Acts 16:1-5
January 5, 2003
God’s Providential Provisions in Life
A helicopter was flying around above Seattle when an electrical malfunction disabled all of the aircraft's electronic navigation and communications equipment. Due to the clouds and haze, the pilot could not determine the helicopter's position and course to fly to the airport. The pilot saw a tall building, flew toward it, circled, drew a handwritten sign, and held it in the helicopter's window. The pilot's sign said "WHERE AM I?" in large letters. People in the tall building quickly responded to the aircraft, drew a large sign, and held it in a building window. Their sign read "YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER." The pilot smiled, waved, looked at his map, determined the course to steer to SEATAC airport, and landed safely. After they were on the ground, the co-pilot asked the pilot how the "YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER" sign helped determine their position. The pilot responded, "I knew that had to be the Microsoft building because they gave me a technically correct, but completely useless answer."
Guidance is something we all need and comes in a variety of ways, sometimes helpful, sometimes not. God provides us with the help and direction we need at times and in ways we may least expect, but it is always beneficial. Our passage this morning is a timely reminder that God provides for us in ways that we may easily miss or ignore. God works through his gracious providence, placing in our lives both events and, very importantly, people who shape and mold us to be what God desires. It is important for us to be more keenly aware of these circumstances so that we embrace God’s varied provisions for our good. READ Acts 16:1-5
As we return to Acts after a brief hiatus during Advent, let us quickly summarize what has taken place.
In these sixteen chapters we have covered about twenty years. Christ, having ascended, is still at work in his church. Through the years it grew from a small but vibrant group of Jewish believers to an ever expanding body of both Jew and Gentiles who placed their trust in Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. As the church multiplied, the make-up of the church changed as well. No longer the homogenous and comfortable group it once was, now there were brothers and sisters in Christ that did not look alike, talk alike, dress alike. While some wanted the new church not to forget its Jewish roots, the leaders in Jerusalem quickly determined that to demand circumcision as the sign of the covenant for the Gentile Christians was tantamount to denying the work of Christ. So, in an effort to inform the various churches of the Church’s decision to reject the demand of circumcision for Gentiles, various leaders traveled far and wide with the published decree: Christ and Christ alone is sufficient for salvation.
When we last left Acts, Paul and Barnabas were about to venture out to Asia Minor, modern Turkey with the apostolic decree, but before they left the dynamic duo had a parting of the ways.
Barnabas, the ever encouraging mentor, wanted to take along John Mark, his young cousin. As you may recall Mark accompanied Paul and Barnabas some years before on their first journey, but after leaving Cyprus and venturing into the pagan lands of Pamphylia, he ran home to Jerusalem. Barnabas thought this second trip was a good chance for Mark to redeem himself and so wanted him to be an assistant for their journey. Paul thought differently, as he saw problems in this vacillating young man. He did not want to risk another failure.
As a result, Barnabas and Mark teamed up to return to native Cyprus and Paul and Silas formed a new team to return to the churches in Asia Minor. As Barnabas fades from the pages of Scripture and the focus is on Paul, we read how he and Silas retrace their steps in reverse, going to the cities they most recently visited, this time all on foot. From Syria and Cilicia Paul made his way through the mountain pass known as the Cilician gates to the area of his first missionary campaign in south Galatia, to the towns of Lystra and Derbe.
And through it all, despite the turmoil of the church debating the core of the gospel, despite the turbulence of Christian brothers in sharp disagreement over the value of a young man whose personal failures were all too obvious, we see in our passage this morning how God provides in ways we may never suspect. When God’s providential provision comes, we should be ready and willing to accept it graciously.
God’s Providential Provision of Help
God provides timely help
We see God’s timely, providential help just as Paul and Silas begin. His help comes in the form of a young disciple named Timothy. Luke gives us an indication of the timely nature of this disciple, in a way missed by most English translations. In v1 where we have “A disciple was there…” Luke calls his readers attention by an idiom in Greek, kai idou “and behold…, or in the venacular “and what do you know, but there was a disciple.
What split Barnabas and Paul was the presence of a young disciple, a man that needed training. But what God provided there in Lystra was another young disciple who needed training. Luke lets us know that what seemed to end in discouragement as the great missionary team broke up, was a multiplication of discipleship as Timothy now was be trained.
Most scholars suggest that Timothy was a convert from the previous visit a few years before. But with the intervening time and the absence of email and phone calls, there was no way for Paul to know how this young man had progressed in the faith, but God knew and God was at work.
How much in our lives do we rightfully think and plan out what we consider is best. And just as we get to that point were all our ducks are lined in a row, God surprises us with a provision of help when and where we least expect it.
David Smallbone sought to promote Christian concerts in his homeland, Australia, where only 5 percent of the people profess faith in Christ. When too few fans filled his seats during one major tour, however, David took a $250,000 bath in red ink. Creditors repossessed his home, and the father of six looked for work elsewhere. A top artist offered him a job in Nashville, so the Smallbones sold their furniture and other possessions and purchased tickets to the United States.
A few weeks after they arrived, however, David was informed that his position was "no longer available." When he and his wife explained to their children what happened, they all got on their knees and asked God to help them.
Interesting things began to happen. God provided bags of groceries, a minivan, and odd jobs. Then the biggest surprise of all—a recording contract for David's oldest daughter, Rebecca, who was 15. She recorded her first album using an old family name, St. James.
Flash forward to today. David promotes his own daughter's sold-out concerts. Rebecca St. James has become one of the hottest Christian artists in America. All along—no surprise—God knew what he was doing! (Christian Reader Jan/Feb 2002, pp. 13-14)
Are you willing to be open to God’s timing, God’s direction in your life? Are you able to say, with Luke… kai idou … and behold… a Timothy, a helper in the place you least expect? Or do you treat surprises, those unplanned interruptions, as unwelcomed intrusions?
God provides the right help
But the one God provides is not just a warm body. The guy comes with good recommendations, a strong reputation. Verse 2 tells us that he was well spoken of by other believers, but not just those in his home town of Lystra, but also in Iconium, which was 18 miles away.
He is a man of good character, something to which Paul later mentions in Philippians 2:20-22. Paul pays him a tremendous compliment when he speaks of his concern as genuine, who looks after the interests of others by seeking what Christ would have him do. His worth is proven, that is, tested in the crucible of trials. His value is seen not by himself, but others.
Interestingly, years later when Paul writes Timothy, now a seasoned pastor, he reminds him of the qualifications of a leader. Paul gives a list that I imagine would well describe Timothy himself. Turn to that list in 1 Timothy 3.
At times when we consider the qualifications for an elder we may imagine the high standards that are set for such a calling. But as we look at this list, we see items that we would expect of anyone, the focus is on how one conducts oneself in everyday life. What is listed is not their ability to handle complex theological questions, not their depth of knowledge of God’s Word. While those items are important, what is listed focuses on issues of reputation, how one carries oneself in the home and in the workplace. The right help which God provides will have a good reputation.
God’s Providential Provision of Heritage
God provides the right heritage in our upbringing
The right help which God provided in Timothy did not come out of thin air. God was at work in this young man’s life before Paul and Silas arrived, in fact, God’s providence in Timothy’s life is seen in what took place even before he was born. In v1 we are told this disciple had a Jewish mother and a Greek father. What was needed to reach the mixed cities and towns in that part of the world was a man who well understands the culture clash of Jews and Greeks.
But not only was Timothy the product of a mixed cultural marriage, but more important to our passage, a mixed faith marriage. His mother is identified as a believer and from what we will see in 2 Timothy, both Timothy’s mother and grandmother were women of deep faith. His father on the other hand was not so interested in the things of God.
It appears that by the time Paul comes on the scene, the father is dead, (he “was” a Greek), but his influence is seen by the necessity to have Timothy circumcised before allowing him to join the missionary team. Before we examine why that was done, let me comment on the heritage of his upbringing.
Timothy’s father did not see the need for the sign of God’s covenant. As a Greek, it appears he had no interest in God’s promise to form a people, yet his wife still had her influence in the young boy’s life. Look at 2 Timothy 1:5 where Paul speaks of the faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now in him.
It is important to remember that as Jews, prior to Paul and Barnabas’ arrival some years before, the Lois and Eunice may well have placed their faith in the God who would send the Messiah. Once the gospel was preached, they moved from looking forward to God’s promise of a Savior, to believing God’s Savior came in Jesus Christ.
Paul later in his letter points out the importance of this family heritage when he says in 3:14, “continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings.”
There is a wonderful heritage here which Timothy must not forget, a heritage that all too often those of you raised in Christian homes treat for granted, and that to your own peril. If you have been privileged to benefit from a Christian parent or parents do not treat that heritage as something of no benefit, as though it would be better for you to discover the Christian faith on your own. If you ignore today what you are being taught in home and in church, you will lose out on a tremendous heritage.
There is another benefit we see here, to which Paul calls our attention in 1 Corinthians 7, that this heritage comes from even just one believing parent. In 7:13-14 we are told that, while it is not a desirable situation in which to find oneself, a mixed-faith marriage is not hopeless. God’s grace will still operate; God will still be at work in those that are his. There is reason to have hope. God’s grace still at work, his promises remain.
But the obvious question that our passage in Acts 16 raises is this: why does Paul have Timothy circumcised. Why, so soon on the heels of the Jerusalem Council where the church determines that this is not necessary, does Paul seem to sell out his convictions. In Galatians 2:3 he makes it clear that he did not cave to the pressure to have Titus circumcised.
In order to answer this it is important to understand the heritage of Timothy. According to custom, in a mixed marriage, in a mixed marriage, the mother’s faith became the children’s faith. So Timothy was viewed as a Jew, but not circumcised. Since Paul speaks well of Eunice’s faith later, the reason it had not occurred probably means the father forbid it. The Jews in the area, knowing that Timothy’s mother was Jewish would conclude that he rejected his Jewishness. But since Paul worked through the Jewish synagogues where possible, to have had a member of his entourage be of Jewish lineage and yet uncircumcised would have hampered his effectiveness among the Jews. It was at the very least a matter of missionary strategy to circumcise Timothy. It may have been much more. Paul never abandoned his own Jewish heritage. He may well have wanted Timothy to be true to his heritage.
This is not a contradiction of the apostolic decree. That was directed to the Gentiles, that they need not become Jews to be accepted. The reverse was also important. Likewise, Jews should not deny their own heritage to be accepted in the church.
God provides the right heritage in our discipleship
Timothy’s heritage is more than his home life. As we follow his story throughout the New Testament we see how God providentially continued to be at work in Timothy’s life, especially through the work of Paul.
God’s provision in Timothy’s life continued from his mother and grandmother, to his spiritual father, Paul. In 1 Cor 4:17 Paul refers to Timothy as his beloved and faithful child in the Lord. In 1 Timothy 1:2 he calls him “my true child in the faith” and in 2 Tim 1:2, “my beloved child.” Not only does Paul address two letters to him instructing him further how the church should be run, Timothy is a co-sender with Paul of six other letters.
The influence Paul has in Timothy’s life is seen finally in 2 Timothy 3:10-11. Paul, now at the end of his life, reminds Timothy of what took place years before. Timothy benefited from Paul by following not only his teaching, but his conduct, his aim in life, faith, patience, love and steadfastness. But there is more, he also followed him in persecutions and sufferings.
God provided Paul with a helper he needed. God provided Timothy with a heritage that benefited him as well. His heritage was not only the godly training he received, but the discipleship from Paul so that he patterned his life after the great apostle.
Are you thankful of your heritage? Do you seek a spiritual mentor, a guide who will build on that heritage which God provided you from your childhood so that you too will be likewise used of God in the lives of others?
The result of God’s provision is seen in the final verse: “the churches were strengthened in faith and increase in numbers.” The two go together; they are wedded as one by God. When faith is strengthened, God graciously brings new believers along.
The events of this past week, as painful as they have been and will continue to be for us as a congregation and for some, painful in very deep and real ways, I must say that watching this congregation work as a body has reminded me how honored I am to be your servant, your pastor. While we never wish to endure the heartache again as we have this week, I have seen this church strengthened in the faith. I have seen God’s grace at work in you in ways which make me proud.
That many of you were shocked by the turmoil Dave endured during the three years he was with us while others were intimately aware and very involved tells me much about you as a church. On the one hand you are willing to become involved where needed and on the other you didn’t gossip about another’s struggle. You enveloped in loving arms those who hurt, worked hard to provide simple tasks such as meals and an embrace to communicate how much you care. For those of you who commented that you were amazed how smoothly a very difficult funeral it was yesterday let me remind you that many of you were praying for me, for Julie, for her family. There is good reason to give God all the glory in the midst of this difficult time. Please, continue to pray for those left behind. Continue to encourage and be available. For those of you who have grieved, you know that the pain intensifies over time and it may be some time from now that you need a friend.
But through all this, God’s provision remains firm. God’s grace is constant in every way so that we can sing with one voice how much we love God’s kingdom. It is through his church that he provides all we need. God’s provision comes to us simply, through taking us back once again to the gospel, to knowing God’s faithful care for us, as we are reminded in the Lord’s Supper.
