Daily Liturgy and Scripture

It's quite a feat to redirect two groups who are both angry with you, and cause them to direct their anger at one another. This, of course, isn't something Jesus did. Paul is not Jesus. We shouldn't be manipulative generally, but Paul was very much fighting for his life. With his Roman citizenship binding him to the authorities, he used his knowledge of the Pharisees and Sadducees to skirt their w...

Poor Paul. He tried his best to sway the crowd by telling his story, but they were already angry. Not even the idea that he had once been a killer of Christians would help turn the tide of this ravenous mob. Still, it was Paul’s job to try. He didn’t run and hide, and he kept doing his best to try and tell the story of Jesus and his encounters with the risen Christ. This is a prophet’s job, and it...

Anyone who says preaching the Gospel should only lead to prosperity never met Paul. He is in the midst of a riot, brought on by the same group of which he used to be a part. It's difficult to follow Jesus sometimes, and often hard to know if we're the ones in the right. The best thing to do? Stay humble, follow Jesus, and apologize if we mess up. 

The words of dread issued to Paul are not joke, he is coming to the end of his days. Even as that occurs, it’s notable how many other brothers and sisters are surrounding Paul. He has been a star disciple, but he is not the only person God has in this game. People like Agabus only have two mentions in the Bible (assuming this Agabus is the same one mentioned in Acts 11:28), and he comes back for t...

The Gospel is about one person: Jesus. While we love one another in community, it is not about us. That is fortunate, because the loss of someone like Paul could have been a major blow if it were all about him. As he prepares to leave some of his brothers and sisters, he takes the opportunity to say goodbye, but the Spirit will never leave them. 

If you think you’ve sat through a bad sermon, then take heart from this story of a young man who fell asleep, fell out a window, and was healed by that same preacher. This is (comically) proof of two things: first, even Paul had bad sermons. And two, keep proclaiming Jesus. Why else would Paul patch up the kid and keep preaching?

Our God is a God of order and of grace, not of chaos and power-seizing. The worshipers and tradesmen of Artemis do a pretty good job of drawing the difference between that false god and the true God. Not only were they leaping to violence, they also fizzled out when they actually needed to present the evidence that Paul and the other Christ-followers were in the wrong. Standing with Jesus, hopeful...

The thrashing of the Seven Sons of Sceva is kind of a comical moment, but it’s also a good reminder: while the name of Jesus is indeed spiritually powerful, it is part of something deeper. Disciples of Jesus bear his name, but it is not a trick to be handed around as needed. Remember also that the disciples themselves had trouble casting out a demon once and were unable, and Jesus told them that t...

The coming of the Holy Spirit was significant in more than the tongues of fire at Pentecost. As this new way of being followers of Jesus progressed, the Spirit also became the thing that defined new baptisms. This isn't some otherworldly experience, it is a this-world experience, as we work with the Father and the Son as well as the Spirit.

Paul experiences such problems among the Jewish leaders that he shifts his focus more fully to the Gentiles. This doesn't mean that he was abandoning the Jews, but it did mean that Paul probably wanted to spend his time talking about Jesus rather than fighting those who opposed him.

Paul finds himself among people in Greece who are very religious, but are missing the main point of religion: Jesus. Of course, in this context, some of them laugh him off; they think they already have all the answers. Some, however, do not. There are some who are open to the Spirit and can be moved by what Paul has to say, entering an opportunity created by the working of God. Hopefully, we will...

Paul is accused of doing something of which was definitely guilty: saying that Jesus was king and that Caesar was not. Of course, that was used in a way that isn’t at all what it should mean for a Christian. It shouldn’t mean that we are pushing for the violent overthrow of our leaders, but it should mean that our allegiance is to a gentle and humble Savior whose example we follow. If Jesus is our...

The way God builds the Kingdom created by Jesus is sometimes wild to behold. We think of preaching and proclaiming the word as the main tools, but how about jailbreaks? Rebuking fortune tellers? Even avoiding a town? God’s plan was right on time, and sometimes all we can do is hold on tight and follow as close as we can.

You never want to see your parents fight, but Paul and Barnabas remained focused on the mission of Christ even as they encountered irreconcilable differences. This actually helped grow the Kingdom of Christ: the all-star team broke up, but they both made new all stars. Mark wrote one of our gospels, and Timothy was the person two whom Paul wrote at least two letters.

As the Church continues growing, they are certainly taking a step away from the rule of the Law as the Jewish people had long been accustomed to doing. Of course, this was on purpose. Paul talks often about law vs. life in the Spirit. So if the rules that were sent around didn’t even equal the Ten Commandments, how did people learn how to be Christians? The answer to that is discipleship. Paul, Ba...

God really is dong a new thing among the early Church, and sometimes it’s hard to know where the old rules stop and the new covenant begins. This is a good example as the Jews claim that circumcision, the covenant given to Abraham, must be practiced among all of them. This is actually pretty reasonable. God made the covenant with Abraham, after all, and God set that rule up. But God is going beyon...

When you’re feeling beaten up, it’s good to go home. Home is a place that feels welcoming, and hopefully there are people there who support and love you. That’s what Paul and Barnabas are heading back to, and Paul certainly has the right to have claimed being beaten up. Getting back home is where we regain our footing and the sense of who we are so we can be strong. That was what God gave Paul in...

As Paul and Barnabas continue preaching, it’s interesting what erupts among those who oppose them. Luke, who wrote Acts, says that the Jewish leaders were jealous because Paul and Barnabas were drawing such a big crowd. It’s kind of a sad moment, really. If they had been able to listen to what the Spirit was doing, perhaps they could have joined the crowd. Instead, they opposed Paul and Barnabas,...

If we had wondered why God would have chosen a man like Paul to become a leader in the Christian church, this verse gives us a pretty good indication. Paul was a scholar in the Hebrew Scriptures, and knew God's story well. His persecution of the early church, prior to his conversion, had been part of his passion for God's story. Now that he sees God's story more fully, there is nobody better than...

Paul, who had been struck blind in his conversion experience, inflicts blindness on a false prophet. This is really unusual for the apostle known for his defense of grace. On the surface, this seems like retribution, something he uses to silence the false prophet. What if it wasn't? What if he was giving this man the same route to redemption that he took? We don't know for sure, but since the Spir...

Why was James killed but Peter miraculously saved? Only God knows the answer to that. It isn't because Peter was a better apostle or because God loved him more, and it wasn't because it was only Peter that could bring God's purposes to fruition. God's plan was not thwarted and cannot be, and Peter's survival was part of that plan. Poor Rhoda... nobody believed her!

The city of Antioch is one of the most important in the history of Christianity. God was raising up Paul as he worked in that church, and it would become a center of operations for the Church for years to come. It’s no coincidence that the Spirit went ahead of them, and that God was creating this new base of operations. Most of the believers in that day would have probably looked to Jerusalem, tha...

When God decides to move, it really causes waves. The expansion of the Kingdom from the Jews to the Gentiles wasn't done by writing big words in the sky, but through people. How would you have done it if you were God? It seems that entrusting that kind of news into human hands is an unusual way to do something big, but that is the whole point of Jesus. God wished to fully include his people in His...

As God prepares the Church and does new things within it, he also prepares the people of that Church. In the case of Peter and Cornelius, he is bringing together the Jewish people of the promise and the Gentiles who are not of Abraham’s line. This was started on the day of Pentecost, when other languages were heard spoken, a sign that God was on the move outside of the established “in” crowd. Now...

Happy Pentecost Sunday! And indeed it is happy, because the Spirit of God is with us. Not only those born from Abraham, but those who come to God in faith, just as Abraham did. This is the enduring promise of God even today, and the Spirit remains with us still.