Sermon: Is This the Life You Want?

Julius: The first reading is from Acts chapter 26. Now I added some verses to this, so the PowerPoint there starts at verse 19, but I'm going to start at verse 1, and if you want to see those verses, they are in the bulletin. So we'll read Acts chapter 26. King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that I am going to make my defense before you today concerning all the things about which I being accused by the Jews, especially because you are an expert in all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently. All the Jews know the way I have lived from the earliest days of my youth among my own people and in Jerusalem. They have known about me for a long time. If they are willing to testify that I have lived as a Pharisee according to the strictest party of our religion. And now I stand on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, the promise that our twelve tribes hope to attain as they earnestly serve God night and day. I am being accused by the Jews concerning this hope, O King. Why does it seem unbelievable to any of you that God raises the dead? I too was convinced that it was necessary to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus the Nazarene, and that is what I did in Jerusalem. After receiving authority from the chief priests, I put many of the saints in prison and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. I often tried to make them blaspheme by punishing them throughout all the synagogues because I was so insanely angry with them. I even pursued them to foreign cities. That is how I came to be traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At noon, along the road, O King, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun. shining around me and those traveling with me. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goats. Then I said, who are you, Lord? The Lord replied, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things you have seen and to the things I will reveal to you. I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you. You are to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God so that they may receive the forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me." I've caught up to the PowerPoint now. Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. Rather, I first told those in Damascus and Jerusalem about it. and then throughout the entire country of Judea and also the Gentiles, I told them that they should repent and turn to God while also doing works that are consistent with repentance. These are the reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. But I have had help from God right up to this day, and so I stand testifying to both small and great. I am saying nothing other than what the prophets and Moses said would happen, that the Christ would suffer. And as the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles. While Paul was saying these things in his defense, Festus shouted, Paul, you are out of your mind. Your great learning is driving you insane. But Paul replied, I am not insane, most excellent Festus, but I am clearly speaking words that are true and sensible. Certainly the king to whom I am freely speaking knows about these things. Indeed, I cannot believe that any of these things have escaped his notice because this has not been done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe. Then Agrippa said to Paul, in such a short time, are you going to persuade me to become a Christian? Paul replied, I pray God that whether in a short time or a long time, not only you, but also all those who are listening to me today would become what I am. except for these chains. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. We pray. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen. Let's start at the end where Paul has a prayer for the people listening to him and for you. He prays this. pray God that whether in a short time or a long time, not only you, but also those who are listening to me today would become what I am. pray that your life would be like mine, that you would become what I am. And what is Paul here? Well, he's a man who's thrown away a very promising career. He was a rising star and he threw that all away to seemingly become a cult leader. He used to have lots of friends, lots of people patting him on the back. Now they hate him and want to kill him. They're putting him on trial. The people in power in the world are mocking Paul and calling him insane. ⁓ yeah, and he's in chains. as he stands on trial for his hope in the resurrection. Is that the kind of life you want? Is that the kind of life you pray for? Lord, because I believe in the resurrection, can you make that really hurt my career? Can you make it make my family and friends angry at me? Can you have people make fun of me for that? Can you let me suffer? That'd be great. It's not the life I want. A couple weeks ago, I'm putting these online videos for the campus ministry students and whoever else, and I put up a topic that I knew would get some pushback out there in the internet world, and indeed it did, and I got some comments that the social media platform hid from everybody else because they were mean. And they were mean. You know what? I read those. and my chest started shaking. And I couldn't sleep that night. And I woke up the next morning without an appetite. I didn't eat my three eggs. I always eat three eggs for breakfast. And I texted my brother and I said, I'm not putting videos online anymore. I can't handle it. In other words, this is not the life I want. To stand on trial for the gospel, to get pushed back like that. ⁓ And Paul here says, ⁓ I want this for you. And you can tell he wants it. By the way, he behaves when he's under trial. What does he say? He opens up his trial by saying this, King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that I am going to make my defense before you today. I'm fortunate. Another word for that? Hashtag blessed. I get to stand before the grandson of the Herod who tried to kill Jesus as these people try to kill me and I stand in chains. Love it. And you can tell he considers himself blessed to be in this position by how he behaves. First of all, he's prepared. The little details in the Bible are fun. How does this start? Not with his words, it says this. Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense. He stretched out his hand. Three times you see this in the book of Acts when the apostle Paul is talking to an audience, a big group of people, and people wonder, why does he do this? What is he doing? Is this some official Greek oratory movement? I am beginning to speak. Or is he trying to quiet down the audience because they're being so loud? So says, guys, guys, I'm ready to talk. Either way, what this shows me is that Paul is ready to talk. He's prepared. And you could tell that also by the long speech he gives. He's ready for this. Paul is prepared. And not only is he prepared, he's polite. Paul knows that's a long reading. Maybe I should have said that before reading Acts chapter 26. I beg you to listen to me patiently, because that's what Paul said. He said, therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently. How polite is that? I am so blessed to talk to you all. I'm just honored to be here and I beg you, listen to me patiently. What a polite guy. And before you think this is just because they're being nice, it's just because there's no trolls in the audience. There is a troll in the audience. About halfway through his speech, Paul gets interrupted. We read, while Paul was saying these things in his defense, Festus shouted, Paul, you are out of your mind. Your great learning is driving you insane. Paul's trying to talk and somebody interrupts him. Crazy person! He's a lunatic! One too many degrees. And how does Paul respond? He starts shaking. He gets angry. He says, I'm not insane, most excellent Festus. So polite. Paul, you're crazy. I'm not crazy, dear friend. I'm not crazy, most excellent Festus. And he goes on to explain, no, no, Festus, you want to see crazy? I used to be crazy when I was chasing after Christians, fighting against Jesus. That was crazy. I was insanely angry. But now I'm the sanest I've ever been. He's prepared, he's polite, and he's patient. At the end, some of Paul's words start to hit too close to home with Herod Agrippa. He says, And you can see he's getting defensive now because Paul's words are starting to hit home. And so he says this, And how does Paul respond? No. He says, whether in a short time or a long time, you become a Christian like me. Paul's in no hurry. He has the peace of God that goes beyond all understanding. He knows that some sow the seeds, some water, and some reap, and God is in charge of it all. So he says, that's my prayer that you become a Christian, but I'm not here to close the deal. And to make sure it happens right now, I'm just sharing God's word. And I'll patiently wait for the Lord to work out his plans. It's amazing. When you consider yourself blessed to be in this position, how you can be prepared and polite and patient. But then we wonder, do I get there? How do I get to this point? I mean, I've been practicing for this for my whole life, and one angry person on the internet makes me want to go hide in bed. So how do you get to this point where you're prepared for this and you're blessed? Well, how did Paul get there? It started with him being insane. Paul describes it in his big speech. He says, my life was what I wanted. I was moving up in the world, I was doing really well, everybody was patting me on the back, and I was persecuting Christians. But I didn't realize how insane that was. To push against this thing that had not happened in a corner, this resurrection from the dead, that Jesus had shown to so many people who had shared to so many others. that the tomb was empty and the guards couldn't keep him in. This man was alive. I was insane to oppose it. And so what did Jesus do with Paul? He broke into his life. As Paul was whipping his horse to go to Damascus to get more Christians, insanely angry, the Lord appeared to him in a blast of light and Paul fell from his horse and fell to the ground. And Jesus said to Paul, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads. How does Jesus sound to me here? Prepared, polite, patient, with Paul. It doesn't sound like he's panicking. ⁓ no, Saul is chasing down Christians and persecuting me. ⁓ no, I'm the risen Lord but I can't handle that. No. You can't stop the kingdom of God. You can't stop the risen Lord Jesus. So he appears to Paul and he is not afraid. But he's polite and patient with Paul. calls him by name, Saul. Saul. Why are you persecuting me? And he doesn't say, why are you doing this? It's making me upset. No, Jesus says, why are you doing this? It doesn't make sense for you. It is hard for you to kick against the goads. Show of hands, how many have kicked against the goads? No, what's a goad? So the goad is the pointy stick that pokes the stubborn donkey. And what does the donkey do because it's stubborn? kicks against the goads. I don't want to move. Now who's going to win that battle? Eventually, the person with the pointy stick. And so you may as well move sooner than later, or else you're just going to get poked more. And so Jesus is saying, Paul, I'm going to get you to move where I want you to move. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, sooner or later. But I'm telling you, it's hard for you to kick against the goads of the Lord of heaven and earth. In fact, Paul, it's insane. And then God is patient with Paul. What happens to Paul after this? He's struck blind. He spends a week walking around blind and then hiding in a room thinking about his life. It's taking a while to process this. And after a few days, the Lord sends a fellow Christian to Saul who tells him about Jesus, who shares God's words. Isn't that something? Paul didn't really believe after he saw Jesus. But when a fellow disciple came and shared Jesus and then baptized him, then Paul's eyes open, literally and spiritually, and he realizes who Jesus is and he comes to faith in the risen Lord. And then he starts to share. Paul came to faith in his Lord Jesus who opened his eyes, who brought him from the power of Satan to the power of God, who gave him the forgiveness of sins. And that's why Paul considered himself blessed to be able to share that Jesus with others because Jesus had done so much for him and still was. Notice when Paul is on trial, he doesn't say, I'm so prepared now because of me, because I worked so hard, because I've done this so many times. No, he says, with God's help, I'm standing before you today. Jesus turned me around and He is with me every step of the way. And that's how I can share this with you. So how do we see ourselves as blessed when we're in positions like this? How do we become prepared and polite and patient in the very same way? What has Jesus done for us? You know how we all started. We started insane. Insane to be born into this world and not have faith in our true God, our creator who brought us in and blessed us so much. We were pushing against him, kicking against the goats. And yet he broke into our lives with baptism and brought our hearts from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, through the forgiveness of sins. That's what the Lord has done for us. And he hasn't stopped doing that. How do I recover after posting something online and getting shaken? I go back to Jesus and I hear his words, peace be with you. I give you peace the world cannot give. I forgive you for your fear. Isn't it insane for me to be scared of some random person on the internet? To fear that person instead of fear, love, and trust in God above all things. That insanity is still here in the sinful nature, but Jesus forgives it. And then he is with me to help me every step of the way. And that's what Jesus is doing for you. When you get rattled, when you get afraid, when you say, is not the life that I want, Jesus says, it's hard for you to kick against the goads. This is the life I've given you because I've called you to faith. Let your light shine. And yes, people are going to get mad at you because of it, but I am with you. And when you're weak, I'm strong. And that means you can get prepared for this. and doesn't have to be that complicated. Some of these things are pretty practical. How do you prepare so that you are ready when moments like this come? Practice. Grade schoolers, keep doing talent shows. Stand in front of people. Get used to that. My heart still beats pretty quick when I'm up here in front of people. Keep doing that. Practice hard in speech class. Persuasive speech. When you have debates, get used to that. Get used to pushback. High schoolers, get involved. Be in the plays, be in the choirs. Get used to that. Get used to being in front of people and proclaiming things that not everybody will like. College students, debate with the people who want to debate. Beyond that, grownups, don't stop learning. Keep learning and practice. You know what it's like when you've gotten into an argument. You just keep running it through in your head. What could I have said? What should I have said? If it's an argument with your spouse, the answer is say, I'm sorry. But if you're talking to someone about Jesus, run it through your mind. Or talk about it with another Christian. Or hey, you got chat GPT now. Hey, chat GPT, be someone who doesn't believe in the resurrection and debate me. Go for it. See what happens. Practice. You know, I still practice in front of a mirror before Sunday. to make sure that my hands aren't going too crazy, things like that. You can do that too. And the more you practice and are prepared, the easier it is to be polite. To be polite. There's a witnessing book that says if any side gets angry, you've lost. And that's polite. Say, hey, can we talk about this? Sure. But then if you start getting upset and heated, you could say, hey, this isn't being productive. Can we talk about this some other time? Or if the other person starts getting heated and angry, you say, hey, this isn't being productive. Can we talk about this some other time? And you can be polite like that, not only because you have the peace of God, but also because you are also patient. Patient. Every conversation isn't the last conversation you can have. God doesn't say, you don't close the deal now, I'll throw up my hands and say, aw, nuts. No, the Lord is in control. All of Jesus' illustrations about sharing the gospel are illustrations of farming. And I have never seen a seed grow faster with someone standing over it going, go, go, go, ⁓ no, it's not up yet. And you're patient. Scatter the seed, your water, your pray. You wait and you leave the results in the Heavenly Father's hand who reaps a harvest. You know, He wants all people to be saved even more than you do. And you know, all of these things, you get a lot of good preparation for it in church. Because what do you receive here when you get rattled? You come back to Jesus who says, bless you and keep you. I'll give you the peace the world cannot give. Okay, thank you. And when people are asking you questions, you've rehearsed the answers here in church. What do you mean? You believe God created the world in six days? ⁓ I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. ⁓ that's right. What, you mean someone can be sinful their whole life and convert in the last moment and go to heaven? ⁓ I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord. Yes, for us and for our salvation he came down. You believe that baptism actually forgives sins? ⁓ I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Yes, that's what I believe. You're being prepared for it here and you're patient because Jesus is patient with you here. Is this the last Sunday Jesus is going to let you come in and confess your sins? That's it. I've had it. I forgave you last week. No. The Lord is patient with you, always sharing His mercy and His grace with you, and that gives you patience to share the word with others and let Jesus do His work. So you can be prepared and polite and patient. And you share this word because Jesus has done so much for you. But you also share this word because you love other people. And this phrase, kick against the goads, it makes me think of this little comic strip from the far side. I just love it. It's the best one ever done. Can we get that slide up here? So great. says, Paul, it is hard for you to kick against the goads. And it makes me think of this. It's a far side comic. It says, mid-vale school for the gifted. In other words, for the smart kids. Smarter than everybody else, right? And this kid is here, super smart, and he's pushing as hard as he can against a door. And he's so smart, but he won't look up and see the word that says, poll. When Jesus came up to Paul, this is what he saw. He wasn't threatened by it. He felt sorry for the guy. Paul. When Jesus comes to us, this is what he's doing. When we get rattled by people in the world, ⁓ no, they're being mean to me, Jesus says, Paul, open the door of faith in Jesus. Walk through that door because there's peace there through the way and the truth and the life. Don't be afraid of them. And then when we look at others, And yes, when they're pushing against us, but not really against us, they're pushing against Jesus and they're pushing so hard and they're smart people and wonderful people and they are working hard, we can come up to them and go, you are smart and you are working so hard. but you should pull. Pull on that door. Just believe. Trust in Jesus. And then everything, everything will make a lot more sense. We could take away that picture. This just happened to my brother. He started a new Bible information class and all the people came in, but one person in particular marched right up to him and said, I do not want to be here. Say one word that I don't like and I'm out. And my brother was ready for that. Prepared, polite, patient. He said, ⁓ well then I'm so glad that you gave us a chance. Let me know if you have any questions afterwards. And he sat and he listened. And afterwards he came up to my brother and he said, that was a really good class. I'll be back next week. We get to be a part of that. It doesn't always happen in an hour. We trust the Lord. It took the disciples a week to convince doubting Thomas. that's not in our hands. We're just blessed to be there. We're blessed to have a life where we get to walk up to people who are pushing on that door and say, ⁓ that was me, and that is frustrating. Please just pull. A life where we have the peace that the world cannot give, and we get to share that with others. What a life. In fact, I think we could say maybe we'd be insane, we'd be crazy not to want a life like that. Amen.

Acts 26 · chapter mention Acts 26 · chapter mention Acts 26 · chapter mention