Truth Matters

Introduction

Some things matter more than others. What’s more difficult is discerning which is which. If I were to ask you to guess how many song books are in this room without physically counting them, you would do your best to make a calculation. We would know that each side set of pews has two songbook racks and each songbook rack holds three books. So each side pew has six books. The middle section has three racks or nine books. Each row of pews from east to west has 21 books. And then we could guess how many rows of pews there are and make a fairly strong estimate about the number of books in this room.

On the other hand, if we were to take a poll about favorite foods we would come up with a variety of choices. We might be able to group them into different types like Italian, American, Chinese, etc. Or we may be able to divide them more specifically into pizza, hamburger, lasagna, etc. Which category is more important — the number of books or types of food? Someone may say neither. Some may say book numbers because we can be accurate about that. Still others may say food matters more. Who will ultimately decide?

It’s easy for us to say preferences are not as important as something more definitive. The types of music that you like is not any more important than the type of music I like. Simple preferences. But we may not be able to agree on our definition of music without some basis for understanding. When John Gage released his composition 4’ 33” in 1952 it was highly controversial. For it’s premise is that music is any noise you hear during the “playing” of the composition. During the composition the symphony plays not a single note. Only the noise one hears during the “playing” is considered the music. I’m not musically trained but somehow this definition of music lacks some fundamentals. And this is where we end up. If the fundamentals of any field are not met, then is that field being engaged? If I use a football on a basketball court, which game am I playing? Depends on the fundamentals. What about the fundamentals of faith? Let’s learn today.

Jesus or John

We have two stories in our text. Both involve the gospel. Both involve a lack of understanding the fullness of the gospel. Apollos was a gifted speaker and brilliant man. He had an uncanny ability to take the Old Testament scriptures and demonstrate how they pointed to Jesus. He was convincing in his speech and convicting in his passion. Jesus mattered to him. In all ways he cared about Jesus and his preaching reflected that. But in Ephesus he meets God’s disciples who take the time to show him that even with his passion and eloquence he lacks understanding fully about Jesus.

Apollos only presents John’s baptism. He is calling for people to repent. He is pointing people to Jesus, but the baptism that he calls for isn’t a baptism that fully points to Jesus. He isn’t baptizing people in the name of Jesus. Some have speculated that Apollos’ baptism did not mention the Holy Spirit. In other words, a baptism for repentance was correct but he was lacking in the application. It was absolutely clear that Apollos followed Jesus; was preaching that others should follow Jesus; was calling on people to be baptized; but he wasn’t mentioning the work of the Holy Spirit.

Apollos moves on to Corinth and Paul arrives in Ephesus. He finds 12 disciples who received the baptism of John not the baptism of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Paul explains more fully about baptism in the name of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They are rebaptized and Paul like Peter and John in Acts 8 pass on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Paul will remain in Ephesus for two years on this his third missionary journey and he will find this to be a place where the gospel will spread.

So What?

There are a couple of minor points to be made from these two stories. First, based upon here and Acts 8, the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit were passed on through the apostles. In Acts 8, Philip had the gift of healing but he didn’t have the ability to pass it on. Peter and John are called for that purpose. Here Paul’s laying on of hands allows for the gifts to be passed on. If this is true, then the passing on of gifts like speaking in tongues and prophesying ended with the death of the last apostle, John. We know from Acts 2 and 10 that God himself poured out these gifts but both of those were special occasions. In Acts 2 for the initiation of the church and to help Peter in Acts 10 accept that Gentiles were to be brought into the kingdom as well.

Second, the presence of and the awareness of the Holy Spirit is far more significant than we may think. Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit’s presence and work among God’s people was part of the plan of God. The Spirit’s work is fundamental for our appreciation of our salvation and our growth as followers of Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit who develops in us holiness and traits of character that reflects the image of Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit who joins with Jesus in interceding for us when we pray. It is the Holy Spirit who convinces us that we belong to God and allows us to know God as Abba. The Spirit’s work is fundamental to our faith journey.

I would be cautious about building any kind of specialized teaching based on these two stories. Luke wants to introduce us to Apollos who Paul will endorse in his Corinthians correspondence. Luke also wants to make sure we understand that Paul is going to be located in Ephesus for the bulk of his third missionary journey. But there also seems to be something else that Luke is trying to help his readers understand — the centrality of Jesus and baptism. To put it another way — there are things that matter and faith in Jesus and expressing that faith in baptism is one of those things.

No one questioned Apollos’ faith. Luke calls the 12 “disciples.” No one questioned that these believers wanted to follow Jesus; were following Jesus; trusted Jesus. But neither Apollos nor the 12 were aware of the fullness of Jesus and specifically his baptism. People want to debate whether Apollos and these 12 were Christians. That ignores the evidence. Apollos is a valued preacher among the Jews about Jesus. The 12 are called “disciples.” The point isn’t whether they were Christians. The point is that complete truth matters. Apollos wasn’t wrong about what he taught about Jesus except he brought people to a certain level of understanding but didn’t give them the complete picture. Complete truth matters. Like an incomplete painting or an unfinished story or a piece of music that ends abruptly, something more is needed and is required. It isn’t about preference — what kind of food you like. It is about accuracy. It is about fullness, completeness and truth. Aquila, Priscilla, nor Paul questioned their love for Jesus. But all three questioned their message and taught them that their message was incomplete. And Apollos and the 12 were willing to listen and to change their preaching accordingly. Truth matters. The centrality of Jesus is incomplete without baptism in his name.

To argue about baptism and its relevance is to miss the point. To argue who is a Christian or not is to miss the point. To argue who loves Jesus more is to miss the point. Truth matters. And when Paul saw 12 disciples who needed to know more truth than what they had, they responded. Contrast that with Jews who refused to hear the truth and Paul left the synagogue. Who are the believers? Followers of Jesus want to hear the full truth and are willing to adhere to that truth. So how will this help you in your walk with Jesus.

First, because truth matters we are those who share truth. What people do with that truth is on them. Those who love Jesus need more truth. Those who do not love Jesus need the same truth.

Second, the Holy Spirit who lives in you is given to you at your baptism and his role is to help move you toward holiness and the image of Jesus. God through his Spirit is always with you.

Third, have an open heart for truth. Invitation.

Follow Jesus

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