Deo Gloria
Sermon for May 22, 2022
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Acts 14:8-22
Theme: Worship God for His Goodness!
- He reveals his goodness in nature.
- He reveals his goodness in his Son, Jesus.
A group of Muslim men gather during their lunch break. They turn and face Mecca, bow down on their knees and say their daily prayers to Allah. A Japanese woman sets out a bowl of rice and fruit and burns incense as she worships her ancestors. A Buddhist monk sits on the floor of his Buddhist shrine, meditating on the wisdom of Buddha and seeking enlightenment from him. Contrary to what some people would like to say, people are by nature religious. That’s the way God has made them, with an innate desire to worship the God who made them. Unfortunately, because of sin and Satan, people are often misguided in their religious endeavors. Instead of worshipping the true God, they worship false gods, gods of their own making. In some cases they even resort to worshipping people.
Through the Apostle Paul, God directs our worship this morning where it truly belongs, not to people like Paul and Barnabas, not to ancient Greek gods like Zeus and Hermes; but to him, the true God, the one who created our world and our universe and who reveals himself in his Word. We also learn why we are to worship him: for his goodness, the goodness he reveals in nature and the goodness he reveals in his Son, Jesus. Worship God for his goodness!
Paul and Barnabas were proclaiming the gospel in Lystra, a city located in central Asia Minor, the country we know today as Turkey. As they were doing so, Paul’s attention fastened on a lame man, a man who had been crippled from birth and had never been able to walk. The man was listening intently to what Paul was saying. And Paul could tell that he had faith, that he believed their message, the message about Jesus Christ. Guided by the Spirit and empowered by the Spirit, Paul performed a miracle, an amazing miracle. He told the man to do something he had never done before—to get up, to stand up on his feet. And incredibly, the man did. In fact, he not only stood up, he jumped up and began walking around.
The people of Lystra were so amazed by the miracle Paul performed, that they thought Paul and Barnabas must be gods. “The gods have come down to us in human form,” they said.(v. 11) They started calling Barnabus Zeus, who was the chief Greek god, and they called Paul Hermes, who was the spokesman of the gods. And it didn’t stop there. Word about what happened spread quickly throughout the town. Before long the priest of the temple of Zeus, which was just outside the city, heard about it. And, of course, he did what any priest of Zeus would do when Zeus comes to town. He went to worship him, and he brought offerings too. He brought bulls and wreaths of flowers to the city gates, where Paul and Barnabas apparently had been meeting with the people. He set up a make-shift altar. He slaughtered the bulls and got them ready to burn as sacrifices. Paul and Barnabas, of course, were somewhat oblivious to what was going on, because the people were speaking in their own language. But when they saw the priest of Zeus and they saw the bulls and the altar and the flowers, they put 2 and 2 together and they went running out to the crowd, shouting, “Stop! Stop! What are you doing? No! Don’t worship us! We’re not gods. We’re just people like you. We’re people who came to tell you good news from God, to turn away from worthless things like this to the true God, the living God, the God who made the heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.”
That is one of the ways that God has demonstrated his goodness: He made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. Take a look at the world around you. Look at the sun and moon and stars in heaven. Look at their beauty and order. Or look at a beautiful sunrise or sunset. These things are not an accident; they are evidence of God’s goodness. King David says in Psalm 8, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?”(vv. 3+4) Likewise, look at the earth with its majestic mountains and winding rivers and stately forests. Look at the beautiful flowers that burst into bloom every spring. These things are not an accident; they are evidence of God’s goodness. Or look at the ocean, which covers approximately 70% of the earth’s surface. And look at all the creatures in the ocean—the whales, the fish, the crabs, the corral. Granted, none of these things are perfect anymore. They’re all infected with sin and corruption; but they’re still amazing at times—awesome, beautiful, incredibly designed. These things are not an accident; they are evidence of God’s goodness.
And notice what else Paul says about God, the true God, the living God:
In the past, he left all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony. He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.(vv. 16+17)
As you may remember, last year we had a drought here in Minnesota and the fire danger was very high, especially up north. In fact, you may also remember the terrible wild fires they had in northern Minnesota last summer and fall. But now with all of the snow they had in northern Minnesota this past winter and all of the rain we’ve had this spring, the fire danger has subsided. Rain is a wonderful blessing, a blessing we could not live without. Imagine planting your garden in the spring and it never rained. The fresh tomatoes and lettuce and cucumbers and peas you usually enjoy from your garden would all wither and die. Imagine what would happen to the grass. It would all turn brown and brittle and die. Or imagine what would happen to your favorite river or lake, the place you love to fish. It would eventually dry up and the fish would all die. Rain is a wonderful blessing, a blessing that, as Paul says, comes from our good and gracious God.
The same is true of the crops we harvest every year. Yes, the farmer can go out with his machinery and disk the field and plant the field and fertilize the field, but can he make his crops grow? Can he make the corn grow up nice and tall with lots of kernels on each ear? Can he make the wheat grow or the soybeans grow or the alfalfa grow? Of course not. He can watch it grow, but he can’t make it grow. Only God can make it grown and mature so that in the fall the farmers can have a plentiful harvest. This too is evidence of God’s goodness, that he provides these daily necessities, that he gives us rain and sunshine and crops in their season, so we can have what we need to live. And this is one reason we have to worship him, the true God, the living God. We can worship him for his goodness, which is so clearly evident in nature.
And yet, there is another way, an even more important way, in which God has demonstrated his goodness. And that is in his Son, Jesus Christ. Remember what the people of Lystra said after they witnessed that amazing miracle performed by Paul. They shouted in their own Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form”(v. 11). It’s not surprising that the people of Lystra jumped to this conclusion. According to their ancient legends the Greek gods had come down to earth at times, even taking on human form. In fact, one such legend told that Zeus and Hermes had actually come down to their city and had been entertained by an elderly couple named Philemon and Baucis, though they didn’t realize it, whereas they were rejected by the rest of the people in town. So now the people thought it had happened again, that Zeus and Hermes had once again come to visit their town. Of course they couldn’t have been more wrong. Paul and Barnabas were not gods. They were ordinary people, just like them.
But they had an extraordinary message to share with them. They had come with good news from God, wonderful news, that what they mistakenly thought had happened there that day, actually did happen in another place not so long ago; that God had actually come down to earth in human form, in the person of Jesus Christ; that he had been born as a baby in Bethlehem, that he had lived a perfect life for them in obedience to God’s commands; that he had suffered and died on a cross for them to pay the penalty for all their sins and bring them back into a right relationship with God; that he came back to life on the third day just as he said he would; that he ascended once again into heaven where he was preparing a place for them and one day would take them to live with him forever. And why did he do this? Why did the God of heaven do such an unexpected and amazing thing? Because of his goodness, because of his love, for them and for all. This is the good news, the wonderful news Paul and Barnabas had to share with the people of Lystra, news which was intended to lead them to worship the true and living God.
Of course, we would never be as foolish as the people of Lystra. We would never fail to worship the true and living God and thank him for his goodness. We would never give the worship and praise that God deserves to someone or something else. Or would we? When was the last time you stopped and thanked God for the rain and the sunshine? When was the last time you thanked him for causing the plants to grow and for blessing the work of the farmers? When was the last time you thanked him for the food you enjoy, food he has provided out of his goodness and mercy? Sadly, all too often we take such blessings for granted. We just assume that they will always be there for us—that the sun will always shine and the rain will always fall and the crops will always grow. Perhaps we even assume at times that God owes us such blessings.
Likewise, do we always give God the worship and honor and glory he deserves, or do we at times give it to others? We like it, for example, when people give us honor and glory for our hard work and accomplishments; but do we in turn give the glory to God? We give glory and honor to scientists who develop disease-resistant seeds and plants, but then do we give glory and honor to God who gave the scientists their wisdom? We give glory and honor to movie stars who entertain us and make us laugh and to musicians who sing songs that gladden our hearts, but then do we give glory and honor to God for giving us true and lasting joy, the joy of forgiveness and eternal life in heaven? May God forgive us for such sins, for failing to recognize his goodness and giving the worship and praise he deserves to someone else!
Thankfully, I have some good news to share with you this morning too, some wonderful news, the same news Paul had to share with the people of Lystra. The good news is that God is good and gracious and loving and that he has been very, very good to us, so much better than we deserve. In his goodness he came down to us. He came into this world of ours and took on human flesh and blood, so that he might rescue us from our sins. In his goodness he lived for us. In his goodness he died for us, offering his life as a perfect payment for our sins. In his goodness he rose again on the third day, victorious over sin and death. In his goodness he is preparing a place for us in heaven and one day he will take us there to live with him forever. Yes, God has demonstrated how good he truly is in his Son Jesus Christ. And through the power of his Word God has brought us to know and believe in Jesus as our Savior so that we might be saved.
In gratitude and thanks for his goodness, let’s give him the glory and honor and worship he deserves. Let’s worship him for the goodness he has demonstrated in nature, the goodness we see every day in his marvelous creation, in the flowers and the sunsets, in the forests and the oceans. Likewise, let’s worship him for the goodness he demonstrates in providing for our daily needs, in giving us rain from heaven and crops in their season. And most of all, let’s worship God for the goodness he has demonstrated in his Son, Jesus Christ, the one who came down to us in human form to save us.
Sadly what happened in the city of Lystra some 2,000 years ago still happens today. Sadly there are many people today who still do not worship the true and living God, but instead give the worship and praise he deserves to other gods and even other people. God forbid that we should do the same! We know the true and living God. The Holy Spirit has opened our eyes to know him and to see his goodness, the goodness he has revealed in nature and the goodness he has shown us in his Son Jesus Christ. Let’s give him the worship and praise he deserves. Worship God for his goodness! Amen.