Mission Accomplished

August 25^th, 2019        “Mission Accomplished”   Rev. Heather Jepsen

Summer Sermon Series: The Amazing Adventures of Paul

Acts 28

         Wow friends!  It is hard to believe that we have reached the final Sunday of August and the end of our summer sermon series, “The Amazing Adventures of Paul.”  This has been an exciting and informative summer as we have read nearly the entire Book of Acts in worship and have discussed all of Paul’s many adventures.   We’ve followed Paul as he was encountering Jesus on the road to Damascus and surviving a stoning and being left for dead in Lystra.  We’ve marveled as he prayed and sang his way to freedom in a Philippian jail and as he preached of an unknown god on Mars Hill.  We laughed and smiled as Paul preached so long in Troas that someone fell asleep and fell out of the window to die, only to be healed by Paul.  And we have held our breath as Paul has survived the constant threat of mob violence, torture, imprisonment, and trial.  Last Sunday we read about Paul’s dangerous sea voyage, leaving Caesarea under Roman guard and crash landing on an unknown island.  Paul’s faith was the only thing that kept him and his shipmates alive and today we find out what happens next in this, the last chapter of Acts.

         (Read Acts 28:1-6)

         The survivors of the shipwreck realize that they are on the island of Malta.  A common stop on the Roman shipping lines, the natives of the island have seen travelers like this before.  As a large fire is being built Paul helps out grabbing some sticks to add and unknowingly grabbing a snake as well.  As the bundle nears the fire the panicked snake tries to escape the heat, latching on to Paul’s hand in the process.  The islanders have been watching the scene and are sure now that Paul will die.  He is obviously a prisoner and has done something wrong.  Since he survived the shipwreck they figure karma is catching up to him now with the snake.  But Paul simply shakes the viper off his hand.  God still has plans for Paul to preach in Rome, he doesn’t have time for deadly snakebites!  For the second time in our story the people around Paul begin to wonder if he isn’t a god himself.

         (Read Acts 28:7-10)

         The man in charge of this island community, Publius, provides hospitality for the shipwrecked crew.  His father is ill, and Paul visits the man and offers healing.  It doesn’t take long for word of Paul’s power and status to spread and before long he has cured everyone on the island who was unwell.  Paul and his powerful God are a hot commodity wherever they go.  The community is thankful and loads up the ship with provisions once it is finally time to depart.

         (Read Acts 28:11-15)

         After three months the weather is finally right to set sail again.  The merchant crew and prisoners of Rome finally arrive in their destination.  Believers come to greet Paul from miles around and his spirits are lifted knowing not only has he reached his goal, but that God has already spread the good news of Jesus here in preparation for his arrival.

         (Read Acts 28:16-22)

         Even though he has arrived in Rome, Paul is not free, and he remains guarded at all times.  Under house arrest, he encourages the Jewish community to come to him to hear about his plight.  Once again he explains his case, that he is a loyal Jew, and has done nothing deserving imprisonment or death under either Jewish or Roman law.  The Jewish leaders though have heard bad things about this new movement and so ask to meet with Paul another time for more information.

         (Read Acts 28:23-28)

         So Jews from around Rome come to Paul’s apartment day and night and over and over again Paul explains his faith in Jesus and his mission to spread the word.  Following a pattern we are well familiar with, some believe and some do not.  Paul summarizes his time with them using a quote from the prophet Isaiah, claiming that this generation has shut their eyes and ears, and turned their backs on the God they say they love.  Again Paul declares that his mission will be to the Gentiles.

         (Read Acts 28:30-31)

         The story ends here, saying that Paul lived for two years under house arrest in Rome.  Though Paul is not free to visit the streets or the synagogues of the city, his mission has been accomplished.  He has had many visitors and has had the opportunity to preach in the great city, proclaiming the kingdom of God and the lordship of Jesus Christ to all who would listen.

         And so our story ends.  Scholars have often wondered why the author of Acts didn’t finish the story.  We don’t have a historical record of Paul’s death but the church tradition teaches that he was eventually beheaded by Emperor Nero, probably sometime between 64 and 68 AD.  Written sometime in the 80s the writer of Acts surely knew that Paul was killed in Rome.  And yet they leave the ending of their epic drama wide open, with Paul preaching the word in Rome unhindered.

         Throughout this summer sermon series we have sought to take inspiration from Paul’s story and I don’t think this week is any different.  Paul’s road from mob riots to shipwrecks has not been easy, and yet in many ways his challenges mirror our own.  We all know what it is to come up against seemingly unmovable obstacles.  And we all know what it is like to sail the stormy seas with only our faith as a guide.  Throughout his life as told in Acts, Paul has a firm grasp on two things: his deep faith in God, and his desire to share that faith with others.

         I think we can get a sense of Paul’s interior faith when we look deeper at his quote from Isaiah.  Paul is quoting Isaiah chapter six, and if you flip back in your Bible you will find that this is the part where Isaiah tells his own call story.  This is the story of a heavenly vision, of six winged seraphs, of loud voices of praise, earthquake and smoke.  The seraph touches Isaiah’s mouth with a hot coal and urges him to go to the people.  Isaiah cries, “Here I am, send me!” and God immediately tells him his mission will be a failure. 

And here is where Paul quotes him, “Go to this people and say, You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive.  For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn – and I would heal them.”  Isaiah knows that people will not listen to him, and here at the end of his missionary journey, Paul knows it as well.  He has made it to Rome, but the people here are no more ready to hear the word of God then the people of any other place he has tried to preach.

And yet, Paul’s mission is a success.  Paul preaches on.  He knows most people won’t hear and understand, he knows that most people will write him off as crazy or worse as a criminal, but he also knows that he has no choice but to preach the gospel.  The call within his heart is that strong, that nothing can stop him from telling other people about the love of God he has found in Christ Jesus.  What an inspiration.

I imagine that many of you can guess where I am going with this sermon, for we too live in a generation like Isaiah’s and Paul’s.  We too live in a time when people listen but don’t understand, when they look at things but don’t really see what is going on.  We too live in a time when people have closed their eyes and stopped up their ears to the truth.  We too live in a time when people have turned their hearts from God and reject the healing and wholeness that God offers.  And so we too, are called, to share our faith with the world around us.  We too are called to continue the mission and ministry of Paul.

I know it can be hard to talk to other people about our faith.  We Presbyterians are not known for our strong sense of evangelism, and yet this sharing is exactly what God calls us to do.  The hard part, at least for me, is a fear of rejection.  I am so afraid of someone misunderstanding, or judging, or getting in an argument that I just don’t say anything at all.  Here at church the light of my faith shines like a beacon, out in the world I am quite a bit dimmer.  Don’t get me wrong, I let it glow with good deeds and kindness, but I’m not a spotlight kind of gal.  I’m more of a “show them who you are by what you do” kind of person.  I totally admire those who can invite strangers and friends to church but that is not me.  God made me a pastor, not an evangelist.  I’m not Paul going out to find believers; I’m someone who stays behind to tend to the faith community.

But even though I am not Paul, I know I am called to share my faith with the world.  And of course, you are too.  Each of us is given a life, each of us is given a space for mission and ministry, and each of us are called to use the gifts we have to share the love of God with the world.  It’s hard work, because we know some won’t be able to hear us, but at the same time, we know that some will.  Just like Paul, some will understand and appreciate the word we share, and others will reject us outright.  There will always be those in the generation that are closed off to the love of God.

And so today, as we conclude the “Amazing Adventures of Paul” I want to invite you to consider the mission field you find yourself in.  From the freedom to preach to his years in chains, Paul never stopped sharing God’s love in the world.  How is God calling you today to continue Paul’s mission?  In your daily life, from work to home to those quiet moments when it is just you and God, what are you being called to share?  How are you being called to preach?  What acts of love and charity are God prompting you to do this week?  Who is God calling you to be in our world?

I believe that God is calling all of us to minister where we are in our own unique ways.  The mission of sharing the love of God isn’t just for Isaiah and Paul and it isn’t just for pastors like me.  The mission of sharing God’s love with the world is for everybody. 

The writer of the book of Acts ended his story not with Paul’s death but with Paul’s life.  Paul is proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.  My hope today is that we would be inspired to do the same.  That whatever hinders us; be it our fear, our shame, our lack of faith, our depression, our neighbors, or our world, whatever hinders us, may it fall away and may we preach the gospel as free people.      

As we close this sermon series I thank God for the amazing deep and abiding faith that Paul had.  It is a faith that inspires us, here and now, to be the people of God.  May we continue Paul’s mission and ministry, and may we share the love of God with the world, this day and forever more.  Amen.