Acts  Sermon Series

Wheelersburg Baptist Church 9/07/03 Brad Brandt

Acts 21:17-36 "The Frustration of Being Misunderstood"**

I read a story recently that relates to the subject before us today. One dark rainy night a salesman had a flat tire on a lonely road. But to his dismay he had no lug wrench. Seeing a nearby farmhouse, he set out on foot. Surely the farmer would have a lug wrench, he thought. But would he even come to the door? And if he did, he'd probably be furious at being bothered. He's say, "What's the big idea getting me out of bed in the middle of the night?" This thought made the salesman angry. Why, that farmer is a selfish old clod to refuse to help me. Finally the man reached the house. Frustrated and drenched, he banged on the door. "Who's there?" a voice called out from a window overhead. 

"You know good and well who it is," yelled the salesman, his face red with anger. "It's me! And you can keep your old lug wrench! I wouldn't borrow it is it was the last one in the county." 

We’re going to talk about misunderstandings this morning, particularly the frustration of being misunderstood. Dealing with misunderstandings are a part of life and especially a vital part of living the Christian life.

It’s true. Do something for God and everyone will applaud, right? Not exactly. The fact is, if you do God’s will some people will take it wrong. They’ll misunderstand and they may even choose to misrepresent you.

"Well, if somebody doesn’t appreciate the work I’m trying to do for God, that’s their problem, not mine," you might say. Hold on, not so fast. When a misunderstanding occurs in the Body of Christ it is our problem.

Beloved, we have a mission. If you take that God-given mission seriously and live life on the front-lines, you must learn how to deal with misunderstandings in a God-honoring way—or you won’t be on the front-lines long, but will find yourself sulking in self-pity back in the mess hall. Which is what we’ll do if we live by our emotions.

Know this. Satan wants to use misunderstandings to derail the gospel train. But we must not let him. We must not be ignorant of his devises. We must, in the words of Ephesians 4:3, "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."

That’s what people like Paul did in the book of Acts, and that’s one of the reasons God used them so effectively. Ephesians 4:3 would be a fitting reference to write across the top of the page over the story of Acts 21. If you want to understand why Paul did what he did in Acts 21, in the story we’re about to consider, the answer is Ephesians 4:3. He was "endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit," as the KJV puts it.

It’s not natural to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit. It takes effort to do what pleases the Supernatural. When our feelings get hurt by the misunderstanding of others, we want to throw in the towel, or worse yet, lash back. Paul didn’t, as we’re about to see, for the simple fact that the work of God must go forward, no matter what.

The story is rather straightforward. On the day he wrapped up his third missionary journey, Paul faced the frustration of being misunderstood. We’ll look at the misunderstandings, then at how Paul responded, and finally consider some lessons from Paul’s example that can help us. Now to the story. Simply put, we learn three insights about misunderstandings from what happened to Paul in Acts 21:17-36.

I must say it again, lest we be surprised when it happens to us. If you do God’s work, the time will come when you will experience the frustration of being misrepresented. It’s not maybe. You will, as Paul did. And like Paul the source of the misunderstanding may rise, first of all, from your brothers and sisters in the church itself.

In our story the first misunderstanding came to light as follows. Three things took place.

A. Paul spoke (17-19). Verse 17 sets the backdrop, "When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers received us warmly." The "we" refers to Paul and his teammates, including Luke, Timothy, and about six other believers from the churches Paul established in the Gentile world. These men came with Paul to deliver a benevolent offering to the needy Jewish believers in Jerusalem. In our last study we observed several warnings given to Paul about this trip. "Don’t go!" they pleaded. "The Spirit makes it clear you’re heading into serious danger!" But Paul would not be deterred.
Things started off well. A Jewish believer from Cyprus, Mnason, opened up his home to keep the missionary team. Apparently, several church members came to Mnason’s house to welcome Paul to town.

Paul got down to business the next day. Verses 18-19—"The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present. Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry." Though the text doesn’t say it here, it was at this time that Paul handed over the offering to the elders (as indicated in 24:17).

Note that a shift has occurred in church leadership from apostles to elders. In Acts 2 and Acts 5 and Acts 6 it was Peter and the apostles leading the way in decisions affecting the local church. By the time we come to Acts 21, however, twenty-seven years have passed since Jesus returned to heaven. It’s A.D. 57 and the apostles are not leading the church in Jerusalem any longer, for two reasons: one, they’re no longer living in Jerusalem but have taken the gospel throughout the world; and two, the Holy Spirit is transitioning the leadership of His church from the temporary presence of apostles to the permanent setup of elders (i.e. pastors) as continues to the present.

Paul went to see James. This isn’t the apostle James, but the half-brother of Jesus and the author of the epistle that bears his name. Paul also met with the elders—a number isn’t given, but since there were several thousand believers in Jerusalem, F. F. Bruce suggests there may have been as many as seventy elders, "constituting a sort of Nazarene Sanhedrin, with James as their president."

By the way, this James was well-respected by non-Christian Jews and earned the title, "James the Just." Eusebius said his knees were like those of a camel because of all the time he spent in prayer.

It was to this James and the elders that Paul spoke that day. In speaking he did two things.

1. He reported the facts. Luke says, "Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry." He had a lot to share—and he didn’t rush but gave the details. Undoubtedly, he told them about what happened in Ephesus: about the followers of John the Baptist who received the Holy Spirit; about his two year, daily teaching ministry from the lecture hall of Tyrannus that was so effective that everyone living in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord; and about the Ephesian riot that resulted because of the economic effect the gospel had on the pagan idol businesses. Surely, he told them about the all night Bible study at Troas when Eutychus fell asleep and fell out of a window to his death, only to be raised to life again.

Then I can imagine Paul pointing the elders’ attention to exhibit A, Sopater from Berea, then to exhibit B, Aristarchus from Thessalonica, and to the other Gentile team members he had recruited and trained for gospel ministry. In giving this report to the elders, Paul summarized at least three years of ministry. But in so doing, note that…

2. He put the focus on God. He reported in detail what God had done through his ministry. We’re in trouble when we forget this is God’s work, and if God doesn’t work it won’t happen.

God did it. Yes, God uses people but God does the work, and therefore, He gets the glory. A preacher can’t open a sinner’s heart. God must do the opening. A sinner can’t save himself. God must do the saving. So Paul spoke and put the focus on God. Then…

B. The elders spoke (20-25). They said three things…

1. They praised God (20a). "When they heard this, they praised God [KJV ‘they glorified the Lord’]." That’s the goal of a good testimony. People don’t praise the messenger. They praise God! And that’s what the elders did that day. These Jewish elders praised God because of what He had been doing with Gentiles.

But their praise had barely left their lips when something else surfaced, a problem.

2. They raised a problem (20b-22). "Then [right after the praising] they said to Paul: "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come…"

It’s been said that although a rumor doesn’t have a leg to stand on, it travels mighty fast! What were the critics saying about Paul? Essentially, the same thing they said about Stephen and, before him, Jesus—that he was teaching the Jews to forsake the laws of Moses.

Note that it wasn’t what Paul was doing with the Gentiles this time. That issue surfaced and was settled at the Jerusalem council in Acts 15. This time the accusation was that Paul was telling Jews to turn from the Law.

Was it true? Was Paul telling the Jews to turn away from the Law? Absolutely not. He wasn’t even telling the Gentiles to turn away from the Law. Paul didn’t teach against the Mosaic Law, or circumcision, or even Jewish customs. Rather he taught for Christ. He proclaimed that Christ fulfilled the Law’s demands for us, and that salvation belonged to those who believed in Christ.

If you think about it, the rumor doesn’t even make sense. The facts show that Paul was not anti-Jewish law. To prove that he had Timothy circumcised before taking him on the second missionary journey (Acts 16:1-3). He himself took a Nazarite vow while in Corinth (Acts 18:18), a vow he consummated the last time he was in Jerusalem. What he was against was anyone who made keeping the law a prerequisite for salvation.

So there was the problem. There were some people (the elders don’t identify who they were although 21:27 indicates it may have been the Jews from Asia Minor) who were spreading dangerous half-truths about Paul. Regardless of the source, thousands of Jews had heard this rumor. That was a huge problem, one that threatened the unity of the church.

3. They proposed a plan (23-25). Verse 23 again—"So do what we tell you." Notice they didn’t offer a suggestion but an instruction. And the fact that Paul obeyed it indicates that even an apostle is under authority. Here was the plan (24-25):

"There are four men with us who have made a vow. Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality."

Apparently, four men had taken a Nazarite vow. Barclay explains, "This was a vow taken in gratitude for some special blessing from the hand of God. It involved abstention from meat and wine for thirty days, during which the hair had to be allowed to grow. It seems that sometimes at least the last seven days had to be spent entirely in the Temple courts. At the end certain offerings had to be brought—a year old lamb for a sin-offering, a ram for a peace offering, a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil and a meat offering and a drink offering. Finally, the hair had to be shorn and burned on the altar with the sacrifice."

As you can imagine this would have been costly. It was considered an act of piety for a wealthy person to cover the expenses of someone taking such a vow.

That was the elders’ plan. Paul, join these men in the vow. Pay their expenses, and then everybody will know the rumors are false.

At which point Paul said, "Are you kidding? I don’t do things to appease people. It doesn’t matter what people think of me." That’s not true and it wasn’t Paul’s response. Paul did care what people thought of him, not for his sake but for the gospel’s. He knew what we tend to forget. What we do as Christians affects the testimony of the gospel.

Isn’t that true? What people were saying about Paul would produce a divisive effect when it came to the unity of the church, and that mattered to him. He didn’t want to see the church split into a Jewish faction and a Gentile faction. He wanted believers from both backgrounds "to endeavor to keep the unity" of the church. So here’s what he did…

C. Paul submitted (26). "The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them."

Some will say, "I don’t do anything I don’t want to do or feel like doing!" Convictions are good, certainly, but there’s a time to swallow your pride for the sake of the Body, especially if your conviction is based on a personal preference instead of the clear teaching of the Word.

Paul knew a person is right with God on the basis of Christ’s atoning work at the cross, not the works of the law. He also knew he didn’t have to observe ceremonial vows to be right with God. But he chose to participate in this vow.

Some say he was wrong for doing so. I disagree. This was a matter of Christian liberty. This wasn’t a matter of salvation but of liberty. Back in chapter 15 when the Judaizers said a Gentile had to be circumcised to be saved, Paul resisted firmly. "No way," he said. "That would violate the gracious nature of the gospel. Salvation is by faith, not by works." And James and the elders agreed.

But what was at stake this time wasn’t the message of the church, but the unity of the church. Paul knew he could go through this ceremonial rite—there wasn’t anything sinful about it (after all, it came from the Law of God!). He didn’t need to keep this law for salvation. It wasn’t for personal reasons, but for interpersonal reasons.

Beloved, unity is a precious thing and is constantly under attack. The story is told of two congregations located only a few blocks from each other in a small community. The two struggling churches decided to unite and become one in order to be more effective. But the merger didn’t happen. Why not? Because they couldn’t agree on how to recite the Lord’s prayer. One group wanted "forgive us our trespasses," while the other demanded "forgive us our debts."

How the church needs men and women like Paul, people who will lay aside their personal opinions and submit their will for the good of the church! Take music in the church, for instance. "I won’t sing that song," some say. "I don’t like it. It’s too fast (or, it’s too slow)." But what if others in the Body do worship meaningfully through that song? Should we not celebrate the diverse backgrounds of the people in the congregation, give preference to one another, and sing that song heartily unto the Lord?

Misunderstandings are unavoidable in the church. When they occur we can retaliate, or like Paul, we can seek to do what will bring clarification and reconciliation. You say, "But it usually doesn’t make any difference anyway, in light of the way people are." Hold on. When we do what is right, it always makes a difference … with the One that matters. After all, our aim isn’t supposed to be merely pragmatic. It’s to please Him, right?

But on the other hand, the objection is valid. When it comes to changing people, our efforts at reconciliation may not make a difference. Quite honestly, it may result in further misunderstandings. It did with Paul.

Insight #1: You may experience misunderstandings in the church. Here’s insight #2.

James Boice tells the following story: "During WWI one of my predecessors at Tenth Presbyterian Church, Donald Grey Barnhouse, led the son of a prominent American family to the Lord. He was in the service, but he showed the reality of his conversion by immediately professing Christ before the soldiers of his military company. The war ended. The day came when he was to return to his pre-war life in the wealthy suburb of a large American city. He talked to Barnhouse about life with his family and expressed fear that he might soon slip back into his old habits. He was afraid that love for parents, brothers, sisters, and friends might turn him from following after Jesus Christ. Barnhouse told him that if he was careful to make public confession of his faith in Christ, he would not have to worry. He would not have to give improper friends up. They would give him up. 

"As a result of this conversation the young man agreed to tell the first ten people of his old set whom he encountered that he had become a Christian. The soldier went home. Almost immediately--in fact, while he was still on the platform of the suburban station at the end of his return trip--he met a girl whom he had known socially. She was delighted to see him and asked how he was doing. He told her, "The greatest thing that could possibly happen to me has happened." "You're engaged to be married," she exclaimed. "No," he told her. "It's even better than that. I've taken the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior." The girls' expression froze. She mumbled a few polite words and went on her way. A short time later the new Christian met a young man whom he had known before going into the service. "It's good to see you back," he declared. "We'll have some great parties now that you've returned." "I've just become a Christian," the soldier said. He was thinking, ‘That's two!’ Again it was a case of a frozen smile and a quick change of conversation. After this the same circumstances were repeated with a young couple and with two more old friends. By this time word had got around, and soon some of his friends stopped seeing him. He had become peculiar, religious, and -- who knows! -- they may even have called him crazy! What had he done? Nothing but confess Christ. The same confession that had aligned him with Christ had separated him from those who did not want Jesus Christ as Savior and who, in fact, did not even want to hear about Him." 

The world doesn’t understand Christians. They sure didn’t Paul.

A. Some Jews attacked Paul (27-29). "When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple." Uh oh! We’ve met these fellows before. These trouble-makers were somehow connected with the guys who by their abusive language forced Paul to leave the synagogue in Ephesus back in Acts 19:8-9. At that time Paul just moved across town to the lecture hall and kept teaching. They weren’t going to let him get away this time. The narrative continues in verse 27:

"They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, shouting, ‘Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place.’ (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.)"

If the first misrepresentation was bad, this was worse. These unsaved Jews uttered blatant lies. They accused Paul of teaching all men everywhere (notice the superlatives) against three things: against our people (the Jews), against our law, and against this place (the temple).

Famous Trial Lawyer Clarence Darrow: "I have suffered from being misunderstood, but I would have suffered a lot more if I had been understood." That wasn’t Paul’s problem here. His opponents attacked him in two ways.

1. They twisted the truth. Paul may have held a different position than they did on the role of the Law in contemporary life, but he certainly didn’t teach all men everywhere to turn against the Jews, the Law, and the temple. After all, he had just traveled hundreds of miles to come to Jerusalem to deliver a love gift to help the Jews!

Their final charge was a blatant fabrication. They said Paul brought Greeks into the temple area. Wiersbe summarizes, "With their emotions running at full speed, and their brains in neutral, these men argued: (1) wherever Paul went, his Gentile friends went; (2) Paul was seen in the temple; therefore, his friends had been in the temple too! Such is the logic of prejudice."

Archaeologists have actually found signs that were posted in the temple that read, "No foreigner may enter within the barricade which surrounds the temple and enclosure. Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death." And the Romans even allowed the Jews to carry out this sentence against trespassers.

The last thing Paul would ever do would be to bring a Gentile into the temple. He knew such action would result in death not only for him, but for his Gentile friend.

But it got worse. After they twisted the truth…

2. They created a mob. I mean an out-of-control, hate-filled mob! How bad was it?

B. The whole city turned against Paul (30-32). That’s what the text says: "The whole city was aroused [we’re talking tens of thousands of people!], and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul."

Notice the action words in this section: aroused, running, dragged, kill, beating, and bound. It was pure chaos! The crowd almost tore Paul apart limb from limb. Given but a few more moments, the pack of wolves would have devoured Paul’s life.

And for what reason? All because of a misunderstanding! Yes, sometimes we’ll experience misunderstandings in the world, just as in the church. Some of you are feeling it right now. You’re thinking, "I can’t take it any more!" Be encouraged. There’s hope. Here it is, insight #3.

His name is the Lord Jesus Christ, and He identifies with His people, especially His suffering people. If anybody knew that, Paul did. Paul heard these very words on the day the Lord saved him. "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me (Acts 9:5)?"

When the mob attacked Paul it was attacking Jesus Himself. And Jesus wasn’t through with Paul, so He intervened. Here’s how (verses 33-36):

"The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. The crowd that followed kept shouting, ‘Away with him!’"

It’s so good to know that in a world full of misunderstandings, there is One who understands everything perfectly! In Paul’s case, the Lord did two things.

A. The Lord did what He said He would do. Remember the prediction Agabus made in our last study? He took Paul’s belt, tied himself up and said, "The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles (21:11)." What happened to Paul was exactly what the Lord said would happen to him. He would be bound.

That’s a bad thing, right, to be bound? It’s a matter of perspective, isn’t it? It beats dying—which was Paul’s other alternative. In fact, the binding ended up being God’s means of setting Paul free from this mob.

B. The Lord used a soldier to protect Paul. And as the story unfolds in future weeks, we’ll see that this arrest by a Roman soldier begins the process that will result in Paul traveling to Rome on a trip funded by the Roman Empire, and even witnessing for Christ to the highest Roman officials in the world.

When the world misunderstands, our God understands perfectly. He knows what He is doing in your life, my friend.

You say, "Okay, so God understands. But how can I develop the perspective that Paul had? What was his key to responding to painful misrepresentations?" I think we find the answer in our final text, 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.

1. Understand your freedom (19a). Paul begins, "Though I am free and belong to no man…" If you are in Christ, you are forgiven and secure. You are free. Affirm that.

2. Live as a slave (19b). He continues in verse 19, "Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone." If we’re going to do ministry God’s way we must recognize that God has set us free to serve. That means we must be willing to come out of our comfort zone.

Kent Hughes is right, "Some hearts never risk anything. They strive neither for sin nor for sainthood. They desire a temperate zone free from the storms of sin and from the tempests that accompany a life of service. Never burn for the souls of others, and you will avoid rejection. Never suggest a plan to reach the community or the world, and you will never be criticized for it. Never give counsel to someone undergoing the pain of separation or divorce, and you will never give errant advice. But just think of all the heavenly checks you will never cash for yourself or others."

You are free, now choose to live as a slave.

3. Remember your objective (19c-22). Why did Paul make himself a slave to everyone? Verse 19 concludes, "To win as many as possible." Listen for the word win in the following testimony (1 Cor 9:20-22):

"To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some."

That’s why Paul took the elders’ charge and participated in the vow. Did he have to? No. But he wanted to win lost people.

That’s our objective, too. To win the lost. Life isn’t about me. It’s about winning lost people to Christ, all to the glory of God. And sometimes, God uses misrepresentations to accomplish this objective. Therefore…

4. Live for the gospel, not yourself (23). As Paul did, "I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."

Acts  Sermon Series