Acts 26 - Permission to Speak

Have you ever stood before a judge in court and been granted permission to speak? This is a very intimidating situation, especially if you are a young teenager. Not long ago, I took my teenage daughter to the courthouse to go before the judge for her speeding ticket. She was nervous, and it didn’t help much that we witnessed many others go before this very stern and commanding judge. Each person that was called up before the judge was granted permission to speak. Some responded better than others. 

Hopefully, it is not often that we stand before a judge and are granted permission to speak...I would hope that it is a rare occasion unless you are a defense attorney. But, if you think about it, every day we are granted permission to speak regularly. We do not go before a judge, but in just about every interaction, we get some kind of indication we have permission to speak. Maybe it is with our spouse, our kids, our boss, a waitress, or bartender, or with our parents. Every interaction grants or affords us permission to speak, and the key and central question is this. How do we respond?

When we are waiting in the courtroom, thinking, and processing our interaction with the judge, we are thinking about the circumstances and the situation at hand. In my daughter's case, she was speeding and had some details around the situation. Details of how she entered the road just beyond where the speed limit sign was, and therefore, she did not know the speed limit and didn’t see the school zone. Yeah, a school zone 🤦🏻. My daughter had these details in her head. She was prepared, had her plan together, and presented her case before the judge. 

In day to day life, in all our standard interactions where we gain permission to speak, what is the plan? In these interactions, what is the circumstance or situation at hand, the larger narrative that is driving the conversation? Do we even realize there is a larger narrative, or do we get stuck in the minor details of the interaction? Permission to Speak; something I think we must take a moment to understand the importance of and recognize the power of the moment at hand. 

“Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” So Paul motioned with his hand and began...” - ‭‭Acts‬ ‭26:1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The Apostle Paul stood before the King, King Agrippa, and this is the last recorded public defense for Paul. Paul knew how to get released from this situation, but to make that happen, Paul would have to go light on the facts and leave out some details. But we know better of Paul, he was afforded and granted permission to speak, and Paul was on a mission, Paul knew his calling, and he dove in and did not leave out any details or facts. Paul brought it! Paul again gave his testimony and unpacked the Gospel. Paul was so bold he closed out his testimony with this.

“King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.” - ‭‭Acts‬ ‭26:27‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Paul was not trying to escape or find freedom from the chains and destination of Rome. Paul was trying to spread the Gospel and reach King Agrippa’s heart for Jesus. Permission to Speak allowed Paul to lead the King to King Jesus. 

This verse stood out to me today, and I want to leave you with this thought.

“But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike...” - ‭‭Acts‬ ‭26:22‬a ‭NIV‬‬

Paul recognized in this interaction, and actually in all of his interactions after Jesus transformed his life, that small or great, he was going to stay true to the mission he was called too. Jesus alone permitted Paul to speak and gave Paul a mission to take to every interaction possible. So no matter what the interaction was, Paul had a larger narrative he was bringing and sharing along the way. Every interaction afforded Paul to spread the gospel because he was intentional and recognized the importance of being granted permission to speak. 

So today, as we go into our day, I think we need to understand the importance afforded us with each permission to speak that we receive. We are walking through a time in history where our country is more divided than I can ever recall. Massive tension is upon us with the horrific injustice of George Floyd, and we still are facing a pandemic and the realities that go with that. Our nation stands divided by political colors or blue or red and can not see the beauty in purple or even more important the color of the blood that Jesus shed on the cross for us. Each moment we are afforded permission to speak, how are the words that come out of our mouths pointing to a larger narrative? Do we understand the power of each interaction, and how we can simply represent the love of Christ at that moment, or do we just take the small seemingly ordinary interaction at face value and check off a to-do list and move on. 

We have been afforded Permission to Speak, what message are we going to bring to each interaction today?