more opposition

Good evening friends,
First, a sad announcement, Harold Van Lare died on Friday evening. His memorial service will be at Harris Funeral Home at Kings Highway and Titus Ave at 11:00 am Wednesday, 7/31. It would be great if you could be there to support the family, especially if you were blessed to know Harold.

Today's reading is about more opposition to the gospel message. Despite much of what our culture teaches, faithfulness is often punished in this world rather than rewarded.

God bless,
Sam

Acts 17:1-15

After Paul and Silas had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. ²And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three sabbath days argued with them from the scriptures, ³explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, ‘This is the Messiah, Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you.’ ⁴Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.

⁵But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some ruffians in the market-places they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. While they were searching for Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly, they attacked Jason’s house. ⁶When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some believers before the city authorities, shouting, ‘These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also, ⁷and Jason has entertained them as guests. They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus.’ ⁸The people and the city officials were disturbed when they heard this, ⁹and after they had taken bail from Jason and the others, they let them go.

10 That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas off to Beroea; and when they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹These Jews were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so. ¹²Many of them therefore believed, including not a few Greek women and men of high standing. ¹³But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Beroea as well, they came there too, to stir up and incite the crowds. ¹⁴Then the believers immediately sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy remained behind. ¹⁵Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left him.

new opponents

Good evening friends,
We've been reading a lot about why Jewish leaders opposed Paul's teaching: they thought it was heresy. Today we see some Roman citizens opposing Paul for a different reason. Luke tells us their opposition was financial, but when they make their case they say Paul is advocating Jewish customs that are "unlawful" for Romans to observe. Interesting indeed. Whatever opposition we may face, Jesus will be with us.

God bless,
Sam

Acts 16:16-24

16 One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. ¹⁷While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, ‘These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.’ ¹⁸She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And it came out that very hour.

19 But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market-place before the authorities. ²⁰When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, ‘These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews ²¹and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.’ ²²The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. ²³After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. ²⁴Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

sparrows and such

Good morning brothers and sisters,
Tonight at the Boulevard at 8pm we'll have our second to last discussion on Love Wins. We've had a very small group the last several meetings, and it would be great to have a few more. We're discussing up through chapter 6 tonight, though if you haven't gotten there you are still most welcome.

Jesus warns his disciples that they will face opposition from the world, just like he has. At the same time he encourages them that God will be keeping an eye on them. Even with God's help, the disciples may still face death, but God's love and power goes beyond death. It is hard for me to wrap my mind around God caring about each sparrow, but I'm glad even the small parts of life are important to God.
blessings on your day,
Sam

Matthew 10:24-33

24“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; 25it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! 26“So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.



28Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; 33but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.

God versus the world

Good morning friends,
Today Jesus warns his disciples that the world will hate them just like it has hated him. They will not fit in because of their calling to follow Jesus. He also says that the world will be guilty of rejecting his word because he showed God's power so clearly but was still rejected. In the midst of that divide between God and the world, Jesus will send the Holy Spirit to the disciples. The Spirit will continue to witness to Christ's word, and in the Spirit's power the disciples are called to be witnesses also. That's still our calling, to bear witness to God's amazing love with our words and our actions. It is a challenging calling that can sometimes get us in trouble, but it is also where we find rewarding life.

God bless,
Sam

John 15:18-27

18”If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. 19If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world—therefore the world hates you. 20Remember the word that I said to you, ‘Servants are not greater than their master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. 21But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.


22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not have sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25It was to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’


26”When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. 27You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.

Lazarus

Good morning brothers and sisters,
This morning we launch into another of John's extended stories. John sets the stage by introducing Mary, Martha and Lazarus and announcing that Lazarus was ill. Jesus gets ready to go to him and the disciples warn him of the risks, since the religious leaders have become violent in their opposition to him. Here we see a different side of "Doubting" Thomas. Thomas is ready to die with his Lord. We wonder too, why Jesus says he is glad Lazarus is dead. We'll see how the story plays out from here.

Blessings as you finish your week,
Sam

John 11: 1-16

1Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. 3So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.


7Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. 10But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” 11After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” 12The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” 13Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. 14Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

rooted in the word

Good morning sisters and brothers,
Our Psalm reveals hints of trouble today. The psalmist feels like a stranger in his home and considers princes plotting against him. Sometimes the life of faith can feel like that; sometimes we have a sense that powerful interests are opposed to our faith individually or as a church. It has always been this way from Israel's slavery in Egypt to Christ's persecution and the persecution of the early church. Sometimes our hardest opposition comes from times when the world around us is accepting of our faith, at least in words. Acceptance tends to make us complacent and lets us imagine that the social order and the gospel have more in common than they really do.

Other times our hardest opposition is within us. We want to follow God's path; we want to meditate on the word, but we let other commitments get in the way. Often our temptations are so subtle we don't notice them as opposition, so we find ourselves gently drifting away from the path God calls us to follow. We pray that God would open our eyes so we can see the wonders of God's law; we pray God would open our hearts to feel a longing for the word; we pray God would open our minds to meditate on God's commandments. Then God's decrees will be our delight and our counselors as we grow strong, rooted in the word. As we talk about meditating on the commandments, I'd like to invite you to supper and scripture at Laurelton tonight and every Wednesday. We begin at 5:30 in Christler Hall with a wonderful supper, and share about an hour of fellowship and discussion of scripture. For the next several weeks we'll be taking a look at the Ten Commandments and how they can guide us today. Dinner is free, but you are welcome to make a donation towards the cost of food. I hope you'll join us and bring a friend.

God bless,
Sam

Psalm 119:17-24

17Deal bountifully with your servant, so that I may live and observe your word.
18Open my eyes, so that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.
19I live as an alien in the land; do not hide your commandments from me.
20My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times.
21You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments;
22take away from me their scorn and contempt, for I have kept your decrees.
23Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.
24Your decrees are my delight, they are my counselors.

killing the prophets

Good morning friends,
While hearing Jesus criticize the Pharisees for their focus on the details of the Law while missing the point, a lawyer complains that Jesus is insulting lawyers as well when he says things like that. (When Luke talks about lawyers here he's talking about experts in the Law of Moses, not secular lawyers.) Jesus responds by making it clear that the "insult" the lawyer complains about isn't by accident. His woes against the lawyers center on the idea that they use the law to make following God harder instead of easier; they keep people out instead of helping them to know God.

Jesus mentions here a tradition he talks about a few times, that the people kill the prophets God sends to call them back to righteousness. He mentions specifically Abel from way back in the beginning who was killed by his brother for bringing God a better offering. He also mentions Zechariah "who perished between the altar and the sanctuary." Zechariah was a priest who served in Judah in the 800's. His ministry was a time of turning away from God to idol worship, and he warned the people to turn back to God. For this ministry he was stoned to death. (The story is in 2 Chronicles 24.) It's hard to listen to voices that tell us we're doing the wrong thing, but often God sends those voices to help us. I pray that we would listen well to criticism and seek to hear what God might be trying to say to us.


Luke 11:45-54
45One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us too.” 46And he said, “Woe also to you lawyers! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them. 47Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. 48So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors; for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50so that this generation may be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, 51from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation.

52Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.” 53When he went outside, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile toward him and to cross-examine him about many things, 54lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.

almost a riot

Good morning friends,

Today we see that Demetrius is successful in stirring up a crowd beginning with other craftsmen who felt Christianity threatened their livelihood. I received a great comment on how the opposition here seemed to be much more focused on money than on real religious concerns. That certainly seems to be the case. I think Demetrius is also using patriotic/city pride arguments to stir people up as well. In both cases the goal is to use emotional appeals to protect against a perceived threat to his business, generally without thinking much about whether Christianity is really a threat to the city or its faith.


From there the crowd builds with many people apparently along for the excitement without knowing what was really going on. Paul is kept out of harm’s way, but his companions are dragged into the assembly. Fortunately for them, good order prevails. The town clerk calms the crowd and tells Demetrius that any complaint they have should be brought in court where it will be dealt with. As we’ve often seen in Acts, Roman rule could be a benefit for Christians as well as a danger.



Blessings,

Sam



Acts 19:28-41

28When they heard this, they were enraged and shouted, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29The city was filled with the confusion; and people rushed together to the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s travel companions. 30Paul wished to go into the crowd, but the disciples would not let him; 31even some officials of the province of Asia, who were friendly to him, sent him a message urging him not to venture into the theater. 32Meanwhile, some were shouting one thing, some another; for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together.


33Some of the crowd gave instructions to Alexander, whom the Jews had pushed forward. And Alexander motioned for silence and tried to make a defense before the people. 34But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours all of them shouted in unison, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 35But when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Citizens of Ephesus, who is there that does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple keeper of the great Artemis and of the statue that fell from heaven? 36Since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash.


37You have brought these men here who are neither temple robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38If therefore Demetrius and the artisans with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls; let them bring charges there against one another. 39If there is anything further you want to know, it must be settled in the regular assembly. 40For we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” 41When he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.

handling opposition

Good morning all,
This morning’s reading shows Paul continuing his ministry in Ephesus and elsewhere in Asia. When Acts talks about Asia they are referring to the Roman province of that name, which took up a good portion of the western coast of modern day Turkey. Paul’s model continues to be to start out with the synagogue and then to move on from their if he faced opposition or saw a better opportunity. In this case much of his preaching was in a secular lecture hall. Paul’s thinking is sound: if people don’t want to hear the good news they aren’t going to listen and our energies are better spent elsewhere.

We’re told that God worked powerfully through Paul and that’s clear from the stories. Not only did he perform many miracles and have power over spirits, he was also very effective in spreading the good news of God’s love. Many people who had been pagan and some who had been sorcerers came to faith in Christ. Truly God can do amazing things with us if we commit ourselves to his work.

God bless,
Sam

Acts 19:8-20
8He entered the synagogue and for three months spoke out boldly, and argued persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9When some stubbornly refused to believe and spoke evil of the Way before the congregation, he left them, taking the disciples with him, and argued daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord. 11God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12so that when the handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, their diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.
13Then some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15But the evil spirit said to them in reply, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” 16Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered them all, and so overpowered them that they fled out of the house naked and wounded. 17When this became known to all residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, everyone was awestruck; and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised.
18Also many of those who became believers confessed and disclosed their practices. 19A number of those who practiced magic collected their books and burned them publicly; when the value of these books was calculated, it was found to come to fifty thousand silver coins. 20So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

another trial under Roman law

Good morning everyone,
We've seen both Paul and his opponents try to use Roman power to strengthen their position. Here we see a new angle on the issue. Gallio really doesn't care about who's right or wrong and he fairly contemptuous of his Jewish subjects. Judaism was a tolerated religion in the Roman Empire, but many Romans still held strong prejudices against Jews for being different. Those feelings come out here when Gallio says, "If it were a matter of crime or serious villainy, I would be justified in accepting the complaint of you Jews..." While it still may be good strategy for Christians or Jews to bring Rome into the fight, they are making common cause with someone who doesn't care much about them.

As a new and growing faith Christianity has interesting terrain to navigate. Rome can be a friend or foe but mostly comes into the picture at this stage only because the Roman infrastructure made travel and thus evangelism much easier and safer than it would have been. As it happens, the evangelism among the gentiles leads to such growth that within another 50-100 years Rome will start to see Christianity as a threat and will take measures against it. Christianity today has interesting terrain to navigate as well and our mission will take creativity and faith to accomplish. We will succeed in sharing God's good news because God is with us.

Blessings,
Sam


Acts 18:12-23
12But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal. 13They said, “This man is persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to the law.” 14Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of crime or serious villainy, I would be justified in accepting the complaint of you Jews; 15but since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I do not wish to be a judge of these matters.” 16And he dismissed them from the tribunal. 17Then all of them seized Sosthenes, the official of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of these things.

18After staying there for a considerable time, Paul said farewell to the believers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, for he was under a vow. 19When they reached Ephesus, he left them there, but first he himself went into the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews. 20When they asked him to stay longer, he declined; 21but on taking leave of them, he said, “I will return to you, if God wills.” Then he set sail from Ephesus. 22When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. 23After spending some time there he departed and went from place to place through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

seeking eagerly

Good morning friends,
After the uproar in Thessalonica Paul and the others move on to Beroea, where they find a warmer welcome. One of the lines that sticks out to me here is that the good reception for them is that their hearers "Searched the scriptures to see if these things were true." In other words, a good first response to the good news is to examine and see if it fits the scriptures, not "blind" faith. After that diligent search, many Jewish and Greek people did believe.

Unfortunately, even though the reception was friendly and open, opposition followed from the leaders of Thessalonica. Paul is hurried out of the city and taken on to Athens. He waits there for the rest of his team, but as we'll see tomorrow, he doesn't wait passively. I pray the eagerness of the Beroeans for the scripture would touch us as well.

Blessings,
Sam

Acts 17:10-15
10That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas off to Beroea; and when they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11These Jews were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so. 12Many of them therefore believed, including not a few Greek women and men of high standing. 13But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Beroea as well, they came there too, to stir up and incite the crowds. 14Then the believers immediately sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy remained behind. 15Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left him.

opposed and worshiped

Good morning all,
Tomorrow we welcome Jesus into Jerusalem with palms waving, and we begin the intense conclusion of Lent we call Holy Week. The week is full of great opportunities to worship and to live into the story of Christ's last days. We'll be joining neighboring churches in an ecumenical tenebrae service at St. Ambrose at 7 pm on Monday for a beautiful and thoughtful worship service to begin Holy Week. Thursday brings us a potluck supper at Laurelton at 6 pm leading into communion as we remember Christ's last supper with the disciples and his tortured prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. On Good Friday we join other churches in a walk of the neighborhood beginning at Covenant United Methodist at 9 am to remember Christ's walk with the cross and to bear witness to the violence that threatens our community and the hope we have that God's peace will conquer hatred. At noon we'll gather in the sanctuary to hear the story of Christ's passion. Finally on Easter we'll gather at 10 am to celebrate the good news that Christ is risen in triumph. Join in for as many of these opportunities as you can and let the depth of Christ's love sink into your soul during this week; everyone is welcome for all of these events.

Today's reading continues the theme of challenges in evangelism. Paul and Barnabas continue their travels and proclaim the good news with power. God's presence is obvious to others and so many come to faith. At the same time many of the Jewish religious leaders and pagans oppose them. It shouldn't surprise us that the gospel faces opposition either then or now. God's amazing love in Christ defies the rigid structure organized religion sometimes becomes, and the inclusive community of the church challenges the divisions society often holds onto.

On the other hand, the powerful miracles God did through Paul and Barnabas sometimes attract people in the wrong way, as they did in Lystra. In that case the power everyone could see led people to worship Paul and Barnabas instead of the God they serve. The church always wants to be convincing, powerful and attractive when we proclaim God's good news and reach out to others with love. But we are the messengers, not the message; the point is God, not us.

Blessings,
Sam

Acts 14:1-13

The same thing occurred in Iconium, where Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers. 2But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who testified to the word of his grace by granting signs and wonders to be done through them. 4But the residents of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles. 5And when an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, 6the apostles learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country; 7and there they continued proclaiming the good news.

8In Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet and had never walked, for he had been crippled from birth. 9He listened to Paul as he was speaking. And Paul, looking at him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 10said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And the man sprang up and began to walk. 11When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” 12Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifice.