“Go Where God Calls, and Forget the Rest!”

Scripture: Acts 16:4-10

As I read over this passage a couple of times this week, I started to realize that it could take us in a couple of different directions. It could go to growth in the church, it could be about doors that open and close in our walk with Christ, it could be about visions and other spiritual gifts that God gives to us. But the thought that came out on top was one of obedience.

Obedience is one of those concepts that can be perplexing at times – especially when we are getting mixed signals from various authorities in our lives. Is our boss expecting one thing from us, like working 75 hours a week, but we believe that our families need something totally different? Do we have simple hopes and desires for our home life, but our family and friends are insisting that we should become much more complex and diverse? Is society demanding one response from us, while we feel that the Lord is calling us to a different standard? Who do we listen to?

Discovering the truth of what is right for us is never a simple endeavor – it must be a life long journey, and sometimes it is a major struggle. Amen? And discerning God’s Will for our life isn’t any easier. Sometimes we need extensive study of the various alternatives. Other times, we need to listen to the advice and guidance of Christian friends and confidants.
It is never easy, and the proof that we are finally in God’s way is not that everything is going smoothly. The winds of change will, at times, blow directly into our face and will try to make us go where we don’t want to go. The attitudes and advice of those who are closest to us may very well contradict everything that we believe to be true.

And sometimes we get so caught up in needing to do exactly what is right, and avoiding everything that is wrong, that we miss out on the joys of walking with Christ. The Pharisee Saul was committed to doing everything that the law said was “right”, and he never discovered the joy of Yahweh. But when he came face to face with Joy on the Road to Damascus, the apostle Paul began serving in a whole new way.

Read Acts 16:4-5

When Paul finally came to the truth of Christ, it all began to come together. Obedience wasn’t just an obligation of faith - Christ had freed him to serve in joy! He no longer had to be the one who was making the decisions. He could depend on the disciples, who were based in Jerusalem, to pray about what was to happen, to pray about the decisions that had to be made, and to convey the responses from the answers to prayer honestly and faithfully to those who were ministering to the world. And what came of it?

The church was being strengthened in faith as well as in numbers. The leadership was listening to God, and obeying His Will for the Church. Were there problems? You bet there were! There were those who wanted to blend Christ into Judaism, and expected all who joined them to adhere faithfully to Jewish traditions and practices. There were those who taught that followers for Christ had to have a secret and special understanding of faith if they were to be true Christians – they were known as Gnostics. There were others who simply tried to use the Church for their own gain – for their own benefit. But true growth in the Church only happened when the people were faithful to Christ’s teachings, and not to the ways of the world.

The Church also discovered that if they were to follow Christ, they also had to be Christ-like. Satisfaction with the way it had always been was no longer acceptable.

Grace Jantzen writes – According to his biographers, Francis of Assisi was a fastidious young man. He was horrified by poverty and by all forms of suffering, but nothing raised his revulsion so much as leprosy. If he chanced to see a leper while he was out riding, he would dismount, hold his nose, and send a messenger to give some alms.
Then one day, at the beginning of his conversion, he came unexpectedly upon a leper on the road. His first impulse was to recoil, then he remembered his desire for discipleship. 'He slipped off his horse and ran to kiss the man. When the leper put out his hand as if to receive some alms, Francis gave him money and a kiss.'
This was for Francis a significant turning point in his understanding of Christ. Now that he had identified himself with Christ and with the lepers, in action and not merely in theory, his practical understanding of the incarnation deepened in direct proportion to his active obedience.
-Grace Jantzen, AIDS, Shame and Suffering, Embracing the Chaos, 23-24.

It was no longer Francis’ decision – he had turned his life over to Jesus Christ, and was allowing Him to lead.

Read Acts 16:6-8

Perhaps Paul and his entourage felt that no matter where they preached the gospel it was the right place. Why wouldn’t it be? Didn’t the entire world need to come to know Jesus? But apparently, God had a different idea and a different plan! Doors were being closed, and Paul, to his credit, didn’t try to force them back open. Instead, he followed the leading of the Holy Spirit, wherever it might take him.
But we still need to ask – Why shouldn’t the message be carried to Asia? Didn’t the people of Mysia and Bithynia deserve to hear about Jesus? It appears that it isn’t about whether they needed to hear or not – they obviously did – but there was just as obviously a more urgent need elsewhere.

The apostles had set their own thoughts and desires aside, and had committed their mission to serving Christ wherever He might have need of them. What a lesson! I don’t know about you, but I always seem to struggle with what God wants from me. It always seems to require a lot of prayer and a lot of time before I even begin to sense His will for me. I envy Paul and others in scripture who seem to have such a good, solid grasp on God’s call to them. I also suspect that the writers of scripture may have simplified the process that these great examples of faith went through to know and acknowledge and follow their calling. And yet, I wish I could be more certain at times. How about you? Are there any who don’t struggle with this issue?

Read Acts 16:9-10

Paul knew and he acted, just as so many others have. Abraham began preparations to take his son Isaac to the mountain to sacrifice him the day after he was called by God. The Samaritan woman who met Jesus at Jacob’s well became an instant witness after the Lord had revealed the truth of her life and offered her a living water to sustain her. And who did she witness to? The very people who had condemned her every day of her life. On the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit had touched Christ’s followers, was there any hesitation on their part to begin sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ? Hardly! They immediately went outside, and Peter began to preach like he had never preached before. And 3,000 were saved that day!
None of these faithful knew what would come from their commitment to follow a very difficult, and even stange path, but they went just the same. They all had known without a doubt, just as Paul did in our reading today, that “God had called them” for some purpose, even though they didn’t understand it at the time.

Is this a frightening concept? Of course it is! Why wouldn’t it. Any venture into the unknown involves a risk, and most of us are risk adverse by our very nature! But we also must know that we will never be stepping out into a void, and that we will never be stepping out alone. God has a plan, and all we need to do is to take that first step in faith, and then let God do the rest.

Will you take that step with me? Not only is God with us, but we must go out into the world to proclaim His glorious name together, as His Church. And we must never look back!