David Bahn – Reflections

A seminary classmate years ago when to the microphone asking for a point of personal privilege. This is a parliamentary procedure, requesting that the chair allow one to speak in a public meeting. In this case it was at a church convention. He began by saying, “I’m a fifth generation Texas Missouri-Synod Lutheran.” At that, I thought, what am I? I’m not a native Texan, nor was I born into a Lutheran family. I guess I don’t have a leg to stand on regarding his comments. Actually my thoughts were much more colorful, which I won’t share. But you get my drift, I’m sure. He went on to make his point, which was to decry the decisions we had made to that point at our convention.

At the closing service of that convention, the pastor who preached, began his message, “I’m a sixth generation Texas Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod pastor…” And I cheered in my heart. He sure one-upped my classmate. Sadly I did not share my classmate’s view of things. I thought the decisions we had made were spot on. And I took comfort that someone would make that point. Mind you, a sermon isn’t the best place to launch a counterattack of ideas. But I couldn’t help myself. I was pleased at his one-upmanship.

I remember that as I think of how things are being played out with Paul’s accusers; those 40 who had made a vow not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. (I still wonder if they died of dehydration or starvation.) In contrast to that, the tribune calls two centurions who command 70 horseman and 200 spearmen to protect Paul and actuate his escape in the middle of the night. Take that, you 40!

The only problem with all this is that God doesn’t need 40, 70, 200, or 2000 to make good his plans. He can win a victory over 1000 men with one man and a jawbone of an ass (Judges 15:15). There are other examples. I think of David and Goliath, Gideon and his 300 men, the walls of Jericho, and others. It’s not by might but by God’s Spirit that battles are won.

We may be small and weak in the face of the might and impressive glory of the ways of the world. Evil can look insurmountable. We all have our giants we must face. But God’s arm is not too weak to protect us and defeat our enemies. Sometimes it’s an overwhelming show of power as allies line up with us. Other times God simply lets evil collapse under its own weight. But one thing’s for sure: I won’t count on my 40, 400, or 4000 if I am not on God’s mission. And I thank God that he has a plan that will come to eternal fruition, joy, glory, and victory. Jesus has won the victory. We wait for his ultimate deliverance – against all odds.

Paul is being held in the Roman soldiers’ barracks. This was for Paul’s protection in Jerusalem when the tribune saw that the mob there was about to tear Paul limb from limb. Then comes a plot involving 40 men who swore an oath to kill Paul. The story picks up here: The tribune orders two centurions to to bring 200 men to protect Paul and bring him to Felix. All this to protect Paul. He is still in custody. He is not free to go. But his enemies do not have free access to him.

I’m guessing that Paul felt OK about all this. I suspect his treatment on this occasion was better than he experienced in Philippi, as well as temporary imprisonments on other occasions during his missionary travels. He will be imprisoned in Caesarea for about two years. He will also be imprisoned when he finally gets to Rome – though that will be more of a house arrest.

Paul’s defense will always include his testimony to God’s grace in Jesus Christ. He will use his Roman citizenship. He will appeal to Caesar. That will get him to Rome. But every moment in his imprisonment, testimony, travels, and encounters will be about Jesus, the hope of the resurrection, and the truth of who Jesus is.

We may not be behind bars, or confined to a soldiers’ barracks. But God’s protective hand is always upon us. We do not live apart from his providential care. We may not need to make a defense before governors, magistrates, or much less emperors. We may not be called to be missionaries in the same way Paul was called. But we are called to seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness. We are called to love one another. We are to forgive as Christ has forgiven us. We are always to be ready to give an account for the hope that we have.

I doubt I’ll ever be put in prison because of my Christian witness. But I may face challenges and situations where my faith is put to the test, and my hope in Jesus becomes ever more pure. Whenever such things happen, we can thank God that he is faithful, gracious, and mercifully present.

“Go tell your mom, I need her out here right now!” I was in the middle of a repair job and had run into a problem that required an extra set of eyes and a third hand. He was too small to provide either. Off he ran. Soon Diane appeared. “What is it?” she asked. “I need your help. See this piece here? Can you hold it while I tighten this screw?” One turn of the screwdriver together with the extra set of eyes and her hand, and all was well. Had he not gone to get her the task would have failed, and a tedious effort would have to start again.

Our son saved the repair job on that day. But that was nowhere near as urgent as the efforts of the young man, warning Paul, being sent to tell the tribune, and keeping his silence about having shared this information. They were hatching a plot-thwarting plan to save Paul.

I doubt the young man woke up that morning thinking that he would be an essential part of this plan. But when Paul’s nephew heard of the plot against his uncle, I’m guessing he realized he had a chance to do something. Perhaps he thought he would tell Paul and that would be it. Or maybe he was ready to go. “What do you want me to do?”

Such an eager attitude toward helping in any way we can place us in positions of kingdom impact. A simple errand, a word of encouragement delivered, a prayer prayed, an offering shared can each reach farther than we might imagine. We might think of seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness as a great challenge. But the challenge may be that of simply responding to opportunities to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God (cf. Micah 6:8).

Paul’s nephew did some heroic things. That set in motion a visit by Paul to Rome. Who knows what little things – heroic or not – might have a great impact in the kingdom of God? After all the most heroic thing ever to have occurred in God’s kingdom started when a young maiden said, “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be to me as you have said.”

Maybe you’ve made a vow to yourself: “I’m never going to treat my children like I was treated.” Then one day, you catch yourself doing the very thing you vowed you would never do. That may be one of the most dangerous examples of making a vow. We all too easy blind ourselves to the very thing we swear we’ll never do. The “I swear I’ll never…” or “I vow I’ll always…” can set such a trap for us.

Then there is the matter of pride and self-righteousness. Note the “I” statement. If we do manage to keep our vows, we can too easily become self-righteous. I kept my vow. We become judgmental of others. And if we fail, we are devastated. All the while we depend on ourselves rather than God. Then we conclude (wrongly) that God’s grace is needed only when we fail.

There are, nevertheless, good vows. But we don’t make those vows to ourselves. Marriage vows are made to our spouse and before God. Ordination vows are made to the church and to God.

But what about these vows of the 40 men? They report their vow to the chief priests and council. But they report them in this manner: “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul.” Get those words, bound ourselves? They have tied up themselves. What’s more, they have vowed to do an evil thing. They have taken upon themselves an evil task. They were not sent by the authorities. They usurped the prerogative of life and death. It was not theirs to take.

This is a good lesson for us. Don’t bind yourself. Don’t make a private vow. And certainly do not usurp power that is not yours. There are times, to be sure, when we may feel compelled to take matters into our own hands. That didn’t work so well for the 40 vow-makers.

Living under God’s grace rather than relying on personal strength or resolve is the far better choice. Making a vow to ourselves can reflect a misplaced dependence on our own strength and abilities. Better we should trust in God’s guidance and provision.

God himself made a vow. It is called in the Bible, a covenant. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people…I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:33-34). God kept his vow by sending Jesus to atone for our sins, and grant us the forgiveness we all need. For none of us has kept his vow perfectly. We can rejoice that God’s oath was kept and is for our eternal good.

Gerbera Daisies | Arbor Gate Nursery, Tomball, Texas | May 2024

I have a pet peeve. When pastors hang out together inevitably one will ask, “How many do you worship?” It’s a shorthand way of asking how large your congregation is. “How many people do you have in worship?” is a better way to ask it. So I’ll answer, “We worship One. There are about 200 per Sunday who gather to worship that one.” They usually chuckle, “I get it. Pretty good,” they’ll say. But I’m not sure they do, because the question still comes up. Maybe less frequently today than in years past. Part of that may have to do with the shrinking numbers of people who gather each Sunday to worship the One True God.

There is a great lesson here – but not about worship attendance, but about numbers. Isaiah 31:1 says it well: “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD.”

I think of that in this case because of the more than forty men who have conspired together and taken an oath not to eat or drink until they killed Paul. Forty is a significant number. That’s quite a few for just one man. They weren’t messing around. They were out to get Paul, and they lined up a good number of men to take care of business.

I wonder if they starved to death or died of dehydration. They had sworn not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. But (spoiler alert!) he will get away. They will not succeed – despite their more than forty-strong number.

David had his sling against the giant Saul. Gideon had has donkey’s jawbone. Elijah had his prayer. We have the promises of God. And even if we don’t see his deliverance here and now, we have the witness of Daniel 3:16-18, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.’”

Paul will be saved from these forty men. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were saved. We too have been saved by the mighty hand of God – nailed to a cross, dead in our place, risen from the grave, and returning at the end of days to claim us as his own. Forty, forty thousand, or forty trillion notwithstanding, God’s got us in his heart, and providential care. That’s far more powerful than a mere forty men.

Golden Trumpet II | Arbor Gate Nursery, Tomball, Texas | May 2024

I don’t know all the details, but there is a sing-song, “Tell me a story. Tell me a story…” (in a child-like voice) chorus in Diane’s side of the family. We didn’t have such a chorus, but we did have a well-worn request: “Tell us a story about the olden days,” we’d say. We wanted to hear our grandmother (“Memaw”) tell her stories. They were grand. Captivating. Spellbinding. A delight to we who knew that Memaw’s stories were every bit as good as the occasional TV show we’d get to see. TV back then was black and white. Memaw’s stories were in full color! What’s more, TV was fiction. Memaw’s stories were true.

I recall all this because of the nature of this brief part of Paul’s story. A plot is being hatched and thwarted right in front of our eyes. And I notice how many details Luke gives us – repeating the conversations, and playing out the events, again quoting the conversations. Every step of the way is chronicled. Luke is not only a physician. He’s an historian. A chronicler. A storyteller.

Luke’s story is important for us. For by God’s providence it has been conveyed through the centuries, copy upon dozens, upon hundreds of copies of this story exist. The estimate is that 550 ancient Greek contain parts or all of the book of Acts. There are so many more of these manuscripts compared to the number of non-biblical manuscripts. It’s a mark of God’s providence. He wants us and many to hear this story.

These were vitally-important stories. And, like Memaw’s stories, they are true. Both Memaw’s and Luke’s stories relate events in this world. But there is another story playing out in the universe. These all are part of a much larger story. It’s not just about 40 or more men taking a vow to kill Paul, the duplicity of the chief priests and council, the young boy messenger and the Roman centurion. Each of them play a part. Each of them have a line in the narrative.

High above all these people, events, schemes, and conversations is the upper story of God’s grace, truth, purpose, and plan. Paul will safely go to Rome. Jesus has indicated that to him (Acts 23:11). This episode is a part of that greater story. But there is an even greater arc that reaches even beyond us today. We read about this. It edifies us. It encourages us. It may even challenge us. But the even grander arc reaches into eternity where Jesus is fully and rightly honored. This is where God’s glorious grace is consummated, celebrated, and centered.

Next time you have an opportunity to support and aid a messenger of Christ, rejoice that you are part of the grand arc of God’s grace. And tell the story to others, putting it into that context.

Just today the Wizard of Id comic strip had a series of panels with a priest hearing different persons in the confessional booth. Each said the same thing, “Bless him, Father, for he has sinned.” At the end of the comic strip, after five different persons have said the same thing, the scene changes to the chamber of the King of Id who says, “I sin a lot, so I delegate.” That’s a pretty different kind of confession.

It might not be a confession, but a group of 40 bound themselves by an oath and went to the chief priests (!) and elders and told them of their oath not to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. That surely seems a bit backwards. It’s one thing to confess a sin to a priest or ask him to offer a sacrifice for a sin committed, but to tell of a vow to kill someone just seems wrong. 

But you see how great a threat they thought Paul to be. They thought him to be a very dangerous person. He challenged their identity as God’s people, their religion as the true religion, and their place as favored by Rome and honored among the people. If what he said was true, and what he taught took hold it would literally turn their world upside down. These were the convictions of those who vowed to kill Paul.

It is stunning to me that such blatant ill will and evil plans could be taken to the religious leaders without fear of reprimand, or censure. This is not the way of Jesus. The one time we have record of Peter’s sword swing, Jesus told him to put away his sword. Paul was the victim of ill treatment and physical harm, never one who gave it. Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek.

Perhaps I’m jaded: some of the political trickery and strong arming within the church is not just distasteful, it offends me. It’s bad enough that the Jews sought to kill Paul. It is unseemly that Christians fight anyone in the name of Jesus. It is unthinkable that I would ever resort to strongarm tactics to win the day. That may be because I am well past my physical prime. But it is surely more so that I believe the cunning and deceitful schemes of man will never prevail against the grace of God in Jesus Christ, and carried within us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Hibiscus Pirouette-2 | Arbor Gate Nursery, Tomball, Texas | May 2024

Dan Rather was on the cover of Time Magazine with the headline: The 8 Million Dollar Man.” He had just inked a contract with CBS News for the outrageous (at that time) $8M contract. Years later he was somewhat embarrassingly outed for some quite dubious news reporting. He ended his last broadcast with one word, “COURAGE.” I think it was his attempt to encourage people to continue to question the powerful.

When Luke reports on these events he tells of Jesus’ appearance to Paul, the following night, the Lord standing by him and saying, “Take courage…” But it wasn’t so much to encourage Paul to question the powerful. It was very much a word of encouragement to trust the most powerful.

Courage can come in a number of ways. “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread” is one source – albeit not a very good one. Denial is another source. Just ignore the danger. Pretend there’s no need for courage. Works well until there is legitimate danger. And of course there’s always bravado. Bluster. Swagger.

There is, of course, a better source of courage: the word of God. First there is the command of Jesus here, “Take courage…” I remember God’s message to Joshua, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9). I love this on two counts. First is the command. Just like Jesus’ words to Paul. This is not just encouragement. This is an imperative. In the case of Joshua, there is a very clear promise as well: “The LORD is with you wherever you go.” The the case of Paul, there is an implied promise: “you must also testify of me in Rome.”

There are times we must simply take courage. We must engage our faith and move forward under the authority of God’s command and promise.

Sometimes, moreover, courage grows with the noble character of the cause. In the case of Joshua, he was to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land. There were rivers to cross, city walls to tear down, battles to fight, and lands to occupy. It would all take courage and the blessing and presence of God. In the case of Paul, the cause was the spread of the Gospel to Rome – a fulfillment of Jesus’ promise/statement, “You shall be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth.”

Our mission may not be as momentous as Joshua’s or as critical as Paul’s. But our calling is every bit as important. We must sometimes take courage in big or small mission efforts. We can do so – assured of Jesus’ presence, strength, and promise – whether we appropriate God’s promise to Joshua or Jesus’ promise to us all: I am with you always, to the very end of the age.