March 9, 2023 -- Acts 22:22-29 -- The Acts of the Apostles: Eager Anticipation

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Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.” 23 And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24 the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he should be examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this. 25 But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” 26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” 27 So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” 28 The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” 29 So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.
Acts 22:22-29 ESV

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Hebrews 9:27-28 ESV

Why did Paul endure so much hardship and suffering? He was a Christian, why didn’t he just go about his ordinary business and live life comfortably until either Jesus returned or he died, at home, full of years and without all those scars and all that suffering? Important question.

The second reading, from Hebrews 9, illuminates the answer. Paul was eagerly awaiting the Savior. Such waiting is not waiting around. It is telling others Whom he is waiting for. It is learning about Jesus, more and more through reading the Bible, through spending time with other believers. It is waiting on Jesus’ return by telling others Who Jesus is, so that Paul’s own anticipation is increased every time he teaches someone else. Whenever a new believer joins the gathering of believers, anticipation increases for all.

How long does it take someone to learn how to install mini-split? There are tutorial websites that show you how someone can install one over two days. Great. What if you want to learn it as a trade? You need the schooling. You need apprenticeship. You need experience. The more you study about it and have hands on practice, the more accomplished you will become. A professional installer can have the mini split up and running in a few hours. That is the difference between an amateur and a professional. And the professional keeps honing his skills, learning to read a job site and so anticipate an easy install from one that will require more time and technical skills.

So too with the man or woman whose life is dedicated to Jesus. It is not a part-time tutorial. It is the life’s work of a Christian to know Jesus, to learn more about Him, to hone one’s understanding of who He is. It is our life’s work to eagerly anticipate His return. In so do, others will inevitably hear of Him, know Him through our eagerness for His return. There will be suffering. No doubt the home owner, who can’t install the mini-split himself, will have all kinds of ‘helpful advice’ for the professional.

‘Helpful advice’ being the useless blathering of an untrained and unskilled man who himself can’t do the work, knew enough to stop trying and so hire a professional, but despite the mess he’s made, still does not have a true estimate of his helpless condition. So too the Christian will meet people who oppose, who offer advice, who are standing in the messes they have made, so that their advice is obviously blathering. What a different when someone learns to eagerly anticipate the Savior’s return. Go ahead. Teach and train others in righteousness as you yourself through that process ever more eagerly await Jesus’ return.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name! Great and glorious is Your salvation. Thank You for Jesus, the Savior Whose return we eagerly anticipate. Spirit of God, so direct us that Jesus fills our thoughts, takes over as the only true hope of our souls and becomes our living. Amen.

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