Daily Devotion for Lent 2020 - Day 19

Scripture Reading: Acts 13:1-25 (NRSV)

Laying on of hands in prayer
is still a powerful way to
send forth those in mission today.

We have an eclectic group at the beginning of this reading who are named prophets and teachers in Antioch.  Simeon who was called Niger which is a Latin word for black.  He was not the only African as Lucius was from Cyrene which was an African city in north Libya.  Outside of Saul and Barnabas, we only have Manaen who was a member of the court of Herod Antipas (the Herod that helped oversee the execution of Jesus).

Antioch was located in Syria and as I mentioned earlier was the third largest city in the Roman empire at the time.  It would have been quite diverse and we can see this reflected in this short list of leadership in the church.  We see the Holy Spirit present in their work as Paul and Barnabas are set aside for a new journey.  They fast and pray and lay hands on these two who will represent them in other countries.

Interestingly enough, verse nine is the last time Luke refers to Paul as Saul other than when he recounts his road to Damascus conversion story.

They sail to the island of Cyprus where they meet Elymas Bar-Jesus who was a magician.  The name Bar-Jesus means "son of Jesus" or "son of Joshua" and wouldn't have been uncommon (nothing overtly Christian to read into this name at that time).  Listed as a Jewish false prophet, we remember that magic was unthinkable to the faithful as Deuteronomy 18:9-14 shares:

When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you must not learn to imitate the abhorrent practices of those nations.  No one shall be found among you who makes a son or daughter pass through fire, or who practices divination, or is a soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer, or one who casts spells, or who consults ghosts or spirits, or who seeks oracles from the dead.  For whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord; it is because of such abhorrent practices that the Lord your God is driving them out before you.  You must remain completely loyal to the Lord your God.  Although these nations that you are about to dispossess do give heed to soothsayers and diviners, as for you, the Lord your God does not permit you to do so.

So when Elymas seeks to discredit the apostles, Paul invokes blindness upon him.  This has a tinge of irony to it.  Paul knows that his own transformation came from being struck blind and I believe that he is hopeful that Elymas will have a similar conversion experience.  He doesn't say that it will be permanent but for "a while."

Paul and Barnabas end up in a different Antioch than where they started, this one being in Galatia.  Luke recounts his initial ministry here before Paul begins to write to these churches in Galatians.  As Paul relates the history of the Jewish people, we find that for Paul it ends in Jesus.  We will stop today's reading with John the Baptist who came to straighten the crooked paths.  Note that Elymas was credited for making crooked the straight paths of the Lord.

I think the diversity of the leadership of the early church led to its success in such a diverse Roman empire.  Within the 21st century, we are seeing more and more racial diversity in our world today.  We know that people do tend to congregate in what is familiar or similar and so while neighborhoods may often change in their racial make-up, churches are sometimes the last things to adjust.  I think the question each person can ask is, "Does our church reflect the racial make-up of our neighborhood where it's located?"  Most of the time our answer is, "We could do better."  So if this is the case, we can then reflect, "Are any of my attitudes making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?"

Prayer for the day:

Father, we call Thee Father because we love Thee. We are glad to
be called Thy children, and to dedicate our lives to the service
that extends through willing hearts and hands to the betterment
of all mankind. We send a cry of Thanksgiving for people of all
races, creeds, classes, and colors the world over, and pray that
through the instrumentality of our lives the spirit of peace, joy,
fellowship, and brotherhood shall circle the world. We know that
this world is filled with discordant notes, but help us, Father, to
so unite our efforts that we may all join in one harmonious
symphony for peace and brotherhood, justice, and equality of
opportunity for all men. The tasks performed today with
forgiveness for all our errors, we dedicate, dear Lord, to Thee.
Grant us strength and courage and faith and humility sufficient
for the tasks assigned to us.  Amen.

Prayer by Mary McLeod Bethune, African-American educator, activist and columnist, early 20th century

Photo by John Ragai via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

All scripture quoted is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.