OPEN: A mother was busy making supper in the kitchen, and needing a can of tomato soup, she asked her 5 year old son to go into the pantry and get one for her. But the light in the pantry was out and he didn’t really want to go in there. "It’s dark in there and I’m scared" he said.
She asked again and he persisted. Finally she said, "It’s OK honey, Jesus will be in there with you."
So, the little boy walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it. Looking inside, he saw it was dark, and he started to leave when all at once an idea came. He peeked back inside again and called out, "Jesus, if you’re in there, would you hand me that can of tomato soup."
(pause…)
What’s happening October 31st?
That’s right – Halloween.
Halloween was actually celebrated hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. In the British isles, a group of people called the Celts observed a festival they called Samhain on Oct 31st.
But unlike today’s Halloween, theirs was no children’s holiday.
You see, the Celtic New Year began on November 1st. The fall harvest was complete and winter loomed. At this season of the year the Celts knew that the power of the sun was fading. For the next several months, darkness would prevail.
For the Celts this impending darkness was a fairly scary time.
It was especially scary because they believed that there was a something like a curtain that separated the living from the dead. And they believed - that at this time of the year - that curtain was at its thinnest.
On the evening of October 31, it was their belief that evil spirits and souls of the dead passed through this barrier and entered into the world of the living. And when the dead crossed that barrier they would torment the living. Crops might be destroyed, babies stolen, farm animals killed.
To appease these dead spirits, various sacrifices -including human - were performed the Celts. And food was left out for the spirits, hoping that this "treat" would prevent an evil "trick."
(based upon an article by Ken Klaus)
APPLY: Thus, Halloween originally began because people were afraid of the dark.
People generally don’t like darkness.
Darkness, too often, is a time when life becomes uncertain and even scary.
Knowing that darkness has this kind of effect on people, God has made us a promise.
* Isaiah tells us that the reason the Messiah was being sent, was to “open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS. Isaiah 42:7
* Matthew (quoting Isaiah) tells us that when Jesus came “the people LIVING IN DARKNESS have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." Matthew 4:16
* Jesus Himself declared: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will NEVER WALK IN DARKNESS, but will have the light of life." John 8:12
And “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” John 12:46
ILLUS: Some time back there was an atheist by the name of Hemant Mehta who gained some notoriety by trying to sell his soul on EBay He began to be invited by churches to come and share why he was an atheist. After one such visit, he observed:
"At one church I visited, some people were asked to write down how they felt before and after becoming Christian. They said things like ’dark and light,’ ’lonely and befriended,’ which got me wondering: Is being down or lonely or desperate a prerequisite to finding God? Do these people think that others who have not yet found God are lost, scared or miserable? Do I have to go through some sort of trauma or crisis before finding some ultimate meaning?"
Of course, Hemant didn’t understand that many people who become Christians do so because they have actually seen how dark and lonely life can be.
ILLUS: My sister Barbranne had lived a life of alcohol and partying. For 30 years of her life did a lot of things a “nice” person probably wouldn’t do. But eventually that way of living began to take its toll on her body and she became tired of that kind of lifestyle.
One of the things that made the most difference to her was that she literally threw herself into attending church and reading Scripture. She even bought a children’s Bible so she could understand the Bible in its simplest stories.
My sister had lived for so long in darkness and emptiness, the message of Scripture was literally one that spoke to her of light and hope.
Over the past few weeks, the sermons have been building towards this particular message.
In the first sermon of this series we found that many people are dissatisfied with their lives because God has placed “eternity in their hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). God has placed a knowledge – a feeling, an inner suspicion – in the heart of every man and woman who has ever been born, that there is more to this life than what we generally experience.
It’s almost as if He’s placed a hole inside of every person who’s ever lived that only He can fill.
In the next sermon we discussed that God wants to fill that hole in our lives by giving us a special relationship. He wants to walk with us and talk with us… and be there for us.
But then we found - there’s a problem.
We can’t successfully have a satisfying relationship with God when our lives are burdened with guilt and shame. The stain of our past sins would always block us from getting close to God.
Each of us were guilty of thoughts and words and (sometimes even) actions that stained us so badly that there wasn’t anything that we could possibly do to ever pay for those sins.
Since we were unable to remove that sin from our lives… God did for us. He came down in the form of a man and paid the price for every wrong thing we’ve ever done. He died on the cross and rose from the dead to give us life and light in our lives.
As John 1:4 tells us - In (Jesus) was life, and that life was the light of men.
Now, I’ve said all that to bring us to our text this morning.
This story from Acts 26 is the 3rd time that we’re told the account of Paul’s conversion.
I’m convinced that nothing is in Scripture by accident.
There’s a reason why God tells this story three times.
And I believe that the story is retold here in Acts 26 is because God want us to see understand the significance of this one statement:
Paul was told he was being sent “to open their eyes (of the lost) and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ Acts 26:18
In Acts 9 we’re given the first description of this confrontation between Jesus and Paul.
In that telling of this story, we find that God literally lunged Paul into darkness:
“(Paul) fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’
‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked.
‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ‘Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’
Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.”
For three days Paul waited in Damascus - blind, fearful, and praying for all he was worth (9:11). He knew that he had sinned against the Messiah that his people had waited for for generations. He was afraid of punishment… he was afraid even for his very salvation.
Then a man named Ananias – sent by Jesus - came to him. And when Ananias laid his hands on Paul, something like scales fell from his eyes and he could see (Acts 9:12 & 18).
Then Ananias reinforced the commission Jesus had given 3 days earlier, and when he’d told Paul all this, Ananias declared: “… what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.” Acts 22:16
God had blinded Paul for those three days as an object lesson.
God intended this physical blindness to drive home the spiritual blindness that had symbolized his life to that point. And that object lesson was so powerful that Paul later wrote:
“… I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.”
1 Timothy 1:16
Because of that blindness, for the rest of his life Paul understood that he had been brought out of
· darkness into light
· from the power of Satan to God
· And that he had rec’d forgiveness… and a place in God’s family.
Paul’s sin had been removed and God had filled that God-sized hole in his life.
And – from that day forward Paul had a special relationship with God.
And from that very day forward, Paul understood that Jesus expected him to help others gain that very same change in their lives. In fact, he realized that was the job of EVERY Christian.
Paul wrote to the Christians at Philippi: “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life— in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.” Phil. 2:14-16
Paul was telling them that THEIR job as Christians was to “hold out the word of life”
Of course, Jesus had already told us that.
He said: "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16
So… how do we do that?
How do we let our light shine?
How do we “hold out the word of life” to people in darkness?
As I studied this story out of Acts 26, I saw some intriguing insights on this question.
1st I found that we have to realize that God has given US this job to do. He’s not going to do the job for us. It’s ours to do.
He depends upon us to help others understand what they’re missing without Jesus.
Despite what some people may believe Paul was not saved on the road to Damascus. He was saved IN Damascus when Ananias obeyed Jesus and went to talk to Paul.
Acts 22:16 tells us up to that point, Paul’s sins had not yet been washed away. Ananias had said “be baptized and WASH AWAY YOUR SINS”
Paul’s salvation was hinged upon Ananias doing what God asked him to do.
God had sent Ananias to Paul to lift him out of his blindness
And God sends you and I to others to lift them out of their blindness.
2ndly – when we talk to people about Jesus – God doesn’t expect us to do it all by ourselves.
Jesus is working behind the scenes to change their hearts.
Jesus had already worked on Paul’s heart long before Ananias showed up.
In the same way Jesus tells us that one of the main jobs of the Holy Spirit is to “convict the world of guilt (John 16:8) God’s Spirit works behind the scenes to soften the hearts of those we talk to. As we pray … and the share the story of Jesus… God is working behind the scenes to help us do what He has asked us to do.
3rd we need to realize the importance of telling others OUR story.
You and I need to tell people why we are Christians.
We need to tell them what is so important about Jesus that we’ve been willing to build our lives around Him. Why we would sacrifice so much of our time to worship Him and honor Him.
The story of Paul’s conversion is recorded 3 times in Acts.
The first time, it’s merely a fact of church history.
The other two times – Paul is telling people WHY his life was changed.
He had a life-altering confrontation with Jesus and he wanted others to know about it.
Your story might be about why you were baptized into Christ (why you became a Christian to begin with), or it might be about something that has happened since then that made God real to you. But the main thing people want to know is this: does it work for you.
Most people don’t care about your theology or where you go to church. All they just want to know – does it work?
ILLUS: I once read the true story about a woman who put this ad in the local paper:
"Lost 50 pounds! Selling my fat clothes - good condition, sizes 18-20."
She was bombarded with phone calls, but nobody wanted to buy the clothes - they all wanted to know how she had lost the 50 pounds.
CLOSE: This past weekend we had our Trunk or Treat celebration.
We had about 250 people here who wanted a safe, fun, family friendly, atmosphere for their kids. It was a success! And it was a success for several reasons:
1. A lot of people put a lot of hard work into planning and working the various sites
2. We had great food… great games
3. Several cars came with their trunks full of candy and treats
4. There were women inside helping kids paint pumpkins… and doing face painting
5. Lyla was out by the sign taking pictures of families
6. And Larry and Ben did the hayride…
They did all that so families could enjoy a Jesus centered activity - a place where they could do something fun without all the scary and questionable aspects of Halloween.
These workers did what they did – to put light into what could be a very dark holiday.
And they were successful.
But their success depended on something other than THEIR OWN hard work.
Their success depended upon
· Somebody telling friends and neighbors about our event.
· The workers in JAM reminding the kids to bring their parents
· The church people who talked to people they knew
· AND Jerry, Stan and Robin going down to the mall by Rural King and handing out hundreds of flyers.
That’s the same way with bringing people to Christ
We can have a powerful worship service every Sunday
The singing can be inspirational
The prayers touch our hearts
The preaching can bring you to your knees in repentance
And the fellowship can be outstanding.
But we won’t be REALLY successful until we are convicted of the need to:
open their eyes (of our neighbors, friends and relatives)
and turn them from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan to God,
so that they may receive forgiveness of sins
and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 26:18)
That’s what God has called us to do.
And if we fail in this responsibility, a lot of people will spend their lives in a very dark and uncertain life.
But, at this church, we so much believe in the importance of this charge that it is constantly a part of our worship service. At the end of every sermon, again and again and again, we offer a chance for those of you who haven’t made that decision to belong to Jesus to step forward and allow God change your life.
