Paul’s
Missionary Journeys
“Five
times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was
stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open
sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in
danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles;
in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in
danger from false brothers. I have
labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and
thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the
pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is
led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?”
These
are the impassioned words of the apostle Paul as he wrote his second letter to
the congregation in Corinth about what he had to go through during his
missionary journeys. And he wasn’t even done
yet! He had not yet finished his third
trip by the time he wrote this letter.
He would soon travel back to Jerusalem, be accused by the Jews,
arrested, put on trial, escape a plot against his life, be sent to Caesarea,
held there for two years without cause, be transferred to the Rome, experience
another ship wreck on top of the three he already mentioned, and live under
house arrest a couple different times in Rome.
Paul’s missionary journeys were not pleasant. His entire ministry to the people of this
world was not at all “fun.” And his life
apparently ended in the same way: he was murdered at the hands of his enemies.
But
what’s even more amazing about all of this is that Paul knew these kinds of
things were going to happen! The Lord
himself said about Paul long before he ever set out on his first journey, “This
man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their
kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for
my name” (Acts 9:15-16). Paul knew
he was going to have to suffer some awful things in this life as a servant of
God. He understood that there was going
to be a lot of hardships he would have to go through simply for being a
Christian. But that did not stop
him. That did not deter him from serving
the Lord in the way the Lord wanted him to serve. In fact, I’m not even sure that Paul took the
dangers and the persecutions into consideration. His attitude from the very beginning was that
no matter what he had to go through, it was all worth it. Listen to the story of Paul’s calling to
serve the Lord on his very first missionary journey:
A Deep Sense of
Gratitude
“In the church at Antioch there were
prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen
(who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and
fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work
to which I have called them.” So after they
had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. The two of them, sent on their way by the
Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed
the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.”
Paul was
specifically chosen by the Holy Spirit to take the Word of God that he knew so
well and share it with peoples and nations that had never heard it before. And that’s what Paul did! He and Barnabas and their helper John immediately
went to Seleucia, sailed over 100 miles to Cyprus, and began preaching the
Word. And by the time it was all said
and done, Paul traveled almost 7000 miles during his three missionary journeys,
not counting another 2200 mile trip on boat to Rome afterwards. Paul lived to serve his Lord. No matter how many troubles he had to deal
with and no matter how many miles he had to travel, he lived to serve his Lord. Because he remembered who he had once been.
Paul
never forgot about that road leading to the city of Damascus. Because that’s where the Lord found him. That’s where the Lord stopped him, appeared
to him, blinded him, and called him. That’s
where Paul was turned from an unbeliever into a believer, from a Christian
killer into a Christian missionary.
That’s where Jesus revealed himself to Paul and convinced him that what
he accomplished through his murder on the cross was for murders too. Paul was saved on that road. Paul was rescued on that road. And he never forgot it. In fact, Paul recounts the story of his
conversion in two separate sermons; throughout his letters to different
congregations he refers to himself as an apostle but one “abnormally born,” the
“least of the apostles,” “the worst of sinners.” Paul realized how fortunate he was that by
God’s grace he was now a child of God and was privileged enough to be called to
serve him in this wonderful way. And so
if Paul had to face persecution, it didn’t matter because he remembered who he
once had been. And if Paul had to face
some dangerous situations, it didn’t matter because he remembered who he once
had been. And if Paul had to face some
disappointing and discouraging circumstances, it didn’t matter because he
remembered who he once had been. Paul
was willing to serve his Lord so faithfully not because of his exceptional
personality and not because he was hoping to gain wealth or possessions or fame
from his work, but because he remembered what his Lord had done for the man he
once had been.
Remember Who
You Were
Remember
who you once were. You were once on a
road to Damascus. You were, at least at one
point in your life, an unbeliever because the Bible says you were born that
way, you were actually conceived that way.
And so no that you are a Christian is another testament to God’s
grace. But whether you were given that
gift of faith in your Savior at your baptism as an infant or brought to faith
through the written Word of God a little bit later on as a child or, like Paul,
you were grasped by the Lord through his gospel as an adult for the very first
time, there was a point when you were not his child. There was a time when you were his enemy -
whether knowingly or unknowingly. And
I’m included in that. We were, right
from the outset, headed in the wrong direction with nothing inside us to turn ourselves
around.
But then
the Lord stepped in. Then our God
brought the message of our Savior to our hearts in a truly miraculous way:
through the gospel connected with audible words or ordinary water. And he somehow softened our naturally
stone-hard hearts by persuading our souls that he not only exists, that he not
only created this world, but that he actually came down to this world as one of
us, that he actually suffered like one of us and was tempted like one of us and
died like one of us. Our God convinced
us through that powerful gift of faith that, in spite of what our minds say and
our intelligence claims and our logic screams, forgiveness is ours. Salvation is ours. Eternity with the Savior is ours. And it’s ours for free. Remember what your God did for the person you
once were. He sought you out; he grabbed
you; he turned you; he brought you into his arms; and he holds you there still. Remember who you once were. Remember where you once were headed. And don’t forget who you now are.
Different Ways
to Serve
You are
now an adopted child of your heavenly Father.
You are an important member of the body of Christ. You are connected with him and all of your
fellow believers in a very special way by the work of the Holy Spirit. And you are called to serve him by sharing
this message with the Lord. Yes! You are called to serve! Just like Paul was in the middle of the book
of Acts, you are called by the Lord himself to serve him in specific ways. Now that doesn’t mean you are called to be a
missionary to the world like Paul was.
Not even all the Christians in the first five verses of Acts 13 were
called to do that. But you will notice
in these verses that those Christians were all faithfully carrying out their
calling - whatever it may have been.
These
verses say that there were both prophets and teachers in Antioch: different
duties, different responsibilities, different callings. And out of those prophets and teachers that
are named only two of them were set apart by the Holy Spirit to go on this
first missionary journey. Paul and
Barnabas were given a special assignment.
But that didn’t mean that the other men were now unneeded. No, “After
they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.” That is a way you can serve too. You can pray for those who preach the gospel
around the world. You can put some
effort into going before your Father’s throne with hands folded and heads bowed
on their behalf. And that’s
important! Prayer is a key aspect of
mission work and every one of you here is perfectly capable of doing it! In fact, you’re called to do so!
But
that’s not all you can do. We see at the
end of our story today that Paul and Barnabas weren’t alone in their travels.
“John was with them as their helper.” But John wasn’t listed in the group of
prophets or teachers there in the congregation at Antioch. And he wasn’t called by the Holy Spirit to
lead the charge out into the unbelieving world on this inaugural missionary
journey either. But he still had a vital
role to play nevertheless. He helped
Paul and Barnabas. He helped them. And I’m sure that entailed a whole variety of
different tasks. But the bottom line is
that John served his Lord by helping those who spread the gospel. And John’s act of helping wasn’t any less
pleasing to God than the work Paul and Barnabas were doing.
There is
no reason you can’t do that, is there? There
is no reason you cannot help those who spread the gospel - and you can do that
in countless ways! Above and beyond your
prayers you can offer a few words of encouragement every so often or you can
give your financial support or you can send well-wishes of reassurance or you
can spend your time volunteering for the sake of the gospel or you can utilize
the talents and skills the Lord has given you on behalf of the gospel
proclamation in this town and throughout the world. There is no limit to the ways you can serve
your God by helping others preach and teach and spread his Word. Just look for them! Find those different ways you can pitch in
and help. And whatever you find to do,
do it willingly and enthusiastically and especially gratefully.
Serve in
Gratefulness
The men
in Acts 13 certainly did their jobs with grateful hearts: Paul preached,
Barnabas encouraged, John helped, Simeon and Lucius and Manaen prayed, a woman
named Lydia invited the apostles into her home, the congregation in that same
town supported them with their offerings, the jailor in Philippi gave them
something to eat, and so on and so on and so on. Thousands of different people contributed to
the work that went on in what we call Paul’s
missionary journeys; and every bit of that work was important. The Lord isn’t going to rank what you do in
this life over and against what someone else does. He isn’t so concerned about what is done than he is why you do it. And why would there be any other reason to
pray and help and spread this gospel about Jesus than a deep appreciation for
what God has done for you? He has saved
us with the gospel; what greater thanks can we give than to help this gospel be
shared with others? It is exciting to
think of all the ways in which we can serve our Lord in this way, isn’t
it? There are an infinite number of
possibilities and the Lord is pleased with them all. And so congratulations! You have been called to serve in the work of
sharing the gospel. To pray. To help.
To encourage. To invite. And there is a lot to do. And so let’s get to it together.
Amen.
“May the favor of
the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.” -
Psalm 90:17
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