Dec 14, 2014
Acts 14:8-18


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http://zachadams.org/acts/acts14_8-18.mp3

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Outline:


Have you ever felt lost? You know that sickening, helpless feeling that happens when you completely loose your barrings or sense of direction… When you don’t know what to do or where to go? It’s like being lost at sea with no sense of north. It’s paralyzing! 


Are you struggling to move forward? Do you feel like no matter how hard you try to break free from sin or let go of past hurt there’s always something making this move impossible? Do you feel stuck? Could you echo what Paul wrote in Romans 7:15, “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do?”


Have you ever had the sense that your life was spinning in circles? Like a hiker lost in the woods, do you have this constant feeling you’re doing nothing more than retracing your own footsteps? Even when you think you’ve “turned a corner” you end up turning another - then another - only to find yourself right back where you started? 


Has this rut left you feeling hopeless or constantly frustrated? That no matter what you do to better yourself or change the status quo your circumstances always remain the same.


It’s an amazing law of our universe, but when left to itself everything is trapped on a circuit. The earth rotates around the sun… The moon around the earth… The earth spins on its axis… Wind currents move around the globe only to return again to their point of origin… Water falls from the sky, flows into the sea, only to be evaporated back to where it began. Everything in this universe demonstrates motion with no mobility. 


Ever heard of the “Circle of Life?” We even prep our kids for this reality. Here are lyrics from the theme song of The Lion King… “From the day we arrive on the planet - And blinking, step into the sun / There’s more to see than can ever be seen - More to do than can ever be done / There’s far too much to take in here - More to find than can ever be found / But the sun rolling high - Through the sapphire sky - Keeps great and small on the endless round… It’s the Circle of Life - And it moves us all - Through despair and hope - Through faith and love - Till we find our place - On the path unwinding - In the Circle - The Circle of Life.” (Audio Link Below)


The truth is that no human left up to their own biological faculties will ever be able to escape this cruel circular destiny! Humanity is simply one cog on this grand wheel. 


Randy Gallistel, a neuroscientist at Rutgers, made an interesting discovery. Did you know most dead hikers end up being found within 100 meters of where they originally got lost? Scientist believe the reason this is the case is that left to its own devises the human brain simply does not have the cognitive ability to navigate a person in a straight line. As a matter of fact, researchers have recently discovered that when the brain attempts to produce something straight it will instead naturally yield something circular.


To illustrate this bizarre phenomena researchers ran an experiment where they took 15 people, blindfolded them, and told them to walk in a straight line. The result… Though all swore they walked in a straight line, everyone ended up walking in a small, perfect circle with a diameter of less than 66 ft (the size of a basketball court)!


Now contrary to urban legend this phenomena doesn’t occur because a person is left or right dominated or because one leg is slightly longer, shorter, or stronger than the other. Research has proven that the fundamental cause literally resides in the brain itself. 


Jan Souman, a psychologist at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, suspects that what ends up happening is that little mistakes in the brain add up until the sense of what's straight turns into something round. Discussing her findings in Current Biology she says that “Something seemingly very simple as walking in a straight line actually involves a complicated interplay between several senses, our motor actions and cognition… Even when people feel they are walking in the correct direction, they still can be very wrong.” She concludes that when it comes to navigation, “We cannot always trust our senses.”


So why is this the case? Why is our biological propensity to walk in a circle and not in a straight line? Is life therefore designed to be a circular rut impossible to escape… A source of constant vexation? Is the meaning, purpose, and satisfaction we all long for nothing more than an unattainable ruse? And if this really is the case… Why do we find ourselves easily frustrated by what’s only natural? This mornings text is going to address these questions.



Motion of the Text: In the face of this “violent attempt” in Iconium Paul and Barnabas travel 20 miles south to the city of Lystra which is located in the region of Lycaonia.



Acts 14:8-10, “And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked.” 



Unlike Paul’s previous stops he doesn’t begin in the Jewish synagogue because there likely wasn’t enough Jewish residents to justify the building of a synagogue in Lystra. This explains why Paul begins his evangelistic ministry in the outdoor common areas. 


The word “speaking” indicates Paul wasn’t preaching in the common area, but was rather discussing Jesus with anyone open to dialogue… Conversational Evangelism!


As this is taking place Luke tells us about “a certain man” who was ease-dropping on Paul. The doctor provides three descriptions of this man: 



  1. His Condition… He was “sitting” because he was “without strength in his feet.” 



  2. The Diagnoses… He had been “a cripple from his mother’s womb.” 



  3. The Result of his Condition… He “had never walked.” 


Note: In much the same way as Peter back in Acts 3 it was important that this man’s condition be the result of a birth defect and not a disease or accident. Because he’d been marred from birth healing would only be possible as a miraculous work of God.


The scene is interesting for as Paul is “speaking” we’re told he “observed” this man “and saw that he had faith to be healed.” Please understand… The man is listening to Paul share the Gospel (a message of salvation, forgiveness of sins, the grace of God) and his heart is stirred to faith (“faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God”). 


From the context it’s obvious his “faith” was based in the belief that he could “be healed.” Sadly, some use verses like this to justify the notion that sickness or the absence of healing is the result of a person’s lack of faith. Not only is this a perversion of the text, but this belief isn’t consistent with Scripture. (Lazarus didn’t have faith to be healed!)


Note: The Greek word “healed” or “sôzô” is better translation as “save.” (Example of another time this word is used in Scripture… Matthew 1:21, “And Mary will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”) Understand… The man’s faith centered upon the saving of his soul, not the healing of his legs.


How did Paul see this man’s faith? I’d say there were two things at work… 


1. It’s been said, “The face is the organ of emotion… A dynamic canvas, one in which emotions are drawn vividly, then suddenly erased, only to be redrawn in a new expression an instant later.” As a pastor I will tell you the face of a person listening to the Word of God communicates a lot about what the Word is doing in that person’s heart. Paul saw a stirring in this man based entirely upon his reception of the Word of God.


2. The “Gifts of the Spirit” listed by Paul in 1 Corinthians leave little doubt he was acting off the directive of the Holy Spirit. A “word of knowledge” gave him the intuition. A “gift of faith” provided him the boldness to “say with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And the “gift of healings” was present to yield the miracle as the man “leaped and walked!” 


It’s always important to remember that, as in other cases, these miracles of physical healing were allowed by God for the specific purpose of validating the miracle that had already occurred in this man’s heart. His faith in Jesus as demonstrated by his faith in God’s Word had produced the greatest miracle of all… Salvation from his sins. 


Beyond this, the public nature of this miracle served to validate the power of God’s Word being proclaimed through Paul. It reminds me what Jesus said to a group of doubting Pharisees in Matthew 9:6, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins… He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”



Acts 14:11-13, “Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes.”



Their reaction that Barnabas and Paul had to be gods (Barnabas being Zeus and Paul Hermes since “he was the chief speaker”) was based in a false conclusion they’d reached from the miracle that had just occurred… “Now when the people saw what Paul had done…” 


Last Sunday we noted that while in Antioch Jesus had “granted signs and wonders be done by their hands.” Remember… A “sign” was nothing more than an act designed to stir “wonder” within the audience. With this in mind, this reaction of the crowd was actually the intended purpose behind the miracle. 


What they had just seen with their own eyes had indeed been the act of God! And while they falsely attributed the divine nature of the miracle to Paul and Barnabas it’s now up to these apostles to use the opportunity to shift the glory onto Jesus. 


Historical Detail: The people of Lystra had a legend that once Zeus and Hermes visited their land disguised as mortals, and no one gave them any hospitality except for one older couple. In their anger Zeus and Hermes wiped out the whole population, except for the old couple. This may help explain why the Lystrians were so quick to honor Paul and Barnabas.



Acts 14:14-18, “But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” And with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them.”



As the crowd is preparing to offer sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas believing them to be gods we’re told “they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude.” This act of “tearing ones clothes” was a common Jewish reaction to blasphemy; however, since the audience was Greek it may be that the act was design to demonstrate their own mortality.


Though this was all unplanned and somewhat sporadic, since Paul has been given a natural platform and the people’s clear and undivided attention (they think he’s Hermes) he uses the opportunity to preach. Note: This second sermon is much different than the first. 


Paul begins his sermon by deflecting attention off of he and Barnabas… “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you…” before declaring that they “should turn from these useless things to the Living God…” 


Let’s begin by defining “these useless things.” For starters, in context to the greater passage, it would appear the “things” Paul is referencing was their mythological gods. They were in the process of trying to sacrifice an ox to Zeus and Hermes. 


Paul boldly and brashly refers to these gods as “useless” which in the Greek is “mataios” meaning “something devoid of force.” Why is it that these gods were “devoid of force?”


It’s interesting, but the Greeks had developed a whole series of mythological deities made into the image and likeness of man. These glorified men and women were either the ultimate manifestation of various human characteristics or they controlled the natural world.



When it was all said and done Greek mythology was really nothing more than man’s worship or exaltation of himself. It was the ultimate manifestation of the original lie. 


Genesis 3:1-5, “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' " Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."


Romans 1:22-25, “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man… Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.”


When Paul tells them to “turn from these useless things” it’s as though he’s saying, “Your gods are useless because they’re nothing more than an image of yourselves. How could you possibly think a god made by man to look like man would have any power to save man?” As we established in our intro… The best a man can do on his own is walk in a circle! 


If the circle is so fundamental to human biology and the natural world, I wonder why is it that we as human beings resist this reality? Why is it that we hate the sense that we’re running in circles when the rest of nature seems at ease with it? 


The answer… Humanity was created to transcend this circle of life. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that unlike the rest of creation “God put eternity in our hearts.” You see whereas the rest of the natural world is but temporal, man is unique because he has been created eternal. 


Understand… This biological tendency to walk in circles is not how you were created to be. Aside from separating you from God, it was sin that warped your step. Sin placed you in this rut. 

Isaiah 47:10, “Your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you; And you have said in your heart, 'I am, and there is no one else besides me.’”


Isn’t it true most people want life to be linear verses circular? We want our lives to have a POINT - an end different from our beginning - a resolve - a destiny… For without these things we understand there can inherently never be meaning or purpose in life. The question then boils down to how to achieve this when I’m powerless in and of myself?


In the experiment I referenced earlier, in addition to blindfolding 15 people, they also took 3 people and had them walk across the desert. The first 2, who made their attempt during the day, veered from their course but didn't walk in circles. The third person, who made his attempt at night, was able to walk in a straight line until something interesting took place. 


Jan Souman observes that “once the moon disappeared behind the clouds, all of a sudden he turned 90 degrees, only to later turn 90 degrees again.” Without realizing it when the moon disappeared this man lost his barrings and started walking in a circle! Jan Souman concludes that “in a desert you really can walk in a straight line, if you have the sun to guide you… If people do not have absolute references it’s impossible to walk in a straight line.”


So how can you escape the rut, break the cycle of sin, move beyond your past mistakes, find meaning and purpose in life, move forward? Resist the temptation to rely on self and instead set your eyes onto an absolute reference point… The Son! Realize, without  Jesus, your life will be nothing more a frustrating, circular, hopeless existence.


Paul tells them to “turn from these useless things to the Living God.” Because a person can only face and move one direction at a time, it’s impossible to turn “to the Living God” if you’re not first willing to “turn from these useless things.” Turing from always precedes turing too!


And who was this “Living God…” Paul continues by explaining that this God “made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them… Who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” It’s interesting, but Paul’s approach is a complete break from the normal pattern of evangelistic messages we’ve encountered in the Book of Acts. 


Because his audience possessed a polytheistic verses monotheistic worldview, Paul realized diving directly into the good news of Jesus would have been counterintuitive. This is why he begins by introducing the “Living God” as the Creator who had always been at work in the world… The Designer. Note: Paul had no problems believing a literal creation story.


Why does Paul take this approach? It is likely a story of “the Son of God being sent to earth to save mankind from sin” would have been accept by these Greeks without the implications of what they were accepting being fully understood. You see the Greek would have had no problems accepting Jesus under the pretense they could simply add Him to their pantheon of other deities. The text is clear Jesus presents an either/or proposition!


In conclusion, if you feel lost you have options: 



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