"Turning the World Upside Down:
When Is It Right To Assert One’s Rights?"
Sermon Series on the Book of Acts
March 26, 2006
(Acts 22:22-23:11)

Introduction
      People in this country are very concerned about their rights. We talk about legal rights, mineral rights, water rights, abortion rights, the right to bear arms, and the list goes on. This is only natural, for our concern for rights is rooted in the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution. These assure us of the freedoms of speech, assembly, and worship, etc. But there are some today who would suggest that we have taken this whole concept of rights a little too far, and there is a limit to one's rights, especially for the Christian.
      There was a little boy who was acting up in church one Sunday. He insisted on talking to another boy sitting near him, and the conversation was disturbing to those around the boys. His mother warned him about this, and she told him to be quiet. But the boy talked back to his mother and said, "I've been studying the Bill of Rights in school, and as an American I have the right to free speech! I don't have to be quiet!" At this the mother scooped up the boy and headed up the aisle, and she did not have a nurturing look in her eye. As he was being carried out of the sanctuary, the boy yelled over his shoulder to the congregation, "Y'all pray for me!" That young man learned that there is a limit to one's right to free speech. 
      As we continue to study the last phase of the public ministry of the apostle Paul, we look at a passage this morning that refers to the apostle's actions within the legal system of his day and a time when he asserted his rights. Paul was very clever in the way in which he dealt with the situation of his arrest and interrogation, and his actions forced the hand of his captors. There is a remarkable parallel here to the life of Jesus as we note that He, too, forced the hand of His captors at the time of His arrest. As we look at the passage this morning, let's notice: 1) Paul asserted his rights; 2) Paul divided the Sanhedrin; and 3) Paul received encouragement from the Lord.

I.  Paul Asserted His Rights
      You will recall from our discussion last week that Paul was attacked in the Temple in Jerusalem when some Jews from Asia recognized him from his missionary journeys there, and they stirred up the crowd against the apostle. The Roman commander had Paul arrested and taken to the barracks for questioning. On the way to the barracks, however, Paul requested and received permission to speak to the crowd. He told of his experience of God's grace when he met the risen Lord while on the road to Damascus. However, when Paul related his call from God to take the gospel to the Gentiles, the crowd erupted in anger once again. 
      The passage before us this morning says the commander decided to find out the truth of the matter by examining Paul under scourging. This was not a punishment, rather it was the means by which the Romans secured the truth or a confession in a criminal matter. It seems a rather cruel and out-of-date way to ascertain the truth, but in the recent scandals of torture and inappropriate interrogation methods at the prison in Abu Ghraib by U.S. forces, we have seen that this practice sadly continues to this day.
      The scourge consisted of strips of leather that were studded with pieces of metal or bone and fastened to a wooden handle. Some times it crippled a person for life. Other times the scourge actually killed the victim. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 11 that five times he had received 39 lashes at the hands of the Jewish authorities, and three times he had been beaten with rods by order of Roman magistrates. However, being flogged with the scourge was more brutal than any of these.
      As they were stretching out Paul to be scourged, the apostle asked a centurion standing nearby if it was legal to flog a Roman citizen who had not been found guilty of any crime. Paul knew it was unlawful. Everyone knew it. The centurion went directly to the commander and related to him that Paul was a Roman citizen. When the commander heard this, he went immediately to inquire about the matter, and when he learned of Paul's Roman citizenship, he released the apostle. All Roman citizens were exempt from examination under torture. 
      In many circumstances, we think of a Christian as a person who yields his/her rights, as one who is willing to sacrifice for the sake of the Lord. Indeed, we have said before in this pulpit that the believers are those who, because of their identity and security in Christ, do not need to assert their rights or always get their own way. In Christ we are freed from petty selfishness, and we learn that we can cast our cares on Christ knowing that He is able to protect and defend us. But here we read of a situation in which Paul asserted his rights. How do we square this?
      As my friend Doug Webster has written,[1] there are three ways to look at rights in the biblical narrative. There are some rights we should give up for the sake of the gospel. There are other rights we should claim for the sake of the gospel. And there are the rights of others to hear the truth of the gospel. It is true that the believer is not to be concerned with his/her rights in an ultimate sense. However, as this passage makes clear, there may be occasions when Christians may claim or assert their rights if it proves to advance the cause of Christ, and just because we are Christians doesn’t mean we should roll over and become a doormat when opposition comes our way. In fact, Christians should oppose injustice wherever it raises its ugly head. However, as believers we should not simply look at our rights as a means to protect our little corner of the world, or protect our own hide for that matter. Rather, we should look to Christ to be our defender and protector. 
      Historically, the gospel has flourished in countries where individual rights have been guaranteed, and, frankly, it has also flourished in countries where they have been violated. Just look at the former Yugoslavia, as Peter Kuzmic shared with us last month. So the bottom line is to the extent that personal rights can be utilized to assist in the advancement of the gospel, they should be claimed, but never counted upon. We should always speak the truth and stand for justice and righteousness, denouncing the violation of personal rights, but we should never look to the State as our ultimate protector and defender of our individual rights. We will be sadly disappointed if we do. Only Christ is great enough and trustworthy enough to do that.

II.  Paul Divided the Sanhedrin
      Since the Roman commander was unsuccessful by scourging to ascertain why the people were so angry with Paul, he ordered the Jewish Sanhedrin to come together to interrogate his prisoner. Paul began his defense by addressing the members of the Sanhedrin as "men and brothers," the common formal address used among assembled Jews. Then he asserted, "I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day." This so enraged the high priest, Ananias, that, in violation of the law, he ordered those near Paul to strike him on the mouth. 
      Ananias reigned as high priest from 48-59 AD, and he was known for his avarice and his use of violence. He embezzled money and gave lavish bribes to Roman authorities. The high priest was a brutal and scheming man who was hated by Jewish nationalists for his pro-Roman policies. In fact, when the war with Rome broke out in 66 AD, the nationalists burned Ananias’ house, and he was forced to flee to the palace of Herod the Great in the northern part of Jerusalem. Ananias was finally trapped while hiding in an aqueduct on the palace grounds, and he was killed there along with his brother Hezekiah.[2] This was the man who ordered that Paul be struck on the mouth.
      The apostle lashed out at Ananias and accused him of breaking the Jewish law, which safeguarded the rights of defendants and presumed them innocent until proven guilty. However, when it was brought to Paul's attention that he was rebuking the high priest, the apostle apologized. At first blush, one might think that Paul's retort seems out of character for a follower of Christ who when they hurled insults at Him did not retaliate, and when He suffered made no threats.[3] But Paul was a person of like passions as us, and he lost his composure. However, when he was told that he was speaking to the high priest, Paul was quick to acknowledge his wrong. He apologized for his comments and quoted Exodus 22:28 which urged that no one should speak evil of a ruler of his people. It takes a gracious person to own up to one's sin and to be willing to admit when one is wrong.
      Ananias' interruption changed the entire course of the meeting, but not as he had expected. Paul realized that the deck was stacked against him and there was little chance that he would receive a fair hearing, and so he began again, and this time he took the offensive. He said, "I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead" (Acts 23:6). Now why in the world would Paul say this?
      The Sanhedrin was made up of two groups of people who held different theological positions, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees had a high regard for the oral tradition; the Sadducees had a high regard only for the written law. The Pharisees believed in predestination; the Sadducees believed in free will. The Pharisees believed in the existence of angels and evil spirits, whereas the Sadducees did not. And the Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead, while the Sadducees believed that there was no resurrection after death.
      Knowing these differences, Paul decided to divide the Sanhedrin. When he stated that he was on trial for the resurrection of the dead, it sent the whole Council into an uproar. The Pharisees rallied to Paul's defense, while the Sadducees were angered all the more. The apostle was about to be torn between the two groups when the commander intervened once again and had the troops take Paul back to the barracks.
      The apostle was clever to size up the situation and change his tact. He took the focus off himself and placed it on the theological differences of his opponents. Jesus urged His followers to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. We are to be wise and prudent, but our motives need to be held in check by our obedience to Christ through His Spirit.

III.  Paul Received Encouragement From The Lord
      The next night Paul experienced a vision, a supernatural revelation, in which Jesus, the risen Lord, spoke a word of encouragement to him. This didn’t happen very often in the apostle’s life. It was an unusual blessing which strengthened his weakened spirit. In verse 11 we read where the Lord said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome." At this critical point in Paul's life, he certainly was discouraged. He had been rejected by his own people, the Jews. The city that had been his love and his passion, Jerusalem, was now the most dangerous place on earth for him to be. The Temple which had been a place of worship and a home for nurturing his faith was now the place where he was arrested and almost killed. And the very Council he had once served as a young man, the Sanhedrin, was now the very place where he was unable to receive a fair hearing. Paul must have questioned if he had missed the Lord's call in traveling to Jerusalem. He might have wondered, "Have I been mistaken? Was I just pursuing my own self interests? Was I correct in asserting my rights as a Roman citizen? I wonder if I will get out of Jerusalem alive." It would have been easy to be discouraged given the events of the preceding hours.
      So it was into this confusion that the Lord gave Paul assurances that the apostle was indeed in the palm of God's hand and that he did not need to worry or fear about the future. God had a plan, and nothing would keep Paul from getting to Rome. The apostle was assured that he would be a witness for Christ in the capital city of the Roman Empire, just as he had been in the capital city of Judaism. This must have been a great assurance to Paul during the delays and anxieties of the next two years while he was in prison awaiting trial and the chance to make it to Rome.
      Paul learned a valuable lesson that can benefit each one of us here today. He learned never to forget in the dark what God has shown you to be true in the light. He learned to hold tenaciously to his dream, and he learned to trust God even when things look bleak. Our Lord is in the business of beating the odds, and regardless of how things may look on the outside, Christ and His Word can assure us of hope and give us confidence in the face of the future, no matter how desperate it may look at the time. 

Conclusion/Application
      Paul asserted his rights, he divided the Sanhedrin, and he received encouragement from the Lord. What can we take home from a sermon like this? There are three matters I want to talk about by way of application of this text.
      First, I want you to notice here that Paul was willing to honor the office if not the person. It is clear from history that Ananias was a scoundrel, and the command he gave that Paul be hit was a violation of Jewish law. Nevertheless, Paul was willing to honor the high priest's office. Is there someone in your life who is in authority with whom you are struggling today? Maybe it is a boss who is unreasonable, or your parents who seem to be too demanding and unfair, or a teacher who is throwing his or her weight around. God calls us as Christians to honor the office of a person in authority. It does not mean that we should allow injustice or idly stand by. Here we see Paul assert his rights, and he challenged the high priest's abuse of authority. But ultimately, when all is said and done, we are called to honor the people God places in authority in our lives because of the office they hold. Trust Christ with the situation, and ask Him to reveal to you how you can be faithful in this area of your life.
      Second, notice that standing for Christ will result in opposition to the world. Here we can see that as Paul remained faithful to the Lord, increasingly he was brought into conflict with the Jews and the Romans. Our commitment to Christ will on occasion bring us into conflict with the people of our day, too. When John Wesley was near the end of his life, he wrote a letter to a young man in Parliament, who had recently become a Christian, about the abolition of slavery. The young member of Parliament was William Wilberforce. In the letter Wesley wrote:

      Wilberforce took his stand. At first he was a single, lonely voice against slavery. For 20 years Wilberforce fought the economic and political might of the British Empire, but in the end righteousness prevailed, and revival came to England.
      And finally, notice what Paul says of Ananias, the high priest, "God will strike you, you white-washed wall" (Acts 23:3).  The metaphor of a white-washed wall suggests a tottering wall whose precarious condition has been disguised by a generous coat of whitewash, or paint. It gives the appearance of one thing when in actuality it is another. It looks good on the outside, but inside it is rotting and on the verge of collapse. 
      A lot of people have lives like that. They are busy keeping up their image on the outside, keeping the chinks out of their armor, but inside they are bordering on collapse. Is that where you are today? Are you struggling with deep problems within but trying to fool the world into thinking everything is okay? Stop living a lie, and come clean with the Lord. Own up to it all, and allow Christ to help you become the person He wants you to be. 
      I close with this. When the Queen Mary was launched in 1936, she was the largest ship to cross the oceans. Through four decades and a World War, she served until she was retired and anchored as a floating hotel and museum in Long Beach, California. I saw the Queen Mary a number of years ago when John Hess and I were in that city for a meeting of our denomination’s General Assembly. I have since learned that during the conversion of the ship to a hotel and museum, her three massive smoke-stacks were taken off to be scraped down, repaired, and repainted. However, when the smoke stacks were put on the dock they crumbled. Nothing was left of the ¾ inch steel plate from which the stacks had been formed. All that remained were the more than 30 coats of paint that had been applied over the years. The steel had completely rusted away.[5]
      When Paul called Ananias a white-washed wall, he meant that the high priest had no substance, only an exterior appearance, propped up by coats of paint. Don't you be like that, my friend. Seek the Lord, and develop the core of your life in Christ and go deep in Him. Amen.