Acts 20:38 Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship
Do you know anyone who can brighten the room when they leave? Maybe you have known someone like that. I was at the airport in Nashville the other day, and I love airports because people are coming, going, greeting one another, and hugging. It is a joyous place. People are coming from all corners of the world. Have you ever been to the airport when someone gets on a plane and twenty people left behind cheer because he is leaving? None of us want that.
In Acts 20:38 Paul was getting on a boat, and the people there, including the Ephesians elders, wept sore. They sorrowed at Paul’s leaving. To be sure, on many occasions Paul had a lot of people who were joyful when he left. If you look at the several chapters leading up to Acts 20:38, you find that he was run out of town on several occasions. So, was he loved or hated?
I don’t want to be hated. I do want to be loved. I’m all for winning friends and influencing people, but success is not that everyone loves you. Success is not, “Well, I told them the truth and everyone hates me.” Success is stewarding what God has given you to give to other people. The question is, “Will you be missed when you are gone?” You will not be missed when you are gone if you do not act while you are here. That is true of everyone, a parent, a pastor, all of us.
So, how should we act? First, we should act selflessly. Acts 20:27 says, “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” “I am pure from the blood of all men,” Paul said earlier because he had done what God gave him to do. Speaking to the Ephesians elders, verse 28 says, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers.” Maybe you are a parent or pastor and think, “I am in charge.” That is true, but being in charge is a function of giving, not taking. Overseers are to “feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” It is God’s church and people. We are to guide and provide.
In verse 24 Paul referenced “the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus.” It was given to him. That is in contrast to verse 30 where there were false teachers who tried to draw away disciples. My job is not to take or gain. My job is to selflessly give. I won’t be missed when I am gone if I don’t act while I am here. I should act selflessly. I am a steward. All I am is someone who has in my hands what God has given me to provide to others.
Second, we should act generously. In Acts 20:20 Paul said, “I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you.” Paul gave generously. In verse 35 he quoted the Lord Jesus as saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” I can’t always be on the receiving end of good things. I might think, “Why don’t people love me, thank me, appreciate me?” It is hard to be happy when you are keeping track of all that, but you can always choose to be a giver. If you will do that generously, it is more blessed than receiving, and the fact is you will receive if you give. So, be active, not passive. Don’t sit on your hands. You ought to be acting selflessly and generously.
Third, we need to act courageously. Acts 19:27 tells us Paul had endangered the falsehood and idolatry around him to such an extent that the people who made the idols used as gods were losing their income. One of these craftsmen who made these idols said, “Our craft is in danger.” Paul was courageous when he threatened the idols and falsehood around him.
Numerous times the Bible talks about Paul disputing and persuading. I don’t think Paul was cantankerous. Paul wasn’t trying to gain friends or make enemies and make himself a martyr. He was simply giving what God gave to him and through him. Acts 19:8 says that “he went into the synagogue and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.”
Some people object to preaching that has any kind of point or purpose. They just want benign teaching that has no connection to real life. I don’t want to try to persuade people of something that is not standing on doctrine, the truth of God’s Word, but if I had a friend who was to persuade me to something he believed God to be saying, that is doing me a favor. In the disputing, persuading, and looking to the authority of the Word of God we will come to some conclusion. In verse 9 Paul was disputing daily. Acts 19:26 says that “Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people.” He turned the herd around and there was repentance based on the facts of God’s truth. He turned away people from falsehood.
In Acts 20:2 Paul encouraged and exhorted people. Acts 20:31 says that he warned everyone “night and day with tears.” It was with compassion. It was not with hardness of heart. He was disputing, persuading, turning, encouraging, and warning people.
The question for today is, “Is your family or church missing you?” They may be seated right next to you today, but maybe you are not being used by God to give anything to them as far as encouragement, warning, or service. Will they miss you when you are gone? May God help us to live lives with purpose, not seeking to gain but seeking to give because you won’t be missed when you are gone if you don’t act while you are here.