May the mumbling commence!
Will there be another insanity plea? No, Paul will not take the insanity plea. Read below from Acts chapter twenty-six:
"On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'
Then I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?'
'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied. 'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'
So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. That is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. But I have had God's help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen – that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles."
At this point Festus interrupted Paul's defense. "You are out of your mind, Paul!" he shouted. "Your great learning is driving you insane."
"I am not insane, most excellent Festus," Paul replied. "What I am saying is true and reasonable. The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do."
Then Agrippa said to Paul, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?"
Paul replied, "Short time or long – I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains." (Verses 12-29)
Yesterday, I talked about Christians appearing “Out of Order” to non-Christians. Today, I speak of Christian appearing to be insane to non-Christians. These appearances are a couple of reasons it is so hard to be a Christian in a non-Christian context. It is why we need each other – whether we are physically present to one another or we are present spiritually through prayer. Paul was standing alone in his defense physically, but spiritually he was surrounded in the prayer of the people of all the churches he had planted. Jesus stood by his side.
It’s no wonder that Paul was as bold as to hope for a mass conversion even as he apparently stood alone on the witness stand defending himself. Paul did not even consider the insanity plea. Paul pleaded in hope and faith that God would not only take care of his needs but that God would also make a plea to the people that Paul witnessed to. Paul had faith and hope that today or in some future tomorrow (we do not always see the impact our ministries through Christ makes) that the people who heard him on this witness stand would come to the same faith and hope in Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah of the world.
Does the life and faith and hope bubbling over inside of us make those who do not know Christ as we do think we are either “Out of Order” or totally insane? In some cases, maybe we should be seen as “Out of Order” or insane.
Let us exude hope in our patient waiting this Advent season for Christ Jesus to come into our hearts anew. May Christ Jesus make such drastic changes in our lives as a helpless newborn infant makes for his or her mother and father.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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