Good morning. I invite you to turn to Acts chapter 1 this morning.
If you ever have the opportunity to go to Israel, you will see, all over Jerusalem, a very distinctive cross. It is called the Jerusalem Cross. It has been associated with Jerusalem ever since the Middle Ages, when it was adopted by Crusaders as the flag of the Kingdom of Jerusalem around 1250 AD.
I bought a Jerusalem Cross necklace when I was there two years ago, and I’ve not taken it off since. And I don’t plan to. And I’ll tell you what sold me on it.
We were in a gift shop in Bethlehem, and I was looking at a display of jewelry because I wanted to get something for Trish. And the man behind the counter asked me if I knew the symbolism of the Jerusalem cross. I didn’t. He said that it represents the five wounds Jesus received on the cross—two hands, two feet, and the spear in his side.
But he also said that it represents the four quarters of Jerusalem. Since the 19th century, the Old city of Jerusalem has been divided into the Muslim Quarter, the Jewish Quarter, the Arminian Quarter, and the Christian Quarter. And Psalm 122:6-7 tells us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for everyone who lives within her walls.
But here’s what made me buy my cross for Trish from this guy. And if you do get to go to Jerusalem, and you’re in the market for a Jerusalem Cross, don’t buy one from anyone who doesn’t tell you this part of the story: the jeweler in Bethlehem said, “But for Christians, the Jerusalem Cross also reminds us that Christianity began in Jerusalem with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. But Jesus told his disciples to take his disciples to the four corners of the world.”
And I was like, sold. Because I need a reminder that the gospel was never meant to stay in one place.
Today as we continue our series about shifts we need to make in our personal lives and in the life of our church as we follow God’s plan for our lives, I want to talk about SHIFTING into action. Because from the very beginning, God’s plan was never for the church to stay in one place. So we are going to look at what God’s plan has been for his people from the very first pages of Scripture. But we are also going to look at why that plan gets sidetracked so often. Why do we have such a hard time putting God’s plan into action? And I want to close our worship service by calling us all to shift into action by doing one simple thing this week.
So we are in Acts chapter 1. Acts is really volume 2 of Luke’s story of Jesus. Luke was a Gentile—a non-Jewish writer who set out to write a complete, orderly account of the ministry of Jesus and the activity of the early church. He writes his gospel for a guy named Theophilus, who many scholars believe was a wealthy Gentile who actually commissioned Luke’s biography and may have even funded his research. The gospel of Luke ends with the resurrection of Jesus. At the end of Luke, Jesus’ gives some final instructions to His disciples. He says, (Luke 24:47):
47 repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in [My] name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Now, just pretend for a minute that the New Testament books were in a different order, and instead of having John in between Luke and Acts, you could just turn the page and go straight from part 1 of Luke’s account to part 2. Here’s what you would find at the very beginning of Acts. And if you are physically able, please stand to honor the reading of God’s Word:
In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
4 And while staying[a] with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let’s pray.
So, twice—once at the end of Luke and once at the beginning of Acts, Jesus gives very clear instructions to the disciples. Beginning from Jerusalem, they are to take the gospel to the four corners of the earth (remember the Jerusalem Cross). He tells them to go back to the city and wait for the power of the Holy Spirit. But when the Holy Spirit filled them, their next instruction was to be Jesus’ witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. And the rest of Acts is all about how the message of the gospel spread outward from Jerusalem to the four corners of the world. That’s why its called “Acts”—it records the Acts, or the action, of the Apostles.
But you know, I read something this week that may change the way you look at the book of Acts from now on. It was a quote from Don Richardson, a well known missionary and author who passed away back in 2018. For fifteen years Don and his wife lived and worked in Papua, New Guinea living with a tribe of cannibalistic headhunters called the Sawi.
In his book Eternity in their Hearts, Don said, “We think that the Acts of the Apostles records the 12 apostles’ obedience to the Great Commission. Actually, it records their reluctance to obey it.”
I thought, huh? Could it really be that a better title for the book would be “The Inaction of the Apostles?” But Richardson points out that while Jerusalem was evangelized on the day of Pentecost, the next several chapters have the disciples staying in Jerusalem. In Acts 5:28, the critics of the church are complaining that the apostles, “have filled Jerusalem with [their] teaching.”
It’s not until chapter 8 that we see any sign of the gospel spreading beyond Jerusalem. It’s not until chapter 11 that we see the Jerusalem church planting a church in Antioch. And when you think about the man who was most responsible for the spread of the gospel, you think of Paul, who wasn’t one of the 12 apostles. So Don Richardson points out that by the time you first hear of the gospel being preached in Samaria in Acts 8, “Twenty-five percent of the book of Acts was already history, and as far as we can tell, they were not even making plans to obey the rest of Jesus’ command.”
Why is that? Well, to answer, I want to talk about something that I really don’t know anything about. For the third week in a row. Two weeks ago I talked about cars, and I don’t know anything about cars. Last week I talked about professional wrestling, and I don’t know anything about professional wrestling. So I’ll keep the streak going and talk about physics.
In physics, there is something called the Law of Inertia. The law of Inertia states that “A body in motion tends to remain in motion, while a body at rest tends to remain at rest. Which explains why so many people are having a hard time getting back into church after so many weeks away. But it also could explain why the church can struggle with fulfilling the Great Commission. We are the body of Christ, but we often are a body at rest.
And do you know that God has been battling inertia since the beginning of time? Throughout Scripture, God often told somebody, or a group of somebodies, to go. And just as often, when God said “Go,” his people said, “No.”
Look at the tower of Babel. In Genesis 9, God had just got finished destroying the earth in the flood. And so he’s starting over again with Noah and his family, and he tells them the same thing he told Adam and Eve: He says:
“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
Well, they got the be fruitful part, but somehow, they forgot the “fill the earth” part. They settled on a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they learned how to make bricks, which was just a huge leap forward in technology and civilization. And they said (Gen 9:1)
4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” (Gen. 11:4)
See, I call that the Self-satisfied no. Sometimes inertia happens because we work hard, we’ve put in the hours at the office, and we feel like when the weekend comes, or when retirement comes, or whatever comes, that it’s time for us to take it easy. We live out the old McDonald’s commercial—you deserve a break today.
Then there’s Moses. We can call him the Self-Doubting No. Most of you are familiar with the story of Moses. He grew up in Pharaoh’s household, raised by Pharaoh’s daughter while God’s people Israel were in slavery. When he was 40 years old, he killed an Egyptian who was mistreating one of the Hebrews, and when Moses realized he’d been found out, he fled to Midian, where he lived as a shepherd for the next forty years.
Forty years! That’s a long time for a body to be at rest, isn’t it? And a body at rest tends to… [fill in the blank]
But one day God appeared to him in a burning bush, and said, “I’ve seen the affliction of my people, I’ve heard their cries. And I’ve come down to deliver them. And I’m going to get them out of Egypt and bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey. And I’m sure Moses is all, “Yeah! Get ‘em, God! This is gonna be great! Can I watch?”
But then God throws him a curve. He says, “Come. I’m sending you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
Can you imagine how the wind must have gotten knocked out of Moses’ sails? Moses was super excited that God was going to do something. But when it came to using Moses to do it, not so much. So he started giving God one excuse after another:
• Who am I that I could do this? (verse 11)
• Who are You, God? What am I supposed to say when they say, “Which God?” (verse 13)
• What if they don’t believe me? (4:1)
• But I have a speech impediment (4:10)
Question after question. Doubt after doubt. Are you strong enough? Am I brave enough? Do I have what it takes? Am I a leader? Can I overcome my past? Can I overcome my weaknesses? I love that God hears all of Moses’ doubts. He reassures them through all of them. He reminds Moses that He will be with him. He equips Moses with visible demonstrations of His power.
Finally, God’s heard enough. He fires back, “Who makes man’s mouth? Moses, I created you. Don’t you think I know what you can and can’t do?” God’s final word to Moses is “Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” (4:12)
Even then, it’s still not enough for Moses. He says, “O my Lord, please send someone else!” (4:13) And even though God is frustrated with Moses, He still shows him grace—he allows Moses to bring his brother Aaron along for moral support. But God doesn’t let him off the hook. He gives Moses a job to do, He expects Moses to do it. And he does the same with us.
The Self-Satisfied no. The Self-Doubting No. Are either of these ringing a bell with you yet? Do you find yourself staying put when God says go because you’re either too comfortable or too insecure? Well, if neither of these are connecting with you, then let me introduce you to one more character from the Old Testament before we get back to the book of Acts: Let’s talk about Jonah. Jonah was a prophet in Israel during a time when Israel was being threatened by the Assyrians. The capital of Assyria was Nineveh, and it had the reputation of being just about the most wicked place on earth, as far as Israel was concerned.
But God wasn’t ready to write off an entire people group. So he says, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” So what does Jonah do? Ninevah was about 600 miles northeast of Israel. And instead of heading east, Jonah heads west. The very next verse says, 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish—which was about 2500 miles southwest of Israel. You literally could not be any more opposite from where God wanted Jonah to go. Why did Jonah disobey God? It wasn’t because he was afraid. It wasn’t because he doubted God could protect him. It was because Jonah knew that if the Assyrians repented, God would spare them. You see, Jonah was very comfortable with the idea that God was for Israel and against Assyria. And he was too selfish to consider that God might just be for Assyria as well.
I have to wonder if we sometimes miss God’s heart for people because we’ve already decided that God would never want to save them? Or that way deep down inside, we are really ok with not reaching out to people because we like our church just the way it is. And that if we get out there and start preaching the gospel to people who aren’t like us, they might listen. And maybe our biggest fear isn’t really that they are going to reject what we are saying, but that they might accept it? And then we wouldn’t know everyone at church anymore. Or we might have to park further away. Or we might have to learn how to get along with brothers and sisters in Christ that might disagree with us? I’m afraid that sometimes, God says go, and we respond with a very self-centered No.
So you see, I don’t want to just single out the Apostles in the book of Acts. The Bible is a long history of God saying “Go” and God’s people saying “No.”
So the question is, how do we get out of it? How does God overcome inertia and get a body that’s at rest to become a body in motion? Well, again we can see a pattern all through Scripture. And here’s the pattern: If God’s people are reluctant to accomplish God’s will, then He will often allow a crisis to shift them into action.
Let’s go back to the tower of Babel. When God told the people to fill the earth and they tried to stay in one place, Genesis 11:7 says that God came down and confused their language, so they were unable to understand one another’s speech. And verse 8 says,
8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.
Look at Jonah. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, Jonah takes a ship in the exact opposite direction. You know the story. God sends a huge storm, and the sailors wind up throwing Jonah overboard, and he’s swallowed by a huge fish. Jonah repents in the belly of the fish, the fish vomits up Jonah, and God gives Jonah the exact same instructions as he did before—arise and go into Nineveh, that great city. This time Jonah goes, only now he smells like fish guts.
So now, let’s circle back to the twelve apostles in the book of Acts. Remember, God’s will WILL be accomplished. He proved it at Babel. He proved it with Moses. He proved it with Jonah. And he proved it in the book of Acts. God got the disciples out of Jerusalem and to the four corners of the earth by allowing a great persecution to break out in Jerusalem.
But here’s the thing: with each of these crises, God used the crisis in order to bring about His plan. Because of the crisis at the tower of Babel, human beings filled the earth. Because of the crisis in the belly of the fish, the people of Nineveh repented and turned to God. And because of the persecution in Jerusalem, look what happens:
4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city[a] of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.
Which brings me to the question that many of you might have. Maybe it’s a question that your kids have asked you. I know it’s a conversation Josh and I have had:
What is God’s purpose with our current crisis? Why would God allow something like a global pandemic? Why would he have allowed churches to close for months this year, and even when they opened up again, for attendance to have been so impacted?
What is God’s purpose with this divisive political season? Why is there so much anger and hatred?
Is it possible that God wants to use these crisis to shift the church into action? God’s purpose for his people hasn’t changed since Acts 1:8. We are to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. And I wonder if maybe we needed a catalyst to remind us of that purpose.
Maybe like the people of Babel we were too self satisfied. Or like Moses we had too much self doubt. Maybe like Jonah we were too self centered. Or like the Jerusalem church from Acts 1 to Acts 8, we had become too self focused.
Maybe this is our time to put self on the shelf. Paul had it right at the end of his letter to the Romans.
17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. (Romans 15:17-20)
What is your ambition? What is Glynwood’s ambition. I want to have the same answer as the apostle Paul: to preach the gospel where Christ is not known. And maybe it’s taken this crisis to shift us into action.
