What we should do?
sermon by Manfred Schreyer

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I love this verse, especially the part when Paul says: "so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.

His life is hooked. It is hooked that nothing matters to him. As you may well know Paul was a very educated Jew, he used to persecuted the ones who decided to follow Christ and believed that Christ was the Messiah.

(Acts 9:1-22 NIV) Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest {2} and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. {3} As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. {4} He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" {5} "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. {6} "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." {7} The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. {8} Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. {9} For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. {10} In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord," he answered. {11} The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. {12} In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight." {13} "Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. {14} And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name." {15} But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. {16} I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." {17} Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord--Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here--has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." {18} Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, {19} and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. {20} At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. {21} All those who heard him were astonished and asked, "Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?" {22} Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

That is the story of a changed man.

I often wondered why God chose a man like Paul to bring the Gospel into the world. I wonder what the disciple thought that Paul was so blunt and unafraid to talk about God. And Jesus in a world which was ruled by other Gods in the Roman country, by a Messiah that was denied in Israel and a God that was made fun of in Greece.

Today some scholars do not agree with the sayings and understanding of Paul’s message. Some of us may find Paul offensive in his choice of words and his demands from us. When we think of Paul we are reminded how women should be quiet in church, we are reminded who should be the head of the household, etc.

And I agree, these saying maybe hard to swallow at time. But when we read the text in the bible we also have to understand that Paul took whatever measure was necessary to proclaim the Gospel. He was sometimes proclaimed one thing to one of the churches and he proclaimed the opposite to another. He states that some of his writings are his opinion and he states in some of his writings that this is what the Lord demands.

But you know, we as the children of God, may not take individual verses and apply them to our life.

I always say to everyone: If someone quotes a single verse to you, make sure that you read the previous 7 verses and the next 7 verses after it and then see if the quoted verse has the same meaning."

I even want to go a step further: In order for us to even try to understand God and God’s will for us we have to read and study the bible.

Only then will we be able to understand an common thread. Only then will we be able to gain an understanding of the will of God for us.

Step by step you will come closer. God will take you there.

(1) I tell you if you just attend our Sunday worship services occasionally, that is very good. And you are on the path toward God. You are making an effort to be close to God and if you have given your life to God, you will have eternal life.

(2) If you come regularly to our services you are pulling airlift toward our God and your effort is rewarded by knowing that God is there in your life and that you see new sides of God.

(3) If you come in regular attendance and you are part of an educational ministry you are seeing the side of God that you could not see anywhere else. You are able to experience, to sense, question and love God more then before, because the stories of the Bible mysteriously arouse pains and joys that you have never felt before. And: You receive answers for our life.

How: Because there is nothing new in this life. There are no new experiences in life. . .everything happened before in one way or another. And guess what? The Word of God is the story of experiences of human kind with God. In this book you will find every answer to every situation in your life.

This book is a guide. God wants you to know about His will and how much He loves you and all of His creation.

I believe that God wants us in chains to him alone. That nothing in life takes a greater priority then God. God tells us that He is a jealous God. How can God be jealous/ Have you ever been jealous? I have been. I have been jealous because I loved something or someone so much that jealousy overtook me and made me sad.

It is the same with our God. God loves us so much. He becomes jealous, because we give room to strange ideas which are against God’s will, He becomes jealous, because we don’t make time for Him, He is jealous because we don’t take the opportunity to proclaim His word when we should.

God loves us so much, that he gave us His only son to die for us o a wooden cross.

Paul was hooked on God and God in a way was hooked on Paul. God knew that Paul was so convinced of God, that Paul loved Christ so much, that nothing had a greater priority in life for Paul then the Gospel.

and really that is the story. That is the thread of Paul. Not the statement which disturb some of us Christians that I mentioned before. Paul was sincere.

And then the verses make a lot of sense:

Col 4:3 (NIV) And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Paul says here that he does not understand everything that is about Christ. . .he talks about mystery. . .but he asks for prayers. You know prayers are wonderful. And I want to tell you from personal experiences from personal prayers and from prayers that I experienced form other for me and situations I was in. My and your wishes in prayers do not always come through, but great things come from prayers. New understandings, better solutions, peace, comfort. . God is good, and we learn through prayers that God’s love for us endures forever!

Col 4: 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.

This verse tell me a lot. It tells me that he counts specifically on the prayers of the followers of Christ. He does not count on himself alone. He counts on his friends or those who accepted Jesus in their life.

That is very important to know for us. Because it heals us to recognize that we as Christians have an important role to fulfill for our brothers and sisters.

We must pray for them. I want you to pray for me. I pray for you every night before I go to bed. You are always in my prayers! I am not afraid to ask you, just as Paul was not afraid to ask his brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for me.

I want you to know that it matters.

Finally Paul tells us to be wise how we act to outsiders. And he asks us to make the most of every opportunity.

What Paul is saying is that you do not know what will be tomorrow. Our God wants all people to come home into his Kingdom and that you are the arm of Christ. God is pleading with you to seek and make every opportunity count to give the word of God to you neighbor.

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