An Unexpected Continuation
For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense. He welcomed all who visited him, boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him.
Acts 28:30-31 New Living Translation
This was a weird way to end the story! Why build up to something and then stop it abruptly? In the final chapters of Acts, we can see that the religious gas bags have mobbed Paul and intend to kill him. A “death vow” is made by more religious boneheads to ambush Paul and murder him. Paul, on his way to Rome for the final showdown, is shipwrecked. After a snake bite and a three month layover Gilligan’s Island style, Paul and his companions finally make it to Rome and . . . well . . . he just goes on preaching. That sort of seems like the let down of all endings. I expected Paul to do a miracle, or convince a whole town to become Christians, or do something totally unexpected. But the end was lackluster, I think, for a perfectly good reason.
The end of Acts has not actually happened. You and I are the continuing story of Acts. We keep the story going by praying for, teaching, healing, loving and telling others of Jesus. When we tell our personal stories of how Jesus saves us we are taking part in the ministry to reach the world that is lead by the Holy Spirit. The final words in Acts, “And no one tried to stop him,” bring to mind that no one can stop the spread of the good news except those of us that have learned it, live it, and hide it. How are you continuing the story?
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