A man flew into Chicago & hired a taxi to take him downtown. As he was riding along they came to a red light & the driver went right on through the red light. The man said, “Hey, the light was red. You’re supposed to stop.” The driver said, “Yeah, I know, but my brother does it all the time.” Soon they came to a second red light & again he went right straight through. The passenger said, “You’re going to get us killed. That light was red. Why didn’t you stop?” The driver said, “Don’t worry about it. My brother does it all the time.” Then they came to a green light & he stopped. The man said, “The light is green. Now is the time to go. Why don’t you go on through?” The driver answered, “I know it’s green. But you never know when my brother may be coming through.” Sometimes it seems as if all the world is going through on red & stopping on green. Life is dangerous. We will see three things that will protect us from danger.
1. Integrity
Paul is looking them straight in the eyes, not ashamed, not afraid, and not about to back down. There is no way to live the Christian life in our modern society today and not be criticized. But we can have confidence in criticism. How? “Clean Conscience.” We have to be morally clean. Conscience is that inner voice which accuses us when we do wrong. It’s an alarm that sounds within warning us ahead of time. Paul could stand in the midst of danger because he knew he was a man of integrity.
Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago. He was notorious for filling Chicago with everything evil. How did he keep himself out of jail? Big Al’s lawyer was nicknamed “Easy Eddie.” He was excellent at keeping his boss out of jail and Al Capone paid him well. Eddie lived the high life and cared little for what happened around him. His only soft spot was his son. He gave his son everything. Yet, with all his wealth and influence there was two things he could not pass on to his son: a good name and a good example. One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. He decided he would tell the truth about Al Capone, clean up his tarnished name and offer his son a semblance of integrity. To testify against the Mob would cost him a great price, but he testified. Within a year Easy Eddie’s life ended in a blaze of gunfire. In his eyes he gave his son the greatest gift he had to offer and it cost him his life. World War II produced many heroes. One such was Commander Butch O’Hare. He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific. One day his entire squadron was sent out on a mission. After being airborne, Butch saw that his fuel gauge was low and knew someone had forgotten to top it off. He would not have enough fuel to complete the mission, and was commanded to return, but on his way back he saw a squadron of Japanese headed for the Americans. The fighters were gone and the fleet was all but defenseless. He dove into the formation of Japanese planes. He fired until he was empty and began clipping wings with his own plane. The Japanese took off and Butch O’Hare limped back to his carrier. He had destroyed five enemy aircraft. This took place on Feb. 20, 1942 and for that action Butch became the first Naval Ace of WW II, and was awarded a congressional medal of honor. A year later at age 29, Butch was killed in action. His home town would not allow his memory to fade, and today, O’Hare Airport in Chicago is named in his tribute. And by the way, Butch O’Hare was the son of Easy Eddie. I just thought you ought to know the influence of a father who put integrity first.
2. Strategy
Paul’s strategy was to switch the focus from himself to a debate between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. When you are in a prickly situation it is wise to shift the focus away from yourself and on to a debatable issue. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection from the dead like the Pharisees. Paul used this controversy to defer attention away from himself and on to the squabbling priests.
Long before September 11th, Rick Rescorla, the 62-year-old head of security at the Morgan Stanley Bank, developed an evacuation plan for the bank. The bank’s offices were situated high up in the South Tower at the World Trade Center. Rescorla was convinced that Osama Bin Laden would use jet planes to try and destroy the World Trade Center. The plan and its preparation were hugely unpopular with the Morgan Stanley staff, many of whom thought Rescorla was mad. On September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 11 hit World Trade Center Tower 1 at 8:46 am. Rick Rescorla ignored building officials’ advice to stay put and began the orderly evacuation of Morgan Stanley’s 2,800 employees on 20 floors of World Trade Center Tower 2, and 1,000 employees in WTC 5. Rescorla had most of Morgan Stanley’s 2800 employees as well as people working on other floors of WTC 2 safely out of the buildings by the time United Airlines Flight 175 hit WTC 2 at 9:07 a.m. After having reached safety, Rescorla returned to the building to rescue others still inside. He was last seen heading up the stairs of the tenth floor of the collapsing WTC 2. As a result of Rescorla’s actions, only 6 of Morgan Stanley’s 2800 WTC employees were killed on September 11th, 2001, including Rick and three of his deputies who followed him back into the building.
3. Relationships
Jesus appeared to Paul and let Him know that He would help him through the danger. What encouragement this promise gave Paul in the weeks that followed, when leaders lied about him & fanatics tried to kill him. Soon, the Jews cooked up a plot based on lies and deceit that would lead to Paul’s murder. On one hand was all the power of the Sanhedrin. On the other hand stood a small boy, one of Paul’s nephews. The Lord used him to deliver Paul from the murder plot. God’s ways are not our ways. Who would have thought of defeating the giant Goliath with one smooth stone shot from the sling of a shepherd boy? Who would have thought of defeating an entire army with a swarm of locusts? Who would have planned the redemption of the world through a baby born in a manger? When you face what appear to be insurmountable odds, take heart. One person with God is a majority. The situation may look hopeless, but it is not. God will see you through and He will often use what appears to be insignificant and unusual means to accomplish His will.
God is often behind the scenes but He moves all the scenes that He is behind. God is never closer to His people than when they cannot see His face.
A sick man turned to his doctor, as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said, “Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side.” Very quietly the doctor said, “I don’t know.” “You don’t know? You, a Christian man, does not know what is on the other side?” The doctor was holding the handle of the door; on the other side of which came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness. Turning to the patient, the doctor said, “Did you notice my dog? He’s never been in this room before. He didn’t know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened he sprang in without fear.”
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