ACTS 16:6-15

16:1  Paul went on also to Derbe and to Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer; but his father was a Greek.

2  He was well spoken of by the believers in Lystra and Iconium.

3  Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him; and he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

4  As they went from town to town, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem.

5  So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers daily.

6  They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

7  When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;

8  so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.

9  During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."

10  When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

11  We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis,

12  and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days.

13  On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there.

14  A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.

15  When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us.

How are you when it comes to solving riddles?   Here’s one for you.  Imagine you’re walking down the road of life and you come to an important intersection.  You can go one of three ways and there are three guides there to help you.  The first one is a pastor who never finishes his sermon until late Saturday night.  The second is a pastor who always has his sermon finished and ready to go by Thursday afternoon.  The third one is the Easter Bunny.  Which one of the three do you ask for directions?  The answer is simple.  You ask the pastor who never finishes his sermon until late Saturday night.  That’s because the Easter bunny and the pastor who always has his sermon finished and ready to go are both figments of your imagination.

As a pastor who almost always has his sermon finished and ready to go by Wednesday afternoon I have to say that I find that riddle is a little insulting.  The riddle though raise an important question that has to do with trust.  It isn’t always easy to trust people these days.  Dora Wilson found that out back on February 18, 1981.  The housewife from Harlow, England looked out her window and saw a couple of men loading her neighbors’ collection of Persian rungs into a moving van.  Dora knew that her neighbors were on vacation so she opened the window and hollered “What are you doing?”  The men replied, “We’re taking them to be cleaned ma’am.”  So, Dora asked them if they would also take her rugs to be cleaned as well and you guessed it.  The men were burglars.

It isn’t always easy to trust these days. How about you?  Do you find it easy to trust people?  How about trust when it comes to trusting the Lord?  That’s what the Apostle Paul had to do while he was on his second missionary journey. He had to put his trust in the Lord. It all started when Paul decided to head east and bring the Good News to the people in Asia Minor.  The Book of Acts though tells us that Paul was forbidden by the Holy Spirit to do that.  Then we’re told that he was forbidden by the Spirit of Jesus to bring the Good News to the people in Bithynia.   While all of that is going on Paul also has that famous vision where a young man from Macedonia says to him, “Come over…and help us.”  Now if you’re wondering what’s going on here the best thing to do is start by looking at all these places on a map.  When you do what you’ll see is that Paul basically wanted to go east while the Lord was telling him to in the opposite direction. In the words of Horace Greeley the message that the Lord gave to Paul was simple.  “Go west young man!  Go west!”

Now today it’s easy to understand why the Lord wanted Paul to go west.  If Paul had gone east he would have ended up bring the fledgling Christian faith into a part of the world where Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism were already well established.  On the other hand, by going west Paul ended up bring the fledgling Christian faith to a part of the world that was still largely pagan. So by going west Paul brought the fledgling Christian faith to a part of the world where it was able to take root and spread across Europe and eventually into the New World and beyond.

Of course hindsight is 20/20.   Paul didn’t know all of this back then.  So, he had to put his trust in the Lord.  He had to trust that going west was the right thing to do.

How about you? Do you find it easy or hart to put your trust in the Lord? What would happen if the Lord told you tonight to quit your job and go work for the Peace Corps?  What would happen if the Lord told you tonight to go back to school and become a minister?  If the Lord told you to take half the money out of your checking account and give it to the poor would you do it?  If the Lord told you to increase your pledge next week would you do it?  

Trust isn’t always easy.   So what made it possible for Paul to put his trust in the Lord and head west instead of east?  Before we answer that question consider if you will the following hypothetical situation.   It starts with a house fire in the middle of the night.  The fire traps a child in a second floor bedroom. The child runs to the window and begins to cry for help.  The smoke is billowing all around him and it’s hard to see.  Down below the child hears a voice yell, “I’m here.  Jump and I’ll catch you.”  Suppose the voice is that of a stranger.  Does the child jump?  Now suppose the person down below telling the child to jump is the child’s father. Does that make it easier for the child to actually do it?

The answer of course is yes.  It’s a lot easier for the child to jump if he knows that his father is the one who’s going to catch him.   That’s because the child knows the father.  The child has a relationship with the father.  The child doesn’t know the stranger.  The child doesn’t have a relationship with the stranger. That’s why it’s easier for the child to trust his father and jump into his arms.

Trust is a by product of the relationship that you have with someone.  The more you know the person the easier it is for you to trust the person.  It makes sense right?  So doesn’t it also make sense that the same thing is true when it comes to the Lord?  In other words your ability to trust the Lord really depends on your relationship with the Lord.

When your relationship with the Lord is healthy and strong it makes it possible for you to hear what the Lord is saying to you and trust that its what you really need to do.  On the other hand when your relationship with the Lord is wishy-washy and weak it makes it a lot harder for you to hear what the Lord is saying to you and trust that its what you really need to do.

That’s why it’s important to work on your faith every day.  That’s why it’s important to spend some time each day with the Lord who is waiting for you in the sacred stories of long ago.  That’s why it’s important to spend some time each day with the Lord who is waiting for you when you pray. That’s why it’s important to spend some time with the Lord here in this sanctuary that is full of peace for today and hope for tomorrow.

In his book Holy Sweat Tim Hansel shares this story. He writes, “One day, while my son Zac and I were out in the country, climbing around…some cliffs, I heard a voice from above me yell, "Hey Dad! Catch me!" I turned around to see Zac joyfully jumping off a rock straight at me. He had jumped and then yelled "Hey Dad!" I became an instant circus act, catching him. We both fell to the ground. For a moment after I caught him I could hardly talk.  When I found my voice again I gasped in exasperation: "Zac! Can you give me one good reason why you did that???"   He responded with remarkable calmness: "Sure...because you're my Dad." His whole assurance was based in the fact that his father was trustworthy. He could live life to the hilt because I could be trusted. Isn't this even more true for a Christian?”

When your relationship with the Lord is healthy and strong it makes it easier to hear what the Lord is saying to you and know that it’s the right thing for you to do. So, you’ll know when you need to go west.  You’ll know when the time is right to jump off a big rock and you’ll know when the Lord is telling you to increase your pledge.    By the way the Lord spoke to me this past week.  Since we began with a riddle I’ll end with one.  What did the Lord say to me last week?  I’ll give you a clue.  He didn’t tell me to go west and he didn’t tell me to jump off a big rock.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

May 5, 2013