Scripture: Acts 20:17-38
What are some of the events of life that you think would be the most stressful?
Psychologists have a list. It is called the Holmes-Rahe Stress Scale. This scale lists 43 common events in most people lives and places a score on each. This scale can be used to gauge the amount of stress in a person’s life at any given time.
What do you think would be the top ten?
1. Death of spouse – 100
2. Divorce – 73
3. Marital separation – 65
4. Jail term – 63
5. Death of close family – 63
6. Personal injury or illness – 53
7. Marriage – 50
8. Fired from work – 47
9. Reconciliation – 45
10. Retirement – 45
Of those in the top ten, how many relate in some way to a separation from those we love or a goodbye?
Why are goodbyes so stressful? What are some ways we can cope?
If you knew that today would be your last day with a person or group whom you love very much what would you want to tell them?
As Methodists with our itinerant preachers, this lesson may remind us of real-life goodbyes. Think about the ways that our churches say goodbye to leaving pastors as well as how we welcome new pastors. Many churches face similar situations as members are called into ministries or missions that take them away from the home-church that they know and love, but also the church that may have nurtured their faith to the point of being called into ministry.
Do we normally have some feelings of grief when we have to say goodbye to a popular pastor or loved member who leaves our fellowship to follow a call to ministry?
What about when we lose a member for some other reason? Suppose a member chooses to leave our fellowship for some reason that we may consider trivial. Do we grieve over those goodbyes?
What kind of send-off does your church give to a leaving pastor or to someone on his or her way to the mission field?
Background:
Paul had completed his third missionary journey and was making his way back to Jerusalem, wanting to reach Jerusalem in time for Pentecost. Paul wanted to visit with the elders of the church at Ephesus, but to save time he had them to meet him at Miletus, a port city approximately 30 miles from Ephesus.
Paul’s ministry in Ephesus is recorded in Acts 19. His stay in Ephesus featured both successes and failures. When Paul arrived at Ephesus he found "disciples" there who had never even heard of the Holy Spirit. Paul preached in the synagogue there until forced out by detractors. After that Paul taught the disciples for two years in a lecture hall at a local school. During this two years "all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord." Paul performed many miracles during this time. At the end of this time Paul decided to travel to Macedonia and Achaia, then to Jerusalem prior to going on to Rome. Before Paul left there was some rioting in the city. The riots were started by silversmiths whose profits had been declining because of the preaching of Paul. The silversmiths main product was idols of the goddess Artemis. As the people of Ephesus learned the Gospel and the dangers of idolatry, the demand for silver idolatrous ornaments was greatly lessened. The rioting may have also led to the meeting at Miletus instead of in Ephesus.
Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. And when they came to him, he said to them: "You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
(Act 20:17-24 ESV)
Paul says that he served "with humility and with tears". Why does serving God involve tears?
Several things about this speech from Paul stand out:
- This is the only example in Acts of Paul’s pastoral teaching to Christians. All other speeches in Acts were evangelical speeches given to non-believers.
- Due to the nature of the audience, this is one of few speeches given to a totally friendly crowd. The non-believing crowds ranged from keenly interested to greatly offended.
- This speech is amazingly consistent with the content of Paul’s epistles. Luke makes no mention of the epistles in Acts. Some similarities between this speech and the epistles are: Paul acknowledged the criticism he received from the church; suffering that he had experienced; his concern for the poor and needy; the fact that he had been self-supporting through his trade of tentmaking.
- This speech also has parallels to the final words of Jesus to the disciples as recorded in Luke and John: they will soon be separated; they will experience sorrow due to this separation; God’s Word and the Holy Spirit will them to carry on; they will experience problems from within and without; they both predicted their own future suffering; they both blessed those gathered around for their farewell.
From The New International Lesson Annual ed. by Nan Duerling:
When a pastor leaves a flock, there is always a momentary concern: Will there be faithful leadership for the congregation? Whether a new pastor arrives immediately or a lengthy delay separates the time between pastors, congregations are equipped with leaders. Frequently these leaders have a blessed opportunity to receive their new responsibilities and authority directly. That’s what happens in this farewell speech: Paul hands over responsibility and authority to the elders from Ephesus. This transformation is graceful, yet firm. Grace abounds as Paul acknowledges the spiritual maturity of the leaders. Have you ever noticed the tendency of contemporary leaders to notice their (elders) deficits rather than their attributes? Imagine having a beloved pastor shaking your hand while saying, "I’ve shared the whole purpose of God with you!" Surely, such knowledge is sufficient for the leadership challenges ahead.
And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
(Act 20:25-28 ESV)
And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.
(Act 20:36-38 ESV)
What most saddened the group of elders?
How did they display their love for Paul?
Then Paul went down on his knees, all of them kneeling with him, and prayed. And then a river of tears. Much clinging to Paul, not wanting to let him go. They knew they would never see him again--he had told them quite plainly. The pain cut deep. Then, bravely, they walked him down to the ship.
(Act 20:36-38 MSG)
From the "Wesleyan Christian Advocate":
Paul’s closing act of ministry with the Ephesian church was to kneel and pray for the people who came to be with him. They embraced Paul, and Paul embraced them. They Ephesians wanted Paul to feel their love and support for him in the future, and Paul wanted them to know of his continued love and concern as they carried on the ministry of Jesus Christ.
"They walked him down to the ship" (Acts 20:38, The Message). One can imagine that long after they could hear the shouts of farewell as the ship moved away from the port, there must have been hand waves shared until they could only see a speck of the ship moving completely out of sight. All that remained were the memories of times shared together and feelings that each one cherished. Those gifts were blessings that would continue to empower the church and the people of Ephesus.
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