BRIDGES AND DITCHES: THE BOOK OF ACTS FOR TODAY**
ACTS 17:1-9
Big Idea: If we are going to learn from the church of Acts we must break down the doors of fear and burst out of the holy huddle of the upper room; we must allow the fresh wind and fresh fire of the Holy Spirit to use us in this day and age.
Supporting Scripture:
• Isaiah 43:18-21 – (Responsive Reading)
• 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
• Mark 2:18-22 (Welcome and Call to Worship)
ACTS 17:1-9 (ESV)
1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 5 But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. 6 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “THESE MEN WHO HAVE TURNED THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN HAVE COME HERE ALSO, 7 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” 8 And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. 9 And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
INTRO
Erik the Red’s Viking Settlement
A thousand years ago, a group of Vikings led by Erik the Red set sail from Norway for the vast Arctic landmass west of Scandinavia known as Greenland. It was largely uninhabitable; a forbidding expanse of snow and ice. But along the southwestern coast there were two deep fjords protected from the harsh winds and saltwater spray of the North Atlantic Ocean, and as the Norse sailed upriver they saw grassy slopes flowering with buttercups, dandelions, and bluebells, and thick forests of willow and birch and alder. Two colonies were formed, three hundred miles apart, known as the Eastern and Western Settlements.
As the Norse began to settle these colonies they relied on the values and habits they learned from Europeans. They thought Greenland was really green and treated it like the fertile lands of southern Norway. Cattle were a prized possession – the problem was that the ecosystem was so fragile and the growing season so short that both grassland and cattle could not be sustained … but the Vikings carried on.
They cleared the woodlands for heat and lodging as the Europeans did. But the ecosystem was too fragile and the lack of trees brought erosion. They needed to copy their neighbors, the Inuit, and practice burning seal blubber for heat and light in the winter; to learn from the Inuit the difficult art of hunting ringed seals, which were the most reliably plentiful source of food available in the winter. But the Norse had contempt for the Inuit—they called them skraelings, “wretches”—and preferred to practice their own brand of European agriculture.
Do you know what happened? The Viking settlements led by Erik the Red became extinct. All because they chose not to adapt to the area they lived in.
(Source: New Yorker Magazine, January 3, 2005)
Communicating new ideas to people is not easy. The default is almost always “no” and suspicious minds can always find evidence to discard the idea … at least at first. This is particularly true when the people involved are entrenched in a “persuasion” and so tethered to its practices that they cannot conceive of or consider any idea that might compete. Especially when those entrenched practices have proven effective in the past … it is assumed they will be as affective in the present and the future. Erik the Red’s community is an example of this … so are other “institutions.”
It is possible, as I said earlier in the worship service, for a local church to want the community to orbit around it rather than the church choosing to “orbit” around Jesus Christ and His Gospel. The outcomes are significantly different.
And the mission of the church is too important and too necessary not to pause and take thought.
I like what the Christian historian Michael Green says about this.
Some bemoan the move in the United States away from faith to secularism. I understand – it is tragic. But, they say, “we are now lost – there is no hope.” I must part ways here. Yes we are becoming more and more secular … more and more like the world in the first century. So I have to ask … if our world is going to become like the world of the first century – when will we become like the church of the first century? ...
What we want is for the church to still be valued, deemed as important, respected and turned to by society. That ship has sailed. In the first century it was not only not respected – it was reviled! And the church seized the opportunity to show the grace of Christ in the midst of the darkness. It is time for Jesus’ church to step out into the darkness with the bright light of the Gospel. No longer are we considered streetlights to light the way for our country (as much as we wish we were) so the onus is on us to change to be rescue lights, lighthouses that … offer harbor.
(“Thirty Years That Changed the World” p. 70)
I agree with Green. Our task is not unlike the task of the first century church. That church is described in the book of Acts … a book which time and again addresses the need to build bridges and jump ditches to show the Gospel’s solution to human need.
And you know what … that first century church was very successful … AND THEY DID IT THE SPAN OF ABOUT ONE GENERATION! In a mere thirty years they “turned the world upside down.”
Three crucial decades in world history. That is all it took. In the years between AD 33 and 64 a new movement was born. In those thirty years it got sufficient growth and credibility to become the largest religion the world has ever seen and to change the lives of hundreds of millions of people. It has spread into every corner of the globe and has more than two billion adherents. It has had an indelible impact on civilization, on culture, on education, on medicine, on freedom and of course on the lives of countless people worldwide. And the seedbed for all this, the time when it took decisive root, was in these three decades. It all began with a dozen men and a handful of women: and then the Spirit came.
We can-and should-ask ourselves, ‘If those people then acted in the way they did, what are the implications for disciples today, given all the differences brought about by culture, space and time?
I think it is significant that it is the younger churches with no pretentions to western ‘sophistication’ who look at the Acts, learn from it, and go out in the power of the same Lord expecting him to do equally mighty things through them. That is happening in Latin America, much of Asia and a great deal of Africa.
A journal is published in the U.S. called “Acts 29.“ As its name suggests, it believes that much of what happened in those early days can happen today, given faith and courage and a fresh vision of Christ.
What these very ordinary men and women achieved within a single generation … could encourage us to make a similar attempt in our own day. That, after all, is why the Acts was written. Through the agency of the Holy Spirit in a handful of dedicated people whose message became irresistible.
(“Thirty Years That Changed the World” p. 7-8)
It can happen again my friends. It is happening again! God’s Spirit is calling and daring his church to look back at the ancient church and think future thoughts – to build new bridges and jump ditches.
What will it require of Jesus’ church at the end of the day is the question of the hour. How we will build bridges and jump ditches places me on the edge of my seat with anticipation and curiosity. It does not fill me with fear mind you, I have no doubt that God’s Spirit resides within His church and is leading her into a new era and harvest. I just hope I live long enough to see more of the new bridges emerge … I hope I get to be part of their construction too.
May I put on a “professor’s cap and gown” for a moment and give you a bit of a historical theology lesson? Please indulge me it makes an important point.
In 1951 a theologian and philosopher named H. Richard Niebuhr wrote a book that sought to give an understanding of how Jesus’ church addresses the culture’s bridges and ditches. The book is called “Christ and Culture.” Niebuhr gives five “big picture” models of how various segments of Jesus’ Church approach mission … how they see their relationship with culture.
Paradigm #1, Christ against Culture, describes those who choose to isolate themselves from the surrounding culture. You might refer to this as Opposition - A Christian must be opposed to cultural developments because they represent the world and its wickedness.
Paradigm #2, the Christ of Culture perspective is exactly the opposite of Christ against Culture because it attempts to bring culture and Christianity together, regardless of their differences. This might be explained as Agreement - A Christian can be in basic agreement with culture as an expression of God's creation.
Paradigm #3, the Christ above Culture position attempts to synthesize the issues of the culture with the answer of Christian revelation. This might be explained as Transcendence. This view was espoused by Thomas Aquinas, Christ was over and above culture, and this provided a sacred realm distinct from the secular.
Paradigm #4, Christ and Culture in Paradox refers to those who understand the tension between the Christian’s responsibility to both the cultural and the spiritual realms. Here, the operative word is Tension - Martin Luther saw the two poles in opposition and agreement; and the Christian must then maintain a tension between the two realms.
Paradigm #5, Christ the Transformer of Culture describes those who strive "to convert the values and goals of secular culture into the service of the kingdom of God." This might be explained as Conversion. John Calvin called the Christian to engage in Redemptive transformation, re-forming creation in Christ's name to recover the good present from God's creation.
I tell you this because every church (and every Christian) works from somewhere within these frameworks – that includes us-guys.
What tends to happen, however, is that when the world we live in goes through big changes (like it is now) the church has historically retreated into one of the two extremes given by Neibuhr. Either it sells out wholesale and looses its witness or it falls back into a fear-fueled cynicism and no longer engages in a meaningful way. When this happens the local church dies a slow death because it refuses to embrace change; it refuses to build bridges and jump ditches.
May I remind you as I near a close that:
Change is Inevitable … Growth is Optional
If we are going to learn from the church of Acts we must break down the doors of fear and burst out of the holy huddle of the upper room. We must allow the refreshing wind and fire of the Holy Spirit to use us in this day and age.
If we, like the Vikings or other churches in other eras, are determined to stay entrenched and tethered to our former practices then their end will be ours. If we choose to not allow the Holy Spirit equip us for a new day, or if we choose to restrict Him, God will simply move down the road to another church that will dare to build new bridges and jump ditches.
WRAP-UP
I must stress that in the final assessment there is no other option for the world ... we all need Jesus. People are still lost ... AND PEOPLE ARE ALSO STILL BEING SAVED! Basic human needs transcend time & culture and are they are only fully met in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The religions of the first century addressed the same issues as the religions of today address. In fact, they addressed the same issues as Christianity.
FIRST, THEY ALL PROMISE TO CLEANSE THE NAGGING GUILTY CONSCIENCE.
It is a mistake to suppose that a sense of sin was unusual in the ancient world. Greek thought had deeply impressed upon it the truth that wrongdoing must be punished, that guilt must be expiated; that we are responsible for our actions.
SECOND, THEY ALL PROMISE TO SATISFY THE QUEST FOR SECURITY.
This need was felt even stronger in the first century (and our century) than the need for cleansing. The mystery religions of that day offered an answer which was to be taken up and greatly deepened by Christianity. Men and women felt themselves to be at the mercy of evil … the playthings of fate. They sensed that nothing could deliver them from its jaws. The Isis cult, for one, prided itself on ‘the day of deliverance awaits you.’ It declared that Isis was greater than destiny.
Cleansing, security, and THIRD, THEY ALL PROMISE A HOPE OF IMMORTALITY.
It is indeed another hunger of the human heart and the state religion used it to motivate and manipulate the citizenry. Most of the mystery religions promised men immortality in some shape or form too; those of Cybele, Dionysus, Mithras and Isis certainly did.
But the Gospel of Jesus offered a solution to each of these that drew so many that the mystery religions and the state religion felt forced to confront and attack the church. This Gospel “turned the world upside down” and they could not compete with the transformed lives and the testimony of those who experienced
1. The forgiveness of sin
2. Showed such security they had no fear in death
3. Could see, at their martyrdom, the Son of God standing at the right hand of the Father welcoming them home.
There’s not much new in our day. The ditches are still here. The need for new bridges to span the breach to a lost world are still here too. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has something to say in the 21st century and if we will take a cue from the 1st century we can we, like them, see many saved and added to the church (Acts 2:47).
In the next four weeks we will look at the book of Acts. We will see what helped them build bridges and jump ditches and we will find transfer for our day.
• January 11 – Bridges and Ditches: People of “The Way”
o The reason the first century church turned the world upside down was not because of some socio-economic “perfect storm” that made their message ripe for the audiences rather it was the fixed and unswerving centrality of Jesus Christ as their message.
• January 18 – Bridges and Ditches: Some Things Never Change
o The real component in the success of the first century Christians lies not in external tactics but with their internal values … their Christ-like character.
• January 25 – Bridges and Ditches: Everything Old is New Again
o Jesus’ church has been flexible and adaptive in its tactics and methods throughout the ages. But there are some crossovers which always seem to be present when the church is effectively winning the lost.
• February 1 – Bridges and Ditches: The Wind of the Spirit
o The essential and non-negotiable role (need) for the Holy Spirit
Between now and then, lets seek God’s face, ask for a tender and teachable heart, and look for His path forward.
Let’s close by reciting “A Prayer of Mission” together.
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Prayer For Mission
Leader: Here in this sanctuary, we remember, O God, your gift of life to each of us;
People: And we seek to carry it to the streets-
Wherever there is death and violence
Wherever there is grief and loss.
Leader: Here in this sanctuary, we remember, O God, your invitation to belong and find shelter;
People: And we seek to carry it to the streets-
Wherever there is loneliness and rejection
Wherever there is homelessness and people displaced.
Leader: Here in this sanctuary, we remember, O God, your reign of justice and righteousness;
People: And we seek to carry it to the streets-
Wherever there is lawlessness or tyranny
Wherever there is corruption and oppression.
Leader: Here in this sanctuary, we remember, O God, your sacrifice of love and mercy;
People: And we seek to carry it to the streets-
Wherever there is hatred and evil
Wherever there is hopelessness, regret, and guilt.
Leader: Here in this sanctuary, where we remember all that you have done for us, O God, we remember also your call to live what we sing and pray.
People: And so we commit to ourselves again to carry our worship from the sanctuary to the streets.
AMEN. COME LORD JESUS!
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** The idea, and much of the content, for this sermon series is owed to two books by Michael Green, “Thirty Years That Changed the World” and “Evangelism in the Early Church.”
This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
First Church of the Nazarene
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
www.banazarene.org
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“RIVERS IN THE DESERT”
(ISAIAH 43, PORTIONS)
Leader: “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.
People: Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
Leader: I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
People: To give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.
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Welcome & Call to Worship
Good morning. We are honored that you have chosen to worship with us today. Today we start a five-week emphasis on the church’s responsibility to be a salt and light in our community.
On too many occasions local churches operate like planets. They stake out their little piece of real estate and allow the world to orbit around them with the hope that their gravitational pull will, occasionally, draw some of those orbiting around them into their space and time.
The truth is, however, the church is to be orbiting around Jesus Christ; we are responding to His pull and His call; we are inviting others to experience His grace. That’s a bigger challenge for us … it demands more from us. It requires us to interact with our community and intentionally cross bridges and jump ditches.
Jesus taught his first disciples that sharing the Gospel like this would require them to be continually adapting. Communicating the Gospel in a way that can be understood places the onus on the church not the lost.
Listen as I read Mark 2:18-22.
Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”
If we are going to learn from the church of Acts we must break down the doors of fear and burst out of the holy huddle of the upper room; we must allow the Holy Spirit to use us in this day and age as he chooses.
Let’s worship together.
