Acts Chapter 13

Acts 13:15-22 
15 After the reading of the law and the prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent them a message, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, give it.” 16 So Paul stood up and with a gesture began to speak: “You Israelites,[b] and others who fear God, listen. 17 The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 For about forty years he put up with[c] them in the wilderness. 19 After he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance 20 for about four hundred fifty years. After that he gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel. 21 Then they asked for a king; and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years. 22 When he had removed him, he made David their king. In his testimony about him he said, ‘I have found David, son of Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will carry out all my wishes.’ 

I  gathered via zoom with three other friends to reflect on Acts 13. We asked God to help us focus on a small section of the chapter. As we collaborated, we honed in on the first part of Paul’s message in the synagogue at Antioch. We followed the practice of Lectio Divina: talking and listening to God and listening to each other. Our goal was to receive God’s help in connecting the words from Acts 13 with our daily life.

Here is my summary from our valuable time together: The people of God have journeyed through years, decades and centuries of disorientation, upheaval and disruption of their established ways of living. We have also journeyed through our own times of disorientation, upheaval and disruption from the trajectory we expected for our lives. God was with the people of God all the time, comforting, delivering, providing and allowing for natural consequences as they pursued life the way they wanted it. God is with us in these ways as well. 

As we all experience disorientation, upheaval and disruption of the way we thought life should be and would be, we determined that what matters most is being with God and knowing God is with us taking good care of us even when it doesn’t seem that way.

We asked God if there was anything He was inviting us to and it seemed to us that: 

  • God is inviting us to be continually open to learning who God is and how God is there for us.
  • God is inviting us to understand who God really is and what God is really like: God is not distant. God is close. God sees the big picture. God is not surprised by what is happening in our world today. God doesn’t expect us to “get this right.” God remains tender, compassionate and patient with us.

Our prayers: 

  • God give me a willingness to lay down any expectations that don’t align with your expectations.
  • God help me continue to look to you and notice any ways that I am not trusting you. 
  • God help me to be like David who is after your own heart and will carry out your wishes (vs. 22).

Lisa Dodge Pinkham

Christian Formation Coordinator, Christ Church Parish

Acts Chapter 12

ACTS 12:12-16

“12 When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.  13 And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a maid named Rhoda came to answer. 14 Recognizing Peter’s voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and told that Peter was standing at the gate.  15 They said to her, “You are mad.” But she insisted that it was so.  They said, “It is his angel!” 16 But Peter continued knocking; and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed.”

Peter is in and out of jail again in this chapter.  But unlike in ACTS 4, he has escaped prison with the help of an “angel of the Lord.” 12: 6-11. In verses 12-16, we see a little much needed levity in the story.  In fact, I looked for some guidance in my reflection of ACTS 12, and Father Mark was quick to point  these verses out saying, “I want people to have some fun over Easter. I want them to enjoy their lamb and eat too many chocolates.”

So, a comedy of errors has occurred.  Peter, now a highly sought-after fugitive, returns to what is probably, the HQ of the Christian Movement.  Rhoda, a young servant girl, hears his voice, recognizes him, but is either too excited or too afraid to open the door for him. Instead, she runs to tell the others, who are, at that very moment praying.  Instead of running to the door themselves, they dismiss her; they call her crazy, but all the while, our fugitive Peter is left there, still knocking while looking over his shoulder for soldiers.  Finally, and only after hearing it themselves, do they open the door and finding Peter there. “And they were amazed.” 12:16

I identify with Rhoda.  I can remember as a child, sometimes being dismissed by adults only for them to later find out that what I was desperately trying to tell them had validity.  I identify with the disciples. How many times in my life have I had to be hit over the head with a Spiritual message before I’ve finally accepted it and acted on it- even while I was actively praying for it?

While I do see the humor here, I also see a clearer message.  Pay close attention to messages, even if they are delivered by someone that I don’t see as a “teacher,” or even as an “intellectual equal.”  We are strong together in the Holy Spirit when we humbly access it.  Second, if St. Peter is knocking at the door, even during social distancing orders, let him in, as long as he is wearing a mask and gloves!

                                                                                        Tara Lightner, EfM Year 1

Acts Chapter 10

ACTS 10:34 & 44

34 Peter began to speak: I now realize that it is true that God treats everyone on the same basis.  Whoever fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him no matter what race he belongs to. 

44 While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who were listening to his message. 

In Acts 10, Peter expands the gospel beyond Jerusalem and Judea and into the ancient Greco-Roman world. Cornelius, a devout Gentile, while praying, has a vision of an angel telling him to send for Peter in Joppa.  He sends messengers and Peter, after his vision of the “large sheet coming down” containing all kinds of creatures, reptiles and birds, returns to Caesarea with Cornelius’ messengers.

To those gathered, Peter says (Acts 10.34), “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in any nation anyone who fears him does right and is acceptable to him.” He continues to praise the Lord and bear witness.

In visiting Cornelius in Caesarea all that he said and did. (Acts 10.44) “While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word.  The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit has been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God.”

GOD SHOWS NO PARTIALITY … a stunning sentence. In his forgiveness, in his love and in his infinite wisdom that brings us trials, sorrows, and reminders of the fragility of life ….God Shows No Partiality.  All humanity knows the good and the bad.

Are the believers who “were astounded that the Holy Spirit was poured out EVEN on the Gentiles” very different from those of us who come to love, understand and embrace the “other” – those from different cultures, religions, languages and customs? As the current worldwide situation so clearly illustrates, we are all in this together.  While some will try to separate us by blaming the “other” for a custom, a decision, a lack of responsiveness, or some other “theory” to account for the global pandemic, everyone  everywhere – experiencing the disease, losing loved ones, living in fear and losing hope, and praying for wisdom, relief and modern miracles to end this – is a child of God.  
God shows no partiality. Remember this when the pandemic is over. Pray for yourselves, your loved ones, our congregation, community, country and the world.

                                                                              Adele Sadiq, EfM Year 4

Acts Chapter 9

Acts 9:17-18

So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, The Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.”

For me, this particular event speaks to me on a number of levels. It says to me that the Lord is the master weaver of the fabric of our lives and it is his plan that crafts us to His will. Where would Christianity be but for a man who was turned from the blindness of ignorance to become Paul the voice of change that was the Church in the fragility of its infancy? The change that created the new Church and perfect covenant with God.

This passage also reveals to me that none are beyond redemption and the possibility of becoming. That all can be transformed by losing the scales of ignorance that blind us to the truth. That no matter how grave our transgressions, there is hope and a life of brilliance that awaits us. That God always sees our value and will perfectly use us if we are only willing to see, to change, to become.

                                                                             Gail Renborg, EfM Year 2

Acts Chapter 8

Acts 8: 18-21

Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money.  “Give me also this power so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”  But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s gift with money!  You have no part or share in this, for your heart is not right before God.”

Simon, a former magician, has been baptized with water by Philip, an evangelist, and later receives the Holy Spirit through the apostles Peter and John.  Upon seeing the gift of the Spirit bestowed by the apostles, Simon also wants this gift and offers silver to obtain it.  But, through these verses and the ones following, we see that he is rebuffed and that they can see Simon’s true heart. Simon’s obvious surprise at this makes me think that even he didn’t realize his heart was unclean, that his offer of silver was more than inappropriate given that he was in the “chains of wickedness” (vs. 22).

Every morning, I begin with a prayer familiar to many, in which I ask God to “create in me a clean heart.”  But, could it really be that easy? Surely, God can create a clean heart in me and could also in Simon, we have only to look at the miracles Jesus performed to know that is true.  But for me, I’m not sure what I would learn from an instantaneous cleansing.  Most of the miracles I have seen in my life came with a little hard work and diligence in my prayers.  So, each morning I do begin that prayer, I read the psalms, and the readings for that day.  I study, through EfM, the books of the Old Testament, and other works of theology scholars and maybe that is how God will work this miracle of a clean heart in my life.  Each day, little by little I feel some of those deep unacknowledged unclean bits of my heart being swept away.

We don’t know what happened to Simon, we only know that he was sent away to repent and pray.  Perhaps that is what these verses are saying to me.  Go, repent and pray that God through the love of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit will create in me a clean heart. 

One thing I do know is that God’s love for me never changes, it is deep and steadfast.  But, the more I go away to repent and pray and do a little more housekeeping in my heart, I find that it is me who moves closer to God; me that falls a little more in love with Him.

                                                                            Lois Vanderbok, EfM year 1

Acts Chapter 7

ACTS 7:9-15 “Jacob’s sons became jealous of their brother Joseph and sold him to be a slave in Egypt.  But God was with him and brought him safely through all his troubles.  When Joseph appeared before the king of Egypt, God gave him a pleasing manner and wisdom, and the king made Joseph Governor over the country and the royal household.  Then there was a famine all over Egypt and Canaan which caused much suffering.  Our ancestors could not find any food, and when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent his sons, our ancestors, on their first visit there.  On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and the king of Egypt came to know about Joseph’s family.  So Joseph sent a message to his father Jacob, telling him and the whole family, seventy five people in all, to come to Egypt.  Then Jacob went to Egypt where he and his sons died.” 

This story of Joseph and his amazing adventures in Egypt always makes me remember that God can bring good out of the most horrible-sounding situations.   When Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, it sounded like the end for Joseph.    I imagine that the brothers never expected to hear from Joseph again.  Surely they thought that he would perish as a slave in a foreign country.  But God had other plans for Joseph.  The king looked favorably upon Joseph who must have been a very bright and talented young man.  The king, perceiving Joseph to be a man of multiple useful abilities, put Joseph in charge.  In this position Joseph had much power and was able to maneuver so that the royal household had  an abundance of grain in preparation for a famine that would come upon the land.  When the famine did hit, Joseph was able to bring seventy five members of his family to Egypt to avoid starvation.  Who would have thought that Joseph would be used as the instrument to rescue them from almost certain death!

I think of a book I read many years ago that made an impression on me: God, the Amazing Alchemist, by John Claypool.  In it Claypool relates the story of Joseph in Egypt and compares God to an “alchemist’, one who was thought to be able to turn anything into gold.  Claypool asks us never to despair regardless of how impossible or how bad a situation seems because God can bring good out of the worst of situations.  

                                                                                       Ann Sieracki, EfM Mentor