Shining through the Cracks

“In accordance with the Gospel of glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted” (1Tim 1:11)

It’s over. Everything is ruined. And what’s worse, I’m the one who ruined it. Ever been there? Ever taken that disgusting and depressing look back at your own life and seen nothing but a dumpster of destruction, most of it self-inflicted? If your world was a little league game, someone should have used the mercy rule. It’s painfully obvious that it’s “Goodnight. Game over. Drive home safely.” 

If that’s you, meet my friend Paul. A few years back, everybody knew him as Saul of Tarsus. One of the rising stars of Judaism. He was so fired up about his religion that he was going to rid the planet of a pesky sect of people claiming that a radical Rabbi from the boondocks. He cheered when his buddies spilled the blood of a Jesus follower named Stephen. He became a one-man wrecking crew against this so-called Way. Arresting some. Torturing some. Even murdering others. 

But Jesus transforms Saul the murderer into Paul the missionary. God’s grace flips the script in a wacky way that is almost unbelievable. In a letter to his protege Timothy, the former Pharisee describes this radical transformation as “in accordance with the Gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted” (v11). The beauty of Paul’s story is how incredibly Christ used him despite his sordid history. Someone did institute the mercy rule for the terrorist from Tarsus. That Someone was Jesus. He also used the grace rule, drenching His newest apostle in His descending, one-way love just at the point he didn’t deserve it. So just when you and I think we’re useless, we’re the most useful. The Gospel allows God’s glory to shine through our brokenness.

Tim has had a front row seat to watch Jesus work in and through the man he knows as his spiritual dad (1Tim 1:2). He hopped aboard the Gospel party wagon during Paul’s second expedition around the Mediterranean Rim at a tour stop in Lystra (Acts 16:1-5). Talk about perfect timing. That was right before God threw the doors of Europe open to the message of Christ for the very first time (Acts 16:9-10). If you think the Beatles’ invasion of the U.S. was something, check out what went down in these first cities when the Gospel came to town. 

Philippi (Acts 16:12-40). 

Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-9). 

Berea (Acts 17:10-15). 

Athens (Acts 17:16-34). 

Corinth (Acts 18:1-17).

Chances are Tim was part of Paul’s team when he rolled into the massive Asian seaport of Ephesus and set up shop for three years (Acts 20:13). Now several years later, the apostle has left his righthand man to pastor the growing megachurch there while he takes the message of Jesus to Macedonia once again (1Tim 1:3). Paul just can’t stop telling everyone he meets everywhere he goes about “the Gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted” (v11). Jesus took His adversary and made him His apostle. So, do you still think you’re useless?

Paul will talk your ear off about “the Gospel of glory” (v11). So just what exactly is the Gospel? For a lot of us who grew up in the church, the term has become more familiar than the Jello salad your aunt brought to every potluck in the fellowship hall. “Gospel” is the Greek word euaggelion, which literally means “good message” or “beautiful announcement.” Back in the day, a messenger would hustle back from the war with the announcement that the home team has gotten the W in battle. That’s why some folks translate it as good news. But it’s not just good, it’s GRRRRRREAT!!! Jesus has personally just put the smack down on our sin for the win. Yeah, that qualifies as GREAT NEWS!!!

You did hear all about it, didn’t you? It’s such GREAT NEWS, we really can’t hear about it enough. Jesus did for us what we could never dream of doing for ourselves. According to God’s standard, we’re supposed to live a perfect life. When we didn’t, Christ did it for us. As a result of our rebellion, we were supposed to die. Instead Jesus died on the cross in our place. We desperately need new life, but there’s no way as the walking dead that we can climb out of the grave on our own. Once again, the Son of God walks out of the cemetery for us. And if that’s not awesome enough, Jesus declares that there’s absolutely nothing we have to do to STAY in God’s kingdom. I told you it was GREAT NEWS!!! 

Compare that with the crap the team of spiritual hucksters have been peddling to Ephesian believers. According to their counterfeit gospel that says we have to work to stay saved. Jesus may have gotten us in, but we have to do everything we can to stay there. Their gospel garbage isn’t GREAT news. It’s not even okay news. What they’re selling is awful news. Just as it’s impossible to get into God’s kingdom without Jesus help, there’s no way we can stay in without Him. See, I told it wasn’t such good news.

This incredible announcement of Christ’s victory on our behalf is a dazzling reflection of God’s own goodness. Paul describes it as “the Gospel of glory” (v11). The Greek word for “glory” (Gr. doxa) absolutely sparkles in meaning. Think radiance, brilliance, splendor, and majesty. It’s what Bill Murray and the boys in “Stripes” like to call the ol’ razzle dazzle. God’s glory is spectacular. It’s jaw-dropping. The former Pharisee should know. The resurrected Jesus literally blindsided him with the brilliance of His glory when Paul was on one of his infamous search-and-destroy missions to Damascus. “Since I could not see because of the brightness (Gr. doxa) of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus” (Acts 22:11). The glory of Christ shocks us and drops us to our knees. Glory will do that to you.

Make no mistake just Whose news this is. It’s God’s Gospel. He’s the Author. It was His idea. He came up with something so wild, so crazy that nobody else in the universe could have dream up this ridiculous plan. His Good News totally shocks the angels (1Pet 1:12). The false teachers didn’t cook it up. Paul didn't make it up. It’s God’s Gospel. He holds the copyright. As the saying goes, it’s often imitated but never duplicated. It’s His and His alone. But the awesome thing is that He’s not stinging with His message. God is ready to share it with anyone willing to put their faith in Jesus. Did I mention this is GREAT NEWS?!?!?!?

If this isn’t crazy enough already, guess who Jesus personally drafted as His number one spokesperson to non-Jews. If you said “Paul,” you win the prize! The apostle tells Tim how our Savior has “entrusted” (v11) with this blockbuster news. When Paul made a trip to the home office in Jerusalem, church leaders “saw that I had been entrusted with the Gospel” to non-Jews while Peter had similar marching orders to tell Jewish people that Jesus is Messiah (Gal 2:7). God believed in what He could do through Paul, not because of anything Paul brought to the table. God believed in what He could do through him because of God’s own faithfulness. Remember, Jesus is faithful even when we’re not (2Tim 2:13).

Jesus handpicked the former terrorist despite his sorted history. Or maybe BECAUSE of it! Paul’s brokenness provides cracks for God’s Gospel to shine through. That’s exactly what he wrote to the Corinthians about. “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2Cor 4:7). It’s NOT about the jar. It’s about Jesus. It’s about letting His Gospel shine in and through us. The Gospel allows God’s glory to shine through our brokenness.

So what about you? If Christ can use Paul, why can’t He use you? Maybe you think your long list of mistakes disqualifies you from serving Jesus. Think again. How does your resume stack up to the apostle’s? Persecuted any Christians lately? Hunted down Jesus’ followers in your spare time? Tortured them? Murdered them? Didn’t think so. On the other hand, we all have our stuff. We all have our failures. We all have our mistakes. But let Jesus glow through the cracks. You see, the Gospel allows God’s glory to shine through our brokenness.

When Jesus Flips the Script

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope” (1Tim 1:1).

Let your imagination run at high RPMs for just a moment. Think of your greatest enemy suddenly becoming your most passionate supporter? Your hated archival unexpectedly is the best player on your team. Yeah, you’ve seen former Red Sox like Johnny Damon pull on the pinstripes of the Yankees evil empire. But that’s small potatoes. Something even whackier than Coach K coaching Carolina. In the blink of an eye, someone who once wanted you to die becomes willing to give their life for you. How about Darth Vader cheering on Luke and Leia? Or Osama bin Laden as President of the U.S.? 

Well, that’s the kind of jaw-dropping turnaround we’re talking about in life of Paul of Tarsus. One minute he’s the murderer of Jesus’ followers. The next he’s the missionary of Jesus’ message. From assassin to apostle. There’s no one, and I mean NO ONE, who saw this one coming. Nobody except Jesus. But the resurrected Rabbi/Carpenter from Galilee loves to pull off this kind of stunning stories. It’s His speciality, really. Jesus loves to flip the script.

Here the apostle formerly known as Saul writes to his protege Timothy who’s pastoring the mega-church in Ephesus. Thirty years ago, the man from Tarsus devoted his life to wiping such members of the Way off the face of the planet. But a lot can happen when Christ gets ahold of you. Instead of plotting to crush this congregation, he’s planning to help the pastor of the church he previously planted. “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope” (v1). I said you were going to have to let your imagination run wild, didn’t I?

A few years back, you never would have never dreamed of a 180 like this. Back in the day, folks knew him as Saul and he’s was on the Jewish fast track (Phil 3:5-6). Born and raised in the Turkish town of Tarsus (Acts 22:3). He left home to study under one of greatest rabbis of the day, the one and only Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). We first read all about this rising star when he flips out over Jesus and His followers. We see Saul running the coat check table at the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:58-60). The next thing you know, he pleads with Jewish leaders to let him go a search-and-destroy mission for this pesky sect (Acts 8:1-3). He’s a one-man Hebrew wrecking crew. Saul hunts down Jesus’ followers, arrests some and murders others (Acts 22:4). If he had Youtube back in the day, he probably would have posted videos like ISIS. 

But something absolutely crazy occurred on one of his patented black ops missions. He was rolling to Damascus to rub out another rebel cell. Suddenly, the resurrected Jesus personally blindsides Saul (Acts 9:1-9). Christ turns Saul’s life upside down and inside out. He goes from murderer to missionary. Jesus transforms this assassin to an apostle. So for those of you doubting God can turn your life around or do something radical for your worst enemy, just remember what happened to Saul. When Jesus drenches you with His ridiculous grace, anything is possible. He specializes in selecting rejects and rebels and then using them in ridiculous ways (1Cor 1:27-29). That’s what happens when Jesus flips the script.

The former Pharisee reminds Timothy that he’s “an apostle of Christ Jesus” (v1). So just what is an apostle? Back in the first century, an “apostle” (Gr. apostolos) was the job description anyone who handpicked to represent someone else. In other words, the person doing the sending hands their apostle the same power and authority of the sender. So when the Apostle Paul speaks or writes, his words carry the same oomph as our Savior. It’s why he kicks off most of his letters remind folks that he’s the Lord’s official rep (Rom 1:1; 2Cor 1:1; Gal 1:1; Eph 1:1; Col 1:1; 1Tim 1:1; 2Tim 1:1). Not a bad thing to have on your LinkedIn profile. So being one of Jesus’ apostles is a pretty big deal. 

While there are no longer any living capital “A” apostles, every follower of Jesus is His official ambassador. Just as His Heavenly Dad sent Christ into our world on the greatest rescue mission the universe has ever seen, He sends also you and me. He sends us with His gracious invitation to be part of His kingdom. He sends us with the message of forgiveness and grace found only in Christ. He sends us to the rejects. He sends us to the rebels. If you’re wondering, that pretty much describes everybody you meet who doesn’t know Jesus. You and I may not be apostles, but He personally sends us out into the world as shiners of His light and spreaders of His salt. Jesus wants to flip the script in their lives too.

Paul's Religious Resume Part Two

“As to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless” (Philippians 3:6).

If you’ve ever been involved in the hiring process, you know to look for red flags on a resume. The candidate was apparently out of work for more than a year. That will get your attention. Hey, look there. Why did they work at that job for just a few months? Unless you’re Osama bin Laden, rarely do you include your years as a terrorist in your job history. Here in the third chapter of Philippians, Paul looks back on his days as Saul and refers to a copy of his religious resume. The first half of it is incredibly impressive (Phil 3:5). Have you ever laid your eyes on a more mind-blowing Jewish background? He was among the best and brightest of young Jews. We’re not just talking about a first round draft pick, but the number one pick overall. That’s when we move to the second half of his resume. “As to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless” (v6). Church persecutor?!? Yeah, that gets the warning lights flashing down at quality control! 

Paul wants his readers to know he can not only disarm the arguments of those who can earn their way into heaven but also those who think their too bad for God to save. The first half of this religious resume is all about the apostle’s unrighteous goodness. He tried to pile up enough stats to impress God. He did all the right things for all the wrong reasons. The second half focuses on his unrighteous badness. And when I say “badness,” I’m NOT talking about breaking the speed limit by five miles an hour down the interstate. We’re talking terrorism. We’re talking murder. The man from Tarsus wants us to know when it comes to sin, you’ve got nothing on him. But here’s the deal. You can’t out-sin our Savior.

A lot of people seem to believe that before Jesus saved him, Saul was simply a passionate but misguided soul. He rounded up a few of Christ’s followers and tossed them in jail but he never REALLY didn’t hurt anyone, right? Not even close. Before he became Jesus’ handpicked spokesman to the non-Jewish world, Saul was a one-man wrecking crew against His church. Here he makes an incredibly powerful admission of his very dark history. “As to zeal, a persecutor of the church” (v6). Check out the original language and it gets even darker! He had “zeal” (Gr. zelos), which paints a picture of excitement, passion, and ferocity. According to MacArthur, this sort of zeal is the highest single virtue for a Jew. It combines both a powerful love and hate. Since Saul had such a passion for Judaism, he burned with hatred for anything and everything that might threaten it. And if you can’t tell the players without a scorecard, we’re talking about the church of Jesus here.

What stokes your fire? What do you love to do? What are your hobbies? For this Jewish up-and-comer, it was being a “persecutor of the church” (v6). Here we see the Greek word dioko. It means to drive away, make something or someone run, chase swiftly, hunt down, or pursue with the purpose to harass. There’s incredibly intensity and focus. Picture the Terminator unrelenting in its pursuit of John and Sarah Connor. No matter what you might do or where you tried to go as a first century believer, Saul would chase after you with intent to do great harm. You might run but you can’t hide.

In case you’re not buying this idea of the Apostle Paul was the Terrorist Saul, let’s check some other places in the New Testament. Saul was so much in favor of Stephen’s stoning that he ran the coat check table at the execution (Acts 7:58-8:1). It was just after the murder of this first martyr that the young man from Tarsus got busy. “Saul was ravaging the church, entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison” (Acts 8:3). Ravaging. Did you catch that? Just a little later, Dr. Luke finds the future apostle taking his act on the road. “But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1). It was just outside the city limits that everything changed. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Just after being taken into protective custody by Roman authorities, Paul tells an angry mob about his bloody background. “I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women” (Acts 22:4). Later the apostle tells King Agrippa how he blatantly opposed the name of Jesus (Acts 26:9-11). This is an incredibly scary description of the sort of religious terrorism campaign he once oversaw. He not only tossed Christ’s followers in the slammer but went on the road to arrest and kill even more of them. He cast his vote to execute these believers every chance he got. He personally tortured those he suspected of trusting in Jesus in order to force them to blaspheme. And in his letter to the churches of Galatia, he confesses his crimes against Christ. “For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it” (Gal 1:13).

Don’t make the mistake of thinking Saul of Tarsus is just like those folks we read about in the Old Testament who trusted in God and His goodness but simply didn’t know about Jesus. This dude was a lost legalist. With apologies to Mike Tyson, he was the baddest man on the planet. Well, at least until Jesus ambushed him just outside Damascus before Saul’s next black ops mission to terrorize His church (Acts 9:1-19). Paul wants everyone to know even though he had murder and terrorism on his resume, he still couldn’t out-sin our Savior.

The apostle wraps up his job history, “as to righteousness under the law, blameless” (v6). Nobody who watched Saul could find anything fault with him. He was squeaky clean. Did all the right things. Said all the right things. He put on a perfect performance. Spotless reputation. Long before Andre Agassi, Saul believed image was everything. But that’s not the whole story. There was a problem. A BIG problem. The outside may look great but there’s a hot mess in his heart. His heart was full of hate. Is that you? Are you all about keeping up appearances? Are you all about your image? Is there a steaming cauldron of anger and hatred bubbling deep inside you? Well, Paul would love to chat with you if you’ve got a moment. He knows a Guy.

When you take a closer look at Saul before Paul, he’s certainly no angel. No, he’s a thug. A bully. A terrorist. He spent his time chasing down Jesus’ followers to kill them. It was open season. I don’t know about you, but Saul is NOT at the top of my list when it comes to candidates who will take the Good News to a lost and dying world. Seems like someone we would want God to strike with some of His patented fire and brimstone, don’t you think? Jesus thought otherwise. Instead Christ came to Saul’s rescue. I like to think that He knocked this hit man off his horse with a blast of His amazing grace. Saul may have been a major league sinner, but Jesus is a Hall of Fame Savior. 

How ‘bout you? Think you’re too far gone for God to save? Is there stuff in your rearview mirror you believe disqualifies you from the love of Jesus? Maybe you’ve stolen or embezzled. Possibly an affair. Or an abortion. Is your heart full of hate? Paul’s got news for you. Some VERY Good News! No matter what you’ve done, no matter had bad you’ve been, Jesus is ready and willing to come to your rescue. You may be great sinner, but you can’t out-sin our Savior!!