In the first few verses of Acts 8, this guy named Saul (who we also know as Paul) approves of the stoning of Stephen (following on from events recorded in chapter 7), and Saul becomes part of a movement that is aggressively persecuting the early church in Jerusalem.
If you’re following along, I suggest reading Acts 8:1 as context for the start of this next mini-series of articles. At Pentecost, the good news about Jesus took root with thousands in Jerusalem. In Acts 5:16, we learn that people “from the towns around Jerusalem” were bringing the sick to be healed. In Acts 8:1, believers were “scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria”, and in Acts 8:4, we find that the scattered believers are sharing the good news even further.
Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
Acts 8:4 NIV
Do you remember what Jesus said in Acts 1:8. Let’s read it again.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:8 NIV
I’ve heard that there are weeds that regrow from parts of a stem or vine, so just pulling them up and tossing them in the yard isn’t going to get rid of them. If those (like Saul) who were trying to get rid of the church in this era thought that stoning Stephen and persecuting believers was going to stop its growth, well, the result was like chopping up what they thought to be weeds with a lawn mower, and spreading them out over the whole yard!
The key difference, though, is that it wasn’t weeds that were getting propagated and multiplied. It was the good news of Jesus Christ that was being spread further because people were driven away from Jerusalem.
By the way, a commentator [Reese, p.317, quoting Dale] describes how fleeing believers might be staying somewhere for a few nights and get asked, “What brings you here?” This would give them a chance to share their story. This begs the question: can we do the same when we are asked routine questions from others?
I don’t know about you, but I’m usually happy sticking to my usual schedule, doing the same things on specific days most weeks, visiting the same restaurants when we go out, and following a pattern. (I’m an engineer, after all.)
Despite the comfort that we find in routines, though, there are plenty of times when God wants us to do something different in order to achieve good things for His kingdom. When this is necessary, as we can see throughout the Bible, God will sometimes give us a little “boost” out of our comfort zone…out of our routine. You or I probably won’t be sold into slavery in Egypt, get thrown into the sea and be swallowed by a sea creature, talk to God at a burning bush, or be struck blind while traveling to Damascus. However, there are times when God must detour us from our typical habits, and shake things up.
It’s not necessarily comfortable, and a “divine disruption” might not seem like a positive change at first. Still, God is an expert at taking the unexpected and the uncomfortable, as well as the downright disastrous, and making good things out of them.
So, let’s allow God to push us out of our comfortable “Jerusalems”, and trust Him to know what He is doing. We don’t have to go looking for arbitrary change when He doesn’t present opportunities to us, but we must trust Him in the hard times that don’t make sense, just as we trust Him in times of blessing.
May we allow God to tell us what to do, and trust Him to get us through what we don’t understand, rather than telling Him what He should be doing. We can ask Him for what we seek, but ultimately it is His will that must be done.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for October 22, 2023
References:
- The Lookout, October 22, 2023, © 2023 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation.
- New Testament History: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Acts, by Gareth L. Reese. © 1976, College Press Publishing Company.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – Acts, by Dennis Gaertner. © 1993 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 