Acts 20:20-21 – “I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike – the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.”
We finished singing the hymns one Sunday morning and were preparing for the sermon. But our pastor was nowhere to be found. A younger guy half his age took to the pulpit, and was clearly anxious. He took out his handkerchief and dabbed his forehead, cleared his throat, and said, “This morning we’re going to be reading from the book of Romans. Turn with me to chapter….”
I remember nothing about that sermon. But I do remember thinking, “what happened to Pastor Gary?”
Gary had resigned. Or at least that’s what the church elders had said. But the church gossip that came in the days following told a completely different story. “Did you hear? While he was away with the kids on the church trip, he let them watch a movie that had nudity and sex scenes! Can you believe that? A man who is supposed to be shepherding our children!”
It wasn’t anywhere close to being accurate. I should know, I was there. I was one of those kids. It was a shower scene with a woman behind a frosted glass shower door. There was no sex. She was alone. And her breasts were barely visible for all of two seconds. This was back in the early 1980’s, long before cable television would become the cesspool it currently is.
The truth is they wanted him out; they being the church elders. Not because of his philosophy or theology, but for political reasons. And they got what they wanted. And they basically destroyed his reputation and career in the process. Churches can be really messy sometimes when they elevate themselves above God. Pride, greed, and power are satan’s favorite weapons and he can utilize them effectively, even in a small church of less than 100 people. I was 12 years old when that happened, and that memory has never escaped me.
The apostle Paul was certainly no stranger to church politics. He dealt with gossip and infighting on a regular basis. Most of the time it occurred while he was away traveling. But occasionally he would be challenged even while he was there in person. And although he regularly defended the teachings of Christ, not once did he ever feel obligated to defend himself.
He had no need to. There was nothing to defend.
In Acts 20:20, we’re essentially reading Paul’s letter of resignation to the church in Ephesus. He wasn’t being forced out, he had done nothing wrong. He was a missionary, and that’s what missionaries do – they go to unreached and unchurched places and they spread the gospel of Christ. Although he’d experienced some frustrations in the many churches he planted, he wasn’t leaving Ephesus out of frustration. He ultimately left because God wanted him back in Jerusalem, “the cradle of Christianity.” And it is there that Paul would endure his greatest hardship, and it is there he would ultimately finish his race for Christ.
At the end of that final day with his brothers and sisters in Ephesus, his traveling companion, Luke, recorded the scene in Acts 20:36-38.
“Paul knelt down with all of them and prayed. They all wept as they embraced and kissed him. What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.”
They didn’t want him to leave. They didn’t want him to leave because he never shirked his duties. He never told them what they wanted to hear, but told them the truth that they needed to hear. Over and over, his message never wavered. “Repent, turn to God, and have faith in Christ.”
Paul left Ephesus not on their terms, or even his own terms. Paul left on God’s terms.
Former Blackout Artist 