Have you ever been involved in a case of mistaken identity? It can be fun, but it can also be tragic. A number of small children over the years have mistakenly thought I was Jesus – before my hair and beard were gray. And I know there are a number of celebrity look-a-likes who actually make a living impersonating someone. But over the last few years, as DNA testing has become more prolific and advanced in criminal investigations, we’re hearing more and more stories of people who have served many years of a prison sentence, but are now being released because DNA testing proved that they were innocent of the crime they were originally convicted of, convictions that were often based on someone picking them out of a police line-up. Oops!
In our Bible reading for today, there are several cases of mistaken identity I’d like to explore with you that could be far more tragic than having to spend some time in prison for something you didn’t do. So let’s start by looking at Acts 14:8-10. In Lystra there was a man who was sitting down because he had no strength in his feet. He had never walked because he was lame from birth. When he was listening to Paul as he was speaking, Paul looked at him closely and saw that he had faith so that he could be healed. Paul said in a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet!” And the man jumped up and began to walk. If you were to have come upon this man described in these verses, would you have identified him as a lost cause? Most people would and most people did. He never once had the experience of putting one foot in front of the other and making his own way around. Something so simple, which you and I take for granted, but he’d never done it. You can be sure he probably thought a million times, “If only I could walk – the places I’d go, the things I’d do!” This man was dependent on others for most everything in life. Do you think he had given up hope? What did he have to place his hope in? The gods of Lystra hadn’t done him any favors. Though our reading doesn’t tell us, he probably made his living by begging. Some people probably dropped a few coins in his tin cup once in a while and others probably stared straight ahead refusing to make eye contact as they walked past. Most probably regarded him as a wretch, probably cursed by the gods and deservedly so because of something his parents had done. But this was a case of mistaken identity. He might have had bad feet, but he had keen ears, and he listened to the message Paul was proclaiming about Jesus. Paul didn’t see him as a lost cause, but as someone in whom the seed of faith was being planted. Not just a “I believe I can be healed” faith, but faith in the resurrected Jesus that enabled him to do something he had never done in his life when Jesus’ apostle, Paul, told him to stand up. And contrary to popular belief that white men can’t jump – he jumped up and began to walk!
Maybe we should stop right here and think about the people we have consciously or subconsciously identified as a lost cause. It’s pretty tempting to write people off, isn’t it? That alcoholic, she’s beyond help. That drug abuser, he’s hopeless. That promiscuous girl, that gay man, that abortion provider, that atheist, that white supremacist, that BLM rioter, that convict serving a life sentence in prison - they’re all lost causes. It’s very easy to look at people and circumstances and determine in all our great wisdom who and what we think are beyond help or hope. Congenital lameness was a biggie back in Paul’s day, but for Jesus it wasn’t anything at all. Neither is whatever you think is such a biggie in your life, or in someone else’s life. The same powerful message about the resurrected Jesus can change a hopeless, helpless, lost cause of living in defiant rebellion against God into a life that seeks to be in harmony with God’s will. A mass murderer by the name of Saul of Tarsus, who we know in our Bible reading as the apostle Paul, is a flesh and blood example of the power of Jesus’ Word to change a life, to generate a faith that turns away from sin and wants to act according to God’s will. Perhaps you know of someone like that or maybe it’s even you. Then praise God for his grace and mercy for turning a lost cause into a life lived for him!
There’s another case of mistaken identity mentioned in v.11-15a. When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form.” Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the main speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the city gates, because he wanted to offer sacrifices along with the crowds. But when the apostles Paul and Barbabas heard about this, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting, “Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men with the same nature as you.” If we were living in Lystra at that time, it would be pretty easy to understand what all the fuss was about over Paul and Barnabas. Local legend had it that the Greek gods, Zeus and Hermes, had previously visited this town disguised as ordinary men seeking lodging, but had been turned away from a thousand homes. So they destroyed the town with a huge flood. Being superstitious people, the people of Lystra didn’t want that to happen again, so when this healing happened, they leaped to what seemed to be a logical conclusion: Zeus and Hermes were back. And if these guys were Zeus and Hermes, far be it from the people of Lystra to fail to honor them this time with the highest compliment: worship. They were trying to do the right thing, and they were sincere! But they were sincerely wrong as Paul and Barnabas let them know as soon as they figured out what these people wanted to do: “Why are you doing these things? We too are men with the same nature as you.” Another severe case of mistaken identity!
We should stop again and think about the people we have consciously or sub-consciously elevated to god-like status. We seem to live in a culture of superstardom where people’s personality or performance or cause or skin color or gender identity is easily elevated above truth, and that is a dangerous thing. Take the recent issue of the transgender athletes competing against biological females and the loud and long support they are receiving for being so courageous, even heroic, from our president, a former president and many other influential and important people. But all the blogging and tweeting and legislation and competition rules and demonstrations in support of this doesn’t change the truth that only a biological male is a male and only a biological female is a female - despite what a recently confirmed Supreme Court justice said about not being able to define what a woman is because she’s not a biologist. Such attempts to change or deny God’s created order is no greater or lesser than any other sin, but is still a sin, and like all sins, faith in Jesus Christ compels a Christian to recognize it as such, and like dealing with any other sin in our lives, we will look to and point others again and again to God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness and peace through Jesus not as a license to continue in the sin, but for the strength to help us overcome whatever sinful thoughts, words or actions that we may be struggling with.
Then let’s turn to the third case of mistaken identity in our reading: V.15b-18. “We are preaching the good news to you so that you turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. In past generations he allowed all nations to go their own ways. Yet he did not leave himself without testimony of the good he does. He gives you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons. He fills you with food and fills your hearts with gladness.” Even though they said these things, they had a hard time stopping the crowds from sacrificing to them. Did you notice that Paul didn’t go around and slap the people of Lystra on the back and say, “I’m sure glad you worship Zeus and Hermes. It’s not the God of the Bible, but hey, it’s better than having no religion at all!” Or think about how easy it would have been for Paul to sign a few autographs, give a few interviews on the local tv station, and enjoy being the center of attention for a while, I mean, so what if the people of Lystra didn’t quite get that the power to do the miracle of healing didn’t come from Paul. But that wasn’t Paul’s attitude. Instead he called Zeus and Hermes: “worthless things”. That’s why he and Barnabas had come all the way to Lystra – to clear up this case of mistaken identity and tell the people there about the one True God. The God who is very powerful, for he made all things. The God who is also very loving. For years he had sent the people of Lystra rain and good crops even though they hadn’t spent a single minute thanking him for it. In fact, for centuries they had slighted him by mistakenly directing their thanks and honor to idols who couldn’t and wouldn’t do anything for them, which is why Paul called them “worthless things”.
Like Paul, we regularly confess that there is only one True God, but how often don’t we consciously or subconsciously act as if we are it? Although we have never worked a miracle as Paul did, there are things that we do or have that impress others. Perhaps it’s the way you are a good mother – you know just what your children need and when they need it. Or maybe you’re really good at making money – just about everything you touch turns to gold. Or maybe you’re the life of the party – you always have a funny story or a joke to tell. Or maybe you are just drop dead gorgeous or handsome. When people comment on these things, how do we respond? Do we give credit where credit is due - to our loving, Creator God? Or do we like to bask in the attention it brings to us - I mean, people have no idea how hard we have to work to be that good at what we do or to look as good as we do? When people tell you what a nice family you have, do you take the opportunity to say, “Well, we’re not perfect, and that’s why I’m so thankful for God’s forgiveness through Jesus and for his Word because without either we wouldn’t be able to function half as well as we do.” Or when someone comments about the nice car you drive or the great clothes that you wear or the beautiful house you live in, do you take the opportunity to say, “Yes, God sure has blessed me in this way even though I don’t deserve it, but let me tell you about the greatest blessing I have received. His name is Jesus”? There is only one True God and it’s not you or me or anyone or anything else - it’s the God who has revealed himself in the Bible; the God who loved us so much that he sent Jesus to suffer and die as the perfect payment for our sins - and it is only through faith in him that we have forgiveness, eternal life, and meaning and purpose for this earthly life - that’s a miracle! Can I get an “Amen” to that?