Daily Liturgy and Scripture

Paul serves a God of wholeness, and that is on display when he is shipwrecked. All those with Paul are saved, the snakebite doesn't harm Paul, and the sick are healed. There are many ways to come into an understanding of the Gospel, but seeing that which is broken made whole isn't far from what Jesus did for our world.

Paul seems to be moving in the purposes of God, but he also doesn't seem to be able to bypass a good I-told-you-so moment. Nobody is perfect, even saints. Nonetheless, he is moving in a specific direction, toward Rome, where only God knows the purposes that he would take part in fulfilling.

A couple times, we've heard it mentioned that Paul could have been freed if he had not appealed to Caesar. Perhaps in this scene, we get an idea of why. He bluntly says that he wants Agrippa to believe as he does. Whatever seeds were being planted on that day, it does seem strategic by Paul.

The process against Paul isnt' exactly following the rules. The charges brought against him don't meet the criteria of a government trial, so Paul is stuck in the middle. It's an unusual place to be, and it must have been an extremely difficult period for Paul.

Paul languishing away seems to be a waste of one of the greatesst apostles, but his influence with Rome appears to be steady. He isn't thrown away as a common criminal, but remains connected to leadership. We will never know what came of it, but it's hard to imagine the influence of one so pivotal not bringing the foundation for the Church to come in the place from which it would later rad...

If you find yourself concocting lies to win a case, you might be on the wrong side. Such was the case with the argument brought against Paul, whose rebuttal was to use the truth.

Andrew is a pretty interesting guy. He started as an apostle of John, then moved over to Jesus, and brought his brother along for the ride. His brother became one of the most recognized leaders in the early church. It all started with that invitation, though, and the course of Church history was forever changed.

Ecclesiasticus says that God will raise up the right leader for the right time, and Paul seems to be among some Roman leaders who are at least agreeable to keeping him alive. Rome was actually agreeable to multiple religions, and they were disagreeable to the disorder caused by trying to uproot the religion of another. Those factors were working together to keep Paul on the job, and the early chur...

Leave it to Paul to use the division of the Law against those who were causing division. The dispute between the Pharisees and the Sadducees was a pretty bold move, and it may have saved his neck a little longer.

Paul is facing an angry crowd, egged on by the teachers of the Law. He decided to try and tell the amazing story of his conversion, but it doesn't work. They remained livid. The gospel really is found in peace, because it belongs to the Prince of Peace. The fury of an angry crowd works against that prince.

Trying to resolve the differences between traditional Judaism and Christianity was extremely difficult, especially since the leaders of the early Church were largely Jewish. In this scene, to resolve problems with stories that were being circulated about Paul trying to tear down the Law (something he was not doing), the tradition of the Law was actually employed to bring Jews into better understan...

Paul seems a little foolhardy with his life, and perhaps that is the case. It's for good reason, though. He has found a cause worth giving his life for, and that is his highest priority. What a difference from the man who once hunted those who followed Jesus.

Paul isn't selling Christianity as an easy life, but is clear about the trouble he has suffered and what he sees coming. The bond of love he shares with those who surround him remains strong. This is one of the hallmarks of Christianity: even in persecution, the Church remains strong. Persecution actually makes the Church stronger.

Paul almost killed someone with his preaching! Well, maybe not the preaching itself, but the length of time he spoke. It's really kind of comical, since the man did survive the experience. It's also a good reminder that someone as important as Paul wasn't perfect, and might have been... maybe a little boring at times.

Sometimes the argument you appear to be having isn't the argument you're actually having. Such was the case here: the makers of the statues of false gods were being put out of business as their gods were abandoned for the Way of Jesus, but they chose to try and make the case that it was their deity being dishonored instead of their business.

Those in the time of the early Church were hearing of Jesus, now they were seeing evidence of his lordship. It wasn't just a story, things happened when his name was mentioned. This is a preview of the world to come, where Jesus will reign, and we inaugurate it with every opportunity we have.

The doctrine matters. The baptism of John wasn't enough, because it came before the sacrifice of Jesus. Knowing of the Holy Spirit was critical, because now we understand how God remains among his people. This is what Paul brought to the early believers, and it is no less important today.

What would have happened if Paul hadn't gotten fed up with the attitudes of Jews toward the Gospel? At the time, for a former Pharisee, that was probably tragic. His hope must have been that the Jewish people would come to know the whole truth, but his turn toward a more Gentile ministry helped greatly build the church we know today.

Paul is invited to the meeting of those who "spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas" and he certainly brought them a new idea worth hearing. His approach met them where they were, and even used their own ideas. Not a bad idea. The gospel is a challenge, but there is always a starting point for new understanding.

The message of the Gospel isn't all feelings and opinions, it can also hold up under scrutiny. Several times, Paul finds himself among intellectuals, and he makes an intellectual argument to them. The result is an expanding church. This isn't the only method at our disposal, but the Gospel is moving among many different kinds of people thanks to the work of the Spirit.

There is a real sense in these passages that the Spirit is moving Paul and his partners intentionally. They are not roaming the streets shouting and preaching, but the movement is intentional. The Spirit goes with them and before them, because this growth of the Church is the work of God among his people, and not only the people.

There was no single way of doing things other than following Jesus in the early church. The rule of circumcision was debated against the Jews, but Paul circumcised Timothy so he could lead Jewish believers. Arguments happened between Christians and non-Christians, but also between leaders like Paul and Barnabas. Still, perhaps Paul would never have found Timothy if he and Barnabas had never parted...

Growing the Kingdom isn't just about letters (which formed the New Testament), but also about sending people. Letters alone would have served as instruction, but sending a person has a different effect: to teach the value of the relationships that are vital for the growing Church.

It's hard to let go of something familiar, even if it's not the thing that's best. That's what was happening with Jewish evangelists who contradicted the message of the apostles by telling them that they needed to follow old Jewish rituals to be believers. Their error is easy for us to see, but perhaps not so much for those who were trying to figure out how a religion started by a...

This episode of Paul and Barnabas's ministy includes the "shaking the dust of their feet" piece. This is a phrase that often means something like, "give up on someone," perhaps someone who has been unreceptive to the gospel. It was also a ritual that Jewish people used to show that they were separated from Gentiles, so the using of the action to show digust with Jewish lead...