The Joy of [Difficult] Gospel Ministry
What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done? You may think of something physically challenging like climbing a mountain or something emotionally challenging like facing your biggest fear. Life is full of difficult things we have to do. There’s a phrase that I tell me son when he thinks something is too hard for him: “You can do hard things.” You know what is hard? Ministry. Pastors have been jokingly accused of working only two days a week. Ministry isn’t just by ministers though. The work of the ministry includes the entire body of believers.[1]
Did you know that over 40% of pastors show a high risk of burnout?[2] That's a sobering statistic. The number one reason, stated, is because of the immense stress of the job. The feeling of loneliness and isolation runs a close second. Ministry is demanding, marked by stress, emotional exhaustion, and countless hours of devotion. But today, we will dive into Acts 5:12-42 to unearth the joy that can be found amidst not just ministry, but difficult ministry.
1) The gospel is for those in need. (12-16)
In these verses, we see the early church actively living out their faith. They were tangibly meeting people’s needs and loving people with the love of Christ. And what was the result? People noticed. People looked at the church with admiration, much like a recent article in the Portland Sun about "First Baptist Loves Portland."
The early church was committed to meeting people’s needs. This commitment to meeting needs led to an outpouring of favor, drawing people from surrounding towns around Jerusalem. The impact was incredible. They came to have their physical needs met, and in the process, many had their spiritual needs met as well.
Such was the power of God working through them that people were gathering from even the surrounding towns around Jerusalem to have their needs met by the apostles. It's almost too incredible to believe, but the Bible tells us that God's power was so substantial that even the shadow of the apostles, falling upon the sick, would bring about healing. Imagine that for a moment – a simple shadow carrying healing power. I’ve been afraid of my shadow, but my shadow has never healed anyone!
Don’t you want such fruitful ministry that it seems like every ministry endeavor you do prospers? I do! I want to see a harvest of souls come to faith in Christ and experience the life change that is only through him! But, even when there is fruit in ministry, difficulty accompanies it.
Needy people need people. When you commit to meeting people's needs, you must know them well enough to understand those needs, or you must be doing so well at meeting those needs that word spreads, and people come to you. Then comes the difficult task of not just meeting their immediate needs but also discipling them, guiding them in their faith. This is where ministry can become difficult.
It is not simply about performing acts of kindness and then moving on. It's about investing time, energy, and love into the lives of those you serve. It's about walking alongside them, helping them grow in their faith, and witnessing their transformation. It's about staying committed when the going gets tough, and it will get tough. It's about persevering in faith, even when you don't see immediate results. It's about believing that every act of love, every word of encouragement, and every prayer uttered in faith matters, even when the challenges seem insurmountable.
For those who respond to the gospel, ministry is difficult, but it’s worthwhile. In a different way, though, ministry is difficult by those who oppose it.
2) The gospel is opposed by the proud. (17-18, 27-28)
We are all needy people, but not everybody admits it. Receiving the gospel requires humility. It demands that we acknowledge our brokenness before we can be made whole, that we see our emptiness before we can be filled, and that we admit our need before our needs can be met. If we believe we have no need, then we believe we have no need for a Savior, and that is the essence of pride.
But we all have needs. We are all bankrupt before God. We are completely incapable of paying our debt. “We come poor in spirit, or we don’t come at all.”[3] I’ve heard people say, “I don’t believe God will send me to Hell because I’m a good person.” That is prideful disbelief. It’s not grounded in reality, and it is the biggest gamble you can make.
* Do you remember, as a child, what you used to do when you didn't want to hear what someone had to say? You would plug your fingers in your ears and make a lot of noise, as if drowning out their words would somehow make them disappear. That's precisely what the prideful do when they reject the gospel. They would rather lean on their understanding, trust in their own voices, and continue in their self-reliance than heed the voice of Truth. It's a perilous path, one that ultimately leads to destruction.
Pride breeds jealousy. (17-18)
Pride, in all its forms, breeds jealousy. In this very passage, we see the high priest and the Sadducees filled with jealousy, which is an earnest, eager, zealous rivalry. This jealousy arose from the success the apostles were having in their ministry. Crowds were being transformed, lives were being changed, and it threatened the high priest and Sadducees' grip on power. They couldn't bear to see this transformation because it challenged their authority and their strongly-held beliefs.
It's important to note that the word translated as "jealousy" (zelos) here carries a deeper meaning than we might initially grasp. It signifies righteous indignation, an earnest and eager zeal.[4] It's a term that mimics the sound of water bubbling over from heat, a fitting analogy for the burning intensity of their feelings. It can be used positively, as in our zealousness for the Lord, or negatively, as it is here – boiling over with jealousy and hot with self-righteousness. This is the state of the prideful heart, unaware of its own need.
The proud are certain all their ways are right. Well, the Sadducees were the theological liberals of the Judaism of that time. And part of their zealous jealousy came from their strong convictions, of which the apostles were proclaiming against. The Sadducees didn’t believe in the supernatural like the others did, denying resurrection and even angels. The ironic thing is that an angel is who freed the apostles from prison!
John Stott: “Pride is your greatest enemy, humility is your greatest friend.”
C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity:
“The essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind…… it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began.”[5]
Johnathan Edwards:
“The first and worst cause of errors that abound in our day and age is spiritual pride. This is the main door by which the devil comes into the hearts of those who are zealous for the advancement of Christ. It is the chief inlet of smoke from the bottomless pit to darken the mind and mislead the judgment. Pride is the main handle by which he has hold of Christian persons and the chief source of all the mischief that he introduces to clog and hinder a work of God. Spiritual pride is the main spring or at least the main support of all other errors. Until this disease is cured, medicines are applied in vain to heal all other diseases.”[6]
You see, people were bringing their hurt and needy to be healed by the apostles, and the high priest and Sadducees were just as needy or even more so, but they were blind to it.
God is providential without distinction.[7]
In this passage, we witness the providence of God, working even in the lives of those who zealously stand against His message. We’re going to dig deeper into the topic of divine providence tonight, but this is important for us to see this morning.
He offers the same gospel to those that oppose him. (30-33)
This is the part that has to do “without distinction.” Jesus said in Matthew 5:45, “He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Jesus, as He is being nailed to the cross prays, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”[8] He doesn’t offer you salvation only when you have it all together. He came to seek and save the lost.[9] That means He doesn’t just offer you salvation, but He providentially draws you to receive His salvation.
He delivers some while leaving others. (19)
We must also acknowledge that God's providence works in mysterious ways. He doesn't always intervene in the same manner for everyone. Some are delivered miraculously from their trials (like they are released fro prison here), while others may face persecution and hardship. This can be difficult to comprehend, but it's a part of God's divine plan.
N.T. Wright says,
“In the apostolic age they seem simply to have accepted that God can do whatever he pleases and that, when people pray and trust him, he will often do much more than we dare to imagine – while accepting also that frequently things don’t work out as we would like, that people still get sick and die (nobody imagined that the healing offered by Peter, any more than that offered by Jesus, made people immortal!), and that many sad and tragic things continue to happen for which we have no particular explanation.”[10]
He works in ways we cannot see or comprehend. (34-35, 38-39)
Think about Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee who was actively persecuted the early church. Unknown to him, he was "kicking against the goads" of God's providence.[11] God was at work, even in Saul's opposition. In our own lives, we might find ourselves facing difficulty or seemingly insurmountable challenges, but we must remember that God's providence is at work often in ways we cannot see or comprehend.
For instance, in this passage, it was Paul's teacher, Gamaliel,[12] who spoke up with words of wisdom that allowed the apostles to be set free. When thinking back on his past life as a Pharisee, the apostle Paul uses the same word we talked about earlier. He said, in Philippians 3:6, “As to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” While he was on the road to Damascus, full of self-righteous pride and bubbling over with zealous jealousy, on his way to persecute Christians, he encountered Christ for himself.[13] Who was once a prideful, zealous persecutor, now says things like he does in Titus 2:11-14:
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Notice the one who once said he was blameless talked about Jesus redeeming us all from lawlessness and the one who was zealous for persecuting the church is now zealous for good works for Christ. This is the power and providence of God at work in our proclamation. God is powerfully and providentially at work in your every proclamation of the gospel.
Opposition shouldn’t hinder proclamation. (29, 40, 42)
When you have this kind of big-picture view of God’s providence, it should only fuel your faith.
We see the courage and determination by the apostles in the face of opposition. They boldly proclaimed the gospel despite being ordered by the authorities to cease their teaching about Jesus. In our own lives, opposition may come in various forms - skepticism, ridicule, discrimination, or even threats. However, the example set by the early apostles encourages us to stand firm in our faith, trusting in God's providence and the transformative power of the gospel. Opposition should not hinder our proclamation; instead, it can be an opportunity for our faith to shine brightly, pointing others to Jesus.
Tony Merida said, “Take advantage of every gospel opportunity. They see confrontation before the council as an occasion to proclaim a summary of the gospel (cf. Luke 21:12-19).”[14] And when you know that God is providentially working even amidst opposition, it gives you boldness no matter what opposition you may face.
3) The gospel brings joy to those engaged in its ministry. (41)
Despite the difficulties, the trials, and the opposition, ministry is a source of incredible joy. Ministry is not merely a duty; it's an avenue to profound joy. There is much joy to be found in actively serving Jesus.
Jesus said in John 15:11, "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." Joy is not just a byproduct of the gospel; it's an integral part of it. When we encounter the good news of Jesus Christ and share it with others, a profound joy fills our hearts. It's a joy that transcends circumstances and finds its source in the eternal hope we have in Christ. C.S. Lewis once beautifully said, “Joy is the serious business of Heaven.”[15]
The joy we experience through the gospel is not fleeting or superficial but a deep, abiding, and heavenly joy.
Tony Merida says,
“Remarkably, the persecution energizes the apostles! Ministry done by the power of the Spirit and focused on the gospel brings a crazy sense of joy and energy to the person ministering. Why do Christians report feeling blessed by going to impoverished countries to love people? Why is it that after a gospel-centered conversation, a Christian’s downcast spirit gets rejuvenated? It’s because gospel ministry actually lifts us up. Passionate gospel-centered ministry energizes us on a personal level, and reports of it will often energize others in the church too.”[16]
Ministry is difficult. But it is profoundly worthwhile. It is about meeting needs, battling pride, and finding unending joy in the gospel. As we reflect on the example set by the early apostles, may we too be determined to find joy in serving Jesus, even when it’s difficult.
[2] https://www.barna.com/research/pastors-quitting-ministry
[3] Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Acts, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville: B&H, 2017), 80.
[4] https://biblehub.com/greek/2205.htm
[5] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Simon & Schuster Touchstone edition, 1996), 109, 111.
[6] Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1974), 1:398–404.
[7] https://www.gotquestions.org/divine-providence.html
[10] N.T. Wright, Acts for Everyone: Part 1 (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008), 85.
[14] Merida, Exalting Jesus in Acts, 83.
[15] C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer (San Diego: Harvest, 1964), 93.
[16] Merida, Exalting Jesus in Acts, 84.
