Paul Didn't Do It (Or So He Says)

"And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face.  Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.  For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. (Acts 20:25-27 NASB)

"I have coveted no one's silver or gold or clothes.  You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me.  In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" (Acts 20:33-35 NASB)

Claiming innocence never really worked for me growing up.  I wasn't an only child, but my younger brother was my closest sibling, and usually whatever one started, we both wound up in.  But when it comes to two guilty parties, it's useless for one to protest, "well he started it!"  Ironically, what I was told was to just ignore him.  Which is great advice as long as while the guy's being ignored, someone intervenes along the way to make him stop.  See, parents, if there's really nothing else to do, the whole "ignoring" thing requires adult intervention to really work, I'm just saying for the sake of those kids out there who tried to say that but without credibility with their parents.

I never thought I'd read Paul saying, "I didn't do it!" and yet here it is.  Of course, context is everything in understanding why he says it, but the greater context still makes it interesting.  First off he begins by defending his service among the Ephesians, right off the bat.  I thought that was interesting, but he's done that in his letters to various churches. 

What really caught my attention, though, was in verse 25 where he claims to be innocent of the blood of all men.  Why would he say that?  Was he even thought of being accused of murder?  Was there a question?  Context tells me what he means, but it makes his claim from odd to extraordinary.  It relates back to his initial defense of his ministry among them.  What he is saying is that he has been so thorough with his preaching that no one can say, "well, Paul never told me that, he denied me salvation!"  Get this, Paul says no one can claim that.  Just let that roll around in your synapses for a bit.  No one?

Just so you know, I can't claim that.  I have never been accused of this sort of thoroughness, nor have I ever claimed such for myself, nor would I.  What would my life be like if I could?  What would be different?  What would I be doing vocationally?  What would my family be like?  I just don't know.  It wouldn't guarantee that I'd be a better person.  It's not the work that indicates that.  I could tell everyone about the good news of Jesus, and still be a jerk.  Still, it's quite a claim, and one to which I wonder about aspiring.

The second "I didn't do it" claim of Paul has to do with money.  He says he has never coveted the silver, gold, or clothes of others.  This would be easier for me to claim.  Probably not for the same reasons though.  Perhaps in my youth I did covet the clothes or money of others.  My younger years were kind of difficult that way because my family went through some financial difficulties.  Anyone who has worn Tough-Skin Jeans knows they have coveted the clothes of others.  But I also learned to value things differently because of those years, so that as an adult I really don't covet.  I still see things I would like, but I don't envy others or want what they have.  It doesn't drive or motivate me like it does for others (although, there is this telescope mount I have my eye on...)

But Paul has a point in saying that he hasn't coveted.  What he is doing is urging the elders to follow his model of serving with his own hands so to be able to give to others.  He didn't covet, he worked for what he needed.  He quotes Jesus as saying, "it is more blessed to give than to receive" although he must have a source for that not used for the Gospels.  I don't doubt Jesus said it; John claims in his Gospel that not everything made it into the accounts of Jesus. 

The point of Paul is that working to give is a much more Christ-like quality than working to get.  And that is definitely a lesson I can take to heart.  It's very different than the environment I work in as a salesperson.  I would be swimming upstream against strong current to hold to such a view.  Yet, I see a way to do it, even in my arena.  Even my manager encourages such a view, and provided a "mental framework" in which to do what they ask yet keep this "service" mindset. Even my Master has made a way for me to follow Him in service through my vocation.  Now that is blessed.  Now to give.

Wild Ephesian Times

God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.  But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches."  Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.  And the evil spirit answered and said to them, "I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?"  And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.  This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. (Acts 19:11-17 NASB)

There is a saying of Jesus that has always given me the "shivers".  In Matthew 7:22-23, Jesus basically says that performing miracles isn't the "proof" it's that I obey His words.  That would be fine, but this is right at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, and He has just spoken some really hard words; "turn the other cheek," "love your enemies," "blessed are the meek," and so on.  It's a hard passage to get through unscathed.  Yet, not following these as a lifestyle is the indicator that my relationship with Him isn't what it is supposed to be.

Now, not to be legalistic, these elements to the Sermon on the Mount are not suggestions, and they are not laws.  Jesus transforms laws into a perspective derived from a relationship with Him.  In other words, these elements are not requirements, but evidence.  No evidence such as these elements, do whatever miracles I like, I'm still not "in" with Jesus.  I always puzzled over that because I have assumed that without the Holy Spirit performing the "miracle" it wasn't going to happen.  And then Ephesus in Acts 19, perhaps I have been mistaken.

Traveling Jewish Exorcists?  I suppose that makes some sense since belief in evil or unclean spirits wasn't especially a Greek belief, but still, putting the spirit under an oath to obey in the name of the Person someone else preaches seems like an odd practice.  Yet it demonstrates the power of the name of Jesus rather than the power of the exorcists.  It wasn't about Paul (who the demons knew about) but about Jesus (who the demons knew).  "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?"  It was about the name of Jesus.  Like the demons knowledge about Paul, these "Sons of Sceva" knew about Jesus.  They knew that His name was powerful, but they didn't know Him.

Handkerchiefs and aprons of Paul are going to the sick and possessed and they are being healed and freed.  But it's not about Paul, but Jesus Whom Paul preaches.  Read it carefully, "God was performing extraordinary miracles" not Paul.  One of my favorite little passages in the Hebrew Scriptures briefly tells of David's "Three Mighty Men" (2 Samuel 23:8-17).  These guys made Navy SEALS look like children (intense children, but still).  These are the guys SEALS want to grow up to be like.  But in these cases where one would defeat the Philistines by himself, it says that the LORD brought about a great victory.  The tough-guy was just a guy.  Sure they would break through the Philistine lines to draw water at Bethlehem, and break out again to bring it to David, but it was God working to bring victory through them.

I read of the miracles, but I have to remember it is my Master doing these things, not these people.  Argue as you may, it is the power of the name of Jesus and God Himself who does these things, not the traveling Jewish exorcists, or even Paul, or his handkerchiefs and aprons.  It never was about the people through whom my Master worked, it has always been about my Master.  Perhaps the reason "miracles" such as these are so rare in America is because we are so keen to make idols of humans.  It's so ingrained in our nature to focus on the person we can see, touch, hear, and blame that we become distant from the works of power of my Master.  Because we are merciless with these "idols" we create.  We set these people up, and crush them when they fall.

What I want is the wild Ephesian times to break loose in my town, and in my church.  It would be great if it became known as a place of miracles of my Master, not about certain people through whom the miracles came.  It would be wonderful if my Master performed healing of diseases, exorcism, raising the dead, and freeing from addictions.  It would be amazing and beautiful if, when asked what person in the community was responsible, no one could point to any one person.  If my Master shone through like the irrepressible sunlight through a break in storm clouds, that would be awesome to see.  So why hasn't it happened?

None of my handkerchiefs or aprons will help anyone I'm afraid.  Those of my pastor are probably in the same category.  It's not the quality of our leadership team to see people miraculously raised from beds of sickness or death, not yet anyway.  I believe that I and a lot of my fellow believers have a long way to go before our Master has the freedom to work in this way.  I really can't speak for all of us, but I know that I have a lot to work through, not legalistically, but relationally with my Master.  I want it, but I'm still caged by fear, shame, and pride.  I haven't yet let the Spirit of my Master loose within my heart and soul.  I should be consumed, but I'm not, not yet.  Not yet.