Author: Dottie Wilson

Acts 15: 28
“For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from unchastity.”

In Acts, we follow the early beginnings of a Christian community. There were Jews like Jesus. There were Christian Jews.  Acts 15 is all about a third category: the gentiles. The controversy is over requiring gentiles to subscribe to Jewish ritual and law. Hebrew Christians held the Pharisaic view that converts must obey the dietary laws and undergo circumcision. The Bible says that some men came down from Judea to Antioch and started teaching the brethren that unless they were circumcised according to the custom of Moses, they could not be saved. Paul and Barnabas try and dispute this position but agree to go to Jerusalem to visit with the Apostles and the elders to sort out this problem. When they get to Jerusalem, some Pharisees again said the gentiles must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses.

When the Apostles and elders were gathered together, Peter speaks: “Brethren, you know that in the early days, God made choice among you, that by mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God who knows the heart bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us; and he made no distinction between us and them, but cleansed their hearts by faith.” Acts 15: 7-9. Paul and Barnabas talk about all the wonderful things that God had done through them among the Gentiles. So in the end, a delegation is sent to Antioch with a letter. It’s a compromise position: no circumcision, but in order to avoid giving offense to the Jews in the community, don’t do certain things. Stay away from idols, abstain from fornication, and don’t eat meat with blood in it.

For me, this time of life feels a lot like the early church. On some level, due to the corona virus, things have gotten very simple. We feel much more connected to our neighbors through the commonality of a shared experience.  Only the necessary things matter. We have done without our church building. We have been unable to convene. Hurdles, much like the early church faced and found a way through. In spite of today’s hurdles, our faith is always seeking ways to express itself. Like Paul and Barnabas, we feel a need to get the Word out. Now the Holy Spirit is moving our church to reach out in new ways: ZOOM meetings, services posted on Facebook, eblasts via email and the like. What is God telling us about our church in the year 2020? It is still all about faith.               
                                                                                  Bluette Blinoff, EfM, year 3

Acts 14: 8-10 “In Lystra there was a crippled man who had been lame since birth and had never been able to walk. He sat there and listened to Paul’s word. Paul saw that he believed and could be healed, so he looked straight at him and said in a loud voice,”Stand up straight on your feet !” The man jumped up and started walking around.”

In about 47 AD in Iconium (present day Turkey) Paul and Barnabas were preaching for several months mostly in the Jewish synagogues. When some Jews and gentiles decided to stone them, they left and went to the city of Lystra (also in Turkey).

As a Nurse, my first reaction to the verses quoted above was unbelief. How could a man who hadn’t ever walked since birth suddenly stand up and start walking ? Clinically it sounds impossible! His legs would be too weak for him to walk; his leg muscles would be atrophied and probably contracted from lack of use. But there it is –“The man jumped up and started walking around”!

Why do I find this so hard to believe? Can’t God do anything? Doesn’t He/She in fact do miraculous things every day? I plant what look like dried dead seeds, and God brings out a beautiful green plant or a gorgeous colorful flower. Is that not a miracle?

Babies are born every day. They develop into unique human beings unlike any other person in the entire world. Is that not also a miracle? Why do I have so much trouble believing that God can do what seems impossible to my logical mind? 
“I do believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)  
                                                      Ann Sieracki, EfM Graduate & Mentor

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 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 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 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