Acts 8

Acts 8: 1-5:

1 And Saul approved of their killing him.

The Church Persecuted and Scattered

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

Philip in Samaria

4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there.

As we continue in our Sermon Series on “Life Together” we turn our attention to Acts, Chapter 8. In the previous chapter, we heard the eloquent words of Stephen as he addressed the Sanhedrin prior to his being stoned to death based upon false testimony that sought to silence him and the early Church from preaching Jesus.

 Luke tells us that “on that day” (the day of Stephen’s martyrdom) a great persecution broke out against all believers, men and women. We see Saul (who we will later refer to as Paul) being an enthusiastic, brutal, and sadistic participant in this persecution.

Up until this time, the early Church had been located centered in Jerusalem. But with this newly expanded persecution and effort to destroy the Church, all the believers, except for the apostles, were forced to do something that they had been reluctant to do. Leave Jerusalem. Luke tells us that all those believers were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria…just as Jesus had predicted in Acts, chapter one.

They were “scattered” not in the sense of making something disappear…like scattering of ashes, but rather “scattered” in the sense of planting or sowing seeds. And Luke goes on to tell us that those who had been scattered “preached the word wherever they went.” Most, if not all, of these believers who were scattered were not trained evangelists or preachers. They were ordinary persons who had come to know Jesus. John Stott said what they did was not so much preaching, but they simply shared the good news.

There is in my mind a difference between preaching about Jesus and preaching Jesus. Preaching about Jesus sounds a bit like a theology class where you dissect and parse every word and every bit of text. But over the years I have come to believe that the most effective witness for Jesus Christ comes not only from Scripture, but also from our personal testimonies and stories of those who have experienced the person of Jesus in their own lives.

That’s what I believe happened when these believers were scattered about Judea and Samaria. Of course, they shared about who Jesus was, but I also believe that they shared how Jesus had impacted their own life stories. They didn’t need a Master’s in Divinity or a PhD in Theology to be able to preach Jesus. What they did have was their own story.

The main character of the story is God, who came to earth and defeated sin and death. And because He did, he offers us the one thing that no other character in any other story can offer us…real life now and eternal life to come.

Their story…your life story… is a biography of wisdom and grace written by Another. If you and I are God’s children, we have been invited into a much bigger story. A grand redemptive story… one author would say… which is now your biography. And don’t take for granted the story that He is writing in your life, because it may be that story that one day changes someone else’s story.

The Sanhedrin’s, Saul’s, and even Satan’s efforts to suppress and disperse the early Church had the unintended consequence of further spreading the seeds of the Gospel Message far beyond Jerusalem. And it was the simple message of these ordinary believers who shared Jesus, the greatest story ever told, that caused the gospel to begin to spread into Judea, and Samaria, and to the whole of the world.

Lord, as we approach the 4th of July weekend, we thank you that we do not face persecution and even death because of our faith. And, yet, we continue to need your courage and strength to be able to speak Your truth to power and to share the Gospel story that gives us hope in the face of despair. Guide our hearts and minds this day to always be on the lookout for ways that we can share Jesus with others that we meet and the way that He continues to shape our stories. Now, and forever more. Amen