You're listening to audio from Faith Church, located on the north side of Indianapolis. If you'd like to check out more information about our church and ministry, you can find us at faithchurchindy.com. Now, here's the teaching. I have, driven with violently ill toddlers. I have driven in scary places and been lost and not known how to go home.

But this was the worst car ride of my life. I was out in California visiting my oldest brother Steve. We were driving several hours together to his home in the Bay Area. Steve knew this was a number of years ago that I was going to seminary to, eventually become a pastor. And he decided this was his opportunity to tell me everything that, he had apparently been holding on to all his anger about Christianity and how it's all just lies and manipulation and, how Christians are all hypocrites.

Christianity is ridiculous nonsense, and, church leaders just want people's money, and they're all abusive and manipulative, that I was naive and dumb and stupid, and I was ruining my life, to be a pastor. I, I tried to listen to my brother and, understand where he was coming from. I I tried to graciously explain what I believed and why I believe that Jesus really is alive and really is good and trustworthy and kind and worth knowing and following, and and that Jesus also hates the things that my brother was offended by. And and there are plenty of believers who aren't like that. And and honestly, I I did pretty well for about an hour and a half.

And after 90 minutes of being attacked and ridiculed and abused and cursed at, I was tired and I was frustrated and I snapped. I vented all my frustration and spent the last 15 minutes of the car ride exploding at my brother. And it was that 15 minutes that made it the worst car ride of my life. Who did he think he was? What gives him the right to talk to me that way?

Where does he get off throwing all these accusations and misrepresentations at me and to call me names how how dare he? I spoke the truth. I'd even had a good run of trying to be kind and gentle and patient with him. But when I lost it, I lost the plot. When I made the interaction about me, I lost sight of what it was supposed to be about, which is about Jesus and the chance to make Jesus the point.

Maybe you've never been backed into a corner like that by someone and attacked for your faith. But if we are living as witnesses for Jesus, it's almost certain that at some point we're going to be put on the defensive for what we believe. We may be ridiculed. We may be even rejected. And it's one thing when it's strangers.

It hits differently when it's people who are close to you. This is the most personal opposition that Paul has faced so far. These are his people that he's speaking to and are rejecting him. Devout Jews like him with similar backgrounds with an equal appreciation for the Hebrew Scriptures, a a a zeal for the Lord. This section that we're looking at in Acts today is, kind of a turning point.

For the last 8 chapters, from chapter 13 and Paul's conversion and going out on this missionary journey, we've seen Paul face challenges and threats. But but certainly, the bigger theme has been success and victory and expansion, and the gospel reaching people and going into whole regions, and miraculous, signs and wonders being performed. And now as we start in chapter 21 for the next 8 chapters, the last 8 chapters of the book of Acts, it's gonna feel like Paul's world is getting smaller and smaller. Opposition is increasing. There are no spectacular healings.

No records of people responding to the gospel message at all. Why does Paul end his theological history of the church that way? Why does he spend as much time on expansion, and success, and growth, and increasing impact as he does on opposition, and hostility, and rejection, and suffering? I think that's what this passage itself is showing us today. That faithful witness is how we reflect Jesus.

Not just what we say, or the results that we see. Faithful witness is reflecting Jesus. Not just what we say, or what we see God doing. And I want us to look today at how Paul responded to this hostility, this rejection, this opposition to see what we can learn from his example of faithful witness, and look at his engagement in a positive way with these people who are opposed to him so that we could also be people who can grow through and respond as faithful witnesses to difficulty, and hostility, and opposition. What if we were the kind of people who could be faithful witnesses to Jesus in the face of resentment and hatred?

Turn to Acts 21, if you haven't already. It's on page 130 of your ACT scripture journals. Just a quick reminder of where we are in the story. The Apostle Paul has returned to Jerusalem. He's now been arrested by the Romans, in response to, some Jewish worshipers in the temple from the province of Asia.

They've seen Paul with his Gentile friends around the city, and they've assumed that he's brought some Gentiles into the inner courts of the temple, which would defile it. And they're so outraged that they've launched a riot, which threatened to kill Paul, who's now been sort of physically dragged out of this violent crowd by the Roman officer. And that's where we pick up the story in Acts 21. A faithful witness is how we reflect Jesus, not so much in what we say or what we see. What does that look like?

We're, we're gonna see that in 4 movements that we'll we'll get through pretty quickly here. Connection, courage, compassion, and clarity, and we'll go through those one at a time. The the first thing is if we're going to be faithful witnesses to Jesus, there has to be an intentional connection with the people that we're trying to be witnesses to. The whole reason that Paul is here is to try and smooth over things with the Jewish people who were offended by the way that he's been talking about Jesus. He he identifies with them.

He takes on their worship practices. Remember, at some expense and some inconvenience, he participates in these ceremonial vows and rituals and pays for other people's worship, purification in a way to honor their convictions. Look at how else we see that in this passage. And in verse 37, as Paul's about to be brought into the barracks, he says to the the tribune, the Roman officer, may I say something to you? There's there's something to not skate over here.

He acknowledges and defers to the authority of this Roman officer. Remember the the hated, you know, opposing external foes, but he recognizes that this is a trained official who's been placed in a position of authority, and and he needs to defer to him. The man is a little confused. Oh, he's he's Paul speaking to him in sort of formal, polite, elevated Greek. You know Greek?

Aren't aren't you the Egyptian who led the revolt? And, you know, we've been following Paul, right, for the last 8 chapters, and we know this is laughable. Right? That's like the last thing. Like, how would you confuse Paul for this guy?

But Paul doesn't get offended by being mistaken for this guy. He he identifies himself in his language as an educated and respectable person. I'm I'm a Jew from Tarsus, a citizen of no obscure city. Again, I beg you, permit me to speak to the people. See, he's he's making a connection from a position of respect and honoring this man.

And then in verse 40, Paul, standing on the steps outside, motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them. Now, how do you quiet a crowd that just a few minutes before is calling for your blood? Like, he's not fit to live. Some commentators suggest, I think with some evidence, that Paul is probably using some kind of an orators gesture.

Like, he's demonstrating to these people, I'm a public speaker. I know what I'm doing. I know how to command a crowd. I have something worth listening to, so pay attention. It's a little bit like if any of you guys have ever grade school teacher who can quiet a classroom with a hand motion or a look.

I There's probably something like that going on here. But Paul is connecting with them in that way. And then he when there's a hush, he addresses them, and your your translation may say Hebrew, it may say Aramaic. It it could be translated either way. But that's significant because he's speaking to them in their language, in their shared culture.

And and when he heard that that he was addressing them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet. And in verses 3 to 5, he's going out of his way to show he's a devout and godly person who's not abandoned their customs. I was a Jew born in Tarsus, brought up in the city educated according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, in verse 3, being zealous for God as all of you are this day. Affirming them for their zeal for the Lord. He's respecting them.

He's showing, I I see a zeal for God in you that that I can relate to, that I connect with, I commend. He's not just listing his credentials. He's saying, look, you care about purity. You care about righteousness. You care about the worship of the Lord, and and I do too.

Paul is doing all he can, not just to understand the people that he's talking to, but to relate to them, to identify their their issues, their concerns, to have a meaningful personal connection. And I know, you know, I I got to a point in this conversation with my brother, and some of you can probably relate. You get in conversations, maybe even a conflict with people. It's just easy to feel like, oh my gosh. You know, we roll our eyes.

Oh, that's so dumb. I can't believe you think that. Nobody would do it. Are you serious? Come on.

I mean, see the difference to what Paul is doing here. He's intentional to respectfully make a connection with his people, to try and understand them, and one of the best ways to do that is simply to ask questions. One of the things that we learned been learning in our life to life groups is people react to statements, but they interact with questions. If you wanna find out what people believe, you wanna get to know them, ask questions. Make it your goal to understand people and not even just what they believe, but why they believe it.

Our goal is to connect with people to understand what animates them, what what motivates them, what stirs them, what repulses them, what offends them, What does this person care about? What what values are they expressing that I can affirm? How can I connect with them in order to gain a hearing for the faith that I want to share with them and the savior I want to introduce them to? And and then after connection, there's a great amount of courage that Paul demonstrates here. Incredible amount of boldness and and courage.

I mean, think about it. He's standing in chains in front of this Roman official. And no offense to any, policemen here, but this is not a traffic cop who's pulling over for, a moving violation. This is an armed military officer who is charged with keeping peace in the city, who's just had to be involved in dragging Paul out of a hostile violent crowd. He's probably hot, tired, and stressed.

And you're the guy who's responsible for it. And you're the guy who's apparently responsible for nearly causing a riot, which is the one thing that the Romans would not put up with. You can believe what you want, but if you cause a riot, we're coming in with swords drawn, and we're not asking questions. Paul is in chains in that situation before this man and respectfully asked permission to speak to the crowd. I mean, how much courage does that take?

And not just any crowd, but a crowd that a few minutes earlier was calling for his blood. People are still angry, riled up, wanting to rid the earth of him. I mean, I get up here on Sunday morning. Joey gets up here, Nathan. And and it's nerve wracking enough to feel like we're standing up here with some kind of authority to open God's word and tell you what we think God says to you.

And you guys are mostly a friendly crowd. This this is people who literally want to kill him. Paul is doing this at no small risk to himself. But but the physical courage he shows here is actually less impressive than the relational risk that he takes here to be a faithful witness. Look in look in verse 7 where Paul talks about this interaction experience he had with meeting the risen Jesus on the ground.

He's he's been blinded by this light from heaven. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And I answered, who are you, Lord? And he said to me, persecuting. Paul has to know that they don't want to hear that.

He's not talking about God generically, but God in the person of Jesus Christ, the one that they've crucified, whom he's saying is now risen and affirmed as lord. And look down at verse 16. If you're familiar with the story, Paul has led to this, believer Ananias in the city of Damascus who takes Paul into his home and is praying for him. And, and in verse 16, Ananias says to Paul, what are you waiting for? Rise and be baptized, then wash away your sins, calling on his, calling on Jesus' name.

Now there's a lot going on here. We may miss the significance of it, but for these Jews, baptism was for Gentile converts only. To be told as a Jew that you needed to be baptized was highly offensive. Jews did not want to hear that they needed a ritual cleansing to wash away their sin through baptism because we're already God's people. We don't need that.

That's for those gentile dogs. And then especially to say, to be baptized in the name of Jesus? Finally, in verse 21, Paul gets to sort of the the breaking point of this message as he's talking about having been part of, the persecution and the martyrdom of Stephen, and how God called over God called to Paul and said, go, I will send you far away to the Gentiles. And that's where Paul knew, at least suspected, they did not want to hear that. It shows amazing courage to preach the message that's central to what God is doing in Jesus Christ, tearing down barriers of hostility across races and ethnic groups and peoples to make everyone one through faith in Jesus.

Think of the courage it took to say that to people knowing that they didn't wanna hear it. Because if we look just ahead to verse 22, up to this word, they had listened to him, and then they raised their voices and said, Away with a fellow from the earth. He should not be allowed to live. And he was probably expecting he could have heard that at any of a number of points in the message. And I think it's a reminder for us that we can't be afraid to say hard things that come with the message of Jesus.

But we don't grow encouraged just by trying harder and telling ourselves I need to have the courage to tell this person what they may not want to hear. The way we grow encourage us to actually look at what is it that's driving the fear in us? What's at the root of the fear? What is it that makes me afraid to say this thing that I know they're not gonna wanna hear? Is it is it a loss of respect, a loss of prestige, endangering a relationship?

Is it a fear of being harmed, a fear of being ridiculed, a fear of being rejected? The the way we get more courage as witnesses of Jesus is not just telling ourselves to be more courageous, but to see what's driving the fear and invite Jesus to be the answer to that fear. Okay. They may reject me. I already have a savior who says, I love you, and nothing will separate you from my love.

I may be abandoned and rejected by them. I have a God who says I will never abandon you or forsake you. I may be in threat and fear of my life. What can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus? Danger or sword?

No. We're more than conquerors in all these things through him who loved us. That's where the courage comes from. Not just telling myself I'm I'm gonna be bold, but looking at how the gospel actually gives us courage because of who we are and what Jesus has done for us. Now I don't have a lot of time left, and some of you would well, maybe most of you be really happy if we just ended here.

Right? Find out what they believe. Be courageous to step in and tell them where they're wrong. Right? But that's only half of what Paul is doing here, and and I'm not gonna spend near as much time, touching on just a couple of other things.

We don't just need connection and courage, we need compassion. We have to have compassion for the people that we're trying to reach for Jesus. Paul is risking his life literally for the people who want to kill him. Why? He's not a masochist.

Because he loves these people, and he can see that they are lost without Jesus. They're wandering. And Jesus is the way that that God is open for all to come and be found. Paul loves these people at the risk of endangering his own life, so that they could know Jesus, because that's who this is about. Pointing people to Jesus, making Him the hero, making Him the point.

It's his love for these people that has led him to take on these ceremonial vows and and to pay for them and and to go worship in the temple. Paul is there speaking to these people because he's trying to mend fences with with his Jewish brothers and help them see that he's not opposed to Moses. He's not opposed to temple worship. I mean, Paul puts it this way, right, the believers in Corinth. I I've made myself a servant to all that I might win more of them.

To the Jews, I become like Jews. In order to win Jews. To those under the law, I became as one under the law. In order to win those under the law, I've become all things to all people that by all means, I might win some. You know, my brother was being a hostile jerk to me.

But underneath that, I could also hear there was a lot of hurt, a lot of anger, a lot of disappointment, a lot of pain. We we've grown up not in a particularly Christian family, but in a church going family. And and I know my oldest brother was a really challenging child. I mean, both from what I experienced from him and from what I heard from my parents and and my older brother, Brad. I think he experienced some real hurts and rejection in family and in church.

I mean, our parents didn't know what to do with them at times. At one point, he was gone for like 3 or 4 years of my life because they sent him off to like a military reform school. If I paid more attention to that, to to the pain, to the hurt underneath the anger and the hostility, could I have done a better job showing compassion to my brother in in the face of his anger? We need compassion, the the love of Christ that that motivates us to reach out to people with understanding and patience and forgiveness. And and that's really what this all comes together to is the final point is clarity.

Clarity. The point of all this is to make Jesus the point, and I messed up when I made me the point. I did fine for an hour and a half of talking about Jesus and pointing him to Jesus and and trying to answer my brother's objections. But I lost the plot when I made this argument with my brother about how I'd been hurt, how I'd been wronged, how I'd been offended, how I'd been slandered, how I've been cursed at. And honestly, nobody likes those things.

I mean, nobody wants those things, but none of us maybe get to choose whether we experience those things as witnesses of Jesus. I was literally trapped in a car with my brother for 2 hours. It was like having a rabid raccoon coming at me or something. And and and, look. It's not enough to tell ourselves me by his spirit.

So I should be able to as well. I mean, it's true. But I think what we need to dig down to is how. How does Jesus help me take my eyes off me and keep my focus on him, to keep the conversation focused on him, to keep the clarity on him. Because, see, I got in trouble when I took my eyes off Jesus and wanting my brother to see him and wanted my brother to see me instead, and what I was feeling and how I was experiencing this relationship, how ridiculous his beliefs were, how he didn't live up to his own standards, on and on and on.

I started feeling the need to set the record straight, to defend Christians, to defend Christianity, to defend myself. And I think part of it is I also wasn't taking the time to really slow down and ask God to help me see and deal with what was going on inside my own heart in that moment. I started feeling the need to, you know, defend myself. And and, yeah, I was praying for the Holy Spirit to give me the right words to speak, and I wasn't paying attention what my brother's words were doing to me. I I could have done a better job asking God in that moment, Jesus, help me see you in this.

Help help me see you and hear you more than the words of my brother, more than what he's trying to tell me I am, or what I'm not, or or what's wrong. Because I want him to see you, Jesus, the way I see you, as beautiful and patient and kind and forgiving and wise and and trustworthy. That's what witnessing is, pointing to Jesus. Without connection, we're just talking in generalities. We're generic.

Without courage, we're just therapeutic. We're just saying nice polite things. Without compassion, we're maybe pugilistic. You know, we're just looking for a fight, and now we can tear people down. And without clarity, we end up becoming egotistic, and making the conversation about us.

How I'm feeling, and how I'm perceiving it, and what it's doing to me. We need courage, connection, compassion, and clarity to be truly evangelistic, to be good news people. Why is this recorded for us? Not just so that we can be glad that Paul was a faithful witness. I think it's so that we won't be surprised by opposition or hostility.

So that so that we can see that even opposition was an opportunity to be a witness to Jesus, to be encouraged that God will be with us, to to give a a model of how we can be faithful, to trust that God is working in ways that we don't see, that he can be honored in our faithful witnessing even if nobody responds and the crowd becomes hostile. I think it's to help us redefine success. It's not only did Paul not win any converts this day, he barely escaped with his life. But again, that's the point, right? Success isn't just in seeing people respond positively.

Jesus was rejected. Jesus had crowds of people turn away from him throughout his ministry. He died almost completely alone on the cross. Success is less about outcome than faithfulness. And faithful witness is how we reflect Jesus and less about what we say and what we see.

I said a lot of the right things to my brother. I love you. Jesus loves you. Jesus wants what's best for you. He wants you to know his peace.

But the way I ended up saying it in the end of that conversation undermined all the right things that I had said. The courage, compassion, clarity, connection, these aren't just like spiritual gifts that Jesus drops on us. These are strengths that we can grow in, virtues that we can take on, muscles that that we can work out. How do I become the kind of person who who can respond well to rejection? Maybe maybe it's taking a small risk in a safe way today so that I can face a bigger risk tomorrow.

And I and I I take a small step of faith and obedience and see that Jesus actually is with me, and that it's okay. And that and that I really have an identity and that he cares about me being a faithful witness in this thing, so that I can kind of risk a manageable rejection today in order to risk a bigger rejection, be able to risk a bigger one in the future. The opposition, the rejection is not purposeless. It's not pointless. It's not just something we persevere through.

It's something that God is actually using in us to refine us, to prepare us, and to help us to be witnesses of Jesus in the face of opposition and difficulty. Faithful witness is how we reflect Jesus. I want to be a witness like that. Let me pray for us. Thank you, Jesus, for your word to us, for the example of your servant, Paul.

Father, we're thankful for the faithful witness of many people. So thankful to have an opportunity to honor the faithful shepherding of Tom, the lives of people who've gone into your presence like Lorraine Kelly and other loved ones who have modeled for us walking with you and and bearing witness to Jesus. Oh, Jesus, help us grow in connection and courage and compassion and clarity to make you the point of the story, to make you the point of our lives so that we can witness to you. We pray Jesus in your name. Amen.