God's co:mission is about transformation that leads to multiplication...

This week, we are looking at a story in the Book of Acts that records the impact that the death of Stephen had on early followers of Jesus. Yesterday, we saw Luke share the story of an encounter that a man named Saul had with Jesus that would forever change his life and the life of this new movement called the church. Today, we will see that after this encounter Saul was never the same, for Saul had been fundamentally changed by God’s transformational intervention and activity in his life. A change that Luke reveals for us beginning in the second half of verse 19:

Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God." All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, "Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?" But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ. When many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.

After recovering physically from His encounter with Jesus, Saul entered into the synagogue of Damascus to share with the Jewish religious leaders and people the mission and message that drove him. What he shared however, was not what they expected to hear. Saul began to publicly and powerfully proclaim the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. Luke tells us that the Jewish people of Damascus were amazed at what they were hearing. As we have previously discovered, this word amazed literally means to feel astonishment caused by an event which is extraordinary and difficult to understand.

These Jewish religious leaders and people were beside themselves; they were at a loss to explain what was happening. “I thought Saul was coming to help rid us of this new movement, but instead he is now promoting this movement?” When Luke says that Saul was increasing in strength and confounding the Jews, the word confounded literally means to cause dismay and consternation. You see, Saul had graduated at the top of his class in Torah school. He knew the Old Testament better than anyone. And now, the man who was supposed to pillage and destroy followers of Jesus was now the main apologist for Jesus, proving that Jesus fulfilled the promises and predictions recorded in the Old Testament.

In verse 23, Luke explains that after many days, the Jewish people had enough of Saul. We know from other letters in the Bible that Saul was in Damascus for a period of three years. After three years of frustrating the Jewish religious system and its leaders, the Jewish people decided that they would try to kill Saul. The transformation of Saul resulted in the rejection of Saul by those who would have previously welcomed and accepted him.

And in the same way today, God’s transformational activity can result in rejection by those who were previously close to us. So often, a person who becomes a follower of Jesus will experience a loss when it comes to a previous relationship or friendships. As the Holy Spirit transforms our character and conduct, those around us who have rejected Jesus often respond by rejecting Jesus and the Holy Spirit that they see active and at work in us.

Luke tells us that Saul was rescued from the plot to kill him by other followers of Jesus, who lowered him in a large basket over the city walls. Saul then traveled back to Jerusalem, where he experienced a different response. A response that Luke records for us in verse 26:

When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. And he was with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death. But when the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.

As Saul tried to engage and experience community with the members of the church at Jerusalem, the followers of Jesus there responded to Saul with apprehension and fear. Instead of coming alongside and welcoming, loving and serving Saul in a way that resulted in his spiritual good and growth, the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem avoided Paul. They found it hard to believe that Saul had been transformed and rescued. They were apprehensive to welcome him, fearing that it was all a facade.

How often can we find ourselves tempted to act just like the early followers of Jesus in Jerusalem? How often can we find ourselves tempted to look through the prism of skepticism when we see or hear that someone has become a follower of Jesus? How often are we tempted to take the approach “I’ll believe it when I see it?” Or find ourselves tempted to spiritualize and rationalize our skepticism with phrases like “let’s wait and see if there is any fruit in their life”.

Fortunately for Saul, there was a follower of Jesus named Barnabas who welcomed, loved, and served as an intermediary between Paul and the leaders of the church. Barnabas shared Saul’s story of his encounter with Jesus and God’s transformational activity in his life that was evidenced in his character and conduct in Damascus. Barnabas took the time to engage Saul and to hear his story.

And as a result of Barnabas willingness to engage, love and serve Saul, Saul was welcomed into the community and was used by God to reveal and reflect Christ throughout Jerusalem. Luke then explains that just as it was in Damascus, Jews who were Greek ethnically responded to Saul by attempting to kill him. Despite their attempt, Saul was ushered out of Jerusalem safely to Tarsus, where he would spend the next fourteen years preparing for the amazing role that he would play in God’s co:mission.

And it is in the story of Saul that we discover a timeless principle that is necessary to embrace if we are to fully engage in the co:mission we have been given in a way that reveals and reflects Christ. And that timeless principle is this: God’s co:mission is about transformation that leads to multiplication. The story of God’s mission in the world is a story about transformation. God used the persecution that arose from the death of Stephen at the hands of Saul to position His followers so that they would engage in the co:mission that they had been given to be the vehicle that revealed His Son Jesus and His message of rescue through the message of the gospel to the world.

And it was God’s transformational intervention and activity in the life of a man Saul that resulted in God’s co:mission advancing to the uttermost ends of the world. You see, while you may not hear much about Saul after Acts chapter 9, there is another character that will soon take center stage in God’s co:mission. A character that carried the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel to the countries of Turkey, Greece, Rome, and Spain: A character that wrote the vast majority of what we refer to today as the New Testament in our Bibles: A character that received a new name as a result of God’s transformational activity and intervention: A character named Paul.

You see, God’s co:mission is all about taking people like Saul and transforming them into people like Paul. Same physical body, but transformed by the power of God in order to advance the kingdom of God and advance the reputation of God. We see Luke reveal this reality as he concludes this story:

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.

Luke tells us that as a result of God’s transformation of Saul into Paul, the church experienced peace from persecution and was marked by the encouragement of the Holy Spirit as followers of Jesus connected in community with one another. And as a result of God’s transformational activity, we read that the church continued to multiply and increase in size and scope.

And in the same way today, God’s co:mission is about transformation that leads to multiplication. It is God’s transformational intervention and activity that rescues people from selfishness and rebellion and brings them into the relationship with God that they were created for. It is God’s transformational intervention and activity that also equips, empowers, and unleashes those same individuals to be the vehicle that He uses to reveal His Son Jesus and His message of rescue through the message of the gospel to the world.