I still remember this like it was yesterday.  We lived north of Chicago while I was in seminary, about 12 minutes from campus on a normal day.  There was never a ton of traffic, although it was thicker during rush hour like it is anywhere.   It had rained for 3 days straight, but I didn’t think a lot about it when I left for campus that morning.  I always left home with an extra 15 minutes so I could interact with other students before class.  A lot of ministry and learning went on before and after class, so I made this my habit.  I could hardly believe it, when I reached the end of our subdivision, that traffic was backed up farther than I could see.  I had never seen this before– ever.  I got in line, thinking there must be a wreck ahead, and that traffic would clear when we got past the wreck, but this never happened.  I inched along in my car, beginning to worry about being late for class– something which I hated.  What I later realized was that the river had overflowed its banks and covered all the east west bridges in water except for 2.  All the cars which normally took other routes were forced to take the same route, backing traffic up for hours.  I didn’t know this at the time.  All I knew was that I was going to be late to class, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.  I could feel the temperature inside of me rising, especially when the guy in front of me, who was in the left turn lane, put on his right turn signal– honk, honk was my response...  Those of you who have a type ‘A’ personality like I do are empathizing with me, while some of the rest of you are thinking– what was the problem?  The issue for me was ultimately control– I was out of control, and initially, I didn’t respond well.  The next morning I solved the problem by leaving an hour earlier and having my quiet time with the Lord in the chapel on campus instead of at home.  Lest any of you think I am a control freak, I do believe the Lord has helped me grow in this area, although I clearly have not been completely set free.
How do you respond when things in your world are way out of control?  This is the situation where Paul finds himself in our text this morning.  His response is instructive for us, as we see how Paul lives each day by faith, releasing control to the Lord, looking for opportunties to preach the gospel. 

I. Circumstances and innuendo create difficulty.

Paul returns to Jerusalem, because he believes this is what the Lord’s plan was for him.  He knows, because the Holy Spirit has revealed this to him through prophetic words in every church, that prison and hardship await him in Jerusalem.  Paul first meets with the apostles to share with them all the wonders God has done.  They praise the Lord for the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles through Paul’s ministry, and also share about the spread of the gospel among the Jews.  They are glad for this, of course, but then they share with Paul a false rumor, gossip if you will, which has spread among all the Jewish community– Christian Jews and those Jews who remained lost in their unbelief.  The message is that Paul teaches people to turn away from Moses’ teaching in the Torah, to not circumcise their children or to live according to Jewish customs derived from their forefathers in the faith.  This was not entirely accurate, of course, because Paul did not reject Moses.  He had accepted Jesus as his Messiah, who came to fulfill the law of Moses, to give us a covenant which is better than the first covenant.  No where did Jesus tell us to ignore the law.  Paul says that the law is good, as it reveals the will of God and not one part of the Word of God will not be completely fulfilled by God.  But Paul does say that the law cannot save.  The purpose of the law is to point us to the Lord.  The law shows us our sin, our need for the Lord to save us, by faith in God’s covenant provision for us at the cross.

In response to this gossip, the apostles counsel Paul to join some other Christians from Jewish backgrounds in a purification rite, showing that they affirm and observe the same standards for holiness they have always observed.  Paul does exactly as they ask, but it doesn’t help.  Paul is seen in the temple a few days later and an uproar begins.  When the uproar begins, the Jews also accuse Paul of defiling the temple by bringing an uncircumcised Gentile into it.  Again, this is a false charge, but because people had seen Paul fellowshipping with this Greek believer in Christ, they assumed Paul had brought him into the temple. This would have defiled the temple, from their perspective.
This is usually how division and hatred are stirred up, even in the church itself.  People interpret one person’s motives through their own baggage and hurt from their background and come to false conclusions; or they gossip– pass along negative information about a person who is not present in the room.  The worst thing is when people gossip in the guise of a prayer request.  At Trinity, we have tried hard to kill gossip, by asking each person, when they join the church, to agree to speak nothing negative about another person who is not present, until they have gone first to the person in question.  Then Matthew 18 gives a biblical pattern for further responses by a church session to deal with a brother or sister who is stuck in a sin.  This is good and biblical. 

So, how do we protect ourselves from believing false innuendo and from embracing wrong judgements about others?  I have already determined in my mind and heart that I am going to believe the best about every person, until overwhelming facts show me otherwise.  I know I am naive and I know that I am open to being abused by someone who may try to take advantage of this mind set I have chosen to adopt; but I also know that Jesus was full of grace and truth.  If I err, I want to err on the side of grace every time.  I guess people do not gossip to me, because they know I will stop it immediately, and require them to go to the person to make things right, as much as they are able.  Let’s all adopt a posture of believing the best about brothers and sisters in the body.  Let’s continue to lead with grace, and never stop extending grace to others.  Let’s refuse to listen to anything which is negative about others.  If something causes you to not trust someone, or to think negative thoughts about them, it is the sin of gossip.  This will keep us healthy and growing as a body of Christ.  I have seen churches where the backbiting and gossip have made the church a hate filled place.  People have taken sides on issues when it had nothing to do with them.  This sin has led to the division of churches and destruction of ministries.  I am not on anyone’s side, except Jesus’.  I want all people to be blessed.  I will speak the truth in love the best I am able, but I have chosen to err on the side of grace.  Matthew 18 is our standard here.

II. When life seems out of control, what do we do?

Has your life ever been this out of control?  Some Jews from Asia, who perhaps had heard some of what Paul preached, stir others into a frenzy. The mob violence grows as people grab Paul and begin to beat him, intent on killing him.  This grows as others hear what is going on and join in the abuse, until the Roman soldiers rush to bring peace to the scene.  The commander of the troops has Paul arrested, since the riot seems to center around him, chains him and asks what he has done.  The noise is so loud and there is so much confusion, the commander cannot get a clear answer.  The commander decides the only way he will be able to speak with Paul at all is to take him into the barracks, so the soldiers begin to lead Paul in that direction, until the rioters begin again to try and harm Paul.  The soldiers are forced to carry Paul, to keep the crowd from tearing him apart.  Have you ever been that out of control?  Is God still in control?  Does it feel like it to Paul?

I remember when a team from the church visited a Muslim tribe in northwest Uganda.  God was clearly leading the church to adopt this unreached people group, to take the gospel to them.  There were a few real Christians in the midst of the 150,000 Muslims in this tribe.  At one point in the visit there, we met with the Shake, the most powerful man in the village– the leader of the Mosque.  There were about 150 Muslim men standing around 6 of us, very close.  We sat in chairs facing the Shake, and he sat there and stared at us for 2-3 minutes without saying a word.  We were all praying under our breath of course, waiting for him to speak.  I think he was trying to intimidate us.  Finally, he spoke and said, “Aringa (the name of this tribe) is for Muslims.  That is all I have to say until I hear why our visitors have come.”  One of the wise national Christians spoke for several minutes for us, and then a few of us spoke about the relationship that God had given us with one another and about our desire to help the Aringans.  We didn’t try to share the gospel, but wanted him to understand that we were seeking to love them, supporting needs with food, water and educational needs among their people.  The Shake welcomed efforts to help the needs among this people.  As we were about to end, one of our men asked if he would permit us to take a picture of him.  The Shake waited and looked at other Islamic leaders in the circle to get their input.  I knew what was happening, so followed his eyes around the circle until I saw one of the men nod his head ever so slightly.  Then it was like we were his best friend, for the next 45 minutes, as we took pictures and laughed together.  We were completely out of control in that circle.  God gave me great peace to pray and watch and speak.  This was a God moment.  How do you respond when you are out of control?

Paul asks the guard to allow him to speak.  First he spoke with the commander, who allowed him to stand on the platform leading into the barracks to speak to the people.  He probably knew that they could quickly retreat into the barracks if they needed to do so.  Paul sees a huge crowd and loves these fellow Jews who have tried to kill him.  This love is from the heart of the Lord, so Paul wants the opportunity to share his story and the gospel with them.  He asks for this opportunity.

Paul’s personal safety doesn’t seem to be the issue here.  Most of us would react, “Just get me outta here!!”  Paul’s life is on the line, yet he wants to tell them about what Jesus Christ did to save him.  Paul, of course, understands their zeal to kill him, because he used to be the same way.  But, Paul also understands the power of the gospel to change their hearts, which is what he is hoping for.  He speaks in Aramaic, knowing that their mother tongue will do more to bring peace than it would if he spoke the travel language of the day, Greek.  They knew Greek, but Paul’s choice is a wise one, because the crowd became silent when he spoke in Aramaic, their heart language.  This would further identify Paul as one of them, which was his desire. 
Paul entrusts his life to the Lord and seeks to share the love of Jesus with others, even when he is completely out of control.  How do you respond when life is out of control?

III. Paul seeks to testify about Jesus, no matter what the situation.

Paul basically shares his testimony.  He tells them about what God did when he was acting under the authority of the Sanhedrin to persecute Christians.  He tells about the appearance of the Lord to him, which no one could argue with, because this was his testimony, the way God had worked in his life.  Paul boldly testifies about Jesus as Lord and the forgiveness of sins Jesus purchased for Paul at a high cost to Himself.  In no way does Paul shrink back from speaking the gospel.  He chooses words which are less likely to inflame the Jews, but his heart is to share the gospel so others can believe.

It is interesting that the Jewish crowd is silent while Paul is telling his testimony about Jesus, the Righteous One.  He doesn’t use Jesus’ Name, but it would have been clear to all that he was speaking about Jesus, the One who appeared to him on the road to Damascus.  They don’t react until Paul tells his audience that Jesus told him to go to share the gospel with the Gentiles.  At this point the crowd gets angry again and tells the commander to take him away and kill him because he is not fit to live.  When you and I hear that, we think to ourselves– those who want to kill Paul are lunatics.  Why would they be so angry at Paul?  They interpreted what Paul was saying as, “God has rejected you Jews now and made the way open to the Gentiles to be God’s chosen people in their place.  This isn’t exactly what Paul was saying, but again, they interpret things through their lenses.  Paul was saying that their rejection means an open door for the Gentiles.  It was God’s plan all through the whole Bible to include all peoples in His plan of salvation.  People don’t realize that many Gentiles believed in the Lord through the witness of Jews and were circumcised and became children of Abraham by faith.  This was still what the Lord was doing through Paul.  Jews were coming to know the Lord as well as Gentiles, which is the Lord’s heart, even today.  But Paul’s intentions are clear.  He wanted the chance to share the gospel with those who were trying to kill him, no matter what it meant for himself!

This has caused me to stop and wonder about my own heart.  I do want people to hear the gospel and come to saving faith in Jesus Christ, but when I am out of control, or feel in danger from someone, my intent is to get out of the situation, to regain a measure of control.  In other words, my heart’s focus isn’t on others, but on myself.  The other day, I was studying in my quiet time a passage from Hebrews 10:33‑35, “33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.”  The phrase which struck was “joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property...”  The Lord has been dealing with me on this.  What are we willing to lay down or give up so others might hear the gospel?  I think some of us are willing to share the gospel with others, but at our convenience, on our terms.  What I believe the Lord is saying to us today is, “I am calling on the people of God, those I have saved from death,to lay down their lives, to sacrifice themselves and their possessions so others might hear the gospel.”  The church in general is anemic, because we demand God on our terms.  We want just the safe side of God, just the nice side of God, but not the sacrificial side, the holy side, the just side, or the Judge side.  But you can’t have a part of God and reject the rest.  God is One.  He is a person, and you must embrace all of who He is if you are going to really experience the abundance He desires to bring to you.  Sacrifice is a part of knowing and following Jesus.  We are called to completely rearrange our priorities as followers of Christ, so we make time to know God through His Word and through focused, concerted prayer.  Our focus is not on our own wants or even needs.  We ask and trust God for our needs, but then give ourselves away, so that the love of God flows through us to others.  I fear that we are training our children in the church to live for comfort and entertainment, without counting the cost, without sacrifice which changes us.

So how are we to respond to this God who radically loves us, but who also calls on us to lay down our lives for His sake?  First and foremost, joyfully acknowledge that you are not in control, and that God is!  Rejoice that He holds you in the palm of His hand and nothing can snatch you out of His hand.  When you feel out of control, simply acknowledge that this is always the truth, but you simply are more aware of it now than at other times.  And declare that you trust Him...  “I trust you Lord.  I choose to get my eyes off of me and trust you!  You are God and I am not, so I simply lay down my life before you in faith!”  Second, as the sovereign God directs the affairs of your life today, tomorrow and the next day, ask Him for clarity on how you can be used by Him to tell others about Jesus.  Ask Him for His heart for the lost.  Tell the Lord that you will sacrifice anything to see another person come to saving knowledge of Christ– anything!  Start by prayerfully thinking through your priorities today– don’t wait, do it today!– and rearranging anything that is out of order.  What has a hold on your life which is not strengthening your faith?  What hinders you from sharing the gospel?  What hinders you from falling in love with Jesus more deeply?  These are the things which need to change.  You make that choice and ask God to do that work in you!  Ask for the presence and power of His Spirit to work in you and through you.  This is God’s will for you.