By Peter Law | Crossings Community Church, Kirkland Lake | February 9, 2025

Proposition: Mission brings us into uncharted territory where we will experience unexpected successes and unexpected opposition. But we must remember that in both the good and the bad, God is faithful towards us.

Application: If we follow God on mission, we will find unexpected open doors to exploit. Likewise, we will encounter unexpected opposition, which we shouldn’t interpret as failure. No matter the reception of our message, it’s our faithfulness to the task, not the results that determines our success. Introduction

An Email from Barnabas: When I was a missionary, emails to people at home were an important tool. Imagine if Paul & Barnabas had access to Email way back then. I’m going to pretend we’re privy to Barnabas’ Emails back to his church in Antioch:

“Hey guys, things have gone amazing so far! Our connections in Cyprus did a great job of helping us spread the good news all over the island. There was so much buzz about this new teaching that we even got an invitation to share with the Proconsul. He even became a Christian. When we encountered opposition from a self-serving religious advisor to the Proconsul, Saul (he goes by Paul now) was all “You’re a child of the devil!” and then he struck him blind (that’s what sealed the deal with the Proconsul). Saul…Sorry, Paul, is really coming into his own. I’m just happy to stand back and let him grow in leadership. It’s amazing how God has made everything just fall into place!”

Anyway, The proconsul is from a town called Pisidian Antioch in Asia Minor. He’s given us some letters of introduction to people there, so we’re headed to Asia minor. Will Email when we get there.

Blessings,

Barnabas

Paul & Barnabas continue their mission heading to Asia Minor Probably at the Suggestion of Sergius Paulus

from ancient records, we can see Pisidian Antioch was the home of Sergius Paulus’ family

They went where the Spirit opened doors – He likely gave them letters of introduction.

Almost Immediately things started to deviate form the plan

John (Mark) abruptly departsActs 13:13NIV

13 From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.

We’re not told why John left, but from what happens later, we know it wasn’t on Good Terms

They had been going to Cyprus, maybe he was opposed to going to Asia Minor

The text says “Paul & his companions,” indicating that Paul (not his uncle Barnabas) is now taking the lead. Maybe John Mark doesn’t like that.

But later, this will become a point of bitter disagreement that parts Paul & Barnabas.

John’s departure must have seemed odd because up until this point everything had gone so well. The smooth sailing won’t last.

As Paul & Barnabas begin ministry in Pisidian Antioch, we see what appears to be a mixture of ‘success’ and ‘failure’Acts 13:14–15NIV

14 From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation for the people, please speak.”

In the Synagogue they would read from the OT scriptures, and then invite someone to share their response.

As visitors Paul and Barnabas are invited to share their thoughts

The Audience is a mixture of Jews and converts (Gentiles who have been circumcised and assimilated).

Paul gives a sermon outlining the Jewish story and how Jesus is the fulfilment of their hopes.

I’ll share parts of it, but it’s quite long to quote all the way through in a sermon.Acts 13:27–33NIV

27 The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. 28 Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people. 32 “We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors 33 he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus.Acts 13:38–39NIV

38 “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.

The message is initially well received, but by the next week it has begun to be opposedActs 13:42–45NIV

42 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. 43 When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God. 44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him.

In this story we see themes that run through the rest of Acts: The message of the Gospel is polarizing. Faithful mission will sometimes involve our message being well received at some times and opposed (even sometimes violently) at others.

I want to look at how we need to think differently about success and failure and how that changes how we approach being faithful in mission.The Good News May be Unexpectedly Accepted

The succeess that Paul and Barnabas enjoy isn’t necessarily the kind of success they anticipated

The Messiah is something Jews are looking for. You don’t hear Gentiles saying, “If only the Messiah were here”

Paul’s first stop is to the Synagogue where he addresses people who know the story. They share his hope.

Initially, the Good News is well received in the synagogue. They are asked to return the next week.

When News gets out about Paul’s teaching, Gentiles unexpectedly show an interest:

It says the whole city came out. This is undoubtedly hyperbole, but while Pisidian Antioch had a sizeable Jewish population, the large crowd that gathered must have included a lot of pagan Gentiles.

The pagans aren’t the audience they might expect – God has been at work preparing them to receive the message

Contrary to everyone’s expectations, the Gentiles prove to be the ones in whom the message has greatest success, as we see as the story continues:Acts 13:46–48NIV

46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “ ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” 48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

Paul and Barnabas are successful in ways they weren’t necessarily expecting. How do they respondAdapting to Unexpected Success

Paul and Barnabas Adapt to their success. They don’t accuse God of unfaithfulness because the plan doesn’t go as anticipated.

Blessed are the flexible, for they will not be easily broken —Someone who has experience in mission

If Paul and Barnabas are anything like most of us, they’d like a clear sense of where God is calling them.

A Long Range Map: When I to a new destination, I’m really glad for Google Maps. I tell Google where I want to go, and it plans the whole trip for me. I can see exactly where I’m going to go before I pull out of the driveway.

God isn’t like Google Maps. He doesn’t give us a detailed picture of where we’re going.

Instead, God asks his people to trust him. He often subverts our sense of certainty to keep us close and dependent on him

God deliberately keeps Paul & Barnabas in the dark about what will unfold so they will be attentive to his direction

God opens doors for them they didn’t anticipate. He does the same for us too

Unexpected Converts: on a mission trip to Chile, we were ministering in a prison. Trent & I felt a burden to pray for spiritual deliverance. We fasted and prayed. Trent preached on the topic. We gave an alter call. No one came for spiritual deliverance, but six people came forward to get saved.

I suppose we could have said, “Come for salvation next week,” but that’s absurd. If God is doing something, even if it’s not what we’re looking for, we need to work with, not against the Spirit.

In the scripture, Paul and Barnabas adapt to the new reality, moving their focus to Gentiles because that’s where they are having success.

As we do ministry inside our outside the church, we must look for the places where the Spirit is working – We want to join him in that work.

If we’re married to a particular vision for what God wants us to do, we might miss the opportunities.

The Photo I Wasn’t Looking For: When I go out to do landscape photography, I often have a photo in mind that I want to take. But often when I get into the field, I find that there are unexpected photos I didn’t foresee. The temptation is to leave these opportunities unexplored and pursue the shot I came for with single-minded focus. But sometimes the shot I was after is a bust. Often it’s those unexpected shots that turn out to be better.

Like a landscape photographer we’re going to find unexpected opportunities along the way. But we might fail to identify them if we become so focused on our vision of ministry that we aren’t looking around us.

A church could start trying to do a food delivery service for the elderly, but the program. Maybe the program doesn’t work well, but they discover that what those people really want is connection. So maybe they adapt by starting a fellowship time for seniors.

Sometimes we abandon our original plan because the new opportunity is more fruitful. It doesn’t mean we misheard God before.

God doesn’t tell us too much because he’s trying to teach us daily dependence on him.

Knowing too much tends to lead us to independence.

God’s leading is as much about shaping us as it is about helping those to whom we’re sent.

This is true when we must adapt, but also true when we encounter oppositionThe Good News May by Unexpectedly Opposed

Opposition can feel like failure – So we may be easily discouraged by it, especially when it comes from unexpected places

The Jewish leaders in Asia Minor seem like the most logical people to receive the Good News about the Messiah, but they often serve as the greatest obstacle.

When Paul is preaching to the Synagogue full of Jews and converts to Judaism, it seems like Good News, but when Gentiles turn up and they’re invited to the table some of the Jews get jealous (zēlos).

Why are they jealous? For Jews in the diaspora community, maintaining distance from Pagans was seen as necessary to maintain their distinct identity. The idea that they were being asked to let in the pagan hordes feels like a compromise. What they don’t understand is this that God is doing a new thing that crosses barriers. They’re not ready to get on board.

The Result is that Paul & Barnabas run smack into fierce, violent opposition.Acts 13:49–14:7NIV

49 The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. 50 But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51 So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. 1 At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. 2 But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders. 4 The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. 5 There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. 6 But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, 7 where they continued to preach the gospel.

While Paul & Barnabas are being faithful to God’s calling, God doesn’t protect them from persecution

It would be easy for them to conclude that the opposition was a sign that they had heard the wrong thing from God.

But Paul understands that God doesn’t call us to an easy path.

Instead, it is as we model ourselves after Jesus, including in the opposition he faced, that we become new creatures in his image. As he writes to the church in Philippi:Philippians 3:10–11NIV

10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

So when Paul encountered opposition, he didn’t see it as a sign he had misunderstood God’s direction. He saw it as a natural consequence of embodying a New Creation reality while surrounded by People whose lives were grounded in Old Creation.

He knew this first-hand from his days persecuting the church.

Some people are just not at a place where they are ready to hear the message. But Paul’s conversion story tells us that not everyone who is opposed now will be opposed forever.

When Acts says, “all who were appointed for eternal life believed” it doesn’t mean that God picked who he would save and doesn’t care about the rest. Rather all those whose hearts were ready to hear the message received it.How Do We Respond When We Are Opposed?

Paul didn’t interpret opposition as a sign of God’s abandonment or of misunderstanding of God’s will, so neither should we.

At times we’re going to try to serve God and it’s not going to go well. We should resist the temptation to second guess ourselves.

Jesus faced opposition. Paul faced opposition. We will face opposition.

We need to understand success and failure differently.

Our calling is to be faithful witnesses to what Jesus has done, and how he’s transformed us.

We have no control over how that testimony is received.

Of course we need to make it as winsome as we are able, but the cross will give offence to some no matter how we put it.

We are just messengers. We are not responsible for how others receive the message because we don’t control them.

Holding the Mail Carrier Responsible: Imagine a utility company suing Canada Post because the mail carriers brought utility bills to customers who didn’t pay. The mail carrier’s job is to bring the message (the bill) to the intended recipient. What ultimately happens is a conversation for the utility and the customer, not the mail carrier.

In the same way, we have a job to be faithful at delivering the message, but what others do with the message is out of our hands.

Success for us has nothing to do with others’ reception of the message, and everything to do with faithfully delivering the message (in word and deed)

In Word: We need to clearly explain the hope that we have in Jesus and the truth about the world’s fallen condition

In Deed: Our actions need to be consistent with the content of our message.

If we tell people that God loves everyone while treating people spitefully, our actions contradict our message.

There needs to be unity between what we’re saying and what we’re doing

Success is speaking and embodying the Good News. If we do that, no matter how the message is received, we are successful.

Don’t be discouraged. The opposition we will face doesn’t mean we’ve gotten it wrong. Faithful Mission can be met with unexpected reception or unexpected opposition (probably a mix of both).

Don’t be quick to jump to the conclusion that we’re barking up the wrong tree because things aren’t going well.

You may be planting a seed that will germinate later. At the very least, you’re giving people an opportunity to respond.

It is possible that we’re facing opposition because we’ve gotten it wrong

Sometimes we’re badly treated for standing up for truth.

Sometimes we’re badly treated because we’re jerks.

We must be humble enough and open enough that when it’s the latter, we can mend our ways.Conclusion

When we try to follow God’s lead in engaging with others, it doesn’t take long for the plan to fall apart.

In War: “No plan survives first contact with the enemy”

In Mission: “No plan survives first contact with the world outside”

The trick is to be flexible enough to adapt when things are going well, but steadfast enough to keep going when we face opposition.

The successes encourage us and remind us that if God is for us, then no one can stop us

The opposition reminds us that we are not at home in this world.

It increases our longing for our heavenly home and shapes to become more like Jesus

So in the good times and the bad, God is faithful to his people as they follow him on mission into the world.