Discerning the Spirit’s Voice
- sermon on Acts 21:1-14 -
Paul the apostle is becoming an older man. When we meet him in this story, he is coming back from his third mission-journey. Maybe his hair got more grey, perhaps he cannot walk so fast as in the old days, but… look at his face! Look at his eyes! They shine and twinkle, they are full of desire to preach the gospel of His Lord.
Paul himself knows he is older. He knows that he has more years behind him than in front of him. And he is sad. Not because he is older and might die soon. No. He is sad because everywhere he comes he has to say goodbye to his brothers and sisters. But what keeps him happy and glad, what keeps his face with such a strong will and desire, what keeps his eyes shiny and twinkling… it is that he still has a mission! Even two! He wants to go to Jerusalem, and then to Rome. First Jerusalem. The old mother church from where the worldwide mission started. He wants to give them the big bag with money that he is carrying with him. Because this was the promise that he had made. We can read this in the last two verses of Acts 11.
29The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. 30This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Paul.
And he has kept his promise. A lot of churches in Greece and Turkey have given money to the church in Jerusalem and Judea. After a long and probably tiring trip, Paul and his friends, among which also Luke, the narrator of the story, arrive in Caesarea where they stay at the house of Philip the evangelist. Probably you still remember this Philip from the story with the Ethiopian minister of finance. Philip, once an itinerant missionary, also has grey hair now, and has settled down. You could say he was a “retired missionary”.
And in the house of Philip, Paul receives a sign of the Holy Spirit. By a prophet we hardly know. In fact there is only one other text in the whole Bible where this prophet is mentioned, and that is Acts 11. There it says that Agabus predicted a severe famine over the entire Roman world. When this actually happened during the reign of emperor Claudius, the name and fame of this unknown prophet Agabus was spread in all the Christian world. They might have even compared him to the great prophets from the Old Testament.
If we want to know why, we have to take a closer look at what he does. He wraps the message of the Holy Spirit in a small play of theatre. Not to make a funny comic show, but to show how serious the situation is. Words are not enough to express what he has to say! We can observe the same thing with some Old Testament prophets. You might remember that the prophet Ahijah tore Jerobeam’s new cloak in twelve pieces (1 Kings 11:29-39). And that Isaiah walked three years completely naked through Israël (Isaiah 20:1-6). We might find these prophets’ methods strange, even amusing or embarrassing. But in this way they conveyed a very special message from heaven. A divine message in human form.
Also our Agabus. He lived somewhere in the countryside, in a small village. There he received a special vision from God. As soon as he can he takes the first camel to Caesarea, jumps off and runs to the house of the old Philip, where Paul is staying as well. With a red head from excitement and exhaustion he arrives in front of Paul. He takes Paul’s belt, sits down on the ground, and then ties his own hands and feet with it. And then, when Paul and his friends become silent, the Holy Spirit begins to speak:
11bIn this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt, and will hand him over to the Gentiles.
Again it is silent. Terribly silent. But suddenly everybody starts shouting: “Paul! Did you hear that? You shouldn’t go to Jerusalem. Don’t go please, they will surely put you in prison!”
Paul is receiving a chrystal-clear sign from God. Superobvious, unambiguous. He must not go to Jerusalem. It is irresponsibly dangerous. A mission impossible. Paul’s great dream seems to be torn to pieces by a ten minutes theatre play. All his fund raising has been in vain. Jerusalem… and Rome. He has to put it out of his head. Why? Because for the Jews he is state enemy number one. First playing that your the most pious and faithful rabbi, and then overnight turning into the founder of christianity in the whole pagan world. That means high-treachery to Judaism. And if there is one person who knows this extremely well, it must be Paul himself. But the strange thing is, that he is not at all impressed by their warnings. He says:
13b Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.
Paul is strongly convinced. He cannot be deterred. He has something in his mind, and nothing or nobody can take it away from him. Not his well-meaning friends, and not even God himself, as it seems. The people around him, a few churchmembers as well as Paul’s travelcompany, indulge in the situation as it is. What else can they do? He is the great apostle. One cannot force a person like him. Lucas tells us in verse 14:
14 When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done”
So they gave up and come to terms with the bare facts. But not warmheartedly. You can sense the tension in that verse fourteen. Because why is Paul still wanting to go to Jerusalem? Why doesn’t he listen to the Holy Spirit? Why is he withstanding a direct warning from heaven?
We would be glad to receive such a clear sign from God. It comes almost like on a serving plate from a waiter in smoking. You don’t have to do anything for it. It just comes to you. But Paul ignores it completely. He doesn’t waste words to what Agabus did. Worse even. He seems to be going against the Holy Spirit. Whereas the Spirit is given to lead us. And equally much to lead the apostles.
Now we push things too far here. Because Paul definately claims to be conducted by the Spirit. In the previous chapter, in Acts 20, there Paul says in verse 22:
22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem,
So indeed he is lead by the Holy Spirit. And more becomes clear, because the verse continues like this:
not knowing what will happen to me there. 23I only know that in every city the Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.
Paul already knew that warnings were coming. Maybe he had strongly taken into account that prophetic messages could appear on his way to Jerusalem. Still more: they might even be a confirmation of his plan! And when we go back to our story once again, we also see the mistake we made. Because Agabus is not saying that Paul may not go to Jerusalem. No, that is what his friends and the churchmembers tell him. Look at verse 12 in chapter 21:
12When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.
‘We and the people there…’ People are saying this, not the Holy Spirit!
One would like to think so perhaps. But not all the problems are solved yet. Because we haven’t been looking at verse 4. Before Paul arrived at Philip in Caesarea, he stayed one week over in Tyre with some disciples. And the christians there, so it says in verse 4:
4bThrough the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.
Now here it really does seem to be the case that the Holy Spirit contradicts itself. Because if Paul is compelled by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem (chapter 20), how come that on the way there he is urged through the Spirit not to go there (chapter 21)!
Many Bible-scholars have been heavily pondering on this dilemma. Because how could the Holy Spirit ever contradict itself? Their argument is usually built up like this: the spirit which is mentioned in verse 4 is not the Holy Spirit, but their own spirit, their own mind. Accordingly in the text we should read the following:
4bThrough their spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.
Problem solved! But can this be the way out of the problem? You change something in the text of the Bible, and the solution is there. I don’t think you have to be a Bible scholar in order to see that something is not completely right with that.
The big question with which we are confronted in this passage is: how can you know the Lord’s will from contradicting expressions of the Spirit? I am not saying now that the Holy Spirit contradicts itself. That is not possible. God is not intending to confuse us deliberately. I don’t believe that, and more important, this is not how God has revealed himself in his Word. But if the Spirit speaks to our hearts by making use of people, it can be contradictory. And I think all of us have some kind of experience in this case.
I will tell you a true story from Holland. Some time ago there were two baptist churches without a pastor, and on a certain day both churches had enough money to pay one. On a certain day both of them called one and the same pastor, and told him that the Holy Spirit has put in their heart the desire to have him as their pastor. The poor man would have had to cut himself in two parts.
If God speaks through his Holy Spirit by making use of people, it can be contradictory. And then the question becomes urgent: is God speaking here, or is it only that person there? You can get into a situation where there are two directions in which you can go. And that even when you pray very hard for God’s wisdom and illumination, still things don’t get more clear.
Paul shows us the way out of this confusion. Also he himself constantly hears two different voices: Go to Jerusalem - don’t go to Jerusalem. Go - don’t go!
And that last voice – don’t go – only becomes louder the more he comes closer to Jerusalem. On the road to Jerusalem all kind of traffic signs appear in front of his eyes: “STOP”, “Danger”, “Don’t go further from this point”. Some a bit bigger and more clear than others, but all pointing in the same direction: don’t go to Jerusalem.
Even so, Paul doesn’t stop. Despite of all the traffic signs, he goes on on the same road. Because he knows he has to listen to that small and soft voice. And apart from that, he wants to follow the example of his Lord, Jesus Christ.
Just as his Master he consciously approaches perils, hardships and suffering.
Luke, the writer of this story, wants give us a peep in the heart of Paul. Luke wants to give a hint of his hidden intentions by showing the striking similarities with Jesus’ way of suffering. Because just as Jesus was handed over to the hands of the Gentiles, also here in verse 11 it says that Paul will be handed over to the Gentiles. Just as Peter wanted to prevent Jesus from suffering, also here in verse 12 it says that Paul’s friends want to do the same to him. And thirdly, just as Jesus said: “My Father, may your will be done”, also here in verse 14 it says: “The Lord’s will be done.” And not only here, but also on other places in the last chapters of the Acts we can see that Luke makes a comparison. He compares Paul’s going to Jerusalem, with Jesus’ going to Jerusalem. Not seldom there is a striking similarity of words between the two stories.
The imitation of Christ. That is the key for the understanding of this story with Paul, Agabus and the Holy Spirit. And that is not so surprising if we only remember that Paul himself describes the Holy Spirit in his letters as very closely connected to Jesus. On different places in Romans, 2 Corinthians and Philippians he calls the Holy Spirit “the Spirit of Christ” and “the Spirit of the Son”. Where there is the Spirit, there is the Son. And where there is the Son, there is the Spirit.
When we see ourselves confronted with contradictory voices, and we wonder: what comes from God through his Holy Spirit, and what not – we should take the road Jesus would take. And that is not the broad and easy road, but the narrow and difficult path. Not the highway, but the mountaintrack. It is the way of the cross. Humiliation, suffering, pain and hardship. On his way to Jerusalem, all ‘doors are closing’ before Paul. Paul knew it would happen. But he thinks: “Even if a door closes, it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t attempt to go through it. In fact I must go through it, because I want to go the way my Lord would go as well”.
An example. Maybe you are a person in his midlife. You have a family and the responsibility for their well-being. But unfortunately some time ago, you were left without work, because of the miserable economic situation. There are however possibilities to make some money by getting involved in certain businesses, which are not completely ‘clean’. Their way of business might not be very bad or criminal even, but it is definitely not according to your christian principles. It is such a real crossroads. Two different roads. The quick road to work and money, maybe not so honest, and the longer and more difficult road, of a long looking and waiting for an honest job, which is not so easy to find. It is a real dillemma. Because on the one hand there is your family – your children needing food, books and clothes – and on the other hand your conscience towards God.
Paul chooses the road with the most difficulties. He could stay in Caesarea, or in another church in Judea. Like Philip he could become a “retired missionary”, and do a lot of good things for the church. But he wants to go on to Jerusalem, and after that to Rome. He knew it wouldn’t be easy. And the voice that called him to Jerusalem might have been a very soft one. But despite of his arrest and imprisonment, he has been able to visit the church in Jerusalem and give them the money. And despite of a shipwreck and a trial before the emperor, he finally managed to preach the gospel in Rome.
The true voice of God is a very soft and gentle voice, speaking to us in the most hidden places of our being. It is not a boisterous voice, forcing itself on us and demanding attention. It is a tender voice. Also the prophet Elijah experienced this, and we learn about it in 1 Kings 19:9-13. Elijah was standing in a cave of a mountain to meet God. First there was a hurricane, but God was not in the hurricane. Then there came an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. Then followed a fire, but God was not there either. Finally a gentle whisper came. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face in order to be covered in the presence of God. Elijah was a prophet. As a prophet he was very sensitive to God’s voice. And he knew it was not in the overwhelming powers of nature, but in the soft breeze, where nobody would have expected it.
Sometimes there is a voice calling us to Jerusalem… Or a voice calling us to Rome… Such a soft voice that is hardly discernable in the choir of all other voices… Still it can be wise to take that voice very seriously. It could be that God is speaking to you. It could be the will of God, the guidance of the Spirit, and the imitation of Jesus.
Amen
