What the World Needs the Most

In today’s reading from Acts 13, we find Paul and his companions in the city of Pisidian Antioch.  Pisidian Antioch was a melting pot of many different cultures and it’s the first place that Paul preached the Good News to a Gentile audience. 

Paul began his ministry here, as became his pattern in later chapters of Acts, by first going to the Jewish synagogue and reading from the Law and the Prophets.  V.15 tells us that after he read from the Law and Prophets,  “ . . . the synagogue rulers sent word to them, saying, ‘Brothers, if you have a message of encouragement for the people, please speak.’”

“If you have a message of encouragement.” 

I’m a big believer in the fact that people today need encouragement.  Encouragement literally means to give courage to somebody.  Who doesn’t want somebody to give them courage? 

Here’s where it gets tricky though for the follower of Jesus.  The greatest encouragement we can give to people is the Good News of Jesus Christ.  This is not the encouragement that most people want to hear, and it is not the encouragement that most people think they need.  But what the world needs the most is the kind of encouragement that Paul gave to the people gathered on that day in Antioch. 

Given the green light to share encouragement with the people gathered before him by the leaders of the synagogue, Paul explains how all of the Old Testament Law and Prophets point to the greatness of Jesus.  In v.v. 38&39, Paul makes the ultimate point of his discourse: "Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.  Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.”

What the world needs the most is to know that forgiveness for sins and reconciliation with God is available to them through the person and work of Jesus Christ.  The world doesn't need encouragement to keep on walking in darkness.  The world doesn't need encouragement to seek satisfaction and meaning through their work or leisure.  The world doesn't need encouragement to manage their sin on their own.  The greatest encouragement that Paul could give, and that we can give today, is that everything in life is about becoming a follower of Jesus and being justified with God through what Jesus has done for us in his death and resurrection. 

Paul and Barnabas continued their work in this city for a few weeks further, and in v.44 we’re told that “On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.”  The whole city didn’t gather because the apostles were performing signs and wonders in that place.  The whole city didn’t gather because the apostles were giving away free stuff.  The whole city didn’t gather because the apostles were offering self-help or mealy-mouthed, politically correct personal motivation.  The whole city gathered because the apostles were preaching what they really needed to hear: the life-changing, world-tilting message of the Good News of Jesus Christ. 

As the Word of God was faithfully preached with authority and boldness, lives were changed because the people were getting what they needed the most.  In v.48 we’re told that the Gentiles who heard the Good News – the people who were the furthest from God – “were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.” 

Do you really want to see lives changed for eternity?  Do you really want to see God do a revolutionary thing in your home, your neighborhood, your community and your city?  Then preach the Good News without apology and without shame.  Give people what they need the most – The Good News of Jesus Christ.