Thought for the Week: Sermon on the Sabbath

Paul and Barnabas leave the island of Cyprus and sail northward. When they land, John Mark leaves them. Remember he was their apprentice-servant. His leaving may not seem important. Unfortunately some time later it becomes a pretty painful thing. More about that later.

They now move inland a bit and high into mountainous territory. They arrive at another Antioch. This one is known as Antioch of Pisidia. On a Sabbath day, these two men sit down. Worship is a part of their make up and they wanted and needed to worship. The service begins and there is a reading from the Law and then another from the Prophets. This may have been the normal pattern. But something else happens. The leadership of the synagogue has noticed these two strangers. They are invited to give a word of exhortation: in other words to bring a sermon.

Now I find that somewhat daring. In my years of preaching I have never felt that if I saw strangers seated in the service, I would invite them to bring the sermon or even to give a word of testimony. If I knew them, or a trusted member knew them, perhaps but it would not be very likely to happen. But here is an opening for Paul and Barnabas. Paul stands and begins an address. It will become a full sermon and one of the few recorded in the Book of Acts from Paul.

I will attempt to bring it in three parts and each part begins with something like these words: "Men of Israel and ye that fear God..." The first part is contained in verses 16 through 25. It is a brief history lesson. He begins with the nation of Israel in bondage in Egypt and takes them through God's deliverance. Then there is the wilderness journey of forty years. God's brings them into the Promised Land, giving them victory over the heathen nations who had lived there. He takes them through the 450 years of the judges up until the time of Samuel. He then makes note of the first two kings: Saul, the one they demanded who failed God and them, and David, the man who was after God's Own heart, who fulfilled the will of God. He reminds them God promised to King David one of his offspring would become Israel's Savior.

Skipping almost one thousand years of history, Paul takes them to the preaching of John the Baptist. His preaching was a message of repentance. But contained in that message was the expectancy and promise of the One coming who was more worthy than John. Repeated inside this segment of Paul's message the implication is that Israel had continually failed God and failed to be the people God had wanted them to be.

Have you ever sat under a sermon where the preacher never mentioned your name but was continuously stepping on your toes? It was like that. I believe Paul wanted to bring them under conviction so later in his sermon he could give them an opportunity to know God had an offer of forgiveness and freedom for each of them. Good sermons should do that: bring us under conviction first.