Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Acts 16:11-15
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  April 29, 2018

I’ll never forget sitting across from her trying to explain the gospel. Mary was the president of the condo association I had been doing grounds work for during my second year at Seminary. I had been praying for a chance to share Christ with her and, on my last day of the job, she invited me into her house to talk, a sort of exit interview. “So why do you want to become a pastor?” She asked. Talk about a witnessing opportunity on a silver platter for a man studying for the ministry. Or at least it should have been. But that afternoon, I found myself fumbling and for the right words and stuttering when I found them. Here was the perfect chance, she had asked, she was willing to listen, she seemed like she cared. And yet my words were anything but eloquent. “That’s really nice.” She said and then changed the subject. I walked away wishing I had the perfect explanations and arguments that would convince her she couldn’t make it to heaven on her own. I wish I could have the perfect story or illustration to move her to believe. If only I had the skill to open her heart.

It’s hard to share our faith, isn’t it? We dread the potential awkwardness, the possible rejection, and especially the patronizing, “That’s really nice.” But my friends, no amount of evangelistic experience, or eloquence will ever open a heart. That’s often what we assume, but no one can open a heart except the Lord himself. God grants success to his Word. The Lord convicts and the Lord forgives. Only God can open a heart. If you trust in this, you will find the confidence to share the Good News of Jesus and you may be amazed at the result. That’s what we see in our lesson from Acts 16 this morning.

As Acts 16 begins, we find Paul not quite halfway through his second missionary journey and things aren’t going exactly as planned. Before he even gets started, he has a disagreement with his companion Barnabas and they split up, Barnabas heads over to Cyprus with John-Mark while Paul and Silas head north to Syria. Next, he travels to the churches he established during his first missionary journey, but when he tries to go south Luke records, “the Holy Spirit kept him from preaching the Word in the province of Asia.” (Acts 16:6) We don’t know how the Spirit communicated with him, but he cannot go where he intended. So he continues west until he comes to the border of Mysia, intending now to enter north into Bithynia, but this time Luke tells us  “they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.” (Acts 16:7)  So they end up in Troas with their back to the sea and no clear route left, except to go back home. It would have been tempting to turn around, but God wasn’t done yet. Acts 16:9-10 tells us Paul received a vision telling them to sail to Macedonia! Were they prepared to travel by sea? Did they catch a ride with some sailors in Troas? How did this affect the financial situation of the journey? We don’t know, but these obstacles cannot stop the Gospel from being proclaimed. We read, “From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia.” (Acts 16:11-12)

Finally, they were in the place God wanted! But now what? They don’t know the area, they don’t know anyone in the city, and, on paper, Philippi isn’t a promising place to preach the Gospel. Philippi was sort of a boom town, proud, and positioned as the leading city of the province. The people, many of them retired Roman soldiers, had no obvious need for a savior, least of all some jew who died on a cross.

Usually, Paul entered a community by going to the synagogue first. There he could speak to people who honored the same Scriptures, and he could announce they were fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. At least the people in the synagogues would have an idea of what he was talking about.  At least they would care, even if they didn’t believe him. But almost always there were some who did believe. And these converts would then become Paul’s base from which to reach the rest of the city.

But Luke tells us that Paul did something different in Philippi: “On the Sabbath we went outside the gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there” (Acts 16:13). It turns out that there is no synagogue in Philippi. Do you know how many Jewish men are required to start a synagogue? Just 10. And yet there is no synagogue in the city. Where to now Paul? Well, he goes down to the riverside, knowing that riverbanks were often places of prayer because the water could be used for cleansing rituals. And finally, here Paul finds someone who is willing to listen. “One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.” Lydia, the businesswoman from Thyatira, hears the Word and, as Luke makes sure to tells us, “the Lord opened her heart.” Maybe that’s why Paul kept going. Despite the obstacles, despite the setbacks, despite the route changes, and the lack of a synagogue, Paul knew that God was the one who would open hearts. Not the perfect situation, not the perfect words, not a good church base, nothing but God himself. That’s why Paul was so determined to share the gospel.

So why is it so hard for us? I think part of the reason is because we think that a person’s conversion depends on the usual human factors, like favorable circumstances and eloquent arguments. We have all these ready-made excuses as to why it isn’t the right time or place to speak up about our hope in Christ. I want to take three common phrases which I believe often get abused.

#1: “I don’t know enough to share my faith.” We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to win the argument, to say just the right thing and this leads to a sort of evangelistic paralysis. Not good. There are definitely things we can do to become more confident evangelists, like learning more about the Bible, studying apologetics, refuting false-claims about Christianity, etc. But approaching evangelism as if it’s all on us is the wrong approach and a major reason why we get so tied up in knots over it. What did Paul say to the Corinthians: “When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.  For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. [We all know at least that much!]  I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.  My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” Paul’s words had the Spirit’s power and his inadequacies and weaknesses as a speaker only highlighted that power! You know more than enough.

#2: “I don’t want to force Christianity on anyone.” Which is completely right. But ask yourself honestly, has that phrase ever become an excuse? Simply sharing what you believe and why does not equate with forcing someone into faith.

#3: “If I let my light shine then maybe someone will come up to me and ask me why I’m so different and then I’ll have a good opportunity to share my faith.” Again, I will never disagree with that! We are supposed to let our light shine so that people will “see our good deeds and glorify their Father in heaven.” But let’s not pretend that Paul didn’t also say, “How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?” Please let your light shine. You must! But God has also asked you to use your mouth as well. Let’s not use politeness as a screen for something called cowardice.

Because finally, it doesn’t depend on us! Even if you did have the perfect opportunity, even if the conversation naturally turns spiritual, even if someone did ask you about your faith, none of that in and of itself can open their heart to faith. Even if every apologetic proof were to succeed, even if you had all the right passages memorized, even if they did say yes to your church invitation, this would only bring the person closer to the absolute scandal of Christ hanging on a cross, the man who claimed he was God. Who could believe that an Almighty God would give up his one and only Son to save us? Who would believe that, while we were still sinners, God died us? It is going to sound surprising the first time you tell someone because God’s love for us is absolutely astonishing. Reason cannot comprehend this love, it is beyond our ability to fully appreciate and understand. Only God can open a heart to grasp his love for us. To understand the freedom of forgiveness, the purpose of his good law, and the hope of heaven. That’s not something we can persuade someone to trust. Only God can open a heart.

And in Acts 16 the word “opened” is significant. As you may know, this was originally written in Greek. But it isn’t the usual word for “opened” in Greek. There’s a word ανοίγω which means to open, as in open a door. But the word that Luke used is διανοίγω. It sounds similar but the meaning is far different. δια is the particle in greek which means “through” and becomes intensive when added to ανοίγω. The idea is that you are opening in an intensive way, to “breakthrough”, if you will. And we see that special sense in how this word is used in other places of Scripture. It’s used in Luke 2:23 to refer to the “opening” of the womb when a child is born. (To say the least, any mother will tell you that it is an intensive type of opening.) It is used to describe the miraculous healing of Jesus when he “opens” a deaf man’s ears. (Mark 7:34) It is used speak of the supernatural opening of eyes of the Emmaus disciples to recognize Jesus. (Luke 24:31) It is used when Jesus appears to his disciples after the resurrection and “opens” their minds to understand the Scriptures. (Luke 24:45) In the book of Acts, the martyr Stephen uses διανοίγω as he dies saying, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7) And then it is used here, in Acts 16, to speak of Lydia’s heart. “The Lord opened (διανοίγω) her heart.”

This is the comfort you and I have when we share the gospel. God can open with an intensive, supernatural power. God can breakthrough even when a heart may seem completely closed. He can get through! This is a supernatural opening! It may never seem like someone would believe the gospel, but God can peel away the layers of doubt and anger. He can drill through the crust of shame and smash through the wall of pride. After all, that’s what he did for each of us. As the Lord says in Jeremiah 23:29 “Is not my word… a hammer that shatters a rock to pieces?” God’s Word can overwhelm the Devil’s defenses. Whatever obstacles to faith sin may have put in the way, the Lord can break through. Share his Gospel with humility and tact, but also with boldness and confidence, because you know the one who accompanies you wields divine power to open any heart.

Like Paul, we have all been given one vital task, both as simple as it is challenging: Christians must engage people with the Word of God, Jesus Christ and him crucified. Say it thoughtfully, say it with joy, say it in your own words, but say it, PLEASE! Bring God his hammer and let him go to work.

Amen.