Acts 18. 18-28: “Teamwork!”

Acts 18. 18-28: “Teamwork!”

When Neymar was injured in the Colombia match newspapers were asking questions like, “Can Brazil win the 2014 World Cup without Neymar"” and “Who will pick up the slack in Neymar's absence"”; and another question, “Could Neymar’s injury have been avoided"”   It looks very much like Brazil had become dependent of Neymar; they had forgotten how to play as  a team and their fence was in tatters against Germany.   There's a lesson there for the Church:  we need to play as a team, rather than building everything around one or two “star players.”

Eventually Paul knew it was time to move on from Corinth.  He had pioneered with the Gospel in Greece; he had made a bit of a change in strategy: he spent a “considerable time” in Iconium (Ac 14. 3) which means he was delayed there for a while, but he actually settled for over 18 months at Corinth.  It was the longest he had stayed anywhere on his journeys so far.  How were they going to manage when he moved on?  As we said last week, they did mess up quite badly – at every opportunity – and needed ongoing support.   Paul spent 18 months in Corinth, but continued to be concerned and exercise a leadership ministry, through his letters.  Elsewhere, his visits were shorter yet he still wrote when there were issues to sort out.  Paul saw himself as part of a team.  Almost al of his letters were written from Paul and one or two others, or else included greetings from others.  The shape of ministry in this growing, developing New Testament church movement, was totally flexible, and totally corporate.  It was always teamwork.

 The idea of the “One man Ministry” where someone is appointed by a local church to serve its needs and further its objects, is a modern development of a mediaeval idea: the Parish priest. The earliest Church supported ministry, releasing good teachers from the need to earn an income in order to minister the Word.  But it also saw those teachers and leaders raised up from amongst the local community.  I wonder whether in our post-modern world we need to recover the flexibility of the earliest Church.?

Team Prayers
So Paul left Corinth, taking Aquila and Priscilla with him; but before getting on board ship, he – had a haircut! Although Luke – the Gentile doctor – was a bit vague about this it was obviously important enough to mention.  All Luke knows is “it was some sort of vow”.  What is that all about?  It was likely a “Nazirite” vow, which Paul had taken: this would involve a commitment for a period of time, to drink no alcohol, and neither to shave or have a a haircut.   Samson was the classic Old Testament example of a Nazirite, although he was one from birth and for life.  His parents were told to brig him up from birth, abstaining from alcohol and never having his hair cut... You know the story.  From his long hair – or rather because of his obedience to  what God had said about him – he had this amazing strength. (You can read about Samson in Judges 13-16) 

Jews would take a “Nazirite vow” for different reasons: often, either in thanksgiving for something God had done, or to express particular urgency in prayer.   Luke doesn't tell us which Paul was doing, but the fact that he had his hair shaved off before leaving Greece, suggests that it may have been a way of expressing his commitment to mission in Greece, or perhaps specifically in Corinth.  Or of praying for the Jews who had rejected the gospel in Corinth; or of praying for the salvation of the Corinthians...

What that tells me is that Paul's spirituality was kind of diverse.  Unlike his hair, it wasn’t all that “cut and dried”.  Of course, as Disciple of Jesus, he had no reason to feel he “had to” keep these old laws; he knew that God had already given him “every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus”, that he who had given his only son would with him give all that Paul would ever need in his ministry and mission. But I suspect it still helped Paul to go back to his Jewish roots and there to find resources that helped him focus his prayers.  We too often define “prayer” as “talking to God”.  We read our Bibles (and expect God to talk to us) and we talk to God (saying we are sorry for our sins, praising him, asking for his help).  We have forgotten that Jesus gave us bread and wine; we have forgotten that Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit, who gives gifts that transcend the human mind – like speaking in tongues.  We have forgotten that God made us with five senses and calls us to draw close to him with each of these senses and in ways that go beyond our senses.  So, if it helps you to fast, then fast.  If it helps you to look at a cross, or hold a cross, then do so. If you commune with God through being out in the countryside, or in the garden, be there and expect God to eb there too. 

So Paul is heading for Caesarea so he can visited “the Church (meaning the “Mother Church” at Jerusalem).  And while in Jerusalem, he would also visit the temple and make the sacrifice that went along with finishing his Nazirite vow.   Then after that, he would go “home” to Antioch, the adventurous, creative centre in Syria that had sent him out in the first place.  This homeward journey, with its haircut, its visit to Jerusalem and its final destination of Antioch, shows us a lot about the inner life of Paul.  It shows is someone who prayed, and who relied on the support of other people – traditional Jewish Christians like those he found in Jerusalem, and the more adventurous missionary church in Antioch.

Team Players
But first, he broke his journey in Ephesus, which was where Aquila and Priscilla were going.  Stopping off like that was  a normal thing in the ancient world. And Ephesus was another important centre, where he had a good time preaching in the synagogue.   God was at work there, but Paul had another journey to make so he promised to come back if possible, and off he went.  But ministry and mission were continuing.  Aquila and Priscilla were in Ephesus already, and there may have been a few other believers.  Then, along came Apollos. a Greek-speaking Jew, who had been living in Alexandria, Egypt. Alexandria was another “University town”, a respected place of learning, so Apollos knew his Old Testament and had learned about Greek philosophy, and how to argue a case in public.  he had natural gifts that could be harnessed by the Holy Spirit.  But he hadn't got everything right.   He was well-read; he knew about Jesus, and trusted Jesus.  But there were gaps in his knowledge; he only knew about John's baptism.  It seems that the version of Christianity that had reached Alexandria was not 100% right and that Apollos had picked up some messed up theology.  

So when Apollos turned up in Ephesus, and started preaching in the synagogue about Jesus, Aquila and Priscilla heard him,. They realised that there were gaps in his understanding.  (They knew a thing or two: they had been on on Paul's team for a year and a half!)  So they (both of them – Priscilla as well as Aquila!) invited him to their home and straightened out his ideas.  I like that:  Christian discipling and teaching, taking place in someone's home, presumably around good food. 

Eventually, Apollos wanted to go off and preach about Jesus elsewhere: eh wanted to go to Achaea (Southern Greece), so the Church encouraged and supported him, sending him off with a  letter (to prove he was a genuine believer with a ministry.)  and off he went, making a difference in places like Corinth, by debating with the Jews about Jesus, and proving from the Old testament that Jesus was the Messiah.

Now Apollos' ministry was different to Paul’s.  Paul was an all-rounder, a Church planter.  Apollos was a specialist: today we would call him an apologist.  His gift was giving people reasons for believing.  Some people in Corinth thought he was marvellous: probably many came to faith in Jesus through his debating skills.  And some in Corinth thought Paul was marvellous. I guess they were dong the same as we sometimes do: they were trying to narrow down Jesus, to narrow down the Gospel, to tie it up into categories that are easy to package.  Eventually Paul wrote to them "I planted, Apollos watered, but God kept everything growing." (1Co 3:6)  Paul was a team player.  He recognised and was not threatened by the gifts and ministry of others in the team.
God was sovereignly at work, in Paul's absence, through people like Apollos, Aquila, Priscilla.  A little Church group at Ephesus was already getting established, probably meeting in Aquila and Priscilla's house.  And there were other groups, that probably met separately.  Guess what? God was at work in them all, in different way and in different stages.    There is only one Good News.  But there are many ways of expressing it; many ways of coming to faith in Jesus; many ways of praying, many shapes and that ministry can take. We are all called to be team players.

 


© Gilmour Lilly July  2014