Early in January I traveled with a group of about twenty pastors and spouses to Greece and Rome. The purpose of the trip, which was actually a pilgrimage, was to go to the places that Paul visited on his missionary journeys. I was one of three Baptists on the trip, there was a United Methodist Pastor, and the remainder were Lutherans. There were two others from Virginia, one from North Carolina, Florida, Nebraska, Texas, Minnesota, and Michigan. We started in Thessaloniki, drove through Greece to Athens, and then flew finally to Rome. We visited many places mentioned in the book of Acts, including Philippi, Corinth, and Berea. We also went to religiously important sites that are not mentioned in scripture, such as Meteora, an area in northern Greece known for its many monasteries.
Over the past few weeks I have thought a lot about the trip, the places visited, the Biblical story that includes those places. But most specifically I have thought of the Apostle Paul. Paul is sometimes a difficult character. His writings are some of the most beloved in scripture, but many of his writings are used in harmful ways to push particular agendas. But, however one experiences Paul, it cannot be denied that he is as important as any person in the formation and spread of Christianity.
For the next few weeks I will share with you some of my take-a-ways from walking in the steps of St. Paul. Here’s the first one: Paul was a man of Spirit-led courage.
It is hard for me to wrap my head around this…Paul left the Roman colony of Palestine, journeyed west out of Asia into Europe, and began telling everyone who would listen about this man named Jesus, who was in fact God incarnate, who was killed by the Romans but was resurrected and lives again. He preached this message to faithful Jews in synagogues, and he preached it to powerful Romans. He delivered this message to a group of women by a river in Philippi, and he talked about Jesus when he was chained before the officials in Corinth. Wherever he was, whoever would listen, he talked about Jesus. With no regard for the consequences of his preaching, he never shied away from speaking the life-changing Good News of Jesus. Courage.
Last Saturday our deacons held their yearly retreat. We gathered at Richmond Hill in the Church Hill neighborhood, and Karl Heilman, pastor at Sandston Baptist and BGAV Field Strategist, led our retreat. I had lunch with Karl that day, and a person from Richmond Hill, an Indian-American pastor joined us. Karl was telling the other pastor and me about a mission trip he went on years earlier to India. Karl traveled from village to village where he or a local pastor would preach at an outdoor worship service. While Karl was there he was able to purchase a small motorcycle for that local pastor, making it easier for him to travel and preach.
I almost missed Karl’s next comment about that Indian pastor, so I asked him to repeat it. He said, “that pastor was martyred about a year later.” He told us that the pastor, when he was preaching in a village, was detained, tied behind a van, and drug to his death. I know that Christians are persecuted, but this took me by surprise, and it broke my heart. To know of a person who was killed because of their insistence of telling others about Jesus. This man, like Paul, was brave. He was courageous.
We don’t face persecution in America for being Christians. Our lives are not at risk because of our faith. But it is still all-too-easy to not be courageous in matters of faith and church.
We eventually made our way to the place, just outside of Rome, where Paul was beheaded for preaching about Jesus. Paul, just like that Indian pastor, lost his life for the Gospel. But his life was so consumed by Jesus, he would not stop. Courage.
May we, like Paul, be so consumed by the life-changing power of Jesus Christ, that we are possessed by the same Spirit-led courage for the good news that we have received.