David Bahn – Reflections

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Acts 13:13-25

Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, ¹⁴ but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. ¹⁵ After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.” ¹⁶ So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said:

“Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. ¹⁷ The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. ¹⁸ And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. ¹⁹ And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. ²⁰ All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. ²¹ Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²² And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ ²³ Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. ²⁴ Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

One of my favorite movies is Hunt for Red October. Based on Tom Clancy’s book of the same title, it is about a rogue Russian submarine captain who eventually defects to the United States. I’m not sure if the scene I’m remembering is in this movie, but it is in a submarine movie for sure. When the captain of the sub is heading down the narrow stairs he shouts, “Make a hole!” In other words, Get out of the way. I’m coming through and you better not be in my way.

I once asked a friend and fellow pastor who served in a very large, inspiring, influential and pace-setting church, “Mark, what are you praying about these days?” He thought about it for a few moments and finally said, “I’m just praying that I can stay out of God’s way.” He realized that if anything of true significance was to happen, it had to be God at work. He was God’s tool – and a faithful and influential one at that. But God was the one who was at work.

Paul was all this and more. The most influential missionary ever, a leader of leaders, and an Apostle by Jesus’ direct call, Paul was a force to be reckoned with in almost every situation. That becomes clear here in this report by Luke. It’s Paul and his companions who set out on this missionary journey. Paul is the one who speaks up when the Synagogue leader asks if they have something to say. Paul is the man.

But Paul is not The Man. And he realizes this. He makes no effort to tout his credibility. He has no desire to make a name for himself. Rather, he will point people to The Man, Jesus Christ, who is also the Son of God. He is the one whose sandals John the Baptizer is not worthy to untie. He is the culmination of all the Old Testament prophecies. He is the Savior promised by God.

I don’t think of myself as all that important. Most of us don’t harbor delusions of grandeur. But we all can point to Jesus as the author and source of every good gift. We can all confess him as Lord. We can all claim his salvation through faith. We can all make a way for him in our hearts so that he can use us to gain access to others’ hearts.

We may not need to shout, “Make a hole!” But we can acknowledge Jesus as the only one worthy of our faith, hope, love, and worship. Perhaps we can make a way for him to touch the hearts of people around us with his grace, truth, and love.