Listen To Me!

LISTEN TO ME!

a prayer to open

Holy Spirit, come. Center my heart.

Fill my mind. Guide my steps.

Paul and his companions then left Paphos by ship for Pamphylia, landing at the port town of Perga. There John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. But Paul and Barnabas traveled inland to Antioch of Pisidia.

On the Sabbath they went to the synagogue for the services. After the usual readings from the books of Moses and the prophets, those in charge of the service sent them this message: “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, come and give it.”

So Paul stood, lifted his hand to quiet them, and started speaking. “Men of Israel,” he said, “and you God-fearing Gentiles, listen to me.

“The God of this nation of Israel chose our ancestors and made them multiply and grow strong during their stay in Egypt. Then with a powerful arm he led them out of their slavery. He put up with them through forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Then he destroyed seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to Israel as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years.

“After that, God gave them judges to rule until the time of Samuel the prophet. Then the people begged for a king, and God gave them Saul . . . who reigned for forty years. But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’

“And it is one of King David’s descendants, Jesus, who is God’s promised Savior of Israel! Before he came, John the Baptist preached that all the people of Israel needed to repent of their sins and turn to God and be baptized. As John was finishing his ministry he asked, ‘Do you think I am the Messiah? No, I am not! But he is coming soon—and I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the sandals on his feet.’

“Brothers—you sons of Abraham, and also you God-fearing Gentiles—this message of salvation has been sent to us! The people in Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize Jesus as the one the prophets had spoken about. Instead, they condemned him, and in doing this they fulfilled the prophets’ words that are read every Sabbath. They found no legal reason to execute him, but they asked Pilate to have him killed anyway.

“When they had done all that the prophecies said about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead! And over a period of many days he appeared to those who had gone with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to the people of Israel.

“And now we are here to bring you this Good News. The promise was made to our ancestors, and God has now fulfilled it for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus. This is what the second psalm says about Jesus:

‘You are my Son.

Today I have become your Father.’

For God had promised to raise him from the dead, not leaving him to rot in the grave. He said, ‘I will give you the sacred blessings I promised to David.’ Another psalm explains it more fully: ‘You will not allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.’ This is not a reference to David, for after David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died and was buried with his ancestors, and his body decayed. No, it was a reference to someone else—someone whom God raised and whose body did not decay.

“Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is made right in God’s sight—something the law of Moses could never do. Be careful! Don’t let the prophets’ words apply to you. For they said,

‘Look, you mockers,

be amazed and die!

For I am doing something in your own day,

something you wouldn’t believe

even if someone told you about it.’”

Paul was obviously aware of his audience as he stood to speak to the attenders of the Pisidian Antioch synagogue. When he shared the good news about Jesus, he didn’t just barrel ahead without concern for who was before him; he started with their story. We can picture his audience leaning forward in their chairs to hear his words because of how deeply Paul tapped into their long-held beliefs and desires for restoration and salvation. We all have this same desire—we long for restoration and salvation—even if we can’t quite identify it with words. And when the story of Jesus touches that deep desire in us, we can’t help but lean in and listen.

• Read this passage again. What word or phrase stands out to you? Sit quietly, reminding yourself that you are in God’s loving presence, and ask him to show you how that word or phrase connects to your life.
• With what part of your story does the Jesus story resonate? What pains, wounds, and long-held beliefs and desires does Jesus touch in you?
• With whom would you like to share the gospel? What are their stories? What pain have they experienced? What do they seem content with, frustrated about, worried about in their families or everyday lives? Ask God to help you know how to share the gospel with those people in light of their stories.

Father, thank you for putting people in my path who knew how to share Jesus with me in a way that would resonate in light of my story and how you made me. I want to be someone who will listen to the stories of others to understand, even if only in part, what their hearts desire and how their pasts, pain, and problems might affect how they respond to you. Help me see each person through your eyes: as beloved, chosen, and cherished. Amen.