Acts 13-16

Saints,

In these three chapters there are a lot of ideas for us to think about and examples for us to emulate. I look forward to your ideas. Here were some things I thought about while I was reading:

The first thing that struck me was Acts 13:46-47: "Both Paul and Barnabus spoke out boldly and said, ' It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first, but since you reject it and condemn yourselves as unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles'." I know it probably was not meant this way, but I've been working my way through C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity" and there was a chapter that talked about judgment and the sin-intention relationship. This was a perfect illustration for me that even those who are "holy" (after all, the Jews were God's chosen people...how much more elite do you get?) can be less worthy than "sinners." C.S. Lewis wrote, "When a man who has been perverted from his youth and taught that cruelty is the right thing, does some tiny act of kindness, or refrains from some cruelty he might have committed, and thereby, perhaps, risks being sneered at by his companions, he may, in God's eyes, be doing more than you and I would do if we gave up life itself for a friend." It like the parable of the widow’s coin. If you give from what you have, even if it seems small, it can be pleasing to God. The Jew’s had every advantage to prepare them to believe in Jesus Christ, but they rejected His word. The Gentiles were Pagans who were Christ-illiterate and they accepted Him. Do we, as Catholics who have the “faith advantage”, live as fully as those who don’t know Him?

I was also interested in the section dealing with the circumcision of Timothy. This whole section was sort of a throw-back to last time when Peter decides to throw dietary restrictions out the window in order to take advantage of a ministry opportunity. The Jews would not have taken Timothy seriously if he had not been circumcised, so even though Paul and the early Christians did not insist on people being circumcised, he did so to witness to the Jews. God is outside the law, but he can use the law to teach us and bring his word to his people.

Another episode in the saga of the early church that popped out at me was Paul and Barnabus’ response to the healing of the crippled man. Here people were worshipping them as Gods, the highest mark of esteem a man can ask for, but it is remarkable to observe the humility and truthfulness Paul and Barnabus model. It's easy to take credit for big and small things, especially when we seemed to do them. When we work hard on a project or when we lift someone's spirits it's easy to pat yourself on the back. But just as in Paul and Barnabus' case, we need to give credit to God for giving us strength and discipline and clarity of mind to succeed in that project or for giving us the exact words our friend needs to hear. True, we are instruments of God, but just as a clarinet or a piano cannot make music without a player, we cannot do anything without God working through us. There's a song called "Declaration of Dependence" by Steven Curtis Chapman, and there's a line in it that always strikes me: "Now let me say that I'm the kind of guy who wants to do it all myself/ don't wanna ask for help, don't wanna stop for directions./ But in reality I'm nothing on my own/ it's by God's grace alone I can make this confession..." Humans (especiall conscientious ones) like the perception of control, but as my sister once said "We are called, today, to be excellent ambassadors of Christ.” We are not Christ, but we represent him. We have to give God the glory in everything and give credit where it's due.

The last thought I’ll leave you with is Paul and Barnabus’ argument the over Mark. As we know from personal experience, Christians are not perfect. We strive to be perfect as Christ was perfect, but we never achieve this. It was comforting to me to know that even "ideal" Christians like Paul had weaknesses similar to mine. It assured me that these men were human, as we are all human, and yet God worked so splendidly through them. We must have faith that God can work as splendidly through us if we have faith and we let him.