Bishop's Acts Study

8/8/2019 Bishop's Acts Study

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Acts for Todays

ChristiansA Study Guide forthe Book of Acts

by Bishop Sally Dyck


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Tableof ContentsForeword: Why Acts? Why now? 3

Acts 1: From disciples to apostles 4

Acts 2: Peter rethinks his faith for the community 5

Acts 34: Be bold! 6

Acts 5: A mark of discipleship 7

Acts 67: And the fun begins! 8

Acts 8: A spiritual biography 9

Acts 9: Just about the only dramatic conversion in the book! 10

Acts 10: For Petes sake! 11

Acts 13: The downfall of our way of life 12

Acts 14: Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die 13

Acts 15: A model for conflict resolution 14

Acts 1620: Pauls road trip 15

Acts 2126: Glorifying God in the dock 16

Acts 2728: Church of the open door 17

The abbreviation MSG refers to The Message version of the Bible

2010, Bishop Sally Dyck All rights reserved Minnesota United Methodist churches have permission toreprint for church study purposes


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ForewordWhy Acts? Why now?At the 2010 Minnesota Annual Conference session, I challenged all Minnesota UnitedMethodists to read the Acts of the Apostles I also challenged the clergy to use Acts as asermon series or Bible study at some time during 2011

I encourage people to read Acts because todays church is struggling with its identity,purpose and mission Some say we need to go back to the first-century church

The first-century church was pre-ChristendomChristendom being the predominanceof Christianity in the religious landscape of historyand the 21st-century church maybe post-Christendom In neither the first nor 21st century should Christians assume thatpeople will flock to us or that we have sway in the culture

But as a result, we are made even more mindful of what the church is and open to whatwe might be in the 21st century Paul wrote in the pre-Christendom years, At the centerof this, Christ rules the church The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; theworld is peripheral to the church The church is Christs body, in which he speaks andacts, by which he fills everything with his presence (Eph 1:22-23, MSG)

Throughout Acts we see a first-century world that sees the church as peripheral Todayour culture also often sees the church as peripheral Eugene Petersons rendering of thisEphesians passage suggests that Christs body is still the means by which the living Christspeaks and acts As they learned in the first century, the body of Christ is much bigger

and includes far more than we imagineit goes beyond our doors and membership andimaginationbut the body of Christ is still the hands and feet and heart through whichGod seeks to work in our world today

I encourage each United Methodist to read Acts and reflect upon the differences andsimilarities between the first and 21st centuries This guide is a conversation starter andnot a commentary There are many commentaries on Acts and I commend them to youI have found helpful Called to Be Church: The Book of Acts for a New Day, by Anthony BRobinson and Robert W Wall (Eerdmans, 2006)

Bishop Sally Dyck

bishopsallydyckblogspotcom


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Acts 1From disciples to apostlesLeadership succession occupies a central place in the first chapter of Acts While wescratch our heads at drawing straws, qualifications for the twelfth disciple must havebeen fairly similar Eugene Peterson has a note in the The Message that indicates that the

twelfth apostle was chosen as any apostlenot (for) any particular work, or teaching,or organization, or administration (but)to be witnesses to Christs resurrection;that is, attesting to the fact from their ownexperience that God is good, powerful, andgracious This was to be the cornerstone

of their existence and the existence of thechurch (p 1682)

No longer disciples who sit at the feet ofJesus, the apostles are catapulted into achanging and hostile world to give witnessto the risen Christ Being a disciple can bevery comfortablelearning and growingand reveling in the power and presence ofJesusbut Jesus disciples were called andtaught as disciples in order to give witness

Going from disciple to apostle is a conver-sion that came through the power of theHoly Spirit, the harsh reality of persecution,and a rapidly changing world This con-

version is necessary in our lives, no matter how long weve been Christians, in order tocultivate spiritual vitality and reach new people with the gospel

When joining the United Methodist Church, we make witness our fifth vow This is arecent addition that reminds us of the importance of sharing the faith with others

What will it take for us to go from being at the feet of Jesus

to being Jesus feet in the world?


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Acts 2Peter rethinks his faithfor the community

Suddenly it seems like for the first time Peter gets it! He rethinks salvation history as hehas known it, been taught it, and believed it That takes a lot of courage Its not that hethrew out whatever he knew, but he looked at it differently and through the power of theHoly Spirit, he was able to communicatesalvation history in such a way that peopleunderstood who Jesus, the Christ, is andwas and will be

But rethinking isnt enough, evidently Assoon as Peter rethinks and communicates anew vision of salvation history, the peopleask the question, What do we do? Re-thinking and revisioning require new waysof acting

Yet if weve ever tried to learn a new thing,practice a new habit, be a better person,we know that we cant do it by ourselvesJesus sent the Holy Spirit to empower the

change from disciple to apostle, from a for-mer vision of the Christ to a new one, froman old way of being to a new way of being

And its clear that we cant be Christiansalone; it takes a faith community withthe joys and sacrifices that all human relationships require Yet it was life together thatdrew people to the power of the emerging church: they committed themselves to theteaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers (2:4142,MSG)

Are we offering a robust life together that provides food and faith?


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Acts 34Be bold!Who are these twoPeter and Johnand what you have done with the disciples weknew in the gospels? Filled with the Spirit, now propelled into the world, they suddenlyare bold and filled with the confidence that they can be witnesses to the power of God

Peter and John were bold in telling thelame man that while they had no moneyto give him, they did have Jesus and theyboldly healed him Once again, Peter ad-dressed the crowd with a bold message ofhow God has been working through history

and people to bring them to this momentin Christ Jesus

Boldness and confidence are the marks ofan apostle, a witness, someone who is liv-ing out faith in the world, not huddled infear And for their efforts, in the spirit of theadage, no good deed ever goes unpun-ished, theyre hauled in front of the pow-ers that be They didnt know what to dowith the apostles so they gave them a slap

on the wrist and told them to keep silentBut they couldnt keep silent Boldness keptthem telling the story of Jesus and doingmercy even when it got them in trouble

There are places in the world where people are persecuted for proclaiming Jesus and do-ing good in his name; the US is not one of them Yet many of us are reluctant to be boldin our Christian faith because of others ridicule, skepticism, and cynicism toward thechurch Recently I heard a radio commentator refer to an interfaith service as being in-nocuous enough, surprised when it created some controversy Innocuous is how manypeople view Christian faithsafe, harmless, bland, mild, and inoffensive in the sense of

not going to create much attention or impactJustice, mercy, healing and forgiveness are all very bold actions and certainly not safe,harmless, bland, mild and inoffensive!

How might I be more bold with the goodness and mercy of Jesusin a culture that says it loves Jesus but not the church?


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Acts 5A mark of discipleshipNo one was in need; they shared everything in the early church Sharing ones goodswith others was a mark of discipleship There was a redistribution of wealth in the earlychurch that made sure that each had what they needed

The story of Ananias and Sapphira doesntmake a very good stewardship sermon textsince encouraging people to share whatthey have with others isnt best motivatedthrough guilt or fear However, these twowanted to belong to this powerful and en-

ergizing movement of the Spirit but withoutthe responsibilities or the expectations ofwhat it meant to belong They were hedg-ing their betswhat if this movementdoesnt amount to anything and we havegiven it our all? As a result, they were rob-bing God and themselves of the full abun-dance and bounty that God has for ourlives

Why did they die? Did they die of shame?

Or did they die due to a lack of real lifeand living in Christ? Are we the walkingdead at times?

Are we hedging our bets, not fully giving of our faith, hope and love to others becausewere not sure it will ultimately pay off? Are we more like Ananias and Sapphira thanwed like to admit, robbing ourselves, God and others in the process?

Are we killing the Spirit in the church today because we are holding back,unsure if the church will continue as it has or as we want it to be?


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Acts 67And the fun begins!Growth in a church does not curtail grumbling and conflict; quite the contrary! Who arethese people and why are they coming? was one of the most constant questions that Iwas asked when the church I served was growing Combined with a multicultural pres-ence, new and sometimes transitory members, a wide range of theological perspectives,and everybody from someone who shot her husband to some of the most influential peo-ple in the city sat side by side on Sunday mornings Growth didnt come without conflictthat needed careful attention and management Sermons, Bible studies, and discussionabout forgiveness and reconciliation were regular fare there

Conflict is a major reason why people leave a church or dont want to be a part of the

faith community Churches comprise people, and people dont always get along! Putpeople together who arent of the same affinity group, and any differences in how peopleare treated or served or cared for will quickly bubble to the surface

The Greek-speaking group (newcomers/outsiders) had hard feelings toward the Hebrew-speaking group (insiders) A language barrier didnt help and may have aggravated thecultural misunderstandings, giving a perceived inequality in the way in which the poorGreek-speaking widows were being cared for; literally being discriminated against in thedaily food lines

With the growth of the church came an increased demand for workers, reminiscent ofJesus words that the harvest is ripe and the laborers are few The disciples say that theycant both preach and care for the needs of the congregation; evangelists and servers areneeded Does that mean that one form of service is better than another? No, it simplymeans that there needs to be enough people with hearts and hands to care for the soulsand the stomachs of those in need of Gods grace

Too often the conflict in Christianitycertainly in United Methodismis that we pitmercy ministry against justice, sharing Jesus against eliminating malaria, or a daily disci-pline of worship against caring for the Earth Instead whats needed is all hands on deckAll gifts engagedin the community of faith as well as within each one of us

But note that the server, the one called to care for the widows, to be Jesus hands, also

told the story of Jesus He knew why he was serving and whom he was serving as he gavehis life to serve

Do I know why I am serving and whom I am serving?


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Acts 8A spiritual biographyI wish the author of the Acts of the Apostles would have told more of the stories of thedisciples, like this one of Philip, instead of just Peter and John and then embarking onthe story of Paul, which begins in the next chapter Maybe he didnt know them! I lovespiritual biographies I love to read, reflectand preach on the journeys that peopletakeeach one unique to an individualto find themselves in and out and along theway of faith

Philip comes out of left field in my estima-

tion; where has he been? One gets thesense that he has really blossomed withthe Holy Spirit He confronts some newchallengesand perhaps thats why hisstory is almost as a transition to Pauls storyPersecution scatters the church and wher-ever they were scattered, they preachedthe gospel Could it be that the decline ofChristianitys acceptance in our culture willscatter us outside the walls of our build-ings?

Philip ended up in Samarianot a favoriteplace for Jews in that dayand proclaimedJesus to the Samaritans, including unsavorycharacters like Simon the magician who tried to buy the Holy Spirit Then Philip encoun-tered the Ethiopian eunuch along the desolate road that goes down from Jerusalem toGaza Strange and scary places! Yet Philip holds whatever fear or prejudice he undoubt-edly harbored in his life and was willing to see that no one has a proprietary hold on Godand what God was doing through the Holy Spirit

Philip seems to just appear wherever God needs himhere and there, preaching wher-

ever he finds himself You get a sense of his Ezekiel-like nature of being taken up anddropped down, but maybe its that wherever Philip went with whomever he met, heshared the love and grace of Jesus Christ

Do I share the love and grace of Jesus wherever I go?


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Acts 9Just about the only dramaticconversion in the book!

Paul was a super-religious person and he experiences conversion; a turning around fromwhere he was going to where God intended for him to go He wasnt a broken-downperson in any outward way, but a man gripped by judgment and even hatred for those

who claimed Christianity So he justified hishateful and murderous actions with reli-gious convictions

God literally had to knock Paul off his high

horse in order to get his attention God hadto strike him blind with the light of Jesus inorder to help him see God humbled himto raise him up for a mission that foreverchanged the direction of the church

Maybe theres another dramatic conversionin this story: the conversion of the peoplein the church How were they supposeto accept, forgive, andgulplove Paul,who was on his way to persecute them and

other Christians? Who would want to beAnanias, sent by God, to go get Paul andbring him back to Damascus? They wereinitially suspicious until Barnabas stood upfor him and paved the way for his accep-tance into the faith community

It was a turn-around church; turned around in terms of forgiveness, acceptance, andlove Maybe thats the key for most churches these days that are struggling to share thegospel in new ways Its a dramatic conversion and witness to the world around us whenwe show just how much Christians love each other in spite of all our differences

Who are the Barnabases in our faith community that can help usgive witness to our own conversion from fear and infighting

to love and forgiveness?


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Acts 10For Petes sake!It began with a vision that must have totally repelled Peter, challenging everything he hadever been taught about faith and faithfulness and even food He had to be converted,not to love God, but to love his neighbor, a real life person, as different from Peter as analien: a Gentile a Gentile who becomes filled with the Holy Spirit and is undeniablyone with Peter in Christ Jesus

Loving your neighbor means being willing to eat together; fellowship in the early churchmeant that anyone was welcome at the table We say this in terms of the Eucharist, butdo we live this in terms of our hospitality toward others? Christian fellowship is more thanjust having a good time together, its welcoming the stranger to our table The stranger

may be someone who looks and acts and is in many ways different from ourselves This isa call to a multicultural faith and therefore a multicultural fellowship

Does God really not play favorites? The news traveled fast and in no time the leadersand friends back in Jerusalem heard about itheard that the non-Jewish outsiders werenow in (11:1, MSG) Back in Jerusalem the leaders and friends of Peterwho knewhim back when he was just a fisherman, who denied Jesus, who never got itwere un-certain to say the least and outraged that this action was ruining our good name (v 3)

So Peter tells the story to them and they quieted down But the spread of Christianity tothe outsiders didnt quiet down Instead quite a number of the Greeks believed andturned to the Master (v 21)

God did wondrous things in the life of Peter, but these wondrous things werent easyHaving ones whole mind and heart changed about a whole race of people, for instance,isnt easy, but wondrous nevertheless

Do we too often expect that our Christian faith will only grow under ideal, easy, com-fortable conditions? Isnt it when were stretched in our hearts and minds that we growcloser to God, turned around in our love for neighbor and God?

When and how have I grown the most in my faith?


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Acts 13The downfallof our way of life

The response to the gospel was mixed in the early church, just as it is today Some werewildly enthusiastic and others wildly jealous making an ugly scene (v 45, MSG)The outsiders were wildly enthusiastic and grateful for their windfall of grace but there

were others who felt like their preciousway of life was about to be destroyed(v 52, MSG) Their precious way of lifethat they were mourning was assumptions

and traditions about who was in and whowas out, what it meant to be among theelect, and how to live Preconceptions, as-sumptions and prejudices no longer ruled,so identity, purpose and mission all had toundergo some rethinking and reorienting

No longer is Christianity assumed to be theonly religious choice in many of our com-munities, nor is the church the center ofsocial life, nor can we be assured that chil-

dren know the Lords Prayer or the storiesof Jesus or countless other references toscripture Our precious way of life is beingdestroyed! we may wail

Yet Paul and Barnabas joyfully kept sharingthe radical gospel of Jesus, seeing everyone

and everywhere as part of their mission field

How am I feeling about the ways that our precious way of doing church hascome to an end and where do I eagerly and joyfully turn to share the gospel?


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Acts 14Everybody wants to go to heaven,but nobody wants to die

One 21st-century problem is akin to the first-century problem in which Paul and Barna-bas found themselves People began to worship them instead of God, mesmerized by thewonderful words and mighty acts that they were sharing

We dont worship people, you might argue Oh, really? Increasingly churches areoriented around the personality of the preacher, founder or leader Mostly thats not aproblem, but sometimes clergy take advantage of the power that a clergyperson has overothers and sometimes laity transfer a sense of God onto the clergyperson Either way its

a power dynamic thats unhealthy It manifests itself in misconduct of all kinds, includingsexual

Paul and Barnabas didnt let the people worship them, even though it would have beentempting After all, that would have been easier than what followed!

For all their good efforts in sharing the gospel, there were detractors who beat Paul un-conscious Paul and Barnabas continued to share the good news as they went from com-munity to community, emphasizing that it wouldnt be easy: Anyone signing up for thekingdom of God has to go through plenty of hard times (v 22)

Im afraid that we live in a time that equates faith with the expectation that we will berewarded with whatever we want How will Christianity, the church, reading the Bible,praying, forgiving, going on a mission trip, giving money to the church or anything elseasked of me make my life better, work for me, feed me, make me more comfortable,give me more meaning in life, or generally meet my needs? As the old song goes, every-body wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die: we all want the benefits withoutthe hardship

Sometimes our needs are met and the joy, rewards, and good feelings abound That cantbe the only reason why we do this Anyone signing up for the kingdom of God has to gothrough plenty of hard times!

What roles do the cross, sacrifice (when it hurts),service (when it doesnt seem to benefit me),

daily devotions (when I dont always get something out of it),or hard times (as in no good deed ever goes unpunished) play in my faith?


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Acts 15A model for conflict resolutionThe pages in my Bible are worn around Acts 15 Its a model for conflict resolution andmediation for our divisive times But as Bishop Reuben Job says in his book Three SimpleRules: A Wesleyan Way of Living (Abingdon, 2007), it takes spiritual maturity and self-

discipline to do what is required to trulyforgive and seek reconciliation in the midstof conflict and differences (I)t demandstoo much in the way of self-discipline anda very deep faith that God will empowerand lead the faithful for many of us toagree with a theology and practice too rig-

orous for our timid and tame commitment(p 24) And yet, he encourages us to do noharm, to do good, and to stay in love withGod so that we can develop the faith thatdemonstrates self-discipline and love forothers

At the core of the conflict in the churchwas its very identity and mission Manyconflicts arise, but theyre not always root-ed in our identity and mission More likely

theyre rooted in personal preference andexpectations Yet when our identity andmission as a church is clearly understoodand articulated, even those personal prefer-

ences and expectations loosen up and become untangled

But the part about this chapter that always breaks my heart is that at the end of it, Paulgets into an argument with Barnabas (hes the one who went out on a limb to get Paulaccepted by the Christians after his conversion) and they part company Right there atthe end of this incredible chapter on how to holy conference and learn to live together! Iguess that all goes to say that none of us is spiritually immune to what causes brokenness

and the need for forgiveness and reconciliation

So whennot ifwe find ourselves in loggerheads in the church, arguing and fighting,we need to return to the essential question: is this about our identity and the missionaldirection as a church? If so, what is it saying to us? If not, why are we so hot and both-ered?

What is the identity of our church? What is its direction in mission?


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Acts 1620Pauls road tripPaul thought he knew where he was going next But a dream provided him a Spirit-in-spired MapQuest sending him where he hadnt expected to go: to Macedonia, to preachthe good news to the Europeans Paul and Silas go down to the river to pray and forma house church, upset a local economy in Philippi as well as Ephesus, get beat up andjailed, have to sneak out of Thessalonica so they wouldnt get jailed or beaten, only tocome to a full stop in Athens, where Paul couldnt move the masses of spiritual, but notreligious people It was a rough ending to a difficult missionary trip

Paul found some traction in Corinth with Priscilla and Aquila, joined also by Silas andTimothy And then on to Ephesus (where again, Paul and the gospel undermine the local

economywhich doesnt go over too well in most communities) In Corinth and Ephesusit appears that there was plenty of time to preach and teach and model the way of JesusThe communities of faith grew in spirit and numbers

Paulthe indomitable and indefatigable apostle of good newstravels to Macedoniaand Greece, then continues by land instead of setting sail to the next place (Assos) Byship he went on from there as he made his way toward Jerusalem

By land or sea, with whomever would be at his side, Paul traveled his known world toshare the good news, only to desire to go back to Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost,knowing that it wouldnt go well for him there Oh, the places that Paul went, the never-ending horizons of opportunity as well as challenge to share the gospel!

A repairman at our house asked me, Are you a missionary? I was a little taken aback bythe question My puzzled look spurred him on to say, I see all the pictures on your wallsof people from all over the world You must be a missionary! I said, Yes, Im a mission-ary (of sorts)

Oh, the places Ive gonenot just in the world but throughout Minnesotaand thepeople Ive met because Im a missionary of sorts is an incredible blessing to me LikePaul, its not without its bruising at times, but what else could bring me in contact with somany different people and opportunities to be an ambassador of Jesus?

You dont have to be clergy to be an ambassador of Jesus, a missionary of sorts Whereveryou go and whomever you meet, you have an opportunity as well as the challenge toshare Jesus in word and deed

When was the last time someone saw that I was a missionary (of sorts)?


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Acts 2126Glorifying God in the dockPaul feels a divine necessity to go to Jerusalem, even though his friends begged him notto go No polls or surveys were taken; he simply knew that he must Perhaps he knewthat his story of the church, spreading through the Greek-speaking world, needed to betold to the leaders in Jerusalem And likewise, the leaders in Jerusalem had a story to tellof how the church was spreading there

It was an internal dispute, accusing Paul of telling people in the Greek-speaking worldthat they could be Moses-light As a result, he was arrested and brought before the reli-gious authorities and eventually the governmental authorities

Paul is on trial and yet instead of being on the defense, hes on the offense, preachingChrist crucified and risen in his life, in the world, and for all people He tells his conver-sion story again, stylizing it for his audience He seems to use every situation to glorifyGod What a concept!

Paul finds himself before Roman officials and its an uneasy relationship between Chris-tianity and government or politics in the first centuryjust as it is today The New Testa-ment scriptures differ in their admonishment toward the government or politics In Ro-mans 13, Paul tells people to cooperate and pray so as to live as peaceably in the RomanEmpire as possible In Revelation 13, the political and governmental powers are evil andto be resisted Here it seems that the role Paul plays is to hold the government and itspolitics to accountability: do what youre supposed to do and dont do what youre notsupposed to do!

That is, Im afraid, the big debate in American politics and government today! Just what isthe role of government in our country?

Someone tried to force me into explaining why I am of one political persuasion or anoth-er I responded by saying that my identity isnt in my political party or views My identityis in being a follower of Jesus Sometimes that coincides with a political platform andsometimes it is in direct opposition Sometimes it aligns so it looks like I might be of oneparty but I see myself as a follower of Jesus and not a Republican or a Democrat in termsof identity (even as I may vote one way or another at any given time) and put myself

through my first year in college by working for a Republican candidate running for office

Where do we find our worldview shaped? CNN, Fox News, NPR, or our Christian faith?

What does it mean to base my identity in being a follower of Jesus and not inbeing a follower of a political party or another worldview?


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Acts 2728Church of the open doorPaul finally gets to Rome but not without major difficulties Once again his sheer innateleadership comes out in the midst of the storm on the sea He takes over, caring for peo-ples physical and spiritual needs He prevents the sailors from mutiny He keeps peoplesspirits up Its the only time we read where Paul seems to celebrate the Eucharist, or atleast thats what breaking the bread, giving thanks to God, passing it around and eatingheartily (27:35) seems to imply He keeps himself alive when the soldiers decided to killall prisoners (after he fed them!) and because he had provided leadership throughout thedifficult trip, the centurion saved Paul

In Rome he is under house arrest This final chapter has some interesting twists The first

is that when Paul told the Jewish leaders in Rome that he had come to make sure that hewas on Israels side, they said, Nobody wrote warning us about you And no one hasshown up saying anything bad about you But we would like very much to hear moreThe only thing we know about this Christian sect is that nobody seems to have anythinggood to say about it (28:21-22, MSG)

If that isnt 21st-century church, I dont know what is! Too many people dont have any-thing good to say about the church and instead of despairing, we like Paul need to set towork at sharing the good news, telling the story of Jesus and being his hands and feet andheart and head wherever we are and with whomever we meet

The other aspect of this last chapter is the last verse: Pauls door was always open(28:31) The 21st-century church is called to be an open doornot just our churchbuildings, but our hearts, our kitchen tables, our circles of friends, and wherever we findourselves residing and relating

Is my door always open to the next person I meet?

Is our church door always open to anyone who wants to come?

Is the door to my heart open to Jesus . . . and all Jesus friends?

Is the door to salvation and the door to justice open

for those held captive by this worlds sin and evil?

Documents

Bishop's Acts Study