Luke is the guy who wrote the book of Acts. He was a doctor by trade and was probably led to Christ by Paul. Being a doctor, he is highly educated, and gives lots of details that scholars have appreciated for years. The above is one of those verses that seem like a simple fact to help us further give depth to the story. Well, It does that, and much more!
The context of this chapter gives two miraculous accounts done through Peter. One where he heals a paralyzed man, and the other is when he raises a dead woman. Both are very significant miracles. Peter is a celebrity at this time. People are coming to him asking him to do incredible things. If it were me, I would be feeling pretty important, and would likely let it go to my head. I would probably send out a press release telling people that I raised a dead person last week. “Come to Genesis Church and see what will happen next…” “Miracles in the Spokane Valley…” I suppose Peter has learned some important lessons because it appears that he is rather humble about the whole thing. How do I know? Look where he chooses to stay.
He stays with Simon, who is a tanner by the sea. This is not the sea of Galilee, but rather the Mediterranean sea. It’s in a town called Joppa, the same place Jonah fled to when God told him to go to Nineveh. I am sure Peter, the former fisherman, likes being on the beach (and likes the guy’s name), but the reason Simon lives on the beach is not because he runs a deep sea fishing outfit, or owns a Margaritaville resort. Simon’s occupation is that of a tanner. Tanners make leather out of animal skins. It is notoriously known for being a smelly job. The rotting carcass’ and the chemicals used produced a pungent aroma that most wanted nothing to do with. The reason he lives by the sea is probably because the sea breeze will blow the stench away from the house and shop.

If I was Peter, the famous #1 disciple of Christ, the only other person who has walked on water (yeah, that would be on my business card…), the one who is able to do these kind of miracles, I would have likely booked a 5-star hotel, and played the VIP card. Peter, however, chooses to stay with a guy who happens to be the most stinky guy in the region, and has one of the most disgusting jobs around. Not only that, but staying there would likely render him unclean. Jews had very strict laws about cleanliness. If a Jew were to touch an animal carcass, then he would be ceremonially unclean until evening – not a huge deal, but he had to bathe and could not take part in various aspects of Judaism. So, Simon the tanner and his family were perpetually unclean, and also alone. Even today in more primitive cultures, the workshops and homes of tanners are required to be outside of town because the stench is so strong. Pharisees would have had a field day with a disciple living in that kind of a setting, but Peter doesn’t seem to care. Why not? Probably because he had learned from Christ how much it didn’t matter what other people thought. If the Pharisees didn’t like Jesus hanging around prostitutes and known thieves, who cares? Peter was also learning that lesson, and chose to stay with an unpopular family.

But why? Why stay there? It is noble to be kind to people who are considered…undesirable. Isn’t that enough? Why take it to the next level, and choose to live with someone like that, especially when you don’t have to? Was it to keep the Pharisee’s away? To keep the crowds down, or to just escape and try to catch some fish?
I have to speculate, but I think it’s because no matter how big Peter gets, he is still humbled by the fact that Jesus chose him, and he would still rather be around other humble people. It doesn’t seem like he is all that interested in impressing anyone at this point, and knows full well that God is not impressed by pretenses. Peter will struggle with this again later, but for now he seems to get it. God is impressed by people who will love the unloved, and show compassion to the undesirables and lonely people of the world.
We don’t know anything more about Simon the Tanner, except that he lived by the sea. Oh yeah, it just so happened to be at his house where God chose to reveal to Peter that he was done with this whole unclean thing – forever!
One day while Peter was on top of Simon’s roof praying, God gave him the vision of all the unclean animals that he could now consume, and that he can go spread the gospel to Gentiles as well as Jews. It took three statements from Christ to convince Peter that he could now do this. This revelation was huge, it was a change in what God had told Moses himself! The instructions given would have massive ramifications to the followers of God. That encounter now gives us the freedom to have some bacon, shrimp, or even a camel burger if we were so inclined. I think God chose to give him that revelation at that time because of his faithfulness to follow Christ’s pattern of love for the unloved.
Not only does God notice our hearts when we do things for Him, he greatly rewards a heart that is so much more concerned about his thoughts than anyone else’s.

We have talked a lot about prayer here at Genesis. Jesus spends a considerable amount of time talking about it toward the end of the Sermon on the Mount. As I studied these passages in preparation for preaching, I was forced to ask some hard questions, both with what the passages say, and what I know from my own experience of prayer.

I hate to say it, but this verse disturbs me a bit as I hold it up against a passage I had to preach on not too long ago. “Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you…” I won’t go into that much now, but this story of Peter doesn’t exactly sit well against those promises.

If you know the story, you know that an angel appears to him and the chains fall off in jail. There are sixteen soldiers watching him, and yet they all “sleep” through the escape. The angel leads him out of the prison into the city and then disappears. It’s a wonderful example of answered prayer! Unfortunately for the guards, they all are executed for letting their prisoner escape.

What disturbs be about this passage is actually the second verse in the chapter. Acts 2:2 – “and he [Herod] had James the brother of John put to death with a sword.” That action pleased a lot of Jewish authorities, and so he goes after Peter. James is not quite as well known to us as Peter, but that may be because he was the first Apostle killed, and it was pretty early in the history of the church. Prior to the Disciples became Apostles, James was one of Jesus’ top three guys. It was fairly normative for Jesus to take Peter, James, and John on special events without the others (Mount of transfiguration, healings, Garden of Gethsemane…).

Why did Jesus spend so much time with these three? I think it’s safe to assume that it was probably because they were going to be the leaders of the Apostles and the church. If these three were going to take such an important role, why did James have to be the first to die, and die so early? Some estimate that it was a full decade or more after Christ’s resurrection, but we really don’t know. As we read Acts, it’s pretty early on to see any of the apostles die, much less one of their leaders.

So, were there people praying for James also? Definitely! We don’t know how much time passed between his arrest and execution, but there were certainly people praying for his deliverance. So, why were their prayers answered for Peter (complete with angel and self-opening doors), whereas James saw no such blessing, rather the edge of a sword swinging toward his neck, and then …heaven?

Why would Jesus even put so much time into James, knowing he would be so quickly executed? Is that inappropriate to ask? I know, I’m thinking “efficiency”, not necessarily value of human life. But, why did God answer the prayers offered for Peter, and not those offered for James? Were more righteous people praying for Peter than James? Were there more of them? Did they have more urgency in their prayers the second time? Did everyone just mistakenly assume that James would be delivered like before? I realize I am asking questions to which no one has the answer, but that’s what happens when it comes to the issue of prayer. Why will God sometimes answer our prayers for lost keys, but not for a lost child (and vice versa)? Sometimes he will miraculously heal a believer of a terminal illness, but not another. Well, I can’t wrap this one up with a nice little bow of an answer. I can only come to the conclusion that God is good, and much wiser than we are.

Did good come from James’ death? Yes. Though I won’t know the majority of what that is until I can ask him. What is amazing is that despite these questions that have plagued believers for thousands of years, the Bible is unashamedly bold in the instruction to aggressively pursue requests in prayer.

Faith.

I was having a conversation this week with a guy who raised an interesting argument. He said that there was no evidence outside of the Bible that Jesus ever lived. I let him know the names of a few historians that do talk about him, and that there is more than enough evidence that Jesus did exist.
It is one of those notions that seem to be gaining ground in the world. A movie was recently released which makes this assertion. I find it fascinating that people are buying into that idea. How can anyone insinuate that a man whose influence has literally changed the course of history, never existed in the first place? I guess it’s kind of like the belief that the holocaust never happened, and that man never landed on the moon.
We as Christians, of course, believe that Jesus was a real person, who really said the things he did, and lived, died, and then lived again. In fact, it is an essential aspect of our faith. If Jesus was not a real person, then we have nothing to believe in!
Some had asserted that Pontius Pilate was not real until 1961 when archaeologists found a limestone inscription giving him credit for rebuilding a theater. Some of the historians who lived during the life of Jesus or shortly thereafter talk about him and are critical of his followers. Josephus, a Jewish Historian hired by Rome, mentions Jesus. Tacitus, a Roman historian, makes a comment about the Christians, and the guy who started the following. The Jewish Talmud (history of Judaism) talks about him, and other names like: Suetonius, Lucian of Samosata, Thallus… and more, all acknowledge his existence, although they don’t have nice things to say about him.
I bring up these accounts because they are vitally important to disprove the above rumors. Unfortunately, however, proving that Jesus did, in fact, exist still does not win the battle. It is, at best, only half-way. Jesus is part of history, but unlike Napoleon, Alexander the Great, or Columbus, he is very much more a part of our personal history, and that will always be as important as the historical record. In other words, has his existence made a marked difference in our story?
The passage above is part of a message that Paul is giving to a synagogue on his first trip as a missionary around the Mediterranean. Paul makes the assertion that Jesus did live, die, and was resurrected, and then he follows it up with the important statement, “We bring you the good news…”
Is the fact that Jesus died and came back to life, good news to us? The fact that in real time, and space, there was an empty, Judean tomb early on a Sunday morning, changes everything! It changes everything about our lives, and hopefully it has over the years of our individual existence. For Paul, this “Good news” altered his life in more ways than he could have realized, and consequently, it altered our lives as well. That good news, or “Gospel” is so good; that we bring it to other’s and change the course of each person’s future history.

Ever find yourself fighting against God? I suppose we do that in every instance we are wrestling with any temptation, but in this verse above, the guys were trying to get into Asia (Modern day Western side of Turkey). They were headed toward a major city that would have been a great place to preach the Gospel, Ephesus. Unfortunately, God said, “No”. They also wanted to spread the Gospel in a region to the north, and again, God wouldn’t’ let them.
They kept moving westward, hoping all along to get into Asia, and ended up at a place called Troas. These guys were rather frustrated because they are on this missionary trip, much further than they had gone the last time, and they are doing all of this for one purpose, and that is to preach the Gospel. Now, God is not letting them preach. How? How does God forbid you from preaching? There are a bunch of people I wish God would forbid from preaching! More importantly, however, why? Why would he prevent Paul, of all people, from preaching? Why wouldn’t he allow his missionaries to preach in these important places? Don’t these people need the Gospel also? Why not let them go into Ephesus? Of all places, why not Ephesus? Paul did get to go there later on in the journey, and he stayed a long time. He had a huge ministry there with a lot of people responding. The book of Ephesians was written to them.
It would seem to me that if Paul was willing to preach the Gospel, just let him go for it, wherever he ends up, or at least point him in a direction. After all, it’s hard enough to get people who will tell others about Christ. Paul and the others obviously thought it was important to go there. These guys are following God’s leading, but God is allowing them to bump and stumble their way through Asia Minor. If they can discern that God is forbidding them to go the way they want, why isn’t God revealing to them the direction he wants them to go? In other words, why is he just saying, “don’t go there” again and again, why isn’t he saying, “Go over there”?
God eventually does give them a vision in Troas to go into Macedonia, but it takes hundreds of miles, and who knows how many weeks or months of frustration before they finally discern were God wants them to go. It seems like someone going down a corridor with a blindfold on. They eventually make it, but only after bumping into all of the walls along the way.
Can you relate to their experience? It feels like life to me! We have these desires to follow God, but the journey to get to the promised-land seems to me a never-ending set of mixed successes and seemingly fruitless endeavors. “What do you want?!” has come out in my prayers more than once. As usual, I don’t have all the answers to why God works the way he does, though it is comforting to know that Paul went through the same things. There is something about the journey that brings things out in us that can’t be found any other way.
My family and I are about to leave for some vacation time. I am sure we will have some “adventures” along the way! Our move from Mobile to the Spokane Valley had so many challenges to it we half-jokingly questioned if this was really God’s will. When the moving van is attached to a tow-truck, and you are frantically searching for keys in the snow and subzero temperatures for 45 minutes, you begin to ask some hard questions. “God, um, we are trying to do your work here… can you help us out?” (never did find those keys).
There is a fascinating little detail in this portion of the book of Acts. During the narrative, the pronouns in Acts switch from “They” to “We”… These “we sections” help scholars to discern where in the narrative the author shows up. It was in Troas that they met someone named Luke, the guy who ends up writing the book. Luke doesn’t tell his own story. He doesn’t even mention anything about himself, but because he is now in the story, it is natural for it to be “we went…”. The implications of this seemingly insignificant word change are huge. Because of their meandering down those Roman roads, they share the gospel with small groups of people wherever they are. These small successes may not feel like any great revival, but at times these small victories in the midst of frustration, bear more fruit than some of the greatest times of the spirit’s moving. If they had never met Luke, we would not have Acts or Luke’s Gospel (Which is the only one which has most of the Christmas stories).
I can’t think of any great thing that happened when we were searching for those keys, but sometimes our simple acts of faith, or obedience in the midst of meandering will have eternal results we would never have envisioned.

For the past few years I’ve attended a local conference, which takes place at Life Center Church. It is a teleconference put on by a Church in Chicago and the speakers are both Christian and secular; all talking about leadership. It was very inspiring and informative.
One of the speakers, Seth Godin, was particularly interesting, and his talk was thought provoking to say the least! The one thing, however, that struck a chord with me was the focus of his talk about artistry versus production. I can’t sum it all up, but essentially he was reassuring us that we are all artists, but most of us are just in a job where our creativity is squelched for the sake of keeping things easy for the management. He challenged us to pursue our artistry, and give it away.

Celebrating our uniqueness is not a new a theme to consider, but the idea of giving away our best work is rather novel. I don’t know the spiritual condition of Mr. Godin, but what he is saying has strong biblical support.

Any leadership position is the place where, among other things, you get to hear criticisms of the organization. Everyone wants his or her experience in your ministry to be perfect. I am no different, and expect those people in society who serve me in religious and secular organizations to do their best. When they don’t, they hear about it, either by my verbal or written concerns, or by simply not seeing my money any more.
When I encounter it on the receiving end, I get defensive. I can try to come up with more than enough excuses why the performance they were experiencing may have seemed sub-par. That’s just how we protect ourselves.

Another defense mechanism that I grab onto is anger. You know the pity party we love to celebrate at times. “I don’t have to take this…” “They don’t pay me enough to put up with this…” “Beggars can’t be choosers…” “I want my mommy…”
In those instances when we get defensive we are also inclined to pull back on our best work. “They don’t deserve my best!” “Why should I put this kind of effort in when it is so unappreciated?” “I will just put my efforts in other places.”

I suppose there are times when we should evaluate our efforts, and see how efficient we are being with our resources. Ministry, however, may often feel very inefficient. It demands a different measuring stick for excellence.

Judas was a smart businessman. When he saw a year’s wages of perfume being “wasted” on one guy, he protested a bit. Think of how much your family made last year being spent on one bottle of perfume, and then imaging some girl spilling it all over someone’s feet. I think all of us would gasp a bit at such an inefficient use of “God’s” money. What poor stewardship!

Jesus, however, reprimanded him for such common-sense thinking. Why? Because service to Christ isn’t about efficiency, it’s about extravagant worship. When we are tempted to pull back on our best work because those people don’t appreciate what we do, that’s when we are most in trouble. Our ministry, whatever it may be, has very little to do with how much someone appreciates it. When it becomes about who will like it, or praise us for it, then we are in a tenuous situation. Christ gave strong warnings about that kind of service – “they have received their reward” (Matt 6:2). What God is asking of us is to give our extravagant worship in our spiritual service to Him. Even in ministries where no one will ever know the time and energy we put in we are called to give our utmost. Whether it is in our job or at church. To care for a Sunday School class of boys or girls with all our heart, to go fully out of our way to make newcomers feel welcome, or to clean the church so that no one’s eyes catch any spider webs, or burnt out light bulbs, it is all a gift to God. We may be inclined to do our absolute best if someone pays us enough for it, but God is asking for our greatest work to be done for him, and given away to those who will never fully appreciate what’s been given.

Brad

Which side of a pair of scissors is more important? Which wing on an airplane do you need most? In a rowboat, which side needs the oar most? I hope these are rhetorical questions for you, or else we need to talk.
During my pre-ministry life, when I worked in a handful of different jobs to pay my way through Bible college, I have to admit that the above questions weren’t so obvious for me.
I would go to classes and study the Bible, theology, Greek, church leadership… and then I would get my uniform on and serve tables, cook, work a shift…etc. As I interacted with other employees, I became great friends with many of them, and almost everyone knew I was going to school to be a pastor. Knowing this, and seeing my good Christian behavior, they all lined up to hear me share the gospel. I really wish it happened that way (and yes, I was a pretty good Christian). I was not afraid to talk about my faith, and I even discussed it with other Christians as we had opportunity. The other people, however, who were not Christians, respected me and would apologize to me if they ever said a bad word or inappropriate joke around me. They warned each other that I would be the one standing at the pearly gates deciding who would go in and who wouldn’t.
I honestly felt like I was doing exactly what I was supposed to, knowing 1 Peter 3:15 – but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

This is a wonderful verse, but the only problem is that… they don’t ask. I am sure they did in Peter’s day. People were being martyred, miracles were happening, and everyone was very curious about this new “way” as it was called. In my jobs, however, no one ever came to me and asked me how to go to heaven, or who Jesus was. Some would occasionally bring up something, but usually for the purpose of starting a debate. I don’t know that they weren’t interested, but the waiting game was not making a difference.

In the verse at the top, from Acts 8, the people were scattered because they were being persecuted in Jerusalem. They went to Judea, to Samaria, eventually to the ends of the earth (Sound familiar?). As they were scattered, they preached. I don’t know that they got up in a church and after the worship team finished five songs, and the kids were dismissed, that they gave a three-point message. “Preach” means to proclaim, or tell. It is simply communicating an important message. As people went, they told. They certainly lived their faith also, but for them, that wasn’t enough. They knew they needed to show and tell. One without the other doesn’t work well, like half a pair of scissors, or one oar, or one wing on a plane…
In my last full-time job before my first pastorate, I had already been working there for several months before I decided to be more intentional about telling others about my faith. I figured that it would be a long time before I would work side-by-side with so many who didn’t go to church. I admit that I was motivated more out of obligation than love, but it wasn’t long before that changed. I prepared for my martyrdom knowing that I would be killed, fired, or at the very least hated for telling my co-workers about Jesus. I didn’t do it on company time, but individually during lunch, coffee breaks, or after work. Since I was already a friend with them, it was not awkward to invite them to talk with me. I intentionally led the conversations to ask them about their spiritual viewpoints, and then told them what I believed, and how to get to heaven. Within a week and a half, I had “witnessed” to over a dozen people, and lived through it. In fact, all of them appreciated it, and asked lots of questions. I gave Bibles to a few of them, and though I only worked a few months longer there, all of our friendships deepened greatly. One guy even asked me to do his wedding (I had to decline).
I have to admit, I didn’t enjoy working in factories, restaurants, or stores all that much, but God put me in those places, which meant I was entrusted with a divine responsibility to share with my co-workers about my hope. We didn’t keep in contact after I left, and so I don’t know where they are now, but I know that I did what I was called to do and if I get to see them in heaven someday, I know beyond all doubt, that the thrill will vastly outweigh the fear I went through in that factory lunchroom.