Acts 28:11-31: Blooming Where You're Planted

Acts 28:11-31: Blooming Where You’re Planted

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of Acts, and today the next passage and, as it happens, the last passage we come to is Acts 28:11-31. It says,

11 After three months we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin gods as a figurehead. 12 Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. 13 And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium. And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. 14 There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. 15 And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage. 16 And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him. 17 After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. 18 When they had examined me, they wished to set me at liberty, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. 19 But because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar—though I had no charge to bring against my nation. 20 For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.” 21 And they said to him, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you. 22 But we desire to hear from you what your views are, for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.” 23 When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. 24 And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved. 25 And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: 26 “ ‘Go to this people, and say, “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” 27 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ 28 Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.” 30 He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, 31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. 

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Let’s pray: Father, we’re taught that the heavens and earth will pass away but that your words will never pass away. They’re eternally true, eternally relevant, and eternally powerful. So, help us to see the truth of this text and understand its relevance and experience its power. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. 

If you’ve lived in Pittsburgh for very long—or just about any other larger city—then you’re probably very familiar with what it’s like to be stuck in traffic. I’m sure we all have some painful stories we could tell of trying to drive somewhere and thinking that the trip would take a certain amount of time only to run into construction or something else unexpected like that and be delayed significantly. I distinctly remember one time driving to a place that required taking 376 out toward the airport. This was back when they were doing that massive construction project on 376 that seemed to drag on forever. And it was even worse on this particular day because it was a Saturday, and I guess they were doing some things that they didn’t want to do during the workweek. So, the trip should have taken about 45 minutes, but it instead ended up taking about 2 hours. Yeah. Let’s just say I wasn’t very happy about that. 

And perhaps that’s similar to the way you’ve felt or are currently feeling about…life. It’s not uncommon for us to feel somewhat stuck in a certain situation or perhaps have that feeling about our lives in general. We might wonder, you know, is life going anywhere? How long will this situation last? Why do I even have to go through this? Those are questions most of us have probably asked at one time or another. 

So, what exactly should we do when we feel stuck and frustrated? How can we respond to those kinds of circumstances in a biblical way? Well, I believe the Apostle Paul’s example here in Acts 28 is very instructive for us and shows how we can respond to frustrating circumstances in a way that glorifies God.

Now, to remind you of the background here, Paul’s currently incarcerated and has been incarcerated for over two years now. It’s hard to imagine being much more “stuck” in life than that. And to make it even worse, the charges against him are absolutely baseless and should have been dismissed long ago. The only reason they weren’t dismissed is because certain politicians were…well…being politicians. But Paul has now exercised his right as a Roman citizen and appealed his case to Caesar. So, after a harrowing journey by sea, verses 11-15 of our main passage record Paul and the rest of his traveling companions, including the soldiers who were guarding him, finally arriving in Rome. 

We then read in verse 16, “And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him.” So, apparently, Paul’s exemplary character had gained for him a reputation that resulted in him being allowed to stay in his own living quarters with minimal security. He was probably shackled to the soldier who was guarding him and not allowed to leave his living quarters, but other than that, he enjoyed a decent amount of freedom—including, as we’re going to see, the freedom to have people over. 

And that’s what he does in verses 17-20: 17 After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. 18 When they had examined me, they wished to set me at liberty, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. 19 But because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar—though I had no charge to bring against my nation. 20 For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.” 

So Paul was in a rather delicate situation here. On the one hand, he needed to explain to these Jews why he was incarcerated, which included the bogus charges that the Jews of Jerusalem were trying to pin on him, and also demonstrate that he was innocent. Yet, on the other hand, Paul undoubtedly wanted to avoid offending the Jewish community in Rome. 

Notice also how he says that “it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.” Paul’s gospel message about Jesus wasn’t in any way a contradiction of Old Testament teaching but was rather the very thing that the Old Testament consistently held out as the “hope of Israel.” In prophecy after prophecy, the Old Testament consistently pointed people to the coming Messiah who would rescue his people from their sin. And Paul was doing that exact same thing—with the understanding that the promised Messiah came in the person of Jesus. 

We then read about how the Jews of Rome responded in verses 21-23: 21 And they said to him, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you. 22 But we desire to hear from you what your views are, for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.” 23 When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. 

So this is pretty incredible. Paul can’t go out to the synagogue, so many of the Jews from the synagogue simply come to him. And from morning until evening, he does what we might call an Evangelistic Bible Study with them. He invites them over to his house, opens the scriptures, and shows them what the scriptures say about Jesus. 

Then, verses 24-29: 24 And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved. 25 And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: 26 “ ‘Go to this people, and say, “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” 27 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ 28 Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.” 

So, if you’ve been with us as we’ve journeyed together through the book of Acts, then you know that this is almost exactly what’s happened in so many of the cities Paul visited in the past. It fits the pattern. Paul would arrive in a city, go to the local synagogue, and preach the gospel. Then, quite often, most of the Jews would reject the gospel, leading Paul to turn his attention to the Gentiles—or non-Jews—of the city and start focusing his ministry efforts on them. It happened time after time, and now, it’s happening again here—though all within the confines of Paul’s house. 

The book of Acts then closes with a two-verse summary of Paul’s subsequent ministry in Rome. Verses 30-31: 30 He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, 31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. And that’s the way Acts ends. It’s sort of a cliffhanger. We’re not told what happens to Paul after that but are simply left with a picture of him in Rome continuing his gospel ministry. 

And I believe that’s the most notable feature of this text. Paul doesn’t let the fact that he’s under house arrest keep him from telling people about Jesus. It even says that he does so “without hindrance.” And, from that, to borrow a popular expression, we can see that Paul was committed to bloom where he was planted. That’s the main idea of this passage. Paul was committed to bloom where he was planted. 

Think about the way in which grass grows just about anywhere it can. If there’s even the tiniest crack in a sidewalk or something like that, you can bet that, before long, grass will start growing in that crack. It’s not like the grass seeds get inside the crack, figure out where they are and how undesirable it is, and determine that they’re not even going to try to grow because that location isn’t to their liking. No, grass will grow in places that are kind of amazing when you think about it. 

And that’s quite similar to what we see here in Acts 28. Paul’s circumstances were far from ideal, but he nevertheless embraced the situation as God’s will for that season of his life and faithfully took advantage of every opportunity he had to continue his gospel ministry. Of course, I’m sure it wasn’t anything close to what he thought his ministry in Rome would look like. He had probably envisioned himself preaching to massive crowds in the Roman marketplace and freely reasoning with the leading intellectuals of the city in various places. However, Paul accepted the fact that that wasn’t God’s will for him right now and chose to be faithful with the ministry opportunities that God saw fit to give him. 

In fact, Paul not only opens his house to anyone and everyone who’s interested in talking with him about Jesus, he also uses those two years under house arrest to write four letters that are included in the New Testament—Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. All four of those letters were written during Paul’s two-year incarceration in Rome.

In addition, Paul was very deliberate about engaging not only the random visitors who walked through his door but also the soldiers who were assigned to guard him. You may remember me saying that Paul was most likely shackled to the soldiers who were guarding him, so he literally had a captive audience 24/7. And each time there was a shift change, there was another opportunity for Paul to talk with someone about Jesus. Not surprisingly, we read in 

Philippians 1:12-13, which, remember, Paul wrote during this incarceration: 12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. Also, in addition to that impact among the “imperial guard,” Paul’s witness apparently had an impact in the very household of Caesar himself. Paul writes in Philippians 4:22: “All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.” So it sounds like Paul had a pretty fruitful ministry during his time under house arrest. 

You know, I can’t help but think of the story of John Bunyan. John Bunyan—who is not to be confused with Paul Bunyan, by the way—was a Puritan Pastor from the 1600’s who wrote the famous book Pilgrim’s Progress. And he was imprisoned for a total of twelve years for the crime of holding religious gatherings that the governing authorities there in England didn’t approve of. Yet, it was actually from his prison cell that Bunyan wrote Pilgrim’s Progress, which subsequently went on for several centuries to be the second bestselling book in the world—second only to the Bible itself. And, in addition to writing Pilgrim’s Progress, Bunyan was also able to keep preaching the gospel verbally as well. You see, his prison cell had a window that faced a high stone wall—a wall that surrounded the entire prison. However, on many days, Bunyan would preach loudly enough for his voice to be heard out of his window and on the other side of the wall, where hundreds of listeners—consisting of both Christians and non-Christians—eagerly awaited his sermons. 

So John Bunyan didn’t just sit around his prison cell feeling sorry for himself and doing nothing. He was faithful in using every opportunity available to him for the glory of God and the advance of the gospel. He bloomed where he was planted—just like Paul in Acts 28. 

You see, if you believe in the truth that we talked about a couple of weeks ago—the reality of God’s providence—it allows you to flourish even in the midst of circumstances that you wouldn’t typically choose for yourself. Providence, we said, is the biblical teaching that God is not only sovereign and in control over our circumstances but also purposeful within them. Even if we can’t understand exactly what God’s doing, he’s still doing something and accomplishing his perfect purposes in the midst of every situation we’ll ever face. And if you really believe that, it naturally leads you to seek to leverage your circumstances to the fullest extent possible for the sake of God’s glory and God’s Kingdom. 

So let me encourage you to think about how you can do that in the midst of your current circumstances. In fact, let me briefly suggest how you might leverage your circumstances right now in a manner that’s patterned after Paul’s outreach efforts in Acts 28. Your circumstances might not be what you want them to be, but you can still leverage them for the Kingdom of God. First, think through the people God’s placed in your life. Those people aren’t there by accident. Just as God placed the soldiers in Paul’s life for a reason and just as he brought the people he brought to Paul’s house for a reason, he’s also placed individuals in your life for a reason. So think through all of the people God’s sovereignly and providentially placed in your life—family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and everyone else. 

Then, second, start using your house for outreach. That’s one particularly notable feature of Paul’s ministry in Rome. And, of course, Paul did that, in part, out of necessity since he wasn’t allowed to leave his home. But hospitality is still an incredibly effective stepping stone to sharing the gospel with people—especially, from what I’ve seen, if it includes enjoying a meal together. There’s just something about the simple act of sharing a meal that brings people together and deepens relationships and builds bonds of trust in an incredible way. One ongoing goal that Becky and I have had for quite a while now is to try to have someone over to our house for dinner about once a week—especially people we either don’t know as well or are trying to reach out to evangelistically. Of course, there are some seasons where we take a little bit of a break and don’t do that quite as often, but, even then, it’s still a regular pattern of our lives. 

And, finally, third, invite people over for Evangelistic Bible Studies. Paul was obviously not just hosting dinner parties in Rome but was actually inviting people over to open the Bible together and explore what it says about Jesus and answer any questions people might have. And that just so happens to be a major emphasis at our church. We call these gatherings “Evangelistic Bible Studies.” Basically, these are informal gatherings in which Christians and non-Christians study the Bible together with the goal of learning more about Jesus. They may involve several Christians and several non-Christians meeting together, or simply one Christian and one non-Christian. And I don’t know exactly how Paul conducted his Evangelistic Bible Studies, but here at Redeeming Grace, we usually encourage meeting once a week for about an hour each time and having these meetings for a defined number of weeks—usually around 4-8 weeks—because someone who’s not yet a Christian is usually more comfortable participating in something that’s defined like that than something that’s just open-ended. 

So I’d love to see every Christian in our church engaging with non-Christians in this way as often as God gives you an open door to do that. It could be as simple as you inviting a neighbor or friend to your house to explore the Gospel of John with you once each week for six weeks. And I’ll just say that if that’s something you’re interested in doing, we have plenty of resources to help you—including curriculum that’s designed specifically for people who are newer to the Bible. Don’t hesitate to ask. As we can see here, Evangelistic Bible Studies date all the way back to Acts 28 and, I’m sure, even prior to that. And by the way, the way we originally got the idea for Evangelistic Bible Studies was from a book I read, published by Oxford, documenting the evangelistic efforts of the early church in the first three centuries of its existence. And, judging from the way the early church exploded in numbers in the first few centuries despite a hostile environment, it seems like they might have been onto something. 

So I just offer these three suggestions to you as a way in which you can bloom where you’re planted in a manner that closely mirrors what we see Paul doing in Acts 28. Regardless of where you are, what frustrations in life you’re experiencing, what limitations you’re facing, or anything else in your life that you wish was different, this is a way that you can leverage the opportunities currently available to you for the sake of God’s glory and God’s Kingdom. 

Yet, there’s also a broader application of this passage that I’d like to explore. The immediate application of Acts 28 is blooming where you’re planted in the sense of leveraging your circumstances for the Kingdom of God and reaching out to the people God’s placed around you. Yet, there’s also the broader application of blooming where you’re planted in the sense of seeking to glorify God in general no matter what your circumstances may be. 

For example, maybe you’re in a marriage in which you’re deeply unsatisfied, and you feel “stuck” in that marriage. Hopefully this passage is an encouragement for you to bloom where you’re planted in the midst of a marriage that’s not what you desire it to be. So instead of asking, “How can I get out of this marriage?” maybe start asking questions like these: “How can I glorify God in the midst of my current suffering?” “How can I live at peace with my spouse, insofar as it depends on me?” “How can I demonstrate the love of Christ toward my spouse even when that love isn’t reciprocated?” “How might God be using this situation to accomplish his purposes in my own heart?” “What steps can I take toward a marriage that’s healthier?” And “Where can I find the support I need to maintain a healthy relationship with Jesus in the midst of such a challenging relationship with my spouse?” Your marriage might be far from ideal—just as Paul’s incarceration was far from ideal—but that doesn’t mean you can’t glorify God in the midst of it and, in that way, bloom where you’re planted. 

Or, to give another example, maybe you find yourself in a job where you’re deeply unsatisfied. Now, unlike a marriage, of course, you’re totally free to quit your job and work somewhere else. But even if you decide to do that, chances are there will still be a period of time during which you’re in a job that you really don’t like. Well, instead of spending all of your time continually daydreaming about greener pastures, you might find it worthwhile to consider questions such as these: “How can I honor my current boss to the maximum degree possible?” “How can I seek the welfare of the company I’m currently with to the maximum degree possible?” “How can I engage in my current work as worship to God?” “How can I demonstrate love for my current coworkers and sacrificially serve them?” And, of course, “How can I make an impact on my current coworkers with the gospel?” So, maybe a good way you can connect Acts 28 to your life is with a little less griping about your job and a little less daydreaming about a better job and a little more effort to glorify God in the place he currently has you working. 

And, of course, these two examples just scratch the surface of the different situations in which we’re called to bloom where we’re planted. Other situations include being sick while desiring to be healthy, being single while desiring to be married, and living in one place while desiring to live in another place. 

Just to share a quick story with you about that: some of you may know a couple named Tim and Joni, who were involved here at Redeeming Grace for at least 2-3 years and who, by the way, gave me permission to share this story about them. They came to Pittsburgh for Tim’s job and didn’t really have any other connection to the city. And, if I understand things correctly, they really didn’t care for Pittsburgh that much as a place to live. They really liked our church, but they felt far away from their children and grandson. So, from very early on, Tim tried to figure out a way to be closer to their family. Over the course of a couple of years, he explored various opportunities very extensively that would get them closer to where they wanted to live. Yet, time after time, it didn’t work out. But guess that Tim and Joni did in the meantime? They didn’t just loaf around here doing nothing. They bloomed where they were planted. Pittsburgh wasn’t exactly where they wanted to be planted, but while God had them here, they were all in. They actually took the initiative to start a Bible study for some of the younger adults in the church at their house each Sunday afternoon. And they essentially became mentors for many of those younger adults. Tim and Joni were in their 50’s and mentored a decent number of younger Christians—especially young couples—in their 20’s and 30’s. And, eventually, Tim changed jobs, and his company allowed him and Joni to move closer to one of their children, but they nevertheless made a significant impact while they were here in Pittsburgh. So let me encourage you to glorify God to the maximum degree possible in the midst of your current circumstances—even if those circumstances aren’t exactly what you’d want them to be. 

Now, in case you’re wondering, I do believe it’s absolutely biblical and pleasing to God to pursue better circumstances—just as Tim and Joni were doing. There are many biblical passages that support that. Even the Apostle Paul was pursuing better circumstances in the midst of his incarceration. Don’t forget that the reason he was in Rome in the first place was because he had appealed his case to Caesar. He didn’t just roll over and passively surrender to the injustices that were being committed against him. He was actively engaging in a legal battle. So, in the language of blooming where you’re planted, we might say that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with seeking to be transplanted at times so that you can bloom in another place. Of course, we always want to do that in a manner that’s consistent with biblical principles and Kingdom priorities, but by all means, pursue positive changes in your life. Get more education, start a business, excel in your career—heck, I don’t know, get a new haircut—be ambitious in a good way for the glory of God. 

And, finally, in order to bloom where you’re planted in the particular way we’ve been talking about, there’s an underlying satisfaction and contentment that’s required. And that satisfaction is found only in Jesus. You see, apart from Jesus, we’ll always be profoundly empty and unsatisfied no matter what our earthly circumstances are like. Yet, listen to what Jesus says in John 6:35: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” Then, we also read this in the next chapter, in John 7:37: On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” Jesus satisfies the thirsty soul in a way that nothing else can. 

And he’s the only one who can give us the baseline satisfaction that’s required in order to seek to glorify God in the midst of challenging circumstances and, in that way, bloom where we’re planted. You see, having a transcendent joy in Christ that’s not dependent on our earthly circumstances is what makes all the difference when it comes to living the kind of life we’ve been talking about today. And, by the way, that’s what makes this message different than some sort of inspirational pep-talk or self-help advice. What we need in order to bloom where we’re planted is a satisfaction that isn’t ultimately derived from our circumstances or from anything within us but rather from Jesus himself. 

And we experience that satisfaction specifically when we enter into a relationship with Jesus. You see, the Bible teaches that, in our natural condition, we’ve been alienated from God by our sinful rebellion. In fact, we’ve brought upon ourselves God’s judgment. That’s what the future holds by default for every single person in this world. But, thankfully, that’s not the end of the story—because God, in his mercy, sent his own Son Jesus to come to this earth and rescue us. Jesus did that by living a perfect life in our place that fully satisfied the demands of God’s law, then dying a sacrificial death in our place in order to take the punishment for our sins, and then rising from the dead three days later. And because of that, Jesus now stands ready to save everyone who will turn away from their sins and put their trust in him for rescue. Also, once we do that, Jesus sends his Holy Spirit to actually reside within us and fill us with a joy that’s supernatural. And that’s what enables us, no matter what our circumstances might be, to embrace those circumstances as God’s will for that season of our lives and thrive in the midst of them. To state it concisely, Jesus puts a joy in our hearts that transcends whatever circumstances we might be facing and enables us to bloom and thrive in the midst of them to the glory of God.