Virtue was not convenient

Title: “Virtue was not convenient”
Text: Acts 14:1-22
Worship Text: James 5:7-8
Picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Chess_knight_0965.jpg

Introduction: The fear sets in…

Ever since I was a little kid, there was a simple question I loved to think about. “What do I want to be when I grow up?” Did you ever think about that question? Do you even remember thinking about that question? I know in some way even now that thought passes across my mind, not as much anymore. And I think the reason for that is because when you’re young. You sort of have your whole life to look forward. You get the luxury of dreaming big, because so much of your life is yet to be decided. I remember when I was little, I still remember it to this day there were three things I always wanted to be…

The first was a pilot… yes even in my shortness… Who wouldn’t want to be a pilot… to defy gravity to take people from point a to point b every day and the travel the world almost wherever you wished. But then I got Microsoft flight simulator and tried flying from Hawaii to LA and realized how borring it was so that killed that idea.

The next was a kid actor… and I actually did rather well on this one. Sure I never made it to the big screen, but I picked up a lot of skills and met a lot of great people… Learned how to polish my smile and slate before the camera.

Finally in high school I wanted to be a lawyer, I learned over time that I was graced with the knack of speaking and I thought to myself, if I could persuade a whole classroom to vote in my favor in a debate, then surely I could persuade a jury box with a well worded argument. And that is how my life to become a pastor all got started.

But in all seriousness you have to smile at those dreams… They are so unfettered, so pure, so free. You see as we get older reality begins to set in and we start to realize that there is something called time, there are assignments, there are due dates, there is grade point averages, there are bills to pay, there are mortgages to consolidate, there are car payments, and insurance for almost every single thing that you own and don’t own yet… and of course our dear Uncle Sam, who you pray will never wake up from his slumber and look at you, so you dutifully pay your taxes just to keep him smiling in his sleep. This is all from a bachelor’s perspective; the list is easily five times longer if you are married!

This is a lot to deal with and if not eased into it, it is easy to get overwhelmed like we talked about last time. But one thing we tend to do that worries me the most is that we allow all this pressure to turn into fear. I know I have been there. But not just a little bit of healthy fear, but we turn it into a god of fear. The kind of fear that you worship, the kind of fear that you would literally sacrifice your life for (both physical and spiritual).

You see over time you become so worried about falling “behind” in life, that whatever the world asks you to sacrifice, you do it, for fear that she will spit you out! This fear of the world becomes an idol that takes the place of God in your life, and over time we get so used to paying homage to him over and over again.

Allow what I say next to offend you if need be… if it saves you then it is worth it… but if you allow this to continue for the rest of your life, you are a coward. You’re weakling. There is something about walking with the Lord that tells me that there is something bigger than this world. Walking with Lord I know my God is indeed… bigger than the air I breath. I learn that that there is something called righteousness… that there is something called virtue… that there is something that later on all the world will see… he is my Glorious.

And as faithful as I want to be to the Lord in righteousness there is a battle that goes on within me between a fear of the world… You could look at it as a contest, or even a competition. I believe this is a battle we all fight… (unless you are completely disconnected from this world) while we are not of this world, we are in this world… and called to minister to it like a sick person in need.

Today I would like to…

Outline: Paint a similar type of picture…

First: Setting of Paul’s first story
Second: A problem which was presented to Paul
Third: How he dealt with the issue
Fourth: Finally I will conclude with why this is so important…

Since we have a lot to cover, let’s get right into the text

Starting with the setting…
THT1: In life there will always be the desire to gain the upper hand. In other words, when put to the test, there is always that desire to succeed.

READ: “Acts 14:1-7 At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed. 2 But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders. 4 The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. 5 There was a plot afoot among the Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. 6 But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, 7 where they continued to preach the good news.”

I like to call this a healthy stress, a lasting pressure, a drive. I always try to push myself in the things that I like the most. Whether it is my sermons, my work load, I enjoy keeping it challenging, keepin it real. This “healthy stress” keeps me sharp, on the spot, where I need to be.

Look at the work Paul puts in at v. 3… the NIV claims that it was a “considerable amount of time” and time well spent, preaching and presenting signs and wonders from the Holy Spirit… this “is” hard work… Paul’s virtue to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ does not give him a license to be lazy, but rather it serves as a purposeful motivation to work hard for the Gospel. This is a healthy pressure or a healthy stress, that motivates you to stay sharp, ready always to give an account for the hope that is inside you! What can not be missed is that this motivation is derived from the virtue of faithfulness to the Lord. This is just one of many values you might hold to, but certainly your faithfulness to God ought to trump many any of the other values you might have.

What also catches my eye as I read this passage is v. 4 which states that at the very end, after all the dust settles, the conclusion is that there was a divide between those that believed the Jews and those who believed the Apostles. By now you should be well aware that after Stephen denounced the Jews, in Acts Ch 6 and 7 there has always been considerable animosity between the two groups. It is this same opposition that almost got Peter killed that is until God broke the chains.

Between these two teams one for the gospel, another against… this really is the thrill of the chase. This tension, this kind of stress motivates young guys like me to be a part of the church. You see young people like me want to be a part of a movement… call me a millennial or whatever you like, but if I were to ask myself, why should I wake up in the morning, the truth is there has to be some sort mission in the inbox folder in my walk with Christ. Amen!?!

Fortunately the Bible is full of stories where God goes head to head with powers in this world and the fact of the matter is, God always wins.

Join with me for a second to Matt 16:18, just before Peter is given the keys to the gentiles Jesus affirms a promise that even death, Hell, and Satan himself will NEVER be able to stand against the power of God demonstrated through the church.

READ: “Matthew 16:18 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

Isn’t it good to know that you are on a winning team? That was just point number 1, next though we see…

THT2: In the advance (of the Gospel) there will be opportunities for you to compromise on your virtues for fear of failure within the world. Because in the back of your mind a little birdie tells you that “you can’t make it” you say to yourself… I will take a shortcut… there has got to be an easier way.

Here was Paul’s temptation and test…

READ: “Acts 14:8-13 8 In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10 and called out, "Stand up on your feet!" At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. 11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.”

Now you might think it is crazy… how could one man with one really excellent speech MOVE people to think that they are gods? It seems crazy doesn’t it? Not really. Think about President Obama… whatever you think about his views, he literally moved a nation of young people to his side by the power of his words.

For the people in Lystra that Paul was speaking to, they themselves lived with the expectation that “great people” would show up… you see they lived a life of fear, that if Paul and Barnabas were deities, and they did not show these two the “law of hospitality” that they as a city would be judged as the ancient account of Metamorphoses suggests… We constantly see this “law of hospitality” in the OT. It was the same law that caused Abraham to accept the two angels near Sodom. It was the same law that caused Lot to give up his daughter in order to protect the strangers that he gave an oath to. This was a value that the people of Lystra also held to regardless of the cost or sacrifice…. But it was a value placed on fear… fear of destruction and fear of the world.
Flat out if you were to seen the priest of v. 13 sacrifice his offering to Paul no matter what he might have thought, it would of looked pathetic. But an opportunity for Paul to capitalize on the situation. To compromise his own faithfulness to God and MAKE the people in Lystra BELIVE without a shadow of a doubt that the two of them were gods… and by being gods they would be forced to believe in the gospel out of fear in the world.

The real test is whether you can maintain the values and virtues you choose to live by from the very beginning. This is why your promise your commitment to the Lord FIRST is so important because there will be circumstances in life that will tempt you to compromise on the core of who you are and you better have some sort of foundation there or else you will crumble and look pathetic. Now I am not trying to motivate you out of fear but I am trying to tell you why you should care about the kingdom of God coming… it is because it will test your 1) choices, 2) reasons, 3) motivations, and finally 4) foundation in Christ. This foundation is built on your values… Look at what we find in v. 14-17 where Paul refuses to compromise because he lives for the Lord. This ends up being our mandate to…

THT3: Always live for the Lord and do not make fear your god.

READ: “Acts 14:14-17 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15 "Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. 16 In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy."”

All glory all honor, all power goes back to HIM. It is always like that, it will always be like that… Paul was so close in making the same mistake Herod almost made… but in this case he passed with flying colors. Paul knows that the reason he lives is to point people back to Jesus. It is not to have a good time, it is not to teach your kids, it is not to make money, it is not to have a family… the point in life is to point everyone back to HIM! By the way we live, by the way we talk, by the way we think, by the way we pray…. Daily we give up our lives to God so that we might truly live. We do this of course… regardless of what happens…

THT4: Regardless of the consequences.

READ: “Acts 14:18-19 18 Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them. 19 Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead.”

Say it with me… “I am not afraid…” say it again “I am not afraid” Say one last time, “I am not afraid” why??? Because Psalm 27:1… the verse I was baptized under… “Psalm 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation-- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life-- of whom shall I be afraid?”
Do a little dance… do little jig because you know come what may… come what may you are free to say it is all about HIM! You can say this with a clear conscience, you can say this with a clear heart… because you held to your values…. Because you hanged in there when it was tough…. Because you did not compromise with your faithfulness to God even though you REEEEEEEAAAAAAALLLLLLLYYYYYYY wanted to take the shortcut…. It is good to smile with the Lord is it not… It is good to be a peace in your soul…. You see regardless of what transpires… regardless of the consequences… regardless of who you might have offended because you are humbly protected in the character of God you have no fear… and THIS is your testimony…. This is the story you will be able to tell over and over again to your kids and grandkids and their grandkids…. And both you and they will LOVE it!!!

THT5: For this is your testimony.

READ: “Acts 14:20-22 20 But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe. 21 They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said.”

Look at how v. 27 finishes our section up… there was “strengthening” there was “encouragement” and both were intended to build on their pre-set value to stand true in the “faith.” Paul closes with a side note that it will not be easy, nor was it meant to be easy. For many of us including myself, we need a kick in the pants. When it comes to our family, good, friendships, good, work good, mortgage, good, kids, good, but our faith… lazy… pathetic… This is a bad sign because it shows you worship a god of fear, a fear of this world. And I know for a fact that God hates laziness in all aspects of life but what gave us the bright idea that we could be lazy in our faith… is it because we will not see the consequences until the very end when our spiritual lives will merit zero eternal rewards?

I love the words of the King of France that we started with today. He said “A king migh move a man, yes… but your soul is in your keeping alone. When you go before God you can not say that virtue was not convenient at the time. This will not suffice. Remember that!”

Allow me to close with this story.
I used to live is a cul-de-sac in Arcadia. If you do not know what that is, it is basically a dead end street, one way in, one way out. Everyday I would walk home from my high-school, there was a man named Bill who would be always raking leaves on his lawn. Now I don’t know if you guys know old people, but when they talk they can go on and on and on. Bill was no different from this, and there were days that I tried to sneak by him… true story. But in most days being so stressed from school I look forward to be drowned in the stories of other people. And every time I listened to Bill day after day hour after hour I learned so much from him, because these were his stories, his testimonies, these were the “greatest hits albumn” of his life. And I really liked it, it kept me interested to learn more.

As we close today ask yourself whether you are willing to faithful to your values because you do live for the Lord. That regardless of how things turned out, because your were faithful, this would be your testimony, you story to strengthen and encourage others to focus on Christ. Think about this as Donald plays and I encourage you to get lost in a sea of memories in order to pick out your very own “greatest hits album”