Acts 25: 1-12

Read: Acts 25: 1-12

I wrote a few weeks ago that, for the apostles, Jesus’ command for them to take the Gospel “to the ends of the earth” meant taking the Gospel to Rome, which was the capital of “the ends of the earth.” They knew clearly that once the power of the Holy Spirit captures the hearts of Rome, the entire empire would convert in only a matter of time. Only last week, Paul has been caught and, with Spirit-led timing, pulled out “the Roman card”, which is the privilege for a Roman to exercise his/her right to a fair trial. Now, the Lord uses Paul’s Roman status in another brilliant move. The Biblical narrative now takes us to Paul on trial... again. This time, the Roman magistrate of Judea was Festus. Festus was not a stupid politician. He knew that Judea is, like, 99% Jewish. If he could be seen as a friend of the Jewish people (i.e. his constituents) his leadership is secure. Since many of the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Paul at the time, Festus brought a few of them to Caesarea and held a court there with the intention of doing the Jews a favor. Paul was not stupid, either. He knew his rights as a Roman. One of the most privileged rights of a Roman was the ability to appeal any sentence to the Emperor Caesar himself! Paul knew as well that the Jewish leaders Festus brought to the “court” would accuse him of 1,001 serious violations with no evidence at all. When Festus offered to hold a trial in Jerusalem, Paul knew as well that the situation would be even more heavily weighted against him, he appealed to Caesar!

I’m sure what was on Paul’s mind was not, “Oh, thank God I escaped death again!” No. As you will see later, Paul would’ve eventually been set free had he not appealed to Rome. But saving his skin was not on his mind. Paul was concerned about preaching the Gospel and taking it “to the ends of the earth”! If appealing to Caesar is the quickest way to do that, then by all means he would exercise that right. Sometimes God places us in positions of power or privilege for the purposes of His kingdom. The story of Esther is an example of that. Queen Esther, if you recall, was the only Jewish lady living in a secular court led by the anti-Semite Haman. The Jews’ only salvation lay in her hands alone, as she had the closest connection to the King Xerxes. Esther’s brother, Mordecai, frankly reminded her: “Maybe it’s for this purpose you have been given this position.” Esther, by the grace of God, was then able to save her people from Haman’s irrationality.

Stories of this continue through the ages. Not long ago, a promising investment analyst at the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) felt called to attend seminary. At the time he was stationed in Hong Kong, so he attended the Anglican seminary there. He eventually was ordained, but decided to continue his job in HSBC. Within a decade he became the CEO of the entire corporation. Throughout his leadership, Stephen Green was able to minimize (but not eliminate) the bank’s exposure to the subprime mortgage stocks, which last year would bankrupt Lehman Brothers and cripple almost all the banks. One of the clear winners of the financial crisis was HSBC. Stephen Green remains a stunning example of how Christian leadership and values can have financial ramifications, and how one person with power is used by God to be a testimony to His greatness.

Or what about privilege? In the 1900s, Henrietta C. Mears was a wealthy L.A. socialite living in a red-brick mansion near Hollywood. She was involved with her church. Instead of shopping at exclusive places, and doing the typical Hollywood things, she opened her mansion to her church for fellowship... to the point where it almost became like a “second church building”. To this day, even after her death in 1963, many evangelical leaders like Billy Graham and Bill Bright would later count her as one of their greatest influences. So the moral of the story is that God sometimes endows us with power or privilege in order to further His kingdom. Some of you hold positions of leadership at church or at school, both of which are excellent! Do you use your position to further your own ambitions and goals or do you use it to further God’s kingdom? This is a question we all will struggle with regularly as we progress into college, graduate school (for some of you) and our working lives. Never forget, however, that you are where you are for God’s purpose. You are, after all, always working for our great Father in Heaven.

I close with a story of a dear friend - Ben Lowe. Ben came to Wheaton wanting to serve God and expand His kingdom, which is great. Originally, he thought that would mean majoring in Bible/Theology (great major too). But along the way he encountered environmental studies, and discovered that there was a lack of Christian witness in this area. At the time, the environmental studies department consisted of only maybe 3-4 majors (including Ben himself). Ben was first placed into leadership at youth group, serving as a counselor before being placed on leadership at A Rocha, a creation care organization. By the time Ben graduated, the “Green Revolution” has made its headway around the world! The Lord would take Ben to the offices of Barack Obama, Sir John Houghton, and to audiences at U of I, Wheaton, and various campuses across the United States to further God’s Kingdom in an amazing way. Ben Lowe remains a great example of God placing a person in a position of influence in order to further His kingdom... and he remains a great example for all of us to follow.
Ben Lowe’s influence, no offense, pales in comparison to Paul’s. In the case of Paul, his Roman status enabled the Gospel to not just penetrate Rome, but even enter the halls of the Imperial Palace and into the ears of the great Julius Caesar himself! Christianity, from then on, became a known religion. After 200 years of persecution, Christianity became the official religion of the empire. And to this day, much of our secular world, strangely enough, is still shaped by the Christianized Roman Empire. All this because God made it so that Paul was born a Roman!

To God be all glory, power, and strength indeed!

Wednesday: Pray for friends (inside and outside church)
Pray for your Christian friends, that they will not be swayed by outside pressures