Eyes to See

Welcome to Orientation Day! Day one in Turkey! Today was largely about getting our minds well oriented with the land, culture, and history we would be walking. Thankfully it began with an amazing breakfast and a breathtaking view of the Mediterranean Sea. One thing to know though: when it’s time to go, we go! If the sun is up, we will take advantage of that time. So we were off early to our first stop of the trip: Attalia.

Attalia is one of the major port cities of Asia Minor which meant many people passed through this city, one of whom was Paul. Acts 14:25 tells us that “...when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.” We used our time sitting and overlooking the beautiful blue waters of the Mediterranean to discuss the important things we needed to know about Paul. It was important that we understand him as a man in order to orient ourselves for the day. The unique design of Paul being Roman, Hebrew, Pharisee, and Christian made him incredibly valuable for the culture of his days and the places where God had him. 

Now it’s important to note that today’s theme was about ‘restoring eyes to see’ and in order to see clearly, we need to understand the “water we are swimming in”. It’s also important to recognize that Paul, with all his knowledge, education, and upbringing, was not able to see clearly until God made him blind. This led us to really consider that if Paul, being who he was, did not have the ability to see clearly apart from God’s intervention, maybe there are things we are blind to as well. Maybe we don’t understand the water we are swimming in. 

After Attalia, we made our way to the Antalya Museum where we continued building a framework for the Roman world that the disciples and Paul were having to walk into with the gospel. This museum had amazing sculptures and relics of the past that were absolutely stunning. The craftsmanship and talent it would have taken to make these was phenomenal. As we looked deeper and moved past the beauty, we spent time learning and recognizing the message these art pieces conveyed. There is a narrative behind them. Propaganda was a word we spoke about regularly. The message this Roman culture was speaking had a clear bias. This was obvious through the art. Roman gods and emperors were elevated. Certain practices and customs were glamorized. Understanding the message within the marble was incredibly important. 

This same idea carried into our next stop, Aspendos, where many of us marveled at the magnificence and magnitude of this place. Aspendos is a Roman theater with the capacity to seat 12,000 people! The architecture and strategic design was done in such a way that everyone in attendance could clearly hear the message being delivered from the theater floor. We tested this by having a handful of our more vocally talented trip goers sing Amazing Grace from center stage. Even the “cheap seats” in the farthest corners could hear clearly. And it was in this theater where we continued our discussion on the Roman message being sold. It was through tragedy and comedy that actors would propagate the message of Rome, driven through the channel of entertainment. This lesson moved to application as we thought more personally about our culture and what messages are being driven by entertainment in our day to day life. This brings us back to the idea of “the water we are swimming in” and if we even recognize the propaganda being poured on us. 

This leads us to the final stop of the day, which was the massive Roman city of Perga. You may recall that this city has already been mentioned once in this post (Acts 14:25). It was here that Paul spoke the word of God and the message of Jesus raised from the dead. This would have been a seemingly unnecessary message for this city because, to the people of this area, Perga has everything you need. They have education, shopping, sport, theater, and religion. Why would the people of Perga need Jesus? Thankfully, Paul was the perfect person to preach the Good News of Jesus to them. A Roman himself, Paul understands them. He gets it. He knows what he can offer them that would change their life and give them what they need. It is the resurrection of Jesus. This is the game changer. And Paul is now the propaganda of Jesus. He had a new narrative and we have that same narrative. We as obedient followers of Jesus get to be His ambassadors, His salt and light, His city on a hill. 

This day has opened our eyes in new ways. We are restoring our eyes to see; to see more clearly and truthfully. To better understand the water we are swimming in. A quick footnote: God brought something that will definitely make us all remember this “water we are swimming in” idea. While at the peak, the acropolis, of Perga, it began to rain. Not some subtle shower or two-minute sprinkle... it was RAIN! Cold, fast, hard piercing rain! Part way through our teaching, Brian said “hold that thought” and we made our way off the mountain, back across the heart of the city through the downpour. Praise God we all made it down safely and concluded our teaching on the bus. It’s safe to say we were soaked and metaphorically are drenched already in great truth. We can’t wait to see what the Lord has for us tomorrow!