Acts 28
Open-ended Endings!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, August 10.
Years ago, I remember going to see The Lord of the Rings at the movies and after three hours of story-telling, it just ended. In fact, it ended right where the book stopped. Half of the people booed and the other half clapped. Why? Because the movie was the first part of an ongoing story and it left you literally looking out at what was ahead instead of nicely packaging what was behind. It was an open-ended ending…
The same is true in the last chapter of the book of Acts. Listen to the last two verses of this book, Acts 28:30-31, “And [Paul] stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered.”
Paul was still a prisoner in Rome and we don’t get to see what happens next…
Why? Because the story was never about Paul, just like the story is never about us. Each of our lives will have an open-ended ending because this life is not all that we have. Our lives are about pointing to a larger story that will never end—the story of God!
Seize the moment and look at what is ahead of you. Can you see with the eyes of faith an eternal horizon or is your sight bound up with this short life? There is no ending to your story in God, only new beginnings…
By the way, I was one of the people who clapped when I went to see The Lord of the Rings. Why? Simple, because I read the book, I wasn’t surprised with its ending. In fact, I was happy it ended incomplete because I knew the best was yet to come…