Luke started the book of Acts writing to “Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He, through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen.” So when you come to the 28th and final chapter of the book of Acts in reality it is the first chapter of Church history. A history, which stands for the acronym (His Story), which includes you and I. The Church age began at the ascension of Jesus but continues until He takes us home. I’m not sure but I wonder if in heaven there is volume after volume of Acts in which the names of His servants appear and what He did in and through them. If that is the case then what you and I are now doing in these bodies is writing new sentences, paragraphs and chapters!
With that said I think most of us tend to think in terms of large events, you know that crusade we led or the dead that rose as we prayed for them. But I’m reminded in this chapter that God looks at all that we do in His name, in fact the events of this chapter are about the small things done for Christ. Luke records Paul picking up sticks so those 275 sailors, soldiers and sinners could find warmth. Furthermore he records the generosity of the governor of the small Island of Malta and the healing of His Father. Finally Luke records for us the love and welcoming of Paul by the Christians who had never met him. These are hardly the events that we would put down as spectacular but they are recorded and not only that they take up a whole chapter. Jesus spoke this parable to His disciples saying, “for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; ‘I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.”
And they asked, “when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink, a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You, sick, or in prison, and come to You?” And Jesus answered, “inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” Wow, think of that folks! It is the common ordinary things that we do that may have a greater impact then we could ever imagine!