This morning we conclude our series in Acts and we begin with a test. Yes, a test. Actually, a couple of tests that deal with famous statements and ‘last words.’ However, they are tests that frame the important issue of finishing well in life and St. Paul’s intention of finishing well as he faced the unknown in his return to Jerusalem for the last time.
Here is our first test. (Overhead 1) On the overhead, is a list of famous people, three of whom made the ‘famous’ statements I am about to read.
I will read each statement and then ask you to tell me who said it. Ready? Here we go!
1. "Who the [heck] wants to hear actors talk?" HM Warner
2. "I’m just be glad it’ll be Clark Gable who’s falling on his face and not Gary Cooper." Gary Cooper
3. "No flying machine will ever fly from New York to Paris." Orville Wright
Now for test number two. As with test number one, here is a list of famous people.
(Overhead 2)
Thomas A. Edison
Winston Churchill
PT Barnum
Lou Costello
Bing Crosby
Humphrey Bogart
FDR
Oscar Wilde
Woodrow Wilson
Leonardo DaVinci
Now, here are there purported ‘last words’ they spoke before dying or rendered incapable of speech. Who said what?
1. How were the receipts today at Madison Square Garden? PT Barnum
2. I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis. Humphrey Bogart
3. I’m bored with it all. Winston Churchill
4. That was the best ice-cream soda I ever tasted. Lou Costello
5. That was a great game of golf, fellers. Bing Crosby
6. It is very beautiful over there. Thomas A. Edison
7. I have a terrific headache. FDR
8. I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have. Leonardo DaVinci
9. Either that wallpaper goes, or I do. Oscar Wilde
10. I am ready. Woodrow Wilson
Thank you!
Our text for this morning contains one of the most emotional scenes in the Bible. Paul is heading back to Jerusalem one final time as he completes his third and final missionary journey through the Mediterranean world.
As he arrives in Miletus, a port in what is now western Turkey, on what he believes is his final trip to Jerusalem (this is implied in verses 22 and 23) he sends for the leaders of the church in city of Ephesus around 30 miles away. Now earlier in this final journey, Paul encountered some very severe opposition that nearly cost him his life and that of some of his aides.
Paul presents in his messages to people one God who is the creator God and who stands apart from creation. This is in direct opposition to the teachings and practices of many communities such as Ephesus, in which worship of many gods (small ‘g’) is practiced. Gods who were a part of creation. And it gets Paul noticed in some not very nice and good ways. Why?
It threatens the social and economic order of a community. For as we read in Acts 19, when people turned from the pagan worship of the god Artemis and to Christianity, there were some people who felt it in the pocket book and it got them angry (and no this is not a sermon about money and the church).
So as we read in verses 23 through 41 of Acts 19, a man named Demetrius, who was a silversmith, found that business for Artemis silver shrines was falling off and people’s jobs were affected. This was unacceptable.
So, he calls everyone together and basically says, ‘We’ve got to put a stop to this!’ And in verse 26, we read that he blames Paul for the problem.
Well, a riot ensues and they decided to take matters into their own hands and rid the city of these troublemakers. Paul wants to confront them but some of the other Christians restrain him from doing so.
Eventually a wise Mayor calms the crowd down and says, ‘Cool it or the Romans will get involved and we won’t know what to say.’ Therefore, everybody goes home.
Now, even before that, there is a big bonfire because some people decided that their incantation books were not good ones to keep around and so they burned them. Acts 19:19 says, ‘The value of the books was several million dollars.’ (Talk about economic impact!)
In the opening sermon of this series, I spoke of the ‘faith impact’ of our witness. And I used the following overhead to remind us of how far our faith impact goes. (Overhead 3)
Our faith affects (or it should) our spending habits and our lifestyle choices and a whole host of things that we often do not realize. But, that is not where we are heading this morning. Our destination is Acts 20:22-24 because these verses contain the statement of a person whose faithfulness to God and to the faith remains strong and evident as he begins to face the end of his active ministry and even the end of life itself.
I ask each of us this morning, “What do you want your final words to be?” When you come to the end of your life, what is it that you want to be remembered for both doing and saying?
One of the quotes that I did not include in our ‘test’ this morning came from the lips of actress Joan Crawford. As she was dying, her housekeeper began to pray aloud. To which Crawford said, “Don’t you dare ask God to help me.” What does it say to us about her life and values?
DaVinci’s quote, “I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have,” is one that touched me because to me it comes from individual who humbles himself as the end comes. Such a contrast to Crawford!
What does Paul say? Let’s look at Acts 20:23-35. (Overhead 4)
First, Paul speaks a word of perspective in verse 24. “But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus – the work of telling others the Good News about God’s wonderful kindness and love.”
His understanding of his mission that God gave to him shaped Paul’s perspective and purpose as revealed to Ananias in Acts 9:15 ‘Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.’ These ‘last words’ to the Ephesian church leaders were evidence Paul measured his life by the mission given to him by the Lord many years earlier. Such a perspective gave Paul clarity to his actions and priorities.
What about you this morning? Do you have perspective on why you are here on earth? Do you have a clarity to your actions and priorities that help you stay focused during periods in life when vision is fuzzy?
Let me suggest three verses for you to write down and read this week:
Ephesians 2:10 ‘For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.’
Matthew 28:19-20 ‘Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.’
Matthew 22:37 – 39 ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Paul also speaks a word of declaration when he says in verses 26 and 27: ‘I have been faithful. No one’s damnation can be blamed on me. For I did not shrink from declaring all that God wants for you.’
Now to some people this might be considered bravado or conceit. But, what if we saw it as the statement of someone who believes that the work he (or she) had done was well done work? Would we call that conceit? On the other hand, would we call it a good kind of pride in a job well done?
What about you? Will your final words spoke on this earth have a confidence, not arrogance, but confidence in your life and actions that you have done what the Lord gave you to do?
Here is a verse to reflect on this week:
2 Timothy 4:7 ‘I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.’
Another ‘final word’ Paul speaks is a word of persistence. Acts 20:28 and 32: ‘And now beware! Be sure that you feed and shepherd God’s flock-his church, purchased with his blood-over whom the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders… And now I entrust you to God and his word of grace-his message that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself.’
Paul is passing the torch as he reminds these individuals with whom he has worked and mentored that the concerns and the demands of work that he has been given by God are ones that they now must be given. While he will still serve the Lord in the remaining years of his life, Paul’s active work is concluding. But the work of these church leaders is just beginning and Paul gives them some serious words to consider and remember.
On a more personal level, Paul gives the Corinthian church (and us as well) a clear picture of what it means to persistently follow the Lord as we read in 2 Corinthians 4:8 and 9: “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.”
Because of the perspective that he got through the on-going work of the Holy Spirit in his life and due to the clear and confident declaration that came from discharging his duties clearly and confidently, Paul was able to be confident and persistent through his life and work.
What about you this morning? Will your final words include words of challenge and persistence; of encouragement to your family and friends?
This walk through the book of Acts went in some directions that I did not anticipate. But, I believe that we can see in the life of Paul, the fulfillment of Jesus’ commands that He gave at the beginning of the book.
The first command was to wait for the Holy Spirit. Now the Spirit ‘found’ (if you will) Saul (Paul) at the right time and took hold of Paul in a profound way.
What does this mean then for us? If we want to live a life in which God in fully present at it’s center, then we must let the Holy Spirit take control of us in a way to empower us to perform the second command – ‘to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.’
Paul fulfilled that command through a full-time vocation. But, he also fulfilled it through a full-time commitment to the Lord. The command to witness is a fulltime commitment that requires us to incorporate it into our daily lives.
In conclusion, this morning, I ask ‘Where is God in your life this morning?’ Is He at the center? Or is He just outside the center? Or is He at the fringes?
To experience fully all that the Lord would have for you I invite you to let Him into the center of your life so that when the end of your life comes, you will be able to look into the face of God with confident assurance that you have performed that for which God created and called you to do and to be. Amen.
Sources:
Famous quotes and famous last words are from, respectively:
web.mit.edu/randy/www/words.html
www.corsinet.com/braincandy/dying.html
