Acts 11:19-30 | God Leads From New Placesනියැදිය

God leads from new places.

Up until now, Jerusalem was the nexus for all the mission and ministry of Jesus’ kingdom. With the persecution, that began to shift. It was here in Antioch that the Gentiles first began to stream in. (Yes, Cornelius and friends become part of the Christian movement in Caesarea in Acts 10, but not on a wide scale like this.) It’s from here that Paul (still known as Saul) would come to stage his missionary journeys. Acts tells us that Barnabas and Saul taught such great numbers of people in Antioch that the culture started to notice and began to label them with the defining term: Christian. Antioch would go on to become one of the four major centers of Christianity (along with Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Rome) in the early church. From Antioch would come one of the two major schools of biblical interpretation that influences the church even today. Antioch would endure as a place from where God would lead his church, surviving earthquakes, invasions, Islam, and divisions. There are still Christians in Antioch today.

No doubt some may have wondered how the Christian church could ever be headquartered anywhere but Jerusalem. After all, that was God’s city. That was where God promised to establish his throne. That was where Jesus died and rose. This was ground zero. Where it all began. That was the location of the apostles.

But it shifted. With the outright rejection of the message of Jesus in Jerusalem and persecution of his followers, God moved on to new people in a new place.

No one holds a monopoly on God. God does new things and leads from new places. Think of the churches that were prominent even just 50 years ago. How many continue to hold that same prominence today? Think of Christian leaders everyone listened to, read, and adored just a generation ago. How many are still major influencers today? Think of church bodies and denominations that pioneered movements of God just a century or two ago. How many are in steep decline today?

Jesus says the Spirit is on the move (John 3). Doing new things and leading from new places.

That should give us a moment of pause, but also encouragement. What new opportunity is God presenting? Don’t take it for granted. You can never assume that the opportunity God is presenting today will be made available to you forever. God wants you. But God does not need you. If you do not respond to God, he may just move on to someone or someplace else. Which of you looks to the church in Antioch today?

At the same time, don’t hang your head in dismay just because you are not the most prominent, popular, or powerful expression of God’s work in the world today. Those disciples who brought the gospel to Antioch – we don’t even know who they are. They’re never even named. You may never go down in history. But God will work through you. You may be unknown 100 years from now, but what’s more important is that God sees and says, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” Better than notoriety is to be praised by God with your name remembered in the Book of Life.

And if you missed something God sought to do with you once, remember that God isn’t finished with you yet. As long as you draw breath, God will seek to be with you and work through you.

God’s work does not depend on us. That’s humbling. God wants to work through us. That’s good news.

What new thing do you see God doing? What step of obedience do you think God is calling you to make today?