We visited the Power House Museum in Home Hill the other day. What a fascinating collection of photos - of the power house, but also of the Burdekin River in flood. To farm and live in this area we try to build above the flood level, even though it is all flood plain over many years.
Jesus said that the wise build on rock, not on the sandy flood-plain. By this parable he was emphasising our need to hear his words and obey them (Matt. 7.24-27). Strikingly, to hear his words and obey them often means being disturbed, moving out of our comfort zone, becoming "aliens and strangers in the world" (1 Pet. 2.11) - whatever our physical home. It is possible to be so tied to material permanence that we fail to hear and obey the Word of the Lord.
Paul was on the move again. He and Barnabas had reported back to the Christians in Antioch - the sending church. Then they had come to Jerusalem to recount their evangelistic work among the Gentiles - and to resolve the question of whether Gentile believers should be expected to conform to Jewish Law (Acts 15.1-29).
Back in Antioch, Paul proposed that he and Barnabas revisit the Christians in Galatia where they had preached the gospel (vv. 36-41). There was "sharp disagreement" between these two leaders as to whether John Mark should go with them. Mark had been with them in Cyprus and had sailed with them to the mainland. But he had turned back at Perga - before the stiff climb up the Taurus into Galatia (13.13). Paul thought it not wise to take Mark to those areas where he had failed them in mission. The end result was that Barnabas took Mark with him to Cyprus. Paul chose Silas - one of the two sent by the Jerusalem church to Antioch with the pastoral letter (15.22-32) - and they "went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches" (v. 41).
As Paul and Barnabas had returned from Derbe on their first missionary journey, we read that "they appointed elders for them in each church, and, with prayers and fasting, they committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust" (14.23). The strategy had been effective. As Paul and Silas came through the area, they found thriving congregations.
In Lystra they met a young man named Timothy "whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him" (16.1-2). Paul wanted Timothy as part of the team. However, since he always gave Jews an opportunity to respond to the message before he preached to the Gentiles, he deemed it wise to circumcise Timothy first. This was not one of the four simple rules agreed to in Jerusalem - just a necessity for one who would be working among Jews.
Having fulfilled his intention to visit these centres from the first missionary journey, Paul had no clear plan where they should go next. The gospel was to be preached to all peoples everywhere, and the task had begun. But where were they to go next?
It is good for the church of today to reflect on their situation.
Sometimes we wish we could know exactly what happened. How did the Holy Spirit guide them? It is in God's wisdom that we don't know, because we would want to make a rule that guidance can only happen one way!
Let's go back to Antioch in Acts 13 - "While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them'." (v. 2) Clearly, here was a church in prayer - a church that was already well involved in ministry to Gentiles (11.19-21). It is not at all surprising that this church had a vision that reached to other parts of the Roman Empire. But we aren't told in detail what happened in that prayer meeting. Did someone have a specific "word from the Lord" that the others agreed was genuine? Or did they share a growing conviction about a wider mission - perhaps from teaching by Paul, Barnabas and others - a conviction that finally meant they knew Paul and Barnabas were to go?
Back to Acts 16. Paul, Silas and Timothy set off "throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia [to the west]. When they came to the border of Mysia [travelling north], they tried to enter Bithynia [to the north], but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to" (vv. 6-7). How did they know that the Spirit was preventing them from preaching in these areas? Clearly, they believed that God was actively guiding them. Surely also, they were praying about where they should go next. Was it a direction within their own spirit that they were not to go into the provinces of Asia and Bithynia? Or was there some human barrier to their progress and they accepted the closed door as the guidance of the Holy Spirit?
Then they arrived at Troas (vv. 9-10). Here we do have a little glimpse behind the scenes. The narrative has changed from third person to first person - from "they" to "we". Dr Luke, the author of Acts, joined them at Troas. We have no idea from which direction Luke came. But it is highly likely that his presence and input may have had a bearing on Paul's night-time vision of the man from Macedonia - "Come over to Macedonia and help us." This was God's call to Europe.
Their first major stop was Philippi - described as "a Roman colony and the leading city of that distrtict of Macedonia." On the principle that the gospel should first be offered to those who had been prepared for it - the Jews - they looked for the local Jewish synagogue. The rules said that ten Jewish men could form a synagogue - but there weren't enough Jews in Philippi. So "on the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a [Jewish] place of prayer. We sat down and talked to the women who gathered there" (v. 13). (No sign of a "man from Macedonia" yet - just this group of praying Jewish women.) One of them was "Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from Thyatira." Thyatira was in the province of Asia - so there was the link the Holy Spirit was looking for in that region.
Lydia was a commuting Jewish business-woman - home in Philippi, business in Thyatira. Converted and baptised (with the others of her house), she offered them hospitality. So the church in Philippi began very much as a house church. To the Philippian church, Paul was later to write from jail, "Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only… I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are like a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4.14-19).
The church of today needs to learn to listen to the Spirit, to be guided by God. We try to cover everything by committees and reports, by rules and regulations… Of course, these days we know it is "correct" to mention the Spirit somewhere in the course of our reporting. Yet in practice we can end up organising the Holy Spirit right out of the picture.
But don't forget - "my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen" (Phil. 4.19-20).
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