Daily Devotion for Lent 2020 - Day 33

Scripture Reading: Acts 23:23-35 (NRSV)

Paul is being evacuated from Jerusalem for his own safety.  The number of soldiers listed by Luke seems a little exaggerated.  It would be economically unfeasible to give this kind of attention to every citizen of Rome that was threatened across the empire.

I think it is important when we read this today to realize that we experience it from a totally different context.  As Paul experienced persecution from Jewish rioters in Jerusalem, this was done in the circumstance where Christians were a minority among a Jewish majority.  Today, in the United States, there are around 6 million Jews as compared to Christians at around 213,000,000.  This difference equates to a power differential concerning life in our country.  For instance through much of the 20th century, blue laws shut down American life on Sundays (the Christian sabbath) rather than Saturday (the Jewish sabbath).

If we don't understand the power differential, tragedies like the Holocaust can occur. 

Paul understands both sides.  Prior to his baptism, he was a persecutor himself.  He experienced all of the privilege of being in the religious majority.  Now he is on the other side and yet his privilege this time is coming from his Roman citizenship.  This may have further enraged the Jewish population in Jerusalem because they would have preferred to self-govern.   

This dismissive slogan is insulting to a generation
but it also speaks volumes to how they are received
by those entering adulthood.

Christians in the United States today are finding a shifting population as far as how they are being received.  There is more skepticism these days concerning organized religion.  Things that we took for granted such as couples returning to church after they started having children are no longer the norm.  Nevertheless, we are still the majority in this country.  The danger is that Christianity may be seen as something quaint or outdated by younger generations. 

How do we speak as a majority to a generation that finds much of the majority tedious?  How do we share our faith in ways that can be heard rather than dismissed?  I'll take my cue from Paul.  It seems that he was going to be authentically himself.  He would speak to those who would hear and move on from those who wouldn't.  But his interest was in giving everyone a shot no matter where they showed up on the social status radar.

Prayer for the day:

O God, who has bound us together in this bundle of life,

give us grace to understand how our lives depend on the industry,

the honesty and integrity of our fellows;

that we may be mindful of their needs,

grateful for their faithfulness,

and faithful in our responsibilities to them;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr, Union Theological Seminary, 20th Century 

Photo by Trending Topics 2019 via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.