This post is my reflection on the twenty-sixth chapter of Acts.  You can read the chapter in the NRSV translation by clicking here  or, if convenient, grab a bible and have it with you while you read this post.     
Blanche

In Chapter 25, Festus tells Agrippa that he brings Paul to him because he can see no reason for Paul to be judged and doesn’t know what to write to the sovereign about the case that has been brought to him.

In Chapter 26, the story continues as Paul is brought before King Agrippa.  When Agrippa gives him permission to speak, Paul says he is glad to appear before Agrippa because of his knowledge of the Jews and their customs and controversies.

Paul asserts he is the same man who grew up and held high office with the Jews and understood the promise of the Messiah in their teachings.  As a Pharisee, he punished and condemned those who spoke against the Jews.

Then, Paul tells of his conversion on the road to Damascus where Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, spoke to him.  Jesus ordered him to serve and testify to Jesus as Messiah and show people to go from darkness to light and from Satan to God.  Through this, they would receive forgiveness of sins and be allowed to be among those sanctified by faith in Jesus.  Paul questioned how the Jews could condemn him for saying what the prophets and Moses said would take place.  He had witnessed it.

Festus first called Paul crazy from being too well read.  Paul countered that he was not out of his mind and that Agrippa knew it.  Agrippa commented on Paul trying to convert him.  Finally, as they rose to leave, Agrippa and the others agreed that Paul had done nothing wrong.  Unfortunately, since Paul had asked to be heard by the emperor, he could not be set free.

And so, Paul would have to be sent to Rome to be judged.

I pray for the faith and strength of Paul.

Paul had such faith! He didn’t shrink from any controversy.  His will was strong because of his faith. In the presence of such hatred, condemnation and cries for his death, he continued to testify to Jesus’ message and try to lead people to Christ.  How many of us will “stick to our guns” if our opinions are not popular?  How do we behave when someone in our presence is un-Christian?  Do we support our beliefs or just turn from him and decide to stay away from him in the future?   How many of us are afraid to speak out when we see injustice?

This post is my reflection on the twenty-fourth chapter of Acts.  You can read the chapter in the NRSV translation by clicking here  or, if convenient, grab a bible and have it with you while you read this post.     
--Carol
Felix
was hedging his bets. He was powerful, and must have enjoyed the flattery showered on him by the lawyers in his court. He knew something of the Christian Way, and therefore was not willing to rule against Paul, but he wasn’t willing to set him free either. When he asked Paul to tell him more about his message, he was disturbed by it – if he believed the new Christian teachings, he had to
believe that this life is not all there is, and that there would be a judgment day. He would have to give up the lifestyle that he enjoyed so much. Felix was  the ultimate non-decider, and I’m reminded of the axiom, “not to decide IS to decide.” He even left Paul in prison when he left office, as a favor to the Jews. 

God  uses all situations to the good, so the result was that Paul was able to write and teach from prison and those who wanted to be rid of him did not have the opportunity to kill him. 

How much better it would be for all of us if we worked for God’s purposes instead of getting in the way.  I hope that when I have to make choices I choose the ultimate good instead of short-term benefits. When you think about it, choices like this come up every
day.

This post is my reflection on the twenty-third chapter of Acts.  You can read the chapter in the NRSV translation by clicking here  or, if convenient, grab a bible and have it with you while you read this post.      --Dorsey Smith

Acts, Chapter 23 reflection by Dorsey Smith.      ~~Paul’s missionary journey, after his conversion experience, continues and chapter 23 details the resistance he encountered, especially from Jewish authorities, notably the Sadducees.  As is often the case, those whose power is threatened or who fear the destabilization of their community will typically try to discredit or eliminate whomever they see as the source of that threat. 

 

There was one faction of the council judging Paul who were of similar background and mind as Paul.  Paul identified himself as a Pharisee and specifically as a believer in the hope and the resurrection of the dead, a belief that he stated was the reason for his being judged.  This appeal to this faction and to this belief caused a division amongst the council with the Pharisees supporting him and the Sadducees in opposition.   Civilian authority did not seem to have quarrel with him and since Paul was a Roman citizen it was felt that he must be provided with a level of protection.  So Paul was to be protected until his accusers could present their arguments about him but Paul was only to be protected, not released.  There was need to respect the concerns of the various factions of the Jewish religious community but also the need to respect the rights of a Roman citizen as well as maintaining civil control.

 

Paul is driven to continue his mission, resulting from his conversion experience as well as the direction he has received directly from the Lord who tells him “you must bear witness also at Rome”.    I suppose one emphasis here is the expectation of bearing witness in the face of certain adversity because of the strength of faith as well as the felt presence of our Lord.  Certainly it is not typical for us to face religious persecution for our beliefs but I expect we frequently encounter situations where we do not speak out to injustices we perceive so, in a way, we struggle to meet the calling to bear witness.

 

I know that I have not had a dramatic conversion experience as did Paul. I am not driven with great zeal to bear witness but I do know that I sense the presence of God’s love and I do believe, as did Paul and the Pharisees, in the promise of resurrection.  I hope, as I suspect you do as well, that I/we will be provided the strength as needed to bear witness when it matters most, even if the circumstances are potentially uncomfortable.

This post is my reflection on the twenty-first chapter of Acts.  You can read the chapter in the NRSV translation by clicking here  or, if convenient, grab a bible and have it with you while you read this post.     
--David

In his second letter to the Corinthians Paul said: “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” (II Corinthians 12:9-10)  What I love about Paul is that he does not just preach this he lives it and Acts 21 proves it.  Luke begins the chapter by describing their voyage toward Jerusalem and it is in Caesarea that we see the first sign of the strength that Paul received through his faith in Christ.  After arriving in Philip’s house he is visited by a prophet who indicates that if Paul goes to Jerusalem he will be handed over to the Gentiles.   Paul is undaunted, he says: “I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”  (21:13) They then arrive in Jerusalem and, despite their best efforts to keep Paul away from trouble, he is captured by Jews who believe that he has defiled the Temple.  Here again, Paul does not cave into fear, he says to the Roman Soldier ‘hey, I’m a Roman citizen, do me a favor and let me speak to the crowd.’ This is the same crowd that wants to ‘get rid of him.’ This takes a tremendous amount of courage, which takes faith.  

So the question for me is do I have the same amount of faith?  Are you kidding, I have a hard time getting over the fear of my car breaking down.  I realize, however, through Paul’s example, a sort of spiritual equation.  The more faith I have = the less fear I have.  Ok, so I got that, but the next question is how do I increase my faith?  I believe that this is developed over time through some work.  I have to develop a very strong prayer life.  I have to attend a church, not because my mommy said, but because it will put me in close proximity to those who have or are developing a relationship with Christ.  It is this relationship that is, for me the most important thing.  This, then, begs another question: how do I develop this relationship with Christ?  Well, what does Jesus actually say?  In Matthew 25:40 he says: ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’  He also says(Mat. 25:35-36) “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” This relationship, to me, is developed by helping these least of my brothers and sisters.  Interestingly, when I do this I get out of myself and my fear abates.  So, the equation gets slightly more complicated: The more I give back to my fellow humans=more faith=less fear.

 

This post is my reflection on the twentieth chapter of Acts.  You can read the chapter in the NRSV translation by clicking here  or, if convenient, grab a bible and have it with you while you read this post.     
-Blanche Scharf

After reading Chapter 20 in NRSV, I read about it in Halley’s Bible Handbook to have a better understanding of the timeline.

Paul was in Greece for about one year.  It was during that period that he wrote his four great epistles:  I Corinthians from Ephesus, II Corinthians and probably Galatians from Macedonia and Romans from Corinth.  When Paul called the Ephesian elders to him to say farewell, it was the close of missionary journeys spanning about 12 years.

How bittersweet that farewell must have been!  Paul had walked and worked among them, teaching, guiding, helping and spreading the good news of Jesus Christ.  It was never easy.  He was persecuted for the steadfastness of his convictions.

Paul told the Ephesians that he believed by the Holy Spirit that they would never see him again because he would be persecuted and imprisoned.  He cautioned them to beware of the “savage wolves” that would come among them and try to destroy the flock.  He also reminded them that Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

After much praying, weeping and kissing, the elders brought Paul to his ship.

How can we begin to imagine what that must have felt like to both Paul and the Ephesians?  What have we got to compare it to?  Stepping down from an elected office after we’ve given our best?  The retirement party where our good deeds were lauded and we felt appreciated and said farewell to the people we loved in that part of our life?  How they pale in comparison to Paul’s sacrifices!

It seems we must ask ourselves, “Are we doing enough?”

This post is my reflection on the tenth chapter of Acts.  You can read the chapter in the NRSV translation by clicking here  or, if convenient, grab a bible and have it with you while you read this post.     
-- Ginger Ambler

With apologies for being late in my blogging, I was reading and praying over Acts Chapter 10 the week immediately following General Convention.  As I followed local and national discussions about transformational actions taken at Council – particularly the decision to allow bishops to use approved liturgies for the blessing of same-sex covenant relationships – I returned several times to Peter’s transformational experience in this chapter. 

While praying, Peter hears God’s voice telling him to “kill and eat” a large collection of four-footed creatures and reptiles that appear before him in a vision.  Peter is taken aback, claiming he had never in his life “eaten anything that is profane or unclean.”  Peter had lived with devotion to what he understood to be allowed and not-allowed according to God’s law.  But three times God responds to Peter, saying “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”  Through the Holy Spirit, Peter comes to a new understanding – through his prayer and listening to God’s voice, Peter is led to see differently what is “allowed” for him in his life as an apostle, and in the lives of others who yearn to be a part of the Body of Christ.  As a result, when Gentiles later come to see Peter, he sits down to talk with them and share the gospel even though “it [was] unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile.”  Peter affirms that God showed him that he “should not call anyone profane or unclean.”  “I truly understand,” he says, “that God shows no partiality.”

It was not easy for Peter to move beyond his long-held understandings and practices of what was “the law.”   He wanted to be obedient to what he understood to be right and good.  Apparently, it took God three times to finally convey his message to Peter that he should not call profane, what God had made clean.  I am grateful for this scripture for reminding us that the Holy Spirit is ever at work in the hearts and minds of God’s people – and that transformation is central to the spiritual journey.  I am grateful for the lesson we can learn from Peter in this story – a devoted, faithful disciple whose heart was opened to new understandings and to the practice of radical hospitality in Jesus’ name.

This post is my reflection on the eighteenth chapter of Acts.  You can read the chapter in the NRSV translation by clicking here  or, if convenient, grab a bible and have it with you while you read this post.     
--Carol

I like Apollos. He was passionate and eloquent, and had many followers in Ephesus. He knew his scriptures and proclaimed God’s word as he knew it.
Then some strangers came to town from Corinth. After hearing him speak in the synagogue, they pulled him aside to tell him how to preach the Way of God more accurately.
This was a perfect opportunity to be offended! But Apollos chose not to put his pride first, and welcomed this new information. He practiced what he preached.
Sometimes I struggle with this, as if giving an inch will damage my credibility. But what really works – knowing it all or approaching life with a healthy dose of humility?

This blog post is my (Dorsey Smith's) reflection on the seventeenth chapter of Acts.  You can read the chapter in the NRSV translation by clicking here  or, if convenient, grab a bible and have it with you while you read this post.     
--Dorsey Smith

In this chapter, the evangelistic efforts of Paul, Silas and others continues.  They are preaching, arguing and witnessing to Jews, Greeks and women as they travel into Greece.  Chapter 17 reveals how they were received differently from synagogue to synagogue and by non-Jews.  This was to be expected in that their message was contrary to authoritative Jewish teaching and differed as well from varying Greek philosophical beliefs.  So, some received the evangelizing as a threat to the status quo and others were intrigued.

 

Numerous things from this chapter were interesting to me.  First of all, Paul, in his travels was noticing the differing religious practices and beliefs of different groups.  Rather than coming across as condemnatory, he communicated that he “perceived in every way that “you” are very religious ( by virtue of their philosophical interests and the worshiping of idols) and by the creation of an altar to an unknown God”.   I believe that Paul understood that it is man’s nature to understand himself in relation to a higher power and, therefore, he was, in a way, complementing them for their pursuit.   Paul’s effort was not to ostracize but to reveal the “Living God” to them: to make God known as opposed to worshipping the “unknown God”.  “ God who made the world and everything in it, ….. does not live in shrines made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to ALL men life and breath and everything.”  The chapter goes on to say that all this was done so “that they should seek God, in the hope that they might find him. Yet he is not far from us for In him we live and move and have our being”.  In essence we are already of God and that God, by virtue of our very creation is in each and every one of us.

 

We do not need to look for God in symbols, physical structures and traditions. We need only to look within and to seek God there.  The message to me is that the purpose of life is to find our way back to God, to reveal what is true, lasting and knowable and to discard all else which cause us to deviate from this path. I feel certain that all of us have wrestled with understanding “what life is all about” and I feel that Paul is validating that purpose but, through his witness, wanted to guide his audience, both then and now, to a path where God could be truly known.  He was transformed by the power of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and he believed that this transformative love of God was and is intended for All mankind.

 

Do you feel as I, that indeed our purpose in this life is to find our way back to God and to be strengthened by the journey itself? I sense that all of us, from time to time, are aware that this is not our true home, that something is missing and that we have some level of recognition of what is missed.  Does this ring true to you?

This post is my reflection on the fourteenth chapter of Acts.  You can read the chapter in the NRSV translation by clicking here  or, if convenient, grab a bible and have it with you while you read this post.     
--Blanche Scharf

This blog post is my reflections on Acts Chapter 13.  You can read the chapter in the NRSV translation by clicking here.  Or, if convenient, grab a bible to read the chapter as you read this post.

--Gary

In the thirteenth chapter of Acts, we encounter again a relation of God's promises fulfilled, preached by Paul and Barnabas.  We also encounter the claims of Bar-Jesus or Elymas (Acts 13:6-12)..  It is this encounter upon which I offer this reflection. 

As Paul, John, and Barnabas set out upon a journey to spread the word about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, they encountered those who disagreed with them and those they confronted.  Amongst these, the figure of Bar-Jesus (like that of Simon Magus in Acts 8), hold some interest for me.  The cultures in which Paul and the other apostles and followers of Jesus ministered were full of men (and sometime women) who claimed to hold divinely inspired power to do all sort of beneficial and malevolent things.  They claimed to heal, to harm, to protect, to win a lover, and to eliminate an enemy.  Divine power was called upon to serve the purposes of people. 

Paul and Barnabas will have none of it.  The power of the Holy Spirit, as Paul and Barnabas experienced it, was to share God's grace to forgive and to make whole.  Paul rebuked the idea that Divine Power was to satisfy our desires and wants.  Divine Power exists to save us from the false claims of a priest-magician. 

Who are the priest-magicians in my world?  Who promises to invoke divine or human aid to fulfill my wishes and thwart those who oppose me?  How do the promises they make stack up the promises of God through Jesus and through the core message of the missionaries and apostles amongst the earliest followers of Jesus?  The followers of Jesus in  Acts promise grace through Jesus' sacrifice, not that all of my problems will be solved or that my wishes will be gratified.  This chapter of Acts reminds me that my faith is in the saving grace of God