Written by Kirk Cowman
When I was a kid I loved to go to my grandparents’ house. One of the things I loved about my grandparents’ house were their two La-Z-Boy chairs. I’d never seen chairs like this before. Grandma’s chair reclined and had a heated back. Grandpa’s chair also reclined and had heat, but his also had massage rollers. My siblings and I would fight over these chairs because they were the most comfortable chairs in the house and they were the best seats for watching TV. I could sit for hours in those chairs watching cartoons, or at least until grandpa came along and kicked me out of the comfy chairs.
Have you ever sat in a comfy chair? When you find a comfy chair, it’s really hard to give it up. In Acts 8, I think the apostles had found their comfy chair.
As we catch up with the church in Acts 8 it’s been close to a decade since Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. In Acts 1:8, Jesus said that his followers would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth, yet things haven’t progressed beyond Jerusalem. The apostles were to lead the church to fulfill the Acts 1:8 vision, yet the apostles and the church remained in Jerusalem in their comfy chairs.
A seismic shift takes place in Jerusalem in Acts 8. Judaism and The Way (what Christianity was first called) had co-existed in Jerusalem for years, but in Acts 8 things change as persecution of The Way breaks out. In response to the persecution the church scatters and people run for their lives, heading for Judea and Samaria. The church is kicked out of their comfy chairs.
Acts 8:1 says something interesting though. It says “all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria.” Why didn’t the apostles go as well? The apostles don’t actually leave Jerusalem until they hear that Philip, one of the food-servers chosen in Acts 6, is preaching in Samaria and people are responding to Jesus (verse 14).
The word apostle means “sent one”, yet in Acts 8 the apostles don’t go anywhere. They stay in the comfort of Jerusalem…for a decade! It isn’t until one of their church members has some success in Samaria, that they think, “Heh, maybe we should check this out?” Had the “sent ones” forgotten their mission? Had the apostles lost sight of the Act 1:8 vision?
Bill Hybels once said, “Vision leaks.” Vision is like a bucket that you carry. When you pick up the bucket it’s full, but it leaks and over time the vision leaks until the bucket is empty and the weight and urgency of the vision is lost. When our vision bucket is empty, instead of moving Jesus’ vision forward and becoming what Jesus envisions, we tend to put the bucket down and look for comfy chairs to wait for Jesus’ return.
How full is your vision bucket today? Is it full?
The good news is it’s never too late to claim or re-claim the Acts 1:8 vision. Peter and John were late to the game in Samaria, but when the “sent ones” finally arrived God used them too. Peter and John traveled throughout Samaria telling people about Jesus and helping people experience the fullness of the Holy Spirit in their lives (Acts 8:25).
Have you claimed the Acts 1:8 vision as your own or have you found a comfy chair? What is one thing you could do today to live as Jesus’ witness and take your place in the Acts 1:8 vision?
Ask the Holy Spirit to lead and empower you to become a “sent one” today, someone who goes beyond their comfort zone and becomes who Jesus envisions.
