Written by: Andrew Wooding - Church Army

Acts 20 v 17-21
Now from Miletus Paul sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. When they came to him, he said, “You know about my life from the first day I came to Asia. You know the way I lived all the time I was with you. The Jews made plans against me, which troubled me very much. But you know I always served the Lord unselfishly, and I often cried. You know I preached to you and did not hold back anything that would help you. You know that I taught you in public and in your homes. I warned both Jews and Greeks to change their lives and turn to God and believe in our Lord Jesus.”

Notes
‘If you become a Christian you’ll be happy all the time!’ Have you heard preachers say things like that? If only it was true, but it isn’t.

Yes, I have a deeper joy from being a follower of Jesus, a deeper peace that helps through the hard times. But the hard times still come, and just like everyone else I have struggles, regrets, heartaches, arguments – I sometimes even cry. I don’t like soppy movies, but I have to confess that I did cry during the funeral for Mr Spock at the end of Star Trek 2. (Don’t worry – he came back to life again in Star Trek 3!)

Paul is seen as a super-Christian by many. He did so many heroic exploits in the name of God, preached to thousands of people in many different countries, and even wrote much of the New Testament. He was a hero of the Christian faith. Yet he confessed to the elders at Ephesus that at times he was ‘troubled’ and he ‘often cried’.

I don’t regret becoming a Christian, but I admit that at times it’s harder than when I wasn’t a Christian. Before I could do just about anything I wanted, but now, as a Christian, I want to follow God and do the right things, and that can often be a struggle.

How about if a preacher had said: ‘Follow Jesus and sometimes you’re going to be troubled, you’ll cry and you’ll find it difficult’? Would you still respond and want to become a Christian? The Bible never said it was going to be easy, and Paul was honest about the some of the struggles of the Christian life. But is it worth it? I can only speak for myself and say, ‘Of course it is!’

Acts 20 v 22-24
“But now I must obey the Holy Spirit and go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what will happen to me there. I know only that in every city the Holy Spirit tells me that troubles and even jail wait for me. I don’t care about my own life. The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me—to tell people the Good News about God’s grace.”

Notes
There’s the old joke about the schoolboy talking to his mother. He looks embarrassed and asks her: ‘Mum, would you tell me off for something I haven’t done.’ ‘Of course not, son,’ she answers. He looks relieved and says: ‘Oh that’s good, because I haven’t done my homework!’

Yes, we can all do wrong things (I do wrong things every day!) and we need to be forgiven for those. But we can be just as much in the wrong by not doing anything at all. In the Christian church, there is a category of sin called ‘sins of omission’. To ‘omit’ (or neglect) to do something that should have been done is seen as a sin – even if we haven’t done anything! But then, that’s the point.

Today we find out that there was something Paul hadn’t done. He had already done so many things in his ministry: travelled extensively, preached to anyone he could find, been put in jail, stoned, shipwrecked and more – the adventures of James Bond are nothing compared to those of Paul! But he told the elders at Ephesus that he still hadn’t completed his mission: ‘the work that the Lord Jesus gave me – to tell people the Good News about God’s grace’.

Paul felt strongly that he had to go to Jerusalem, even though he knew that ‘troubles and even jail’ were waiting for him. He wanted to be obedient to God, and didn’t want to be guilty of a ‘sin of omission’.

Don’t worry – God doesn’t call all of us to go to dangerous places like Paul. But ask God today if there’s something he wants you to do that you haven’t – maybe saying sorry to a friend, helping someone with their gardening, phoning someone up to encourage them, or spending time in prayer.

Acts 20 v 25-27
“And now, I know that none of you among whom I was preaching the kingdom of God will ever see me again. So today I tell you that if any of you should be lost, I am not responsible, because I have told you everything God wants you to know.”

Notes
Paul was a clever, educated man. He was good with words and used every opportunity to talk to people about the hope he had found in Jesus. This included the church leaders in Ephesus. He was certain he had covered pretty much everything he needed to say to them when he said: ‘I have told you everything God wants you to know.’

To Paul, telling people was important. In the book of Romans, he pointed out that for people ‘to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them … people hear the Good News when someone tells them about Christ’ (Romans 10 v 14,17).

When I’ve found something good, I want others to know about it. A new song on the radio, a great new film, something on the telly – I want to tell the people around me so that people can enjoy what I’ve enjoyed. But surely the most important thing to tell people about – infinitely more important than a song, a film or a programme – is our relationship with Christ.

Back in Paul’s time, Christianity was a new thing. How could people know about it unless someone told them? Arguably, we are living in similar times now, with Christianity not taught as much in schools and not as many people going to church. How are our friends or the people around us going to know unless we tell them?

Don’t worry if you don’t feel as educated or as good with words as Paul. St Francis of Assissi said: ‘Preach the gospel all the time. If necessary use words.’ Or to put it another way, sometimes actions speak louder than words.

Follow Paul’s example. Pray right now and see if there is anyone you can tell about Jesus today – either through your actions or your words.

Acts 20 v 28-31
“Be careful for yourselves and for all the people the Holy Spirit has given to you to care for. You must be like shepherds to the church of God, which he bought with the death of his own Son. I know that after I leave, some people will come like wild wolves and try to destroy the flock. Also, some from your own group will rise up and twist the truth and will lead away followers after them. So be careful! Always remember that for three years, day and night, I never stopped warning each of you, and I often cried over you.”

Notes
Now, here’s an interesting statement. Paul was talking to the church leaders in Ephesus. Instead of urging them to be good leaders, he told them that they should be like shepherds to the church. What does that mean?

Maybe it’s just the way my mind works, but immediately I can see in my imagination dozens of church members shivering in a large green field, a sheepdog chasing after them and the leaders forcing them to graze. I’m pretty certain this is not what Paul had in mind, and I hope it’s not like any church you’ve ever been to!

Obviously, Paul wasn’t talking literally. What he meant was that Christian leaders should have the same good qualities as shepherds. Two of those qualities can be seen in this Bible passage.

Firstly, they should care for the church members, just as shepherds care for their sheep. Paul commanded them: ‘Be careful for yourselves and for all the people the Holy Spirit has given to you to care for.’ What a responsibility.

Secondly, the leaders should protect the church members, just as shepherds protect their sheep from wolves and other dangers.

Do you feel cared for and protected by your Christian leaders? Or are you a leader yourself? Do you run a church, a house group, a Christian Union, a youth club or anything else where Christians look to you for leadership? If so, pray and ask God today how best you can care for and protect ‘all the people the Holy Spirit has given to you to care for.’

Acts 20 v 32-35
“Now I am putting you in the care of God and the message about his grace. It is able to give you strength, and it will give you the blessings God has for all his holy people. When I was with you, I never wanted anyone’s money or fine clothes. You know I always worked to take care of my own needs and the needs of those who were with me. I showed you in all things that you should work as I did and help the weak. I taught you to remember the words Jesus said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

Notes
Even people who don’t know the Bible can recite this well-known saying from Jesus that Paul reminds us of today: ‘It is more blessed to give than receive.’ In fact I often use it myself – I tell it to people when it’s coming up to my birthday or Christmas. I want them to be blessed by giving to me!

Well, I’m only half-joking. There’s nothing better than seeing something at a market stall or in a shop (a book, or maybe a CD) that would be just perfect for a friend or relative. Giving it to them is only the half of it – it’s the fact that you were thinking of them that means so much to them. And the satisfaction of seeing their faces at the unexpected gift, or reading their letters of thank you – well, it’s a feeling that money just can’t buy.

And as for money, if you don’t have any you can still give. Sometimes the things that don’t cost anything but come straight from the heart mean so much more. Things like a smile or a word of encouragement. Or practical things like babysitting for free or washing someone’s car.

Paul talks today about not just taking care of his own needs but those who were with him. He did not care about ‘anyone’s money or fine clothes’. He just wanted to ‘help the weak’, and to inspire others to do the same.

Yes, it is great to receive, and my birthday’s coming up in early July in case anyone’s interested! But if we are to take the words of Jesus and Paul seriously, let’s think of someone that we can bless today by giving to them.

Acts 20 v 36-37
When Paul had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. And they all cried because Paul had said they would never see him again. They put their arms around him and kissed him. Then they went with him to the ship.

Notes
This touching farewell scene - Paul saying goodbye to his friends who would probably ‘never see him again’ - strikes a chord with me. As I write these words, the main part of the 2003 war with Iraq has officially been declared ‘over’. How many of the British and US troops said goodbye to their friends and relatives, thinking perhaps that they would never see them again. And for how many did this turn out to be the case? Wives who will never see their husbands again because they died in the war. Parents who will never again see their sons and daughters.

It was the same with Paul’s friends, the leaders of the church in Ephesus. They knew that Paul was determined to go to Jerusalem, where trouble and most likely death would await him. They believed that they would never see him again, which made their goodbye all the more powerful. They even ‘put their arms around him and kissed him’.

Have you ever thought, ‘If only I could have told him or her exactly how I felt about them while I still could.’ There was a song in the charts a number of years ago called ‘The Living Years’ by Mike and the Mechanics. The singer described his regret at not telling his father how much he loved him while he was still alive. Now it was too late: ‘I just wish I could have told him in the living years.’

There’s a simple answer to this problem – let’s value the people around us while they’re still here. Our families; our loved ones; our special friends and colleagues. The leaders of the church in Ephesus made the most of their time with Paul. Let’s follow their example today and tell someone – now – what they mean to us.

Acts 21 v 1-6
After we all said goodbye to them, we sailed straight to the island of Cos. The next day we reached Rhodes, and from there we went to Patara. There we found a ship going to Phoenicia, so we went aboard and sailed away. We sailed near the island of Cyprus, seeing it to the north, but we sailed on to Syria. We stopped at Tyre because the ship needed to unload its cargo there. We found some followers in Tyre and stayed with them for seven days. Through the Holy Spirit they warned Paul not to go to Jerusalem. When we finished our visit, we left and continued our trip. All the followers, even the women and children, came outside the city with us. After we all knelt on the beach and prayed, we said goodbye and got on the ship, and the followers went back home.

Notes
Reading this passage has put me in the mood for the summer holidays. I want to sail all over, like Paul did, maybe stay with some friends, and then end up on a beach. I know Paul had much more serious intentions than relaxing in the sun with some mates – he had serious and potentially dangerous work to do in Jerusalem. But all the same, after reading these words I want to leave my cold living room in Yorkshire and end up on a beach somewhere, with a good science fiction book or a CD in my Walkman. A big icy helping of Cherry Coke wouldn’t go amiss either!

One of the things I like most about today’s Bible passage is that once Paul and his friends got to the beach, they ‘knelt down and prayed’. Is praying one of the first things you think of when you get to the beach? I lived in Worthing on the south coast for three years, and sometimes in the evening I would walk down to the sea and end the day with prayer. There was something relaxing about listening to the waves while looking up at the night sky – it helped me feel closer to God.

This passage shows that Paul and his friends believed that their Christian faith was for the whole of their lives - not just when they were in church, but every day of the week, wherever they were – even on the beach!

Have you ever seen someone reading the Bible on a train? Saying grace in a restaurant? Do you restrict your Christian faith to the times you’re in church, or is it a natural part of your everyday life that can be seen at school, in the office, or wherever you are?


word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes