Author: Dottie Wilson

Acts 22:19 – 20
And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. And while the blood of your witness Stephen was shed, I myself was standing by, approving and keeping the coats of those who killed him.’

This gut wrenching statement was made by Paul as part of his defense after he was seized following a disturbance in the temple (chapter 21). Paul is explaining to a violent crowd the series of events that happened to him while on his way to Damascus to bind and imprison disciples of Jesus (chapter 9). Paul cites the stoning of Stephen as an example of his former life as an enforcer of Jewish law. Paul goes on to tell of the miracles that brought him to be filled with the Holy Spirit and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.

I read this statement by Paul over and over. By using the example of the stoning of Stephen, I feel as though Paul is talking about the worst moment of his former life, perhaps the very one that he regrets the most. He uses this reference to the lowest point in his life to contrast the highest point of his life, the moment God removed “the scales from his eyes”. 
I think that we all have things in our life we regret; I certainly do, but none as extreme as standing by and approving the killing of another. What absolute conviction Paul must have had to speak of this horror in order to demonstrate the revelation, forgiveness and purpose of Paul’s new life in Christ. One of the exercise in the EfM program is a spiritual biography, in which we talk about the way God has changed our lives. Many of these biographies tell of the low points of our lives and the ways that God has shown us revelation, forgiveness, and purpose. 

During this difficult and frightening time, perhaps we should all take a moment to reflect and remember the grace and love that God has shown us. Because a reminder of those high points in our lives may help us to look at the world through the promise of God’s love and strength.
                                                                                       Lois Vanderbok, EfM, Year 1

ACTS 23: 3-7
³ Then Paul said to him, “God shall strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?” ⁴ Those who stood by said, ”Would you revile God’s high priest?” ⁵ And Paul said, “I did not know brethren that he was the high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’” ⁶ But when Paul perceived that one part were Sad’ducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead I am on trial. ⁷ And when Paul said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sad’ducees; and the assembly was divided.

On trial, Paul does many noteworthy things. First, he addresses the Sanhedrin by using the term, “Brethren,” instead of the traditional, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel.” This puts him on equal footing with the court. Second, he challenges the High Priest with his order to have Paul slapped in verses 1-3. In fact, he points out that the High Priest has broken a law by ordering a fellow Israelite to be slapped on the cheek, and further, calls out the Priest as being a “whitewashed wall.” He is referring to the practice of painting the walls of tombs white so that the law-abiding did not accidentally touch a dead body, which is also a law. By saying this, Paul is basically saying to the High Priest that he is acting as if he was above the law. Then Paul recognizes the different beliefs of the Sad’ducess, who did not believe in the hope of the resurrection, and the Pharisees who did.  He uses their divides to help save his life.

In reading and studying this passage, I was struck by how complicated the laws were, and by how easy is was to break one in an effort to enforce another. What also struck me were the strong divides of the Sad’ducees and the Pharisees. 

But we know that Jesus brought a replacement of these old laws. In a recent message to the Church, Bishop Curry quotes Jesus’ replacement of those laws with the two commandments: “Love the Lord God with all your heart and soul, all your mind, all your strength” and “you should love your neighbor as yourself.” He further says, “Jesus makes it abundantly clear that the way of unselfish sacrificial love that seeks the good and the well being of others, as well as yourself, that love, is the rubric of Christian life.” In Father Mark’s sermon on Good Shepherd Sunday, he challenged us to “remember to be people of hope, a people who are clued Into Jesus’ desire that we live the abundant life, Jesus’ desire that we have life abundant all around us.”

Although we were handed this wonderful Grace, have Christians repeated the divisions of the believers that came before them? With these two laws to follow, have we gone off course of the core of Christianity in our conversations with each other, and with those who have not yet found the Gift? In a time when we can’t be together physically, how can we be more united as a church and with the entire Christian community? What binds us all together and how can we individually become the “people of hope” to each other and to those who have yet to find God’s Love?              
                                                                              Tara Lightner, EfM, Year 1

ACTS 25
Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, 2 where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul. 3 They requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way. 4 Festus answered, “Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon. 5 Let some of your leaders come with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there.”

ACTS 25
Acts 25 is a continuation of Paul’s defense against charges brought against him by Jewish leaders who wanted him transferred to Jerusalem from Caesarea as they planned to kill him along the way. The new Roman official Festus, more honest than the former one, Felix, found that the Jewish leaders couldn’t prove any of the allegations against Paul but wanted to do the Jewish leaders a favor and so asked Paul if he would go to Jerusalem to stand trial there against the same charges; and Paul said no that he was in Caesar’s court and should be tried there and not handed over to the Jews and that he appealed to Caesar.

Festus conferred with his council and declared “You have appealed to Caesar.  To Caesar you will go.” Festus then consulted with King Agrippa who had come to pay his respects as, although he didn’t find Paul guilty of any of the crimes he was accused of but didn’t have anything definite to write to the Emperor about Paul, he needed some help.

Paul again shows his assertiveness, and Felix’s honesty has put him in a bind. King Agrippa is anxious to meet Paul who claims that Jesus is alive.                                                 Sally Lewis, EfM, Year 4