“A confusing situation”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Monday, August 26, 2024 Acts 9: 19b-31(Forward, p. 28) CEV p. 1145
What in the world were they to ‘make’ of Saul, the future St. Paul of New Testament fame? Here he was, firstly, in Damascus, resolutely and bravely preaching Jesus as the Son of God, and then once again, doing the same in Jerusalem. In both places people were perplexed and wondered what to ‘make’ of him. Wasn’t he the very one who’d been so incensed about the growing Christian movement that he wanted them wiped out and even got letters from the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem authorizing him to carry out this vengeful work further abroad, in Damascus in fact? Was this just a ploy, a facade, to worm his way in and falsely earn the trust of Christians, or was this for real? Everyone was quite perplexed.
To this scenario we find a couple of conflicting responses. Firstly, on the one hand, some of those he preached to in Jerusalem and Damascus decided after a while, that this could not be a ploy but was for real. They decided that enough was enough, that this had gone on for far too long, concluded that Saul needed to be silenced, and so made plans to have him killed.
And, on the other hand, his fellow Christians in Jerusalem were likewise suspicious and wondering about his motives and sincerity. Quite frankly, and understandably, they were afraid of him. They wondered whether he was truly a believer. And so, it is here that our beloved Barnabas, our ‘son of encouragement’, probably makes one of his most important contributions toward the spread of Christianity. He brought Saul to the apostles and paves the way for him with them. He does this by explaining the facts of Saul’s conversion and sharing how he had bravely preached Jesus in the synagogues in Damascus. Now, how Barnabas learned all this we will probably never know, but obviously he believed it, and so he put himself, and the infant church, on the line. It was quite a risk, one where the evidence was anything but clear and error proof—but it paid off. And, in like manner, I think that sometimes we need to do the same. We need our own Barnabas’, who will listen to the evidence, test it to see whether it makes sense, and then present it confidently and eloquently to the decision makers. In the end, it wasn’t he who made the decision, no, but he certainly empowered it. Thanks be to God for people like him.
Forward notes: “Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, [the church] increased in numbers” (verse 31b).
“The early church grew in strength and numbers when believers walked in reverence to the Lord and received the comfort of the Holy Spirit. This is the mystery of the Trinity.
“As a small child, I rarely saw my grandparents, but I always enjoyed their visits. They are inseparable in my memory. We called my grandfather ‘Big Dad’ because he was taller than my father. He was a quiet listener, a disciplinarian whom we revered. My nana was a teacher, always ready with a story or a book. We ran to her for comfort and to dry our tears. Together, they introduced my sisters and me to the Bible and fostered my early faith. After Nana died, Big Dad lingered on for a few years with a broken heart. They had been kindred spirits, meant to be together.
“We the church grow in strength and numbers when we are bound by the three in one. The gift of the Holy Spirit helps us to walk in reverence to the Lord, the Son of God.”
MOVING FORWARD: “How do you make sense of the Trinity?”