There is so much to meditate upon in this week’s pericope. Today, I want to draw your attention to a few of my thoughts on the passage that concerns some of the missionary journeys of Paul and Barnabas. We will start reading in Acts 14:
Acts 14:21 They preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.
23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.
24 After passing through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. 25 And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.
26 From Attalia they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had just completed. 27 When they arrived, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they spent a long time there with the disciples.
Apparently, in the Greek, verse 28 says something approximating “and they spent no little time there with the disciples.”
It’s a short sentence, but is stirring some longer thoughts within my mind today. First of all, I wonder what Luke means by “no little time.” Most Bible scholars say that the events we are reading about today in Acts 14 happened in 45 or 46 AD. And they also place what we will read about in Acts 15, the Jerusalem council, between 51 and 53 AD. So, even if they fit in other missionary travels that are hinted at in some of Paul’s epistles, but not explicitly named in Acts, it still means there were more than likely several years of fruitful ministry in Antioch, in addition to the other places they planted churches and appointed elders/pastors.
Reading the book of Acts is a bit like watching a “highlight reel” of a football game or a boxing match. In a highlight reel, there is a fast-talking enthusiastic person narrating carefully curated bits of video footage. The viewer is treated to a quick summary and whirlwind tour of all the big moments in the event that is being covered. It is also knit together with quick “jump cuts” and even split screen edits with scrolling stats and helpful drawings to give us the maximum amount of information in the shortest amount of time.
But, when I read seemingly “throw away” statements, like “they ministered there for a long time”, I feel like camping there for a moment, out of respect for the text. I think about the things that are implied but not mentioned specifically in Scripture, and it helps me to relate to these great apostles as normal people, like you and me, doing extraordinary ACTS by the power of the Spirit of God.
-During these times of discipleship and training, I think of all the meals that had to be prepared in days where there were no microwaves and no McDonalds, and all the time that was involved in eating, talking, cooking, cleaning, and the many other things that go along with feeding hungry (spiritual and physical) people.
-I think about the “day jobs” of people that often consisted of back breaking labor. I think of how spiritually hungry these new Christians had to be to work full days in the blazing sun over Asia Minor, sometimes for a mere pittance of a wage, and then hurry to someone’s home to listen to Paul and Barnabas teach the Word of God late into the night. We will find out later in the book of Acts that Paul had so much to say that he could literally teach all night, and then leave at sunrise to get to another city and another house church in which to minister. He was the “energizer bunny” before batteries were ever invented! But not everyone shared his stamina, and some would even fall asleep during his long sermons. The story of Eutychus falling asleep and falling down out of a window to his death curiously brings comfort to pastors like me. In fact, remembering that even the great apostle Paul sometimes put people to sleep with his sermons is a great encouragement to me most Sunday mornings.
-I also think about all the “ancillary” ministry activity that took place. I wonder how many times Paul and Barnabas were called to the home of one of the believers' families to pray for a sick child, or even to conduct a funeral. And for that matter, how many times did doors open for them to share the Gospel in the homes of unbelievers? Each one of these “divine appointments” took time. What about all the prayer meetings that Paul or Barnabas invited the disciples to participate in, and the times of worship they led? All these things took time, and I can imagine, since we are talking about flawed human beings here, there were some discouraging moments as well.
There are many other things that filled each day in the process of spending “not a little time” with those first Christian disciples, but none of it was wasted. Instead, every ordinary, inconvenient, tiresome and even awkward moment was redeemed by the Lord and ultimately served to pull the Kingdom of God forward as the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ was built, “line upon line and precept upon precept.”
What does that mean for us? We are all life-long works in progress and we need to remind ourselves of that when we are tempted to evaluate the work of Valley Christian Church too harshly. It is a sprint, not a marathon and we will only see our own “highlight reel” in Heaven. So, the best thing for us to do, is to take a deep breath, refocus on what we are called to be and to do, and recommit ourselves to spend “not a little time” on knowing Jesus and making Him known.
PRN: Thank you Father that you make all things beautiful in your time. We trust in your faithfulness and believe that you are leading and guiding us, transforming us and conforming us to image of your perfect Son, Jesus Christ. It is in His Holy name we pray. amen.
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