Crime solving dramas with distinct plot formulas are my favorite shows to watch. I watch so many in fact, that the formula is quite apparent and predictable.  The opening of the show begins with a body who has died under suspicious circumstances.  The rest of the show then involves finding out the who, what, when, how, along with finding the perpetrator.  The victim is identified, relatives notified, the prep arrested.  Clean and neat—all in one hour! 

Ah, but real life doesn’t work like that, does it?  It’s not so cut and dried; obvious and neat.  I have friends who work as FBI agents and as police officers who investigate crime.  Real life is not solved in an hour or two.  Problems create circumstances beyond our control and challenge us with various methods of dealing with them.  We can hide from them, ignore that they exist, run away, fall behind, or we can move forward with God’s Holy Spirit leading the way with power and wisdom.

Paul is greatly filled with the Holy Spirit.  It is Jesus who saved him!  Paul wants to tell the world who He is and what He has done.  Paul is obsessively passionate about preaching as often as he can, to as many people who will hear, in as many places in the world he can go and tell the Truth of Jesus.  Paul is also put in danger as he faces many who oppose Jesus and want to kill this Messenger of Good News.  So, Paul, at times, goes undercover!  But he will emerge in another place to preach Jesus tirelessly and relentlessly!

This makes Paul’s later words to the Philippian church (and to us) be drenched with significant meaning;

^“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:3-6, NIV

Whether undercover or preaching to a crowd, believing friends sent by God helped Paul at each place on the journey so he could be and do what God’s Holy Spirit led him to be and do.  Keep this in mind as we continue to read.  Imagine the scene by mentally putting ourselves there. Paul’s work will continue to build churches of believers in Jesus from the inside out and outside in—both Jews and non Jews—because Jesus is for everyone! The work is messy, painful, dangerous, and challenging.  Sometimes he has to go undercover to stay alive, but Paul and His friends keep going—with the power of God within, around, behind and in front of them because Paul confidently believes that “He (Jesus) who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

Acts 17, The Message

Berea

^10-12 That night, under cover of darkness, their friends got Paul and Silas out of town as fast as they could. They sent them to Berea, where they again met with the Jewish community. They were treated a lot better there than in Thessalonica. The Jews received Paul’s message with enthusiasm and met with him daily, examining the Scriptures to see if they supported what he said. A lot of them became believers, including many Greeks who were prominent in the community, women and men of influence.

^13-15 But it wasn’t long before reports got back to the Thessalonian hard-line Jews that Paul was at it again, preaching the Word of God, this time in Berea. They lost no time responding, and created a mob scene there, too. With the help of his friends, Paul gave them the slip—caught a boat and put out to sea. Silas and Timothy stayed behind. The men who helped Paul escape got him as far as Athens and left him there. Paul sent word back with them to Silas and Timothy: “Come as quickly as you can!”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

No matter what, preach Jesus!

No matter what, gather friends who believe to help preach Jesus.

No matter what, we are all called by God to do our part to make sure that Jesus is preached so others will know who He is and what He has done to save us!

Paul knows he needs brothers and sisters to help him and readily accepts their help to “slip out of town” under cover of night which is becoming a way of life!  Paul’s former self, AKA Saul was not that way—Saul gave orders to kill believers and all those who resisted him.  Now, Paul’s new identify is in Christ.  We see that Paul is a different man with renewed thinking who now relies on the help of others who believe to do what God has called us all to do—preach Jesus!

Paul writes later; “Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too.”  2 Corinthians 5.  Yes, Paul we see your sincerity and relentless tenaciousness in Truth telling! 

Paul includes all believers as messengers of Truth; “Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” 

Read the complete passage from 2 Corinthians 5. 

Paul’s letters of care, correction and encouragement to the churches reveal Paul’s own life transformation in every word he writes.  Paul’s “one thing” is life is for others to know, believe and follow Jesus.

“I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:10-14, NIV

 Nothing else matters.  Whatever it takes, preach Jesus!  “Come quickly!”

Lord,

May we have the passion and love that Paul had to tell your story of salvation to others—no matter what—for this is a matter of life or death for our family and friends who live without you.  Teach us.  Give us your wisdom and words.  Show us your ways to tell others today.  Then give us boldness and confidence to obey.  Let your love in us and for the world lead the way!

In Jesus Name, Amen