Written by Adelle Payne (soon to be Ngo — Pastor Daniel’s fiancee)
If you’ve ever played a game of “hot potato,” you understand that the goal of the game is to keep the “potato” away from you as long as possible. I remember playing this game lots when I was a kid, and sometimes I got so into the game that I could actually “feel” the heat rising off the ball (or, potato) as I threw it across the circle towards an unsuspecting player.
Perhaps, again like me, maybe one time you were helping your dad water the garden. He asks you to turn on the hose on the other side of the house. You run into the backyard, only to find a stubborn tap that won’t budge. As you wrestle with it, it begins to loosen in your hands, and you spin it all the way forward. Of course, like me, you can’t hear your dad’s cries to “Turn it off!” on the other side of the house, because it’s drenching him with water.
When I read Paul’s story in Acts 25, this is how I envision Paul – he is Festus’ ‘hot potato,’ and the Sanhedrin’s uncontrollable water hose they can’t turn off. Festus finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. The angry Jews want Paul dead, but Festus can’t reconcile himself to charge a man who “had done nothing deserving of death.” (Acts 25:25). So, what does he do? He tosses the hot potato off to Rome.
And what about the Jews? It’s one thing to be irritated by someone who disagrees with you. But to have so much contempt for a man who preaches the gospel that you are desperate to kill him? That’s a whole other story. The Jews are so done with him and his gospel. Festus is wringing his hands, just like Pontius Pilate wrung his hands before Jesus, not finding any fault in Christ but wanting to appease the relentless crowds.
As I reflect on Paul, I can’t help but grin at his audacity. There was no thing, no person, no social condemnation, no threat, that kept him from sharing Jesus. To Paul, it was Christ and nothing else. Paul would never keep quiet, he’d never back down, and his faith in Jesus would never embarrass him.
What makes a Christian so full of the gospel that they can’t contain themselves? What makes a woman or man so passionate for Jesus that they are like a water hose, spilling out the Good News and frustrating their bystanders who are getting soaked by their fervency?
I believe it’s testimony. When I see Paul’s life, I watch him return again and again to the testimony of Jesus. He never ran out of things to say about the Man who made him see.
I want to be so full of thankfulness for Jesus’ Salvation that I am a burst water hose. I want to be like Paul, who stands before yet another attacker, with nothing but joy on his lips, preaching the gospel for the hundredth time. That same gospel that changed his life.
Who is Jesus to you today? Do you remember the day when you saw Him for the first time? I encourage you to write out your testimony today. A testimony is the story of what happened when you met Jesus. Give yourself the time and space to remember the overwhelming Love of Jesus for you, and how He pursued you.
He is a relentless lover, who has memorized every hair on your head and delights to give you good things. He counted the cross worth it to bring you home. Let your heart reflect on His love, and watch that Love within you come pouring out – a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over.
