Personal responsibility
is sorely lacking in the majority of society’s ills. This should be no surprise to us as it is a
consistent theme of God’s message to his people in Scripture. When Paul arrived in Corinth he was faced
with insufficient support to allow him to be a full-time missionary. The need was far greater than he could ever
hope to fulfill in his lifetime, but for a while at least, Paul was forced to
return to the trade of tent making in order to survive. While this situation continued Paul didn’t
give up on his missionary efforts, he still reasoned with the local Jews in the
synagogue each Sabbath. When Silas and
Timothy arrived from Macedonia they brought support from the church in Philippi
that enabled Paul to return to serving God full-time.
At this point in his missionary career, Paul has now
traveled throughout Asia Minor and Greece attempting to plant churches by
beginning at the synagogue in each city.
He has been beaten for his efforts, scourged, thrown in jail, and left
for dead after been pummeled with stones.
When the people of the synagogue, his fellow Jews for whom Paul cares
deeply, responded to his efforts in Corinth with abuse, he made a difficult
decision. Paul shook his clothes off in
their presence (a cultural sign of dismissal) and said, “Your blood be on your
own heads! I am clear of my
responsibility. From now on I will go
the Gentiles.” The first phrase, “Your
blood be on your own heads”, is used throughout the Old Testament as an indicator
of responsibility for serious matters.
In Leviticus 20 it is connected to capital offenses where the death of
those who commit them is their own fault.
In Joshua it is used when the spies make their deal with Rahab, in 2
Samuel by David after the unjust death of Abner. All of these situations show how very serious
Paul’s invoking of this phrase was. The
rejection of the Gospel message by the people to whom the Messiah was sent is a
matter of grave consequences (as it is for anyone to whom the message comes).
When Paul declares that he has fulfilled his own mission,
he hearkens back to the commission of Ezekiel as the “Watchman” over Israel
where the phrase “blood on your own heads” is once more used. By sharing the Gospel message, repeatedly and
at much personal cost, Paul has fulfilled his obligation as a disciple of
Christ to warn the unrepentant of their need of God’s forgiveness. The obligation to warn belongs to us, the
results belong to God.
Lastly, Paul decides that his message is too important to
continue to push against such opposition, he then resolves to take the message
directly to the Gentiles who have made up the bulk of his converts thus
far. These decisions are in no way easy
for Paul, and his failure to reach his own people with the Gospel will continue
to haunt him, but the choice is clear to Paul, he has a responsibility to focus
upon those willing to receive God’s offer of grace. For us, this lesson is also a hard one. We never want to give up on anyone or any
church program just because we don’t see success. Paul’s example doesn’t require us to give up
on individuals, but simply reminds us that we must be open to new opportunities. So continue to hold out hope for that
stubborn relative or friend, perhaps God’s grace will reach him/her before the
end, but do not close your eyes to the chances we all have in our lives to
share God’s love with more or unexpected people.
To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video
Sermon Video
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