Footsteps of Paul ~ 5 Big insights ~Mars Hill Athens

What does it mean when you are so influential that people want to retrace your footsteps? Saint Paul was that kind of man. I wanted to walk in Saint Paul’s footsteps; To maybe come to know a little of what drove and empowered him to share the Gospel of Jesus to “the ends of the earth;” to understand a little of what the Roman world was like at that time in history; and to better understand how one person can, literally, “Change the world.”

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some insights from this journey. The Christians near Jerusalem say that the land is “the fifth Gospel.” In other words, when you see the land and understand where the historical places are located, what the citizens were doing and what the geography looked like, then we can have a better understanding of the biblical witness. This is definitely true of Paul’s witness in the New Testament.

Can we change the world too? Paul believed that he was making a difference in the known world. He was commissioned by the resurrected Jesus to preach to the gentiles. We are all commissioned by Jesus, just sometimes that commissioning is less obvious than a blinding light and a stay in Damascus. An encounter with Jesus changes lives, and in turn, we are to be God’s agents to transform the world. What has Jesus commissioned you to do?

So, here are five big insights (amongst a dozen of them):

1) The area in which he traveled was so expansive! Yes, we know this in our heads, but to actually travel in the seas and go where he went by ship from Greece to Turkey; that gives new meaning when he tells the Corinthians he was  shipwrecked three times.

2) Paul was always adapting the gospel message to the local culture. Once again, we know this in our heads, but there were new insights in Corinth, Athens and Ephesus to some of the local customs which I will share in my next post. He spoke of those customs in his letters. For today, enjoy the picture from Mars Hill where Paul preached the sermon about the Unknown God; and explained that this God can be known, and his name is Jesus.

3) Paul was always looking to grow the Christian community. Community was important to Paul. You cannot be a Christian on your own. Paul worked hard to grow community in each city in which he preached the Gospel message. You cannot be a Christian on your own. The brothers and sisters of community help each other grow and help each other stay accountable. This is still as true today as it was in Paul’s day.

4) Paul was in tune and listening to the Holy Spirit in all of his work. If he had not heard the spirit’s calling in a vision he would not have gone to Greece (Macedonia). If he had not been listening he might not have been willing to go to Jerusalem at the end of his third missionary journey even though the Spirit had told him that prison awaited him. We always need to be listening for the Holy Spirit’s voice, which is still alive and well today. Leadership is important; using our God given talent is important; but we always need to be listening for God’s still small voice and not do what “we want to do.” How do we practice the discipline of listening to God?

5) Paul died a martyr’s death for political reasons. While he was arrested in Jerusalem for seemingly breaking Jewish customs, ultimately he was beheaded for saying, “Jesus is Lord.” Mike Slaughter brought this home in his teachings. Jesus is Lord is a political statement. There were many gods in the Roman world, all of them could be worshiped, but there was only one lord, and that was the Caesar. If Jesus was Lord, then Caesar was not. This was a political statement which cost Paul and many other Christians their lives.

I wanted to walk in Paul’s footsteps because the Risen Christ had commissioned him to change the world! Paul was commissioned to go and tell. Each of us is to go and tell; each of us is commissioned. How is Jesus commissioning you to change the world?

Unchained ~ Philippians 2

This picture, thanks to Mary Jane, is of the ruins of the jail in which Paul was imprisoned in the city of Philippi. We can read the story in Acts 16 of how the very jailer who was in charge of Paul’s incarceration also accepted Jesus into his life because of Paul’s witness. The church at Philippi was special to Paul’s heart. Hence we have the tone of love and thanksgiving in his letter to the Philippians. (If you missed last week’s sermon in Philippians 1 you can catch it here, click on sermon from July 27~ “A Life Worthy of the Gospel.”

As we embark on chapter two this week, I was wondering why this particular church and not the others that Paul planted, sent someone to look after Paul’s needs while he was in prison. After all, Paul wrote this letter to them while he had been in prison, probably in Rome. It suddenly struck me that the church in Philippi fully understood what Paul’s situation was because he had also been imprisoned in their own town. And it was the very jailer who had Paul in chains who then accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. That jailer and his entire family were now members of this church.  Now this church in Philippi, who understood what it was like for Paul to be in jail, had sent one of their own to take care of Paul’s needs while he was, yet again, incarcerated. Paul says, ^{25 “}But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.”

Is that not like our modern day churches too? Sometimes it takes us an experience of one being marginalized to fully understand what it means to be marginalized. Sometimes we do not really understand the suffering of others until we have experienced first hand what that suffering looks like. Once we understand, then we can get fully mobilized to send out a team to help.

Jesus calls us as his followers to be mobilized at all times. If the church waits, then what will happen? Nothing. Jesus says, “I have served you, now go and do likewise.” Paul calls us to have the mindset of Christ, who emptied himself to be nothing in order to be one of us. That is what the incarnation is all about. Jesus, who is truly God and there from the beginning, made himself to be wrapped in flesh to be with us in the world. How can we, the church, follow that example and be incarnational to others who are suffering in our world? Let’s not wait until we have an experience of suffering to be fully mobilized for God. Let’s move into action now. Think of how powerful we would be if all of God’s people moved out into the world sharing the love of Christ now!