2005-05-01 — In His Steps!

Easter 5:
Date: May 1, 2005

Theme: In His Steps!

Relying on the gospel:
I. Discerning His will,
II. Going up to Jerusalem.
– Acts 21:10-14

– Ude, John

The Order of Worship:

Liturgy: TLH, p. 5 ff.

Hymns:

TLH 416 : Oh, That the Lord Would Guide My Ways
TLH 422 : Savior, I Follow On
TLH 412 : May We Thy Precepts, Lord, Fulfill
TLH 311 : Jesus Christ, our Blessed Savior
TLH 387 : Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice
TLH 309 : O Jesus, Blessed Lord, to Thee

Theme: In His Steps!

Relying on the gospel:
I. Discerning His will,
II. Going up to Jerusalem.

Sermon: Acts 21:10-14 And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, `So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ “12 Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”14 So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.”

In the name of Jesus May 1, 2005
What does it mean to walk in Jesus steps? In one congregation, every member determined to put into practice what every Christian should do. Each step of their life they would ask, “What would Jesus do?” and do it. The changes that followed in that congregation, city and county were phenomenal. How often are we really walking in His steps? Complacency, habit, and just plain negligence conspire against us. What impact would it have if we were completely walking In His Steps!
What a potent example of that we have in Paul’s discerning the will of the LORD and going up to Jerusalem. Probably every one of us has at times struggled for months to determine what Jesus wants us to do in a certain situation. We may seem to struggle while others seem confident. Six months earlier in connection with prayer and a plan to serve the LORD Paul had determined to go up to Jerusalem (Acts 19:21). Yet in every city that he went to the Holy Spirit testified that chains and tribulations awaited him if he went up to Jerusalem (Acts 20:23). I don’t know about you but I’d be wondering if this were testimony from the LORD, “It is not my will that you go to Jerusalem.” There were a whole lot of people convinced Paul was blinded by his own desires and needed to be warned that a good intent does not the will of God make. “Remember,” they maybe said, “when David intended to bring up the ark to Jerusalem. He did it to serve the Lord but Uzza was struck dead by the LORD because it was done in a manner contrary to God’s will.” Every where he stopped fellow Christians told him, “You’re wrong, God doesn’t want you to go to Jerusalem.” At Tyre they claimed their warning was from the Spirit. Agabus by the Spirit even bound up his own hands and feet with Paul’s belt as a warning of what would happen to Paul and they all pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. Paul could not deny the warning that a good intent does not make the will of God but he also knew that Christians saying, “It’s not the will of God,” doesn’t make it so. When King David was hiding in a cave from Saul psychotic attempts to kill him and Saul picked that one cave out of the thousands in the area to relieve himself, all his men said, “See the LORD has given your enemy into your hand.” But David realized that no matter how miraculous this was or how evil Saul was it was contrary to God’s clear will for him to harm his neighbor’s life, the Lord’s anointed. God’s revealed will is not to be sidetracked by our desires. The intensity of circumstances may lead us to think that God’s will is unclear and spin like a whirlpool between our own desires, other’s advice and our hazy thoughts about God’s will. We, like Paul, need the Spirit’s help to pray “Not my will but Yours be done”and do what Jesus would do. Paul was no masochist, seeking persecution to boast about. Like Jesus he avoided many a plot on his life. But when Paul asked himself about the present situation, “Would Jesus have gone up to Jerusalem?’ There was absolutely no doubt: “Yes, and so shall I.” Obviously there are many situations when Jesus may just as well have gone left as right, and so we may go left or right to the honor of Jesus. But the times we are really torn is sometimes because we are trying to drown the quiet voice of the Spirit with our own selfish justifications. Let’s face it. The biggest difficulty we have discerning God’s will is our own will, because walking in Jesus steps involves sacrifices we just don’t want to make. Like Paul, at every stop we make, all the alarms bells are going off: “That direction could be dangerous, doleful, even deadly. ” Like a torrential jungle stream we can rush for months along torturous curves of our selfishness and end up at the same basic spot, a few hundred feet away when 10 minutes of slashing through the dense undergrowth of selfishness would have gotten us to the goal. Good intentions and Christian advice can both become justifications for not walking in Jesus steps. May the Spirit give us the will to discern and walk in His steps.
Jesus whole life, all of His steps, were focused on going up to Jerusalem for us. From the cradle he was walking to the cross to give His blood for our sin, His suffering for our guilt, His life for our life. When the saving of souls required it, Jesus walked into hell in our place. Thus Paul’s going up to Jerusalem was the Christlike way, part of a great plan for the welfare of Christ’s Church. Being the apostle to the Gentiles had made Paul the center of controversy among Jews both within and without the church. Teaching that we are saved by grace alone without the works of the law, led many to misrepresent his teaching, as you heard in our scripture lesson, as a casting out of the law. Paul would not compromise grace alone, but he earnestly desired to preserve the unity of the Spirit. There happened to be a great need in Jerusalem for physical relief from famine and poverty. In love for the brethren Paul gathered gifts from all the churches to bring up to Jerusalem. In love for the brethren Paul saw those gifts, willingly offered by Gentiles for Jews, as a Spirit enacted demonstration of the miraculous unity of the Church, whether Jew or Gentile yet one in Christ Jesus. For Paul, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit did not mean making sure others did what he wanted nor merely following ecclesiastical rules for teamwork. It meant expressing love even at the sacrifice of his own life. It did not mean avoiding the truth to avoid making waves. It meant calling even those who hated him to recognize the gifts of Christ’s grace. Like Jesus, Paul willingly went up to Jerusalem though a cross lay before him to bring the gifts of God’s grace. The welfare of Christ’s church moved Paul to go up to Jerusalem in Jesus’ steps.
Let’s face it, Paul could have easily been so filled with anxiety about the plots on his life and the hatred against him, that he focused only on self defense. But filled with Jesus he focused on following in His steps. Instead of allowing Satan to fill our minds with the overheard remark, the unjust accusation, or the lack of appreciation we need to fill our hearts with Jesus going up to the cross for us and focus on following in His steps. Opportunities will arise that seem to justify avoiding the road to Jerusalem. Like Paul, at every stop we make, all the alarm bells are going off: “This road could be dangerous, doleful, even deadly. ” Thank God the dreadful anguish of the cross that brought drops of blood to His brow just thinking about it, did not turn Jesus to the left or the right of saving our souls. And there is only one way for us to thank God, walking in His steps. Amen.