Today’s reading covers three full years. Many of the stories in Acts show Paul to be a bit of a super hero. I love that this story also shows some of his humanity. Today’s passage begins with Paul ready to hit the road again. He tells Barnabas, who agrees to join but wants to take his younger cousin (maybe nephew) Mark. Yes, this is the same Mark who will write one of the gospels. The problem is that Mark had abandoned them during their last journey, and Paul wasn’t ready to give him a second chance. So they went their separate ways. Barnabas took Mark and went to Cyprus.
Paul took Silas and headed back to the cities in Galatia where the churches had been started. In one city they invited a young disciple named Timothy to join them. At another point Luke (the author of Acts) joins them. A little later Paul had a vision that told him to go to Macedonia (Greece). This would begin his second missionary journey.
They went to Philippi, where a wealthy woman named Lydia was converted and then began leading a church. During their time there Paul and Silas were arrested after casting out a demon from a slave girl whose owner had been making money off her as a fortune teller. This evil slave owner rallied the crowd. Paul and Silas were beaten with rods and then thrown in prison. In prison they sang. They wouldn’t let their suffering bring them down. And then an earthquake happened, and their shackles fell off and the doors were open. The prison guard was about to kill himself, fearing what would happen to him once the prisoners escaped. But Paul reassured him that they were going to stay there. This man and his entire household became followers of Jesus as a result.
The next morning Paul let the city officials know that they had beaten and thrown into prison without trial a Roman citizen. This was a big mic drop, and the officials were scared. At this point they just wanted Paul and Silas to leave, which they did.
From there they went to Thessalonica and then to Berea and Athens. Athens was the first place where the reception did not go as planned. There was no beatings, but there was also no interest.
Paul and Silas traveled to Corinth after this, and they actually got to spend about 18 months there. This would be the longest they had spent in any one city. They met Priscilla and Aquila there, who would become true partners in this ministry. He would later send them ahead of him to Rome to start a church there.
One of the things I most love about this story is that as great as Paul is, he’s not a one man act. He builds community and he empowers others. His reason is that he knows he can’t do the work on his own. He has no idea when he’s going to be run out of town or even if he’s going to be alive tomorrow. He has to let go of control and allow others to do the work. He empowers both Jews and Gentiles, as well as both men and women. I honestly don’t know how you can read the book of Acts and not come away with the belief that ministry is based on gifting rather than gender. The church over time has read a few verses from a couple of his letters and then built doctrines that have promoted patriarchy. I’m grateful that a lot has changed even during my lifetime, but a lot of damage has been done, and that damage has led to a lot of suffering for everyone.
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