Paul was in prison how many times? 7EasterC, 052922, St. Martin's Episcopal Church, Moses Lake, WA

You who love the Lord, hate evil! If I could just be certain that God is speaking through this person or writer, then I might believe that this person is speaking the truth about God. Have you ever thought that way? Like maybe some version of that? When you study the scriptures, you hear things like, “The first five books of the Bible were written by Moses.” Really? Moses was alive at the creation of the world? That is what people believed for a very long amount of time including Jesus and to this day. But the truth is, that upon critical analysis, you will soon discover that there are many writers. “Most scholars agree(d) (now) that the five books of the Pentateuch—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy—came from four sources: the Yahwist, the Elohist, the Deuteronomist and the Priestly source.” That has been determined by the style of the writing, the vocabulary used, all of the literary analyses we use today for anything “penned” by an author. Paul, for example, in the original Greek uses very long, complex sentences compared to other writings in the New Testament. I think his style shows up in our modern liturgy! Now that the subject of Paul has been mentioned, have you ever noticed how many times Paul has been imprisoned and why has it happened so many times? Clement of Rome, (one of the first popes) claims that Paul was seven times behind bars; Paul says simply that it was “far more imprisonments” than his rival apostles (2 Cor. 11:23). It has been suggested that the frequency of Paul’s imprisonment is not descriptive of a heroic political prisoner. It describes someone “poor, homeless, and of an ethnicity that marked him.” Paul “looked a lot like those who get overpoliced and thrown in jail today.” Furthermore, Paul is not following the Roman way of life, but Jewish customs which are not in line with that city’s ethnic values. Profiling by some police is still a real thing. If a person is in hoodie and sweatpants with holes and looking disheveled, that person should not cruise down a four-lane street in a brand-new car. The police will believe it is stolen. People I worked with in Pierce County will tell the same story if that person is black. So why is Paul imprisoned with his companion Silas this time? The story goes that a slave-girl was making money for her owners by fortune-telling. She was thought to be “possessed by a spirit of Python; she was a Pythoness. Python was the name of a snake which guarded the oracle of Delphi and was killed by the god Apollo. Apollo was a deity of the Greeks and Romans. “Python was used for ventriloquists” to utter “mysterious oracles which were believed to be the voice of Apollo.” Luke writes that Paul was annoyed. That seems to be an understatement. In fact, “Acts does not provide a significant rationale for Paul’s reaction. Perhaps the best we can argue is that the (slave) girl’s proclamation while true was also misleading in Paul’s eyes. That is, the ambiguities of her message, the source of her inspiration, and her role as a profitable fortuneteller corroded the full message Paul hoped to proclaim. If Paul was just annoyed, why didn’t he ignore her? The Greek word here actually means, “greatly annoyed.” As a Christian, Paul hates evil and decided something could be done. In Lukan style, Paul setting at liberty the slave girl who is oppressed. We also, can respond to the evil around us. Shootings of innocent children in our schools are evil and have been going on for far too long. We need to take action to address this situation. There are certainly several things we can do. And it is more than just praying about it, far more. Complacency is not an option. Complacency changes nothing. How we treat others matters and what we teach our children matters from the time they are born. If it takes laws and police to enforce what is fair, so be it. If it takes mental health interventions, we can help make it happen. Luke is spot on with his stated mission of the gospel: To set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim release to the captive. Justice must prevail and evil needs to be stamped out. We love the Lord by loving others. You who love the Lord, hate evil! Hate it enough to do something about it with me.

About Tabitha or do we mean Dorcas?

About Tabitha or do we mean Dorcas? The gift of new life, of eternal life, is the gift of the risen Christ. It is the promise of Jesus. It was true for Dorcas in Joppa. It was true for those “who have come out of the great ordeal” in the Revelation vision. It is true for us. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Let’s begin with a little about Luke. Luke’s is the third gospel, but he also wrote the book of Acts. Unlike other gospel writers, he is the only one who writes both a gospel and an account of early ministry happening after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. In Acts, he continues his style of placing stories of both prominent men and prominent women side by side. Today’s snippet from Acts is a story about Tabitha (otherwise known as Dorcas) which precedes the story about Cornelius. Furthermore, Luke is the only one who names a female disciple, and additionally, a female disciple whom he recognizes as one who is doing the work of a disciple of Jesus Christ. Tabitha is known to Peter and when he is called to come quickly, it appears that no questions are asked, and he comes. Their relationship, it appears, was one of mutual respect. Tabitha is a seamstress and sews clothing for the widows who are generally thought to be poor. She does this out of her own money. She is self-sacrificial. When she dies, the other widows of her group grieve much because, like Peter, they recognize her contribution to them. Peter helps them out because he cares about them. Peter responds, and when he gets there, he responds with compassion. Peter and his fellow disciples as well as the women believe in the power of prayer and the power of the Word. They have their own separate ministries as men and women, but they also interact. If you have studied the early church, you know that this is a long-standing pattern of ministry. In modern societal terms, categories of behaviors could be described as verboten, permissible, or “I should do what my conscience or best judgement tells me.” For those of you that don’t know what the word verboten means, it is a German word meaning forbidden. Societal norms often include a code of law that determines what behaviors are not acceptable. In this country, we have many layers of law at local, state, and federal levels. We have similar rules determined by the church also regarding what behaviors are not acceptable. Those rules can be more restrictive than that of society to assure appropriate behavior, mostly as it applies to adult behaviors. Next is permissible behavior. It is permissible if not encouraged to work towards the betterment of others according to both church and society. It is respectable to be polite, to show mutual respect to and for others. Permissible behavior is learning how to get along with others. Although as Christians we tend to think of “Do what your conscience tells you to do, use your best judgement” as being a rule of life, based, of course on scripture, there are times when we don’t take into account different age groups, those who work, those who are retired, men and women, divorced, children---or maybe we do, but can’t figure out a way to meet the needs of simply being supportive of each other, not just in times of crisis, but more often. It is important to provide for a support group. Activities, yes, but support for each other is paramount. We have new people in our midst, and we should welcome them. Now, nearly post-COVID, is a good time to re-group and consider how to incorporate what shape supporting each other will take. Consider being flexible and consider including in current groups and allowing for the formation of new groups. Remember most of all, it’s no so much the activity of meeting together, but getting to know each other and capitalizing on the support we can give each other in those activities. God works through us. It is the support that helps us grow as Christians, Christians who are called to go out into the world sharing the news that Jesus is alive and He is risen! Alleluia! *Connections, Year C, Volume 2, pp. 233-236. *New Proclamation Year C, Easter through Pentecost, 2004, p. 39. *Feasting on the Word, Year C Vol. 2, pp. 426-431. *Acts, Gerhard A. Krodel, pp. 184-186. *Connections, Year C, Volume 2, pp. 233-236. *New Proclamation Year C, Easter through Pentecost, 2004, p. 39. *Feasting on the Word, Year C Vol. 2, pp. 426-431. *Acts, Gerhard A. Krodel, pp. 184-186.