We come to the end of an epic journey!  We began our investigation of Acts back on January 20th of this year.  Our text today represents the final few verses.  The most remarkable feature of the end of the story of Acts is that it doesn't.... end that is!  One would expect the story to build in intensity and come to conclusion by drawing all of the pieces together into a grand climax.  Instead the narrative ends rather abruptly, with Paul continuing to do as he as always done - sharing the good news of the Kingdom of God and teaching people about Jesus.  The strong implication of this is that actually the story really is not yet finished!  The narrative of Acts comes to a finish, but the story continues!  We too are witnesses as was Paul along with the other characters we have met along the way.  The journey that began with the Ascension of Jesus will continue until the Return of Jesus!  We therefore are privileged to stand alongside these characters in the same role as representatives of the risen Jesus in this world!  May we take this to heart!
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We embark with Paul on his journey to Rome in today's text.  We savor the story as an accurate and compelling tale but don't have time to pay attention to the details!  Instead we ask 2 questions: what do we learn about God; and what do we learn about Paul?  With each question we ask how we can respond to what we learn.  About God we observe that He is both sovereign (in control) and involved.  We take great comfort in the observation of both of those realities in this story especially as we consider our own crises either past or present!  About Paul we observe that he is both a servant and a leader.  We see his servant leadership lived out in 4 ways: a) he uses his past experience and learned wisdom (e.g. previous seafaring experience) to offer wisdom in the crisis; b) he continues to hear God's voice in the midst of the crisis; c) he cares for the basic needs of others (offers bread etc.); d) he prays for healing of the sick. We observe that all 4 of these items are things we should also be challenged to live out in the context of our lives, whether in crisis or not! 
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In our chapter today Paul gives a defense before King Agrippa.  The Roman governor, Festus, is also in the room but this speech from Paul is specifically designed for Agrippa who knows and understands Old Testament history.  Agrippa knows about the prophecies that were made about the Messiah that was to come and so he will know exactly what Paul is talking about as he claims that those prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus who has been raised from the dead.  Festus has no knowledge of this history and therefore considers Paul to be 'mad'.  In response to this, Paul makes the claim that the words he is speaking are both 'true' and 'reasonable'.  We respond to this story by once again observing the example of Paul who had learned to give a clear defense of his faith and to make it appropriate for his audience.  We who are followers of Jesus ought also to learn to speak about our faith in true and reasonable ways that are suitable for the people with whom we share.
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In this chapter we come across 3 characters or sets of characters who each respond differently to the revelation of God through Jesus.  The chief priests and leaders of the Jews continue to respond with animosity to Paul and his teaching and they employ aggressive and devious tactics to continue to try to destroy him.  We challenge our own hearts as we realize that these are the religious teachers who had become so engrossed in their own practice of religion that they didn't actually have room for Jesus. Festus is brand new to the idea of Jesus and to the history of Jewish faith.  Unlike his predecessor, Felix, he comes across as an honest investigator.  And so we encourage anyone who does not know Jesus to be like Festus - ask questions and pursue truth.  Paul, of course, has already wholeheartedly responded to the revelation of God through Jesus (see Acts 9), but here in this chapter we observe him participating fully in the work that God is doing.  He puts a bold foot forward in appealing to Caesar!  As followers of Jesus we take courage and also a challenge to be discerning as Paul was to know when to act and in what way as we participate with God in the work He is doing in our lives. 
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