That poor goat! You might say he wound up being sacrificed, and all because of a misunderstanding. Believe it or not, we see something similar to that in our text for today. In our text, we're told that Paul and Barnabas were in the town of Lystra, where they healed a lame man. And when the people saw this miracle, they came to a terrible misunderstanding. They thought Paul and Barnabas were gods, who had come to earth. Specifically, they thought Barnabas was Zeus and they thought Paul was Hermes, the messenger or spokesman of the gods. As a result, they didn't want to sacrifice them; they wanted to make sacrifices to them, to show them their thanks and worship.

What a horrible misunderstanding - the worst possible misunderstanding you can have - to worship creatures and created things, instead of worshipping the Creator Himself. And yet, such idol worship is nothing new. It began when Satan defied the Almighty and tried to set himself up in the place of God, tempting Adam and Eve to listen to him. It continued when the Israelites made the golden calf and bowed down to it, and later on when they were led astray to worship Baal. And it is still prevalent today. Now in their religious instruction here at our school, our graduates learned that there is a distinction between coarse idolatry - the worship of statues or creatures - and refined idolatry, which is the worship of things, like money, power or success. Obviously, in our culture we are more likely to do the latter. But either way, it's still idol worship.

For instance, when we put our job, our family or our recreation above God, we are committing refined idolatry. When we allow TV to come between us and our Bible reading time, we are committing refined idolatry. When we forsake prayer and worship to pursue some other activity, no matter how worthwhile it may be, we are committing refined idolatry. We may not be bringing out bulls to sacrifice to a false god, like the people of Lystra did. But we are making the same deadly mistake - worshipping idols just like they were. And sadly it's a misunderstanding that can cost you your soul.

That's why Paul said to them: "WE ARE BRINGING YOU GOOD NEWS, TELLING YOU TO TURN FROM THESE WORTHLESS THINGS TO THE LIVING GOD, WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH." Here Paul exhorts us to turn from worthless things, like the lusts and pleasures of this world, to serve the living God. We need to turn away from them before they destroy us. Graduates, as you go out into the world, you will be tempted to chase after the false gods of this world, like wealth and power, sex and success, drugs and alcohol - which come between us and our God, and that's why they're all worthless or useless.

Interestingly enough, the word worthless or 'useless' is the same word used back in Genesis, where we're told that at the beginning of the world everything was formless and void. It's a word that means: 'empty.' And that's what the temptations and pleasures of this life are - they are only empty promises. For when we go running after them, they leave us feeling formless and void, like the chaos and darkness at the beginning. Not only that, but it leads us straight to the darkness and chaos of hell.

That's why in our text Paul encourages us to turn away from such things, to turn away from our sinful idolatry and turn to the living God. As a matter of fact, the verb he used there, was used of a boat made a sudden course change in mid-stream. It's a reminder that in our lives, when we get off course following the false gods of this world, we can wind run aground on the rocky shoals of sin and guilt. That's why we daily need to renew our Baptism by rejecting and renouncing those false gods. And we need to come to God in true contrition and sorrow over our sin, by regularly confess our sins to Him.

We see a graphic example of that in our text, where Paul and Barnabas tore their garments. When they saw the people of Lystra worshipping them, they ripped their tunics. It was the usual Jewish custom, when you were stricken with grief or terror. And that's how we should feel about our sinful idolatry. We should be so grief-stricken over our sins, that we rend not our garments, but our hearts. In humble repentance and faith we should daily bring our sins and faults to God. And when we do, we have His promise that He will rip them in two. As a matter of fact, He has already done that. He has ripped our sins to shreds and removed them completely by washing them away in Jesus' blood.

That's why Paul urges us: "TO TURN AWAY FROM THESE WORTHLESS THINGS AND TURN TO THE LIVING GOD." For only the living God can help us. Dead, lifeless idols cannot bring us forgiveness for our sins or satisfaction for our needs. Only the living God can save us, and that living God is Jesus Christ our Lord - the One who not only died on the cross to destroy the power of sin and death, but who also rose from the dead for our justification. That's what Paul meant, when he said: "IN THE PAST GOD LET ALL NATIONS GO THEIR OWN WAY. YET HE HAS NOT LEFT HIMSELF WITHOUT TESTIMONY." And that testimony is Jesus' resurrection from the dead. Because Christ came back to life again, that proves that He is the living God, who gives us eternal life. It proves that He is the living God, who lives to intercede for us as the right hand of the throne of God, pleading that we might be pardoned and forgiven. It proves that He is the living God, who came down to earth to rescue us from death and hell.

Instead of just letting us go our own way, like He did in the past, He has now given us a way to be forgiven and saved. And that way is Jesus our Savior. In fact, the words "let them go their own way," can actually be translated: "to pass away." And that's exactly what God has done to our sins of idolatry - He's made them pass away, pass out of sight, pass out of existence, by the power of Jesus' death and resurrection. That is His testimony that He is the Living God, who alone can save us!

The story is told of a large two engine train that was crossing America. After they had gone some distance one of the engines broke down. "No problem," the engineer thought, and he carried on at half-power. Further on down the line, the other engine broke down, and the train came to a complete standstill. The engineer decided he should inform the passengers about why the train had stopped, and so he made the following announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen, I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that both engines have failed, and we will be stuck here for quite some time." After some moans and groans, he continued: "The good news is that this is a train and not a plane."