Are all religions crazy and dangerous?

What seems to be the problem, officer?

(Acts 21:27-40, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, June 2, 2013)

[27] When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, [28] crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” [29] For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.

Paul was the problem. At least that is what some people thought. They had seen him back home in what was called “Asia” (Turkey), and considered him to be a troublemaker, someone who stirred up people in the synagogues. Now they had traveled to Jerusalem to be around their own people for some holy days that were a part of their religion. And there he was. They had heard from others that this divisive man was in Jerusalem. Something had to be done with him.

What were they thinking when they grabbed Paul? “Of all places where he should not be, this Paul was in the holiest place on the face of the earth, the temple in Jerusalem. He was the one who was telling non-Jews that they did not need to be Jews in order to know the love of God and to worship and serve Him. He was always teaching against Jews and against the temple. Now here he was, right in the temple, pretending to be a faithful Jew. What a hypocrite!”

This was not the plan of the church leaders when they urged Paul to go to the temple to do something Jewish. They had hoped that Paul's simple participation in Jewish rituals would help people see that Paul himself lived as a Jew, and that his enemies were spreading lies about him. Instead, his presence in the temple led to violence and confusion rather than honest clarity.

[30] Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. [31] And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion.

It may be hard for us to imagine this kind of disturbance since we do not live in a place where the citizens are passionate about religious rituals. People here are free to practice whatever faith they wish or none at all. We cannot imagine anyone seizing a man and dragging him out of a church when all he was doing was quietly participating in a worship service.

We do have religious people in our town, and we do have those who are devoted to the Lord who gather together in various places for worship. But none of them would do what these people did to Paul. Not all religious people are violent against those who disagree with them. The most offensive thing that might happen to a non-Christian visiting here today is that too many people might greet him and someone might ask him if he would like to sign the guest book.

Yet those who reject religion might be tempted to think that all religious people are the same. We have to disagree. What makes some religious people want to kill, and other religious people hope that the new person signed the guest book? Whatever the answer to that question might be, it was very clear that day in Jerusalem that Paul was attacked by those who wanted to kill. This was not the case only in the temple. All Jerusalem was stirred. So much so that news of the commotion reached the soldiers who were in charge of preserving the peace.

[32] He at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. [33] Then the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done. [34] Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another. And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. [35] And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, [36] for the mob of the people followed, crying out, “Away with him!”

The person in charge of the Roman military presence there, the tribune of the cohort, took some soldiers and ran to the place where a crowd of people were beating up Paul. Again, what is it that leads some people to religious violence. I am not aware of anyone in our region who would do this. In Jerusalem around the year 57 or so, about 25 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, there was a sizable group of people in the city that hated this temple worshiper so much that they grabbed him, dragged him out of the temple, gathered a crowd, and started beating him up. Even after the soldiers broke it up, the mob was still yelling, “Away with him!”

[37] As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? [38] Are you not the Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?” [39] Paul replied, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.” [40] And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying:

This crowd was not only violent. It was also confused. We may not have any religious violence in our place and time, but we do have plenty of confusion. In Acts 21, Jews were confused because they had believed lies about Paul's message. They were not the only ones confused.

In one of the funniest moments in the New Testament we read the words of the tribune, surprised that Paul is able to speak Greek. “Are you not the Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?” His information is off a bit. He does not know it yet, but this bruised man is a very educated Jewish citizen of Rome who has given his life to teaching the only religious good news that has ever been spoken.

He has good news from the Lord, the God of heaven and earth–good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He brings a message that includes some important facts that are of first importance, “... that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

This was Paul's passion, and it led him from being a fallible man of violence and confusion to being a fallible man of clarity and sacrificial love. Though he knew very well that he was imperfect, he had come to believe in the one Man who was perfect who died at the hands of an angry and confused mob for our sake, and then rose from the dead. This gospel that Paul preached would soon not need Paul any more. No amount of hatred or confusion could stop it. Paul is a messenger of God's everlasting purposes. This God, who is our dwelling place, will not be stopped. He sent His Son to bring good news.

You cannot afford to hate the gospel of God. You cannot be content with confusion about Jesus, the Bible, and heaven. Do not be carried away by a mob that will not beat up anyone, but will be complacent about matters of first importance. Find out the real story that makes us not want to murder people that are different from us, but to have them sign our guest book.

Old Testament Passage: Psalm 90:1-2 – Lord, you have been our dwelling place... from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Gospel Passage: Mark 1:1-15 – The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God

Sermon Point: God's purposes will not be stopped by man's confusion and violence.