When Life Seems Scattered
Series: BREAKOUT – God on the Move through the Book of Acts
Brad Bailey – April 29, 2012
Intro
One thing we each have in our lives… is circumstances… things outside ourselves that effect the context we are in. Some circumstances we welcome… and some we can resent or even resist. We all likely have some aspect of where we are… that we just don’t like… and likely for good reasons. Today, God wants us to consider what we are going to do with where we are.
Last week we began a new series entitled ‘Breakout’ in which we are seeking God to speak to us today from the Book of Acts. We are looking at ten events over these ten weeks drawn from the 6th chapter through the 28th chapter, which is the end. It declares how the power of the Gospel… the good news of God’s kingdom reign breaking in through the coming of Christ… was breaking out.
It would move outward changing whole nations… and the world….but first it would change lives along the way. So we began last week with how it confronted the religious identity of the religious rulers. (Explain) There in Jerusalem… a man of conviction named Stephen was willing to stay true… and with no way to silence the truth… they covered their ears and dragged him out and stoned him to death. (It was a confrontation that revealed how mere attachments to forms of religious identity….must give way to relationship with God that was opening up to all through Christ. The work of God was breaking out… and it must break out in us.)
Acts 8:1-8 (NIV)
And Saul was there, giving approval to his death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison. 4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
Pray – Could note in prayer that what emerges from tragedy… ends with great joy in a city. God teach us to be a part of that process.
As we move from Acts 7 to Acts 8 we find that Stephen’s killing was the signal for a widespread outbreak of persecution against all who were committed to Christ in Jerusalem. [1]
Persecution BROKE OUT on a new level.
• There had been persecution already. The apostles had been beaten because they had refused to remain silent about the person and work of their Master. What had been hostility towards the apostles who were more public leaders …is now after anyone associated with this message of Christ.
• What had been more a matter of responding to public situations… was now an intense pursuing… “Going from house to house dragging off men and women and putting them in prison.
• It appears driven by one religious leader among the Pharisees named Saul…who was present at Stephen’s stoning (Acts 7:58) and gave approval to his death (Acts 8:1).
Verse 3 says, “Saul began to destroy the church.” Other versions say he “ravaged” it.
This verb which mean ‘destroy’ or ‘ravage’ is imperfect, which means that he ravaged it and kept on ravaging it.
It can seem hard to imagine the sense of hatred that was coming after them. There is no intensity like that which claims God will…
Before he was taken back to heaven Christ told his disciples:
John 16:2 (NLT)
“You will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God.”
That is the intensity they now faced… as Stephen … a special leader among them is stoned to death… and now Saul is leading mobs to come door to door…. Taking even women and children.
It was horrific… and it would change everything.
“On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.”
The people are scattered from Jerusalem….driven out. [2]
To appreciate this scattering…it helps to appreciate the significance that Jerusalem held in their hearts. Jerusalem represented God’s unique promise to call them out as a unique people and nation. It represented their source of identity and affirmation. Jerusalem has been the center of God’s presence. Jerusalem is the city that every Jewish life wished to go. In fact, the last verse in the Hebrew Bible records Cyrus’s edict permitting every Jew to go up to Jerusalem (II Chron. 36:23). Jerusalem exerts a centripetal force on the Jews.
It had a natural gravitational pull. The issue that arises… is the call to join the one force that is greater than all others… and that is the force of God’s redemption of the world.
God had called Abraham out to be the father of a people through whom the WHOLE world would be blessed. Through that people God sent His Savior… the Christ…anointed One. With his coming redemption is paid and the now is breaking out.
Jesus had declared that they were called to follow him in an outward movement.
Acts 1:8 (NIV)
“…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Jesus is describing the outward movement… and our text today describes how that which flows from persecution….ends with the very movement that was essential.
They were “scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.”
The persecution was being used to fulfill God’s plan of redemption of the world.
This is the power of God’s sovereignty... providence… that is at work in the world… and in our worlds…our lives. [3]
He is able to work good from what is far from good in itself.
It’s important to understand that the Scriptures do not tell us that God is the primary cause of such hatred and violence…but that he used it. The purposes of God are not found in trying to name problems as good within themselves…but in embracing whatever opportunity might arise from them.
Later Paul would write, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Rom. 8:28).
Adversity was used for advancement.
A problem was used for progress.
Scattering led to sowing.
They were scattered…. means to be dispersed, spread, distributed.
There are different words for “scattered” in Greek. One means dispersed so that the item is gone from that point on, like scattering a person’s ashes on the ocean’s waves. That is not the word used here in verses 1 and 4. The word used here means scattered in order to be planted. It is exactly like the Hebrew word jezreel, meaning “scattered” but also “planted.” [4]
They were not just scattered… they were planted.
They recognized that there was opportunity wherever they were and they embraced it.
Is that true of you? Wherever you find yourself—whether scattered by work or family or education or some other means—have you allowed yourself to be planted in that place?
I believe these words speak very pointedly to those of us who live on the Westside of Los Angeles in 2012. We live in a place that has been given to getting away from more settled places… and just enjoying for a season. [5] Not only are many who live on the Westside likely to sense that it is just a place they may live and enjoy for a season…that same dynamic affects those who may be long term residents.
We are the city of the scattered… which is full of potential…if the seed will break through the surface and embrace the ground.
Seeds have life within themselves….but they also have an outside covering…. And that covering must become engaged with the ground in order for the covering to be penetrated and interact with the elements. Are we just scattered… resentful and resistant…or sown into the ground where life can come forth?
This texts notes…
The Two Most Basic Keys to Embracing God’s Purposes
There are two words that call out to us in this text… each beckons us. The first word is “wherever.”
Verse 4 – “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.”
If we want to become a part of God at work every day…the first thing I need to do is:
1. Embrace my place. (Everywhere)
Imagine… they had to leave the place that for many had become their home. …and they had to leave in a hurry. They had to go somewhere where they would be without the community of friends they had been enjoying… likely without work initially
> They had plenty resent.
Wherever they went wasn’t their first choice… their first preference. Some of us need to consider that.
One of them is mentioned specifically… Phillip. Phillip went to Samaria.
It was bold of him to do it, because there was a long-standing and very deep-seated hostility between the Jews and the Samaritans, going back to ancient times. When the Assyrian army had overthrown Samaria and carried the Jews of the northern kingdom away to Assyria, some Jews were inevitably left behind. These soon intermarried with the foreigners who had been settled in Samaria in their place, which made the Samaritans both ethnic and religious half-breeds, and they soon compounded the problem by setting up a rival temple on Mount Gerizim. This was prohibited in the Old Testament, but the Samaritans solved the problem by rejecting the Old Testament except for the first five books. So this is the land of hostility.
They were a land of people who resented that formal religion that bore a sense of superiority and judgmentalism…but they still were trying to hold onto God in some way. That sounds a like the hostility many may have here.
Some may recall… that Jesus travelled with his disciples through Samaria at one point.
When initial word was that they would not be given some welcomed help… two of the disciples… James and John asked if they could call down fire, and Jesus rebuked them, saying that He didn’t come to destroy lives, but to build them up. (I wonder if he heard our words regarding this city… whether he might need to confront us as well.)
Philip wasn’t there to destroy lives either. Philip was fulfilling Jesus call to go and develop disciples in Samaria and Judea.
Maybe that same woman at the well were there when Phillip came….for God is often already working in lives ahead of us. What we do know that a large number of people did come to listen.
Phillip enjoyed a purpose that was at work wherever he was.
Some of us think of our mission as only something far away across an ocean… because perhaps we are spiritually far-sighted…. Some of us only think about our own family… because we are spiritually near –sighted. We need to get our eyes adjusted by that one word… ‘everywhere.’
Your neighborhood…apartment… workplace… any every place life has you interacting with others. That is the ground of life.
The other word that beckons us is ‘everyone’
Verse 1 – “….all except the apostles were scattered”
There is something surprising… and ultimately transforming in that statement.
When this broke out… everyone EXCEPT the apostles left. We don’t know why the apostles stayed back in Jerusalem. It may have been because they were going to take the heat in hopes it would allow others to escape more easily. But the result is that we are told that it was all those who were not deemed to have special authority who went and shared the message of Christ to the new circles of lives throughout Judea and Samaria.
This was the most significant breaking out from religion. Religion has nearly always created priests…those unique in spiritual function… Jesus releases all into priesthood with himself as the master.
1 Peter 2:9 (NLT)
You are royal priests… As a result, you can show others the goodness of God.
When Christ fulfilled the role of mediator with God… he transformed the formal priesthood of the past into the work of a priesthood of all who have received him. As we carry the great fulfillment of the priestly role in us through Christ… we are now to serve as royal priests. [6]
If Christ dwells within you… you are a priest in this city.
So the second key to enjoying God’s purpose… is to…
2. Embrace my potential to express Christ. (Everyone)
We are to embrace the reality that God uses ‘everyone.’
Our text says that ALL those scattered shared wherever they were…likely in whatever circles they could. For some they had returned to their home areas… and had a circle of family and friends who had known them. For others…they began to get involved in the local synagogue and began to get involved with some form of work.
They all went about sharing… and it notes how Phillip prayed for people and saw how God was moving just as He had with Jesus.
Colossians 4:5 (NIV)
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.
I know that some of us think many are simply too hostile to what they think you represent. We think that people are hostile and naturally want to avoid them. They are obviously to set in their feelings. But here we have a glimpse of the reality at hand. Saul….who was most enraged…felt the most intense against this Christ…would be the one who is not only changed…but regrets his past most. As we will see as the story unfolds… he is transformed.
How many who have a fight with God the most… will see that fight come to an end…. and have their passion redeemed.
It all begins with embracing that purpose and potential in ourselves.
Jesus declared,
Matthew 5:13-16 (NLT)
“You are the salt of the earth. …You are the light of the world. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”
As Eugene Peterson paraphrases in The Message translation…
Matthew 5:13-16 (MSG)
"Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. 14 "Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. 15 If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. 16 Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
We are not meant to remain hidden… or clumped together in some type of holy huddle. As Becky Pippert says: “Unless salt gets poured out of the shaker, it remains a mere table ornament.” - Becky Pippert (Contagious Christianity Bill Hybels p. 43)
Conclusion:
Our text concludes with words that beckon…
Verse 8 – “So there was great joy in that city.”
The result of embracing our place and personal witness…is the power to bring joy to the city.
When these lives were scattered… they planted themselves… and brought joy.
That is what God has called us to embrace. The very name that we bear as a community… is that of being “Vineyard”… drawn upon God declaring that when he redeemed His people, he would establish the as a Vineyard... a Vineyard He would water and watch over. Vineyards bring forth the fruit of new wine which represents joy… God-given joy amidst life. [7]
That is what He has called us to bring to this city…is joy….God-given joy.
Today, God calls us afresh to embrace that. Does the joy of this city have your heart?
Today is s the 20th anniversary of the L.A. riots.
On April 29, 1992, twelve jurors in Sylmar, California rendered their verdicts in a controversial case involving the 1991 beating of Rodney King by four LAPD officers. The case had received heavy media coverage dating from before it even went to trial, when a video of the beating hit the national airwaves. It came as a surprise then, as the verdicts were read: One of the officers was found guilty of excessive force; the other officers were cleared of all charges.
The verdicts were broadcast live, and word spread quickly throughout Los Angeles. At various points throughout the city that afternoon, people began rioting. For the next three days the violence and mayhem continued. Mayor Tom Bradley imposed a curfew, schools and businesses were closed. Governor Pete Wilson dispatched 4,000 National Guard troops to patrol the streets. People stayed home, watching on TV with the rest of the country as live TV coverage showed fires raging throughout the city, innocent bystanders being assaulted and looters sacking businesses.
On Monday, May 4, schools and businesses reopened and life returned to some semblance of normality. The toll from the worst civil unrest LA had experienced since 1965 was devastating: more than 50 killed, over 4 thousand injured, 12,000 people arrested, and $1 billion in property damage.
Small group prayer: Gather into groups of 4 or 5 and pray for this city…but not simply this city…but OUR city. Lets pray for ourselves as seed…. Lets pray to be sown… and to bring joy.
Resources: Jeff Hughes. John Hamby,
Boice, J. M. (1997). Acts : An expositional commentary (130–134). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books.
Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953-2001). Vol. 17: New Testament commentary : Exposition of the Acts of the Apostles. New Testament Commentary (286–290). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
Notes:
1. This section begins with the conclusion of Stephen being killed by stoning. Stephen’s burial took place that same day, because the Jews would not permit a corpse to defile the land. The Jewish Talmud teaches that there should not be any mourning for a criminal put to death by stoning. But what is probable in this instance was that the custom was not observed because Stephen’s death lacked every semblance of legality.
2. Another passage that describes this scattering:
Acts 11:19-21 (NIV)
Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. 20 Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
3. Now the church enters the era of being scattered (compare James 1:1; I Peter 1:1). The Old Testament prophets taught that when a Jew lived in dispersion (for example, during the Babylonian exile), he was receiving God’s just punishment for earlier disobedience. Conversely, the New Testament church considered the dispersion of the Jews “the divinely ordained means of providing a beachhead for the spread of the gospel in alien territory.”
The Devil meant for the persecution to put out the fire but it merely spread the fire. An interesting “modern parallel is what happened in 1949 in China when the National Government was defeated by the Communists. Six hundred and thirty seven China Inland Mission missionaries were obliged to leave. It seemed a total disaster. Yet within four years 286 of them had been redeployed in South-East Asia and Japan, while the national Christians in China, even under severe persecution, began to multiply and now total thirty to forty times the number they were when the missionaries left.” (John Stott. The Spirit, The Church and The World: The Message of Acts. [Downers Grove, ILL: InterVarsity Press, 1990.] p. 146.)
4. Boice, J. M. (1997). Acts : An expositional commentary (130–134). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books.
5. A look at 2010 census stats shows that:
U.S. – almost 65% owner occupied housing versus 30% rental occupied
Santa Monica is only 28% owner occupied and Marina Del Rey only 7%...Culver City much higher at 53%. Much of the areas that are still part of Los Angeles such as Palms, West L.A. are not broken out but are heavily weigted with apartments over houses.
This would suggest that the Westside of Los Angeles as a whole is likely a least 70% - 75% rental, which is a statistic heard over the years….likely highest on those areas furthest west.
http://www.clrsearch.com/Venice_Demographics/CA/?compare=West+Los+Angeles%2C+CA
6. Another good paraphrased translation of our priestly role:
1 Peter 2:9-10 (MSG)
You are the ones … chosen for the high calling of priestly work… God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you— from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.
7. Regarding the calling to be as God’s Vineyard, below are translations of Isaiah 27:2-3
Isaiah 27:2-3 (NLT)
“In that day (when I redeem My people), sing about the fruitful vineyard. I, the LORD, will watch over it, watering it carefully.
Isaiah 27:2-3 (CEV)
The LORD said: At that time (when I redeem My people) you must sing about a fruitful vineyard. 3 I, the LORD, will protect it and always keep it watered. I will guard it day and night to keep it from harm.
Isaiah 27:2-3 (MSG)
"At that same time (when I redeem My people), a fine vineyard will appear. There's something to sing about! I, GOD, tend it. I keep it well-watered. I keep careful watch over it so that no one can damage it.
Isaiah 27:2-3 (TEV)
On that day (when God redeems His people) the LORD will say of his pleasant vineyard, "I watch over it and water it continually. I guard it night and day so that no one will harm it.
