“In the meantime, I will be staying here at Ephesus until the Festival of Pentecost. There is a wide-open door for a great work here, although many oppose me. When Timothy comes, don’t intimidate him. He is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am. Don’t let anyone treat him with contempt. Send him on his way with your blessing when he returns to me. I expect him to come with the other believers.”
1 Corinthians 16:8-11 NLT
Paul was staying in Ephesus when he wrote 1 Corinthians, and a substantial distance of over 500 kilometres across the Aegean Sea separated the two congregations. Without a postal system, Paul would have relied on a merchant or some other traveller to transport the letter. But Paul was apparently reluctant to leave Ephesus at that time because there was a “wide-open door for a great work” in that city. We note that this “great work” was not easy for Paul because many opposed him. But that was never going to stop Paul from doing the Lord’s work, no matter the consequences. We can read about one of the dangers Paul faced in Acts 19, when the silversmiths in Ephesus started a riot because they feared their business would suffer from Paul’s evangelism. There was fierce opposition to the Good News about Jesus in those days, as the devil tried desperately to stop his worldly kingdom from being eroded.
If we fast-forward to today, to our 21st-century Western societies, we find a distinct lack of emotion expressed toward the Gospel. But resistance to the things of God is still here in the UK, as we are increasingly finding out that British Christians are being persecuted for “crimes” such as silent prayer and, as a recent case exposed, for preaching the Gospel from John 3:16, both within the abortion clinic buffer zones that have been established in this country. Sadly, we have had a series of governments that have passed laws that go against Biblical truth, and even more sadly, Christians here have let it happen.
“The harvest is great”
But as we look around our cities, villages and towns, what do we see? Churches with dwindling congregations? Worldliness abounding through a plethora of betting shops and drinking houses? People pursuing hedonistic activities but neglecting their souls? I’m sure Paul looked around Ephesus and observed much the same, because human nature hasn’t changed much over the times in between. But rather than view what was happening as a negative, Paul instead considered the opportunities for preaching the Gospel, describing the city of Ephesus as a “wide-open door”. Jesus looked around at the people in Galilee and saw an opportunity. We read in Matthew 9:36-38, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields””. When Jesus was in Samaria, He felt the same way, and He said to His disciples, “You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest”. So, the problem with reaching our societies for Christ might not lie so much with the message as with the lack of people preaching it. So, as we look at the people around us, what do we see? A mission field just waiting for someone to bring in a harvest of souls, or a place of barrenness incapable of producing any fruit?
“The Lord opened her heart”
Even Christians will discourage their fellow believers from reaching out to those around them. There are many excuses offered, and I was recently told by a minister’s wife that there is little point in reaching out to strangers during my morning walks because evangelism is only really effective with people we already know. But such thoughts didn’t stop Paul, and they won’t stop me either. We read about Paul and Silas’ visit to Philippi in Acts 16:13-14, “On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there. One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshipped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying”. God went before Paul and prepared the way. And He will do the same for us, as we commit our ways to Him.
Today, we must always be prepared to share the Gospel and our testimonies. The “wide-open door” is still there, and God is still in the business of preparing the way. How prepared are we, though? What stops us from reaching out to people? Fear of what they might say? Fear of rejection? Paul experienced all of this and worse. Yes, we will experience knockbacks, but even in contact with others, we might just plant a seed that will grow over time into someone finally accepting Jesus for themselves. So today, we must look at the day ahead and commit it to God, asking Him to show us who He wants us to share Jesus with.
Dear Father God. There are many people around us who, in their spirits, desperately need to hear about You and Your saving grace. Please go before us, preparing the way, and please give us the courage we need to share Your Good News. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 