Moving Past The Past

I was doing my language work yesterday for a sermon I'm preaching in a couple of weeks on Acts 20:13-38 where Paul says goodbye to the Ephesian elders, and I stumbled on something I think is pretty impressive.

In Acts 20:19, Paul reminds the Ephesian elders that he served them with "great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews."

Paul mentions these plots here, in 1 Corinthians 15:30-32; 16:9, and 2 Corinthians 1:8-10. But he doesn't go into details in any of those passages. We have no idea exactly what the Jews plotted against him. We just know that it tested Paul severely, and that he passed the test.

Now, I don't know about you, but when people plot against me, I like to make sure everyone else knows what they did. I want people to appreciate the lengths to which I've gone in order to overcome people who wish to do me harm. It's hard not to name names and make sure everyone else knows the trouble I've seen.

Paul never does that. He never complains about the circumstances. He never goes into the plot. He doesn't name names. He deals with the issue (apparently with those Jews themselves), and moves on. When he does bring it up, it's only with such a passing mention we would miss it if we weren't looking for it.

Too many of us are so caught up in rectifying the past that we can't ever move forward to the future. We can't help bringing the past up, even if the "past" happened years ago - even if the problem has been solved by now. But Paul has moved on. He reminds the Ephesian elders of the issue in the past only so much as to remind them to be grateful for where they are now (20:22-24), and where they will go in the future (20:25-35).

Seems like a good lesson for all of us.