Sermon Cloud

Kites in a Hurricane Acts 16:6-34

OPENER: We lived in Florida for 2.5 years while I was in seminary and never experienced a hurricane until my last semester – the fall of 2004. We did not experience 1 hurricane – we experienced 3: Charley, Francis and Jeanne! All of them came within weeks of each other. Charley was the worst for us. Orlando Int'l Airport recorded a top wind speed of 106 mph. The next day we went out to see Charleys handiwork – toppled trees, shattered windows, the roofs of many homes torn right off – the powerful winds made a mess and caused us much inconvenience. There was nothing we could except make sure the flashlights had batteries and that the pantry was stocked. Otherwise we were simply along for the ride.

Whether we realize it or not we are all in the midst of a hurricane – not a hurricane that is destructive, but one that is transformational. I am talking about – God's worldwide renewal movement. Mark Driscoll, an author, church planter and pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle certainly viewed his church planting experience in this way. Mark has written several books and articles one of which is Confessions of a Reformissional Rev. In the prelude of this book he states: (Quote from Book)

TRANSITION: The reason I titled my message Kites in a Hurricane is because of the powerful image it brings to our minds. Hurricanes are not safe. The winds from a hurricane are unpredictable and sometimes it blows us like little kites in a direction we do not want to go. Here in Acts 16 we see Paul and his companions follow the lead of the hurricane and allow their plans and strategies to be modified when the wind blows them in a new direction.

1. A CHANGE OF PLANS

   1. The first change (vs. 6)

• • • I imagine some had beach plans the week when Hurricane Charley came to FL.

    • I am certain all the normal, sane people canceled their plans and stayed home.

    • It is typical for us to see the thwarting of our plans as Satan getting in the way.

    • In fact Paul said to the Thessalonians he and his companions greatly desired to come see them but Satan stopped them (1 Thes. 2:18).

    • But Luke tells us in this case it was God himself who thwarted their plans.

    • The first incident is mentioned by Luke as a passing comment:

    • They had plans of going to Asia but the HS kept them from preaching the word there, so they altered their course.

1. 2. The second change (vs. 7)

• • • They tried to go to Bithynia but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them.

    • Question: How do we know when it is the Lord hindering us and when it is Satan trying to hinder us from doing what God wants us to do? How did Luke know?

    • There has been a lot of speculation – perhaps a prophetic word – an overwhelming sense from the Holy Spirit that going to these places were not in God's plan.

    • Or another way of looking at it was they were providentially hindered and in hindsight they concluded it was the Lord.

    • The answer could be any or a mixture of all – we simply do not know how they came to this conclusion.

    • But how can we know? I really can't answer this because it is the wrong question!

    • The scriptures clearly teach us that nothing happens outside of God's eternal decree – God has ordained all things that come to pass. (Genesis - Joseph)

    • Our confession of faith summarizes it this way: God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established. [WCF 3:1]

    • This means Satan and his “thwarting” is part of that decree, so it could be that Satan intended to thwart Paul's efforts but God had a greater purpose.

    • So rather than give into discouragement and give up Paul and his missionary team went to the only place that was nearby and seemed possible to get to.

    • And I will say that this is how we should handle such situations.

    • If the road is blocked – go where it is not blocked. This is what Paul did and we shall see this was in perfect alignment with the Lord's plan.

    • Luke tells us that place Paul went to was the port city Troas.

    • (Pay attention this is VERY significant) here we encounter another change in v10.

1. 2. A Change in pronouns

• • • Luke has been narrating in the third person all this time but in vs 10 is where he begins using the first person pronoun: we.

    • It seems likely that Luke joined the traveling mission team at Troas.

    • We do not know if this was the first time Paul and Luke met BUT:

    • What IF this was where Luke first heard the gospel?

    • This is just speculation – but perhaps one of the reasons the Lord redirected Paul was so Luke could join the team.

    • It is conceivable that had Paul gone somewhere else, we would not have the book of Acts right now. Just a thought.

    • But we do know that God was calling Paul to adopt a new plan.

1. 3. The Winds shift: Paul Receives New Marching Orders

• • • He has a dream of a Macedonian man pleading for Paul to come.

    • Paul and his companions concluded this was where the Lord wanted them to be.

    • They headed for the most important city of the Macedonian district: Phillipi.

TRANSITION: I want to back up for a moment and tie some of this into last weeks sermon.

• Acts 15 – circumcision question was discussed

• Verdict was that requiring Gentiles to be circumcised in order to be accepted into the church went directly against the gospel.

• But ch 16 begins Timothy joins the team and Luke says Paul circumcises him!

• Why would he do such a thing? Strategy! Tim's mom was Jew, dad was Greek.

• Paul knew Jews would not listen to him because of this BUT if he was circumcised, they might be more willing to listen.

• Paul was not contradicting the council. He was doing whatever was necessary to make sure the message of the gospel was unhindered.

• Now back to Philippi – another change in strategy.

2. A CHANGE OF STRATEGY

   1. Change in Strategy: Ministering to women down by the river

• • • Paul's strategy as he went from city to city was to first enter the local synagogue on the Sabbath and present the gospel.

    • One commentator pointed out: Paul was a visionary who planned ahead and developed strategies for reaching the lost and carrying the gospel to the farthest corners of the world. But he always lived in submission to God's will...He submitted his plans to God for rejection, acceptance or modification.

    • So he gets to Phillipi – no synagogue! Modification! Change of Strategy!

    • Luke says they went down to the river on the Sabbath to find a place to pray.

    • This is so important for us especially since so much of our ministry philosophy is programmatic and inflexible.

    • The spontaneous freaks us out - why is that? We like predictability!

    • We get into a situation that does not pan out the way we planned and we think the world is coming to an end.

    • Paul's reliance on the Holy Spirit I believe is very difficult for us reformed types because it sounds wishy-washy and un-theological.

    • But Paul saw changes to his plans and strategy as the Holy Spirit leading them and he was willing to hang on and let the Spirit carry them.

    • Down at the river was a group of women who had gathered there we assume for some type of unofficial religious service.

    • It was necessary to have 10 Jewish male heads of families in order to organize a synagogue and no number of women could count as one man.

    • Now it would have been convenient had there been a synagogue – but thats what it means to be a kite in God's hurricane – where the wind blows you is not always convenient.

    • So they go down to the river and they share the gospel with a group of women.

    • One woman in particular Luke says was a worshiper of God.

    • Luke tells us the Lord opened her heart so she could believe the Gospel: Lydia.

2. 2. Lydia's conversion

• • • Upon believing she was baptized – her and her household.

    • What is about this is that she was a woman who was apparently single and had her own business selling purple fabric and had a household.

    • Much of the culture in the NT era attributed little to no value to women and girls.

    • Her household was probably made up of members of her family and servants.

    • So once again we see God putting people in the way of his servants – people whom Paul might not have thought to reach or minister to.

    • The evidence of her new life in Christ was obvious – hospitality and service.

    • There wasn't a synagogue in Philippi when Paul arrived – but when he left there was a church which would later be a source of great encouragement to Paul.

    • The reason why God hindered Paul from going about his plans was to establish a foothold in Europe – a foothold which was about to expand.

    • The wind begins to blow.

2. SEIZING OPPORTUNITIES WHEREVER THE WIND BLOWS YOU

   1. Paul frees an exploited young girl and wrecks a small business in the process

• • • Luke tells us they continued their ministry by the river and that one day they encountered a slave girl who by an evil spirit could predicted the future.

    • This girl followed them shouting, “These men are servants of God, who are telling you the way to be saved.

• • • Paul endured this for days and finally Paul got so annoyed he expelled the spirit.

    • But this created a problem for Paul – her owners were profiting from her ability.

    • And so they respond with a citizens arrest and drag Paul and Silas before the Magistrates and they drop the religion card.

    • These Jews are imposing their religion on our culture! They are troublemakers!

    • They are offending us and our city with their narrow exclusive religious views.

    • POINT: the reason why we must make every effort to remove unnecessary stumbling blocks is because the gospel is a stumbling block!

    • The gospel is offensive: when preached faithfully it will stir up trouble – it will bring evil business practices to an end - it is an inconvenient truth.

    • But religion was not their real concern – they were just mad that Paul ruined their evil enterprise which was based on their exploitation of this girl's bondage.

    • The magistrate sides with these men – have Paul and Silas flogged, imprisoned.

2. 2. Paul and Silas in Jail

• • • How inconvenient! How awful! How humiliating! We can't imagine!

    • How hard this must have been for Paul and Silas to endure!

    • Maybe they should retire – maybe find an easier occupation thats not so stressful

    • Wouldn't this be our response?

    • We are so allergic to difficulty in general and especially when it involves church life – we avoid it like the flu – I confess I am guilty.

    • I don't want my life to be hard. I want the path to be smooth and safe.

    • I bet most of you are not all that different than me.

    • And this type of thinking is a great hindrance to our calling as Christians.

    • The Christian life knows no easy road – for Jesus said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ^{25} For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. (Mt 16:24)

    • This is what it means to be a kite in God's hurricane – a wholesale abandonment of your “rights”, comforts and pleasures – it is a surrendering of your life to God.

    • It means to recognize that Jesus is your Lord, your king and you are his servant.

    • When we are preoccupied with our comforts and rights, we miss the gospel opportunities that inconvenient hurricanes bring.

    • Paul and Silas refused to allow the inconvenience of jail to stop them from doing what they knew they were called to do so they seized the opportunity.

    • Luke says they held a worship service in the presence of the other prisoners.

    • No doubt the jailer overheard some of this before he fell asleep for after the earthquake struck and the chains fell of and the doors flung open, he wants to know how to be saved.

    • Their Answer: Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved!

    • What did the jailer see in Paul and Silas?

    • Was it really just the earthquake that brought him to his knees?

    • He saw a power at work in them that was not of human origin.

    • This power gave them the ability to overcome great difficulties with great joy!

    • And now this jailer had access to this power by faith in Jesus Christ and whether we realize it or not friends so do we!

CLOSER and Application

• • • Can you imagine the jailers impression had they sat in there and complained?

    • Their message would have fallen on deaf ears!

    • But their faith, their confidence and their joy was staggering – almost as crazy as going to the beach in the middle of a hurricane.

    • Why would these men allow themselves to be blown around like kites in a hurricane? Why would they be willing to suffer in this way for this Jesus guy.

    • Because they believed Jesus is who he said he is.

    • Their message had substance, it had a transforming power that the jailer could clearly see.

    • And they believed that nothing else in life was more important than the mission of spreading the gospel and making Jesus known.

    • They believed the only way they could accomplish this mission was to let the wind carry them.

    • If we to do the same – we will never cease to be blown away by what God will accomplish through us!