David Bahn – Reflections

I hung out at the Lutheran Campus Center throughout my college days. It was a place where I made friends, cooked cheap frozen meals for lunches, played a lot of card games, and managed to squeeze in a moment or two of study. The campus pastor there was faithful in every way. He was patient with us, yet spoke a clear word of correction when the language got too foul. He also invited me to take the Adult Information Class, to become a Lutheran.

He asked me five times before I finally said, “Yes.” I had a few qualifiers to my yes, but I did agree. And about a third of the way through the classes, I was ready to join. I was impacted by the way he always went back to Scripture when I had a question. I was also deeply impacted by the way the focus always came back to faith and grace in Christ. Jesus was the center, and I was ever glad to be focused toward the center; toward Christ.

Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains” (v. 29). Paul had however long or short a time God allowed to witness to Felix and Agrippa, Bernice, and the rest of their entourage. And whether the iron struck while it was hot, or the longer exposure to the light of the gospel lit the flame of faith: Paul knew that faith was a work of God.

We may be able to speak a word of grace to a person that turns him toward Jesus in that very moment. Or a friend may need to hear the invitation to faith over and over again before she is brought to faith. The key is getting to the point that we are actually speaking that word of truth and grace in Jesus, or forever waiting for the right moment. I think the latter is called procrastination.

When we have the opportunity to share the message of Jesus we can be sure the Holy Spirit is attending our throughs and words. And if the message seems to glance off the hearts of those to whom we speak, we can be patient and persistent in sharing the gospel.

This not only applies to our witness to non-believers, it applies also to the conversations and encouragements we have with other believers urging them toward a more faithful walk. They may need to hear more than once that they can fill a critical gap in a ministry, or make a different life choice. In any case repentance and faith is the goal and God is the author of that in our lives.

Persistence and patience is a great combination the first or fifth time we share the gospel.

Each Sunday we say, “I believe…” most often using the Apostle’s Creed. Sometimes we use the Nicene Creed, which says in part, “who spoke by the prophets.” That is a reference to the work of the Holy Spirit who has revealed certain truths to us that can only come by means of divine revelation. For we don’t come to faith simply by gazing up into the sky, or even by revering God as creator of all things. The writer to the Hebrews puts it this way, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe” (Hebrews 1:1-2).

The witness of the prophets down through the ages was most often calling people to repentance, and faith, a righteous and faithful live. But all those prophecies have their culmination in Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection – and his second coming at the end of time. Some of those prophecies are obviously receiliniar in their fulfillment: the prophet speaks about something to come in the future, and the event happens. Many are realized only when we see how Jesus fulfills them. He was everything Israel (and Adam) was supposed to be. He was fully faithful and completely obedient to the Heavenly Father.

I believe these promises and prophecies. When I read Psalm 22, I see Jesus on the cross. Isaiah 53 gives me another view of Jesus’ sacrificial death. Micah points me to Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. These warm my heart and deepen my grasp of faith in Jesus. They bolster my confidence in those times when my faith grows weak – if only I can remember to look there.

Paul speaks of the Gospel as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe (Romans 1:16-17). It is that good news of God’s love in Jesus through which God calls us to faith (2 Thessalonians 2:14). Jesus’ first sermon as recorded in Mark’s gospel is a call to believe: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

It is so clear that the call to believe is far beyond intellectual ascent. It’s more than acknowledging that God exists, or that Jesus is the Son of God. So here Paul speaks to Agrippa and challenging him to go beyond believing the prophets. He says, “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”

And the king realizes what Paul is up to. He responds: “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” Paul, of course, does wish that Agrippa would become a Christian – a little Christ, a believer, a disciple. 

Someone once said that the problem of many regarding the Christian faith isn’t so much a matter of believing as it is surrendering to the Lordship of Christ. That might be partly true, but it is not the whole story. The love of God brings us to faith, changes our hearts, and ushers us into his kingdom. That’s more than surrender. That’s faith. I believe the prophets because they point me to a loving and gracious God who has redeemed me, forgiven my sins, and given me eternal life.

He got a sales job. The training was exciting. The pay potential was great. All seemed so promising. But as the training gave way to the grit of sales calls, the bloom began to fall from the roses. And the sweet smell faded to the stale odor of the grind. And the pressure built. He quit. There were too many behind the scenes realities hidden from the new recruits.

It all seemed so appealing. The emphasis on healthy living, family values, and decency was compelling. They were so encouraging, welcoming, and kind. But as they got further and further into the religious community they discovered secrets and hidden facts that were disturbing. They never would have engaged with this group had they known the whole truth.

Paul makes a comment to Festus regarding Agrippa’s knowledge of Paul’s experiences: “none of these things has escaped [the king’s] notice, for this has not been done in a corner.” All of what Paul had done, taught, claimed, and proclaimed were above board, visible to everyone. There was no bait an switch going on here. 

Followers of Jesus who wish to bring others into his kingdom must follow this light of day approach to telling others about Jesus. No false advertising. But what would need to be hidden? Perhaps some would want to downplay Jesus’ virgin birth. Others might want to make the resurrection a spiritual myth. A person might want to remove things from the Bible that are difficult to understand. We might be tempted to make Jesus one choice of many paths to God. None of these are true to God’s word.

True witnesses to the Christian faith have never tried to hide these things. The Gospel message welcomes the bright light of full disclosure. The message of the gospel must not be relegated to the corners of life.

My grandmother Dodson (“Memaw Dodson”) told the greatest stories. My favorite was when she cut a turn too short, missed the bridge and rolled her 1952 Buick into Cripple Creek. The windshield shattered into a million small pieces – the windshield still in place. It made tiny prisms, and when she came to, seeing the sun shine through she saw the scattered colors. She said, “Law, I thought I was in glory!” That was 60 years ago. I still remember it. I think “Law” was her way of not taking the Lord’s name in vain, but it surely meant “Lord.”

Hers was a simple story that conveyed profound truths. We will one day die. We will face judgment (though that was not part of her story – only the outcome of her faith: glory). And glory! Beautiful glorious light. Life. Awareness. Otherworldliness. All these were the ethos from which her vision and story took shape. It shaped my heart as well.

She got all that from the witness of Paul and others to Jesus Christ. Paul leans heavily into the resurrection of Jesus – a favorite theme of his throughout his missionary travels, and echoed in his letters to the churches of the northern Mediterranean region and into southern Europe. It’s what gets the attention of the people he evangelizes. And the cross. He calls the cross foolishness to the Gentiles and a stumbling block to the Jews. He writes: “but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

The idea of a crucified Messiah was a stumbling block because it conflicted with the Jewish nation’s expectations of a conquering, earthly Messiah. Still prevalent today in much of prosperity gospel preaching. Check out TV evangelists: so very few speak of the cross of Jesus, his suffering and death.

Greeks, valued philosophy and reason, so the cross seemed like foolishness, as the concept of salvation through a crucified man was irrational by their standards. Again, much the same today. Think of the way heroes conquer: might and power. Decisive victory.

Jesus’ victory, however, was both through death and resurrection. He didn’t just die in agony. He rose in victory. He didn’t just carry our sins, taking them into his body. He brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. He didn’t just overcome the sharpness of death. He ascended to the right hand of God and reigns there forever. He didn’t just confound the naysayers. He confirmed the faithful.

Each of us fit into those categories in some way or another. Tell your story. Who knows how it might inspire, encourage, or bring light to darkness for someone else and shape their lives forever.

I’ve written previously about the little Greek word, δεῖ. It means it is necessary. That small word shows up here in verse 23. It has to do with the inevitability of Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection: “saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

It would be great if nothing bad ever had to happen. If child birth was painless. If weeds never grew in our gardens. If every sales call went perfectly. If we never had to deal with disease, suffering, or death. It would be great if the scales of the balance were always properly and fairly balanced. But we live in a fallen world. And there are consequences for sin. We live in the midst of them. People get sick and die. Sales calls sometimes blow up before our very eyes. People are accused falsely. Bullies get the better of the meek.

But God loves us. He has set his heart on our eternal good. He desires we know his love and love him in return. And God is just. The wages of sin is death, and because of all that Jesus had to die.

Of course that’s not all. For Jesus not only died, he rose from the dead. That had to happen as well. He was perfectly obedient. He was completely faithful. He was pure and sinless. He had to be raised from the dead. His faith and faithfulness, love for God and man, perfect obedience to the Father’s will – if there was true justice – required Jesus to be raised from the dead.

Not only did Jesus have to be raised from the dead, he had to be the first to be raised from the dead. “The first” means there will be more. That is the good news – the light of which Paul spoke here – that is being preached all over the world.

Paul will have to endure further trouble, suffering, hardship, and difficulty. This was also part of what Jesus told Ananias – who came and baptized Saul after his Damascus Road experience. I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name,” Jesus tells him (Acts 9:16).

Today we walk in the light of God’s love, Christ’s redemption, and the Holy Spirit’s sanctification. It must certainly be this way. The gospel must be preached. The lost must be found. Those walking in darkness must be brought into the light. And in all this, God’s name will be eternally praised.