“Signs and wonders”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Thursday, July 20, 2023
Acts 13:1-12 (Forward, p. 83) CEV p. 1149
Today’s passage might well ‘stick in the craw’ of some modern, rationalist thinkers, those who try to rule out all evidence of the supernatural having an impact on the affairs of our world. Such people postulate that miracles don’t happen—and never have, and that God cannot speak to people, much less reveal events about the future or even more mundane facts. Thus, they would ‘write off’ much of Jesus’ ministry and that of the early Church as myth or inventions or fantasy.
In today’s story of the ministry of Saul/ Paul and Barnabas we see two instances of this seemingly ‘impossible’ behaviour. The first is, of course, the prompting of the Holy Spirit, to set aside the two of them for the work of ministry. These skeptics would merely explain this as a purely human decision, one that was simply based on the pair’s earlier role as delegates from the church in Antioch to Jerusalem (see Acts 11:30; 12:25).
The second instance of ‘the divine’ is even harder for them to explain or dismiss. A sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus/ Elymas kept opposing the duo and trying to keep people, notably the governor, from having faith in Jesus. So, Paul, inspired and filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke sharply to him and pronounced that he would be struck with temporary blindness—and indeed, that is exactly what happened! And so, the governor, Sergius Paulus, put his faith in the Lord. So, then, how would one, particularly a skeptic or doubter about such a thing, explain this? A mere coincidence? A subconscious, involuntary reaction on the part of the man that had nothing to do with the Lord or with Paul’s words? Or, perhaps it was simply an invention of the early Church, a legend that had grown up in its earliest years?
I, for one, don’t doubt in the least either evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit, the prompting and the pronouncement. I have seen firsthand the Holy Spirit at work in people. In fact, that is one of the things that first attracted me to a more vigorous, evangelical, charismatic expression of Christianity, the idea that God actually does something—whether in individual people’s lives, in the church or in our world. It was a far cry from the flabby, ineffectual, result-less Christianity I’d known in my youth.
To me, this underlines what I believe to be one of the problems besetting many of our mainline churches today: we simply don’t see much in the way of results, whether they be miracles or healings or revelations, or growth and renewal, or simply conversions and changed lives in general. And clearly, I believe that the same God is still present, and still willing to work in our lives and situations if only we let Him. And so, it would seem, the problem is with us. I would pray, therefore, that we open our lives and let Him do just that. Amen.
Forward notes: “But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, ‘You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?’” (verses 9-10)
“About a year ago, a false prophet was exposed in a neighborhood of my city. One would think this only happened in the old days, but sometimes ignorance leads people to be deceived rather than finding real communion with the Holy Spirit.
“This liar said he was the new messiah, and people believed him. He said God had told him in a dream that a local 14-year-old girl should be his wife, and people believed him. He said that, since he was the only chosen one, he should have no male heirs; as he started to have children with his young wife, they kept the girls but abandoned the boys. He was eventually denounced and jailed—yet his evil acts were devastating.
“The Holy Spirit can dwell in us and help us distinguish between righteousness and villainy. It can help us reject and denounce villainy, and embrace love and follow righteousness.”
Moving Forward: “Pray about three things for which you need guidance.”