5 14 03

9:30

Acts 13

Paul and Barnabas are sent out to do their �mission� work. They went to various synagogues and preached about Jesus, talking about how the man Jesus was the God proclaimed of through the Old Testament and that He had the right to be called King.

Contrary to what many people seem to think, Jesus was not just a �poor carpenter�s son�, He was descended of David� He was of royal blood. (Acts 13:22&23) Many people think Jesus was just some �normal� or �average� human, but He wasn�t. He was/is the descendent of God and David. Jesus may have lived as a carpenter for a while, but He was royalty on earth as He is royalty in heaven.

They went through various towns talking about Jesus and preaching His message, preaching salvation through Him. There is a specific example of their mission in Pisidian Antioch where Paul and Barnabas preached of Jesus to those assembled in the synagogue. Their message was so encouraging and so well received that the Jewish elders of the church asked them to come back the following Sabbath. When they returned the following week, however, news had spread and the synagogue was filled to the gills, so to speak, with people.

When the Jews saw how popular Paul and Barnabas were (or rather, the message of Jesus) they were jealous. Can you imagine that? Here you are, going to church the way you do every week, hearing the same stuff every week. You like it, it�s comfortable and there are no surprises.

One week a guest speaker comes in and he is entertaining, encouraging to the congregation as a whole and in general brings a breath of change through the church. It�s good and fine and the change is nice. You go back to church the next week expecting it to be �normal� but there are no parking spaces, there are no seats and a whole bunch of people who don�t �belong� to your church are there. Not only are they taking up both the main room and the over-flow room, but they�ve left it standing room only.

These are a bunch of people who are obviously very odd. None of them (or at least few of them) are dressed properly, there are punks replete with dyed hair and spikes, there are unwed mothers with screaming children, there are homeless people, there are crippled people, there are so many people that you can�t get in without rubbing up against some filthy, unwashed denizens of the under-the-bridge-gang.

Suddenly, you realize that having a breath of fresh air, though the sermon was good and gave you more information in forty minutes than you�d had in the previous six months, was not such a good thing. Sure, you were hoping that maybe you could hear some more from these new and refreshing preachers� after all, these people were talking about how love was more important than �being good�. These people were preaching mercy and grace rather than just Law. Yes, the message was amazing and you had hoped to hear more� but there someone parking in your space and there�s someone sitting in your chair and there are all sorts of strangers, people with whom you would NEVER associate� and they�re not just looking on with mild interest and polite formality, but they�re applauding and cheering and *gasp* happy.

Wouldn�t that just be so very weird? Well, sometimes that�s what happens to us. It may be uncomfortable for a while, but if you can put your own comfort level on hold for a little bit, you might just learn something really cool!

Regardless, the officiators of the congregation were absolutely NOT interested in having such an interruption. They liked their mild, gentle, quiet little service. And, they didn�t like having to share their space or comfort zone. Atop that, they were jealous that so many people came to hear these new preachers and wouldn�t come to listen to them.

Interesting, no? How many times do we fall into that kind of scenario?

I remember when D and M came to services the Sabbath before Passover. It was offensive to P. BUT, though P was offended that day, he changed his style of preaching. He didn�t get jealous and isolate himself and run away from the big difference. He accepted God�s direction in his life and altered his own comfort zone.

I have new respect for P. I should tell him that some day.