very ones who extend his Kingdom. In other words, he extends his Kingdom through us. Truly amazing!

And so, will we be loyal and faithful to our Lord as Ittai was to King David? Will we follow our Lord to whatever end? We don’t have to guess as to whether or not there will be death. For there will be. That’s an up-front promise by our Lord himself.

First and foremost there will be a death to self. For there to be fruit a seed must die. For Christ’s followers to bear fruit for our King we must die to ourselves – to our sin, our flesh, our agendas, our self-centeredness, our egos, our idols, and so forth. Make no mistake about it, this is death and it can be quite painful.

And yet there is also the promise of life: real life, everlasting life, fullness of life. And this promised life is just as guaranteed as our death. For as we die with Christ we are also raised with him – to be and become as he is.

For the beauty of all that has been said is found in the truth that our King has already been where he calls us to go. Furthermore, he has promised to travel with us and to encourage, strengthen, and guide us along the way…the narrow way.

That’s a comforting thought indeed.

Stand Firm,
Dale

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