What a Team – Acts 18 by Ben Fronczek

http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?p=226

What a Team – Acts 18

What A Team       Acts 18:18-28

(Based on a sermon by Jeff Strite)

OPENING STORY: A couple was celebrating their golden wedding anniversary. Their domestic tranquility had long been the talk of the town. A local newspaper reporter was inquiring as to the secret of their long and happy marriage.  “Well, it dates back to our honeymoon,” explained the man. “We visited the Grand Canyon and took a trip down to the bottom on the canyon by pack mule. We hadn’t gone too far when my wife’s mule stumbled. My wife quietly said, ’That’s once.’ We proceeded a little further and the mule stumbled again. Once more my wife quietly said, ’That’s twice.’  We hadn’t gone a half-mile when the mule stumbled the third time. My wife quietly removed a revolver from her pocket and shot the mule dead. I started to protest over her treatment of the mule when she looked at me and quietly said ’That’s once.’”

Let me tell you another story maybe a little more in line with our sermon this morning:  A traveler was driving along one day and had an accident. He drove his car into a ditch in a desolate area. Luckily, a local farmer came by to help with his horse named Buddy.

Well, the farmer hitched Buddy up to the car and yelled, “Pull, Nellie, pull!” Buddy didn’t move. Once more the farmer hollered, “Pull, Nellie, pull!” Buddy didn’t respond. The farmer repeated this action again, with the same results.

Then the farmer nonchalantly said, “Pull, Buddy, pull!” And the horse finally dragged the car out of the ditch.

The motorist was really appreciative but he was also curious. He said to the farmer “I really appreciate what you did for me, but why did you call your horse by the wrong name 3 times.”
The farmer said, “Oh, Buddy is blind – and if he thought he was the only one pulling, he wouldn’t even try.”

APPLICATION: Like “Buddy” people usually don’t like to think they are pulling the load all by themselves. That’s why Jesus sent his disciples out in teams of two. It’s easier to serve and do a ministry when you’re part of a team.  ReadActs 18:18-28  “Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because of a vow he had taken. They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus. When he landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.

After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor  and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.”

In Acts 18, we’re introduced to the ultimate ministry team – Priscilla and Aquila. They are the only Christian married couple mentioned by name in the NT. They are mentioned at least 4 times (Annanias and Saphira were mentioned, but I’m thinking more in terms of someone who was admirable and Godly).

The Apostles had wives, and Jesus’ half brothers had wives, and they took them with them when they preached (I Cor. 9:5), BUT the names of their wives is never given in Scripture. Priscilla’s is.

I. Some scholars have made a big deal out of this.  Some have given Priscilla’s role in this passage the wrong kind of emphasis.

It is in regards to her name being mentioned first in Acts 18. Ever since the “feminist movement” caught fire, there have been religious scholars who have pointed to Priscilla’s prominence in this text and concluded that she was either the “head of her household” OR that she was dominant teacher in their relationship.

The picture that is often painted by these scholars is that Priscilla took the lead in ministry, and may have even been the power force in the marriage… with Aquila quietly tagging along for the ride and watching from the sidelines as his more knowledgeable wife taught Apollos about baptism.

I have a couple of problems with that:
1st – This argument is based mostly on innuendo and implications from this text that can’t really be proven. In other words, there isn’t anything IN the text that would necessarily lead one to believe that this was true.

2nd – Paul, a man who many of these scholars regard as a bit chauvinist. He wrote many passages in Scripture that cause feminists to cringe…

Later in his letters, this same Paul, referred to this couple as both    “AQUILA & Priscilla” (in I Corinthians 16:19),  AND   “PRISCILLA & Aquila” (in Romans 16:3).

In other words, Paul put both Priscilla and Aquila 1st in different letters to different churches.  That would seem to indicate that the order of a couple’s names as they were introduced was not all that significant to THAT culture in THAT day.

II. BUT the point is, Priscilla’s name IS mentioned in Acts 18… and that is significant!
IN FACT, you don’t ever find Aquila mentioned without Priscilla NOR Priscilla mentioned without Aquila.
You know what that means?  It means that they were not only husband and wife,  Priscilla and Aquila were a team, they were partners in ministry.  They obviously worked well together as they strove to build up the Kingdom of God and His church, because they recognized how important it was for them to do that, because it was bigger than either one of them.

Priscilla was no door mat. No doubt she was an intelligent and vibrant woman. But I doubt she would have thought of herself as the “head” of her family or a better teacher than her husband.

To imply such a competition in their relationship deprives this passage of its true beauty and depth.
We live in a world where men put their wives down in front of their friends, and where women belittle their husbands when they are out with the girls.  Sometimes individuals don’t even wait to be alone  with their friends before they trash their spouse. Sometimes they do it in public in front of each other. Sometimes we even make our spouse the brunt or punch-line  of our jokes.
That should not to be ! (I started to do that years ago and Nancy quietly look at me and said, “That’s #1)

Feminist theology imposes the type of competition and struggle to this 1st century couple that is entirely foreign to anything taught anywhere else in scripture.

What these feminist scholars miss is the beauty of what Priscilla had. Priscilla seemingly had; the ideal Christian marriage. She wouldn’t have overshadowed Aquila and Aquila wouldn’t obviously didn’t crowd her out of ministry.

This couple had something that every married Christian couple should strive for, to become a effective team as we work and do our best to serve Jesus together. Often times it’s one or the other who serves, the man will get excited and stand up and serves in some way or form, but his wife will stay quietly in the background, not sharing any part of that ministry. Or a woman will do her best to serve Jesus, but will have an unbelieving husband, or a husband who has no desire to be involved in serving Jesus in any way or form.

Aquila and Priscilla didn’t have that problem. They were both blessed by having a spouse who would work side by side with them. As far as we know, Aquila and Priscilla apparently had a good marriage.

They weren’t in competition with each other. They worked together in partnership. And because of that, because they were a married couple that “pulled together” Apollos (a good man though a little misinformed) was transformed by their united effort and teaching, into a powerhouse for God.

Look again at Acts 18:24-28.  “Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor  and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.”

Did you catch what its saying there? It’s telling us, that because Priscilla and Aquila invited Apollos over to their home for coffee and donuts and worked together to teach him more about the Christian faith, Apollos receive the encouragement and resources to go on and become even more a more effective teacher.

III. Another thing I would like to mention here. Aquila and Priscilla worked together and accomplished something they might never have achieved alone. I think many of us are more like that ol’ horse Buddy than we realize. Just believing or knowing someone is at your side whether it be a spouse, a relative or even a friend makes all the difference in the world. We’ll do things we just won’t bother to do if we are all by our self. We’re braver, we’re stronger, we’re more ambitious, and even more passionate about doing things when there is someone else to support us along the way.

Solomon put it this way in Prov. 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

I believe that’s what Aquila and Priscilla were doing.  AND possibly that’s why they are the only couple mentioned like this in all the NT, with both names recorded for us to remember.

Not only did they work together to instruct Apollos about baptism, but Paul tells us a couple of other things about them.

In Romans 16:3-5, Paul tells the Roman Christians “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I, but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house.”

Paul thought of Aquila and Priscilla as his “fellow workers.” What had they done to make themselves such reliable helpers to Paul? Well, for one thing…

He said that they risked their live for him. I don’t exactly know how they risked their lives for him, but in doing so we see that together they were courageous.

2^nd  Somehow along the way, Paul also mentions in this text that Aquila and Priscilla also encourage other Gentile churches they visited. How? We don’t know; but they did it together.

3^rd  They had started a church in their home. In both Romans and I Corinthians Paul referred to churches that met in their home. That apparently “meant something” to Paul especially in a time where Christians were being persecuted.  I believe that this shows their level of commitment to the Lord and their desire to propagate the church together  where ever they went.

If there was wasn’t a church in town, they were probably the kind of people who said, “Honey, there is no Christian church here in our community. Let’s start inviting people into our home and teach them about Jesus.” Together they were not only hospitable, they were also evangelistic, and definitely committed.  What a team!

Some of you opened your home when we first started out here in Granville. You took turns and that was great. This couple probably did it every week. And I can’t help but believe that even though they had to put themselves out there and dealt with a little inconvenience in their life and home, they probably felt real good that they could serve Jesus in this special way together. Jesus said that it would be more blessed to give, and to serve and help others, than receive.

Do you want to get a spiritual boost, to feel some joy in your live again? Become hospitable, open up your home for the cause of Christ. Invite folks over for fellowship to encourage them and make them feel important. Host a Bible study or devo. in your home. Have a picnic and sing along,  Don’t ever underestimate the value of hospitality and teaming up with someone in order to become a better servant of our Lord.

You may be thinking, “Well I don’t have a significant other; I’m not married, I’m single.  Or, my husband is not even interested in being a Christian. Does that prohibit you from getting together with another Christian to team up with them and do a project together for Jesus?  Paul was single but he always seemed to find someone to team up with. You can do the same thing.

There comes a point where the Christian won’t feel a sense of fulfillment, that is until they give back, until they themselves find a way to serve Jesus and others in some way or form.        And what will help us to become an even more effective servant as we try to serve is to find someone who will help us, who will team up with us, like Aquila and Priscilla.

Challenge: I want you to think about 2 things this week: #1. I want to encourage you to make a decision or at least consider giving back to the Lord and serving Him in some new way.

And then consider who you can ask to help you. It may be your spouse, which would be great, or you may ask your Christian friend or relative. It can even be more than one person. Maybe try opening up your home and hosting a dinner party once a month, or a Bible study, or maybe taking on a service project together like visiting others together, or helping at a food pantry together. Whatever your can think of to serve others and serve our Lord. Its giving back to the Lord not because we have to, but rather because we want to because we love Him.

And then I can’t help but believe that the Lord will bless you, and make you feel all good on the inside.

(Based on a sermon by Jeff Strite)