I have met two people in the last month who are convinced they’ve met me somewhere else.  I do not remember meeting them (sorry!) but they are positive they have seen me before and we’ve held conversations.  Now, it’s true my memory is not what it used to be, but I’m fairly certain I’d remember meeting and holding a conversation with someone to the extent they are claiming we’ve talked!  I think I have a familiar kind of face.  It’s not a show stopper, but it’s not unpleasant so perhaps they are confusing me with someone else.  It’s easy to get faces and people mixed up especially when it’s just a casual encounter.  But that was not the case for Paul and Barnabas when they entered the small city of Lystra in Acts 14:8-18.

            When Paul and Barnabas arrived in Lystra they immediately went to work proclaiming the Gospel.  Even though they had just barely escaped a plot against them in Iconium, it did not stop them from heading 20 miles east to continue the ministry God had given them.  While he is preaching Paul locks eyes with a man who has been crippled from birth.  An attentive listener/reader will recall a similar event in the ministry of Peter (Acts 3:2-10; 9:32-35).  The difference here is that no words are exchanged.  Paul looks at the man and tells him to “Stand up on your feet!”  Once again the healing of someone is attached to the proclamation of the Gospel.  In Old Testament times a miracle was confirmation that God was at work in the midst of the people.  It is no different here.  The power of the Holy Spirit is clearly working through Paul demonstrating that God is present in this healing.  However, instead of a Jewish crowd which would naturally see the connection, this crowd is predominantly Gentile and this fact will put Paul and Barnabas into an unusual and uncomfortable situation.

            The town I live in has a restaurant called the Tom X Inn.  Its origins are documented by three local tales: 1) it was established by an unidentified settler who was killed by Indians, 2) it was a brothel, hence the X in its name, and 3) it is widely believed to have been established by Tom Mix, a famous cowboy and silent film star who owned and operated a Dude Ranch on this location.  Some say it is even older than that and connect it to the Underground Railroad.  Of course with a murky history like that there are also ghost stories attached to the building.  Paul and Barnabas encountered a reaction to the lame man’s healing that was thoroughly entrenched in local history but at first they were unaware of what was taking place due to the fact that the crowd was responding in their local dialect (v.11).  The Lystians believed that the gods Zeus and Hermes had once visited them in human form but they were ignored and disrespected at first.  Finally an elderly peasant couple offered them hospitality.  As a reward when a massive flood hit the area, the couple was spared while their neighbors perished and their humble home was converted into a gilded temple in honor of Zeus and Hermes.  When they died Philemon and Baucis (as they were known by) were turned into lofty trees.  This myth was ingrained in the minds of those who lived in Lystra and they didn’t want to make the same mistake again.  It was obvious there was some divine attributes bestowed upon these two men so the first order of business was to prepare a sacrifice and pay them homage.  The priest of Zeus was called in to orchestrate the proceedings (Acts 14:11-13).

            When Paul and Barnabas realize what is taking place they are horrified.  They rush into the crowd “tearing their garments” to express extreme distress and try to set the record straight.  They point out two important facts.  First they are human (v. 15) and the good things the Lystrians experience are from God above and no other source (v. 17).  They barely convince the people but they manage to ward off the sacrificial ceremony (v. 18).  It is the first sermon in Acts to a purely pagan, polytheistic crowd.  Paul begins by contrasting “these worthless things” (pagan gods such as Zeus and Hermes) to “the living God” who is the Creator of all they enjoy (vv. 11-17).  We can learn a lot from this approach.  While Paul acknowledges the futility of their pagan beliefs, he also finds a common point from which to begin his Gospel message within it- everything has a beginning.  Paul and Barnabas attributed that beginning to the Living God, the true God the Lystrians had “missed”. 

            People today are just as confused about the Living God as the Lystrians were.  They know about Jesus, but they have a number of ways to identify Him that are incorrect of incomplete.  He is a misguided but nice guy, a great teacher or prophet, a god among many gods.  It is up to us to actually take and use those incorrect or false assumptions as a starting point to introduce them to the truth through God’s Word.  For Paul the correction began with a respectful question, “Men, why are you doing this?  We can do the same by simply asking “Why do you believe that?” and let the conversation flow from there.  Are you ready to dissolve someone’s confusion?  Listen to them and then open their eyes to the Truth (Col. 1:28; 2 Tim. 2:15; 1 Pet. 2:9).

Ann H. LeFevre, M. Div.
https://www.annhlefevre.com; [email protected]; https://www.linkedin.com/in/annhlefevre; https://www.facebook.com/ann.h.lefevre

            Tobias followed after his father who was walking at a rapid pace through the streets of Pisidian Antioch.  He could see the marks of history on every building illustrating its beginnings around 300 B. C. by Seleucus Nikator in honor of his father Antiochus.  He sighed as his feet hit the road.  They were headed to the synagogue AGAIN, as if they didn’t go there enough!  Apparently there was a traveler in town who just had to be heard and Tobias was required to go and listen.  There definitely were times when he wished he could be like his sister and stay home to tend the house!

            The Jewish population in Pisidian Antioch was rather large.  Many of the long standing families there had been transplanted to this location under the Selucids during that span of time between the two portions of Scripture we call the Old and New Testaments.  Traveling to this location was treacherous.  It was situated 100 miles north of the Taurus Mountains along a barren route often flooded by swollen mountain streams and plagued by bandits the Romans hadn’t gotten under control yet.  But living there did have its privileges.  Since Pisidian Antioch was the leading “colony city” of the Galatian province it was exempt from imperial taxes and allowed local autonomy.  While not the most accessible city, Paul felt it was important enough to travel there in Acts 13:13-52 to proclaim the Gospel.  When Paul and Barnabas arrived in this important city their first order of business was to establish a connection with the Jewish community at the synagogue.

            Synagogues at this time were more than just a house of worship.  They were the hub of Jewish life.  Not only were they a place of spiritual connection, they were the center of religious education, social gatherings, judicial decisions, and acted as a “civic center” for young and old alike.  The hierarchy within the synagogue always included a “ruling elder”, but it wasn’t uncommon for anyone who had held this position to retain it and sometimes it was bestowed upon a man as an honor which explains why it can occur in Scripture in the plural form.  The ruling elder was responsible for worship, appointing lay members to lead in prayer and read the Scripture lessons from the scrolls.  He would also invite guests to deliver the homily on the day’s passages if he felt they were suitable and up for the task.  It appears in that in Acts 13:15 Paul has met the criteria as he is asked to speak after the Law and Prophets have been read.  While the homilies were always geared toward individual style, the order of worship did not stray too far from a set pattern.  

            There were six parts to the order of worship within the synagogue: 1) the recitation of the Shema (based on Dt. 6:4-9; 11:13-21; Num. 15:37-41); 2) prayers; 3) the Torah reading (which was divided into portions and read by several laypersons); 4) a reading from the Prophets; 5) a homily on the day’s readings which was optional, depending on the availability of a suitable speaker, and 6) the priestly blessing (based on Num. 6:22-26), or in the absence of a priest, a benediction pronounced by the ruler of the synagogue.  Based on this protocol and the time of year Paul is traveling some scholars have speculated on what passages Paul addresses in his homily at Pisidian Antioch.  But while they have made several plausible and educated guesses we really don’t know.  What we do know is that Paul makes an impassioned plea using the Law and the Prophets to present the Gospel and prove Jesus was the promised Messiah.  There is an interesting outcome.  On the following Sabbath when Paul is scheduled to speak again, the God-fearing Greek audience practically out numbers the curious Jewish audience.  They have understood the previous week’s message and want to hear more but the Jewish contingent is not convinced so the Pisidian Antioch mission ends on a mixed note.

            In the early days of American history the church at the center of town often acted in a similar fashion to that the synagogue.  It was a place of worship, doubled as a school and housed town meetings when needed.  Even our “Order of Worship” still echoes some of the elements of the synagogue service.  But the church is far from being the hub of the community and while the synagogue remains an important element in Jewish life, there is still a similar struggle for influence between pop culture and faith.  One quick search on the internet and you will find hundreds of websites that discuss the question, “What does it mean to be a Jew?”  It is easy to see why when you look at the course of American history and the different world view influences that have been brought into today’s culture.  However, the opportunity to share the Gospel Truth remains the same and Jesus commanded us to do so (Mt. 28:19-20).  So, how will you and your congregation engage your community in order do so.  Paul always went to “the Jew first, and then to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16; Acts 13:15) by starting out in the synagogue and it gave him a platform in Psidian Antioch to have an effect on a number of people.  How will you reach them (Is. 52:7; Rom. 10:14-15)?           

Ann H. LeFevre, M. Div.
https://www.annhlefevre.com; [email protected]; https://www.linkedin.com/in/annhlefevre; https://www.facebook.com/ann.h.lefevre

            It’s inevitable.  At some point, on any given day, in a variety of circumstances, and involving a number variables, something is going to disappoint you.  The worst disappointments will come when someone you admired, respected or depended upon will let you down.  They will make a promise they can’t or don’t keep or worse yet they will do something that makes a shambles of your trust causing you physical and psychological harm (or perhaps both) that lasts well beyond the initial moment of disappointment.  It sounds simplistic to say it this way, but in this fallen world (Gen. 3), it is a part of life that we will never escape until Jesus returns.

            We rarely think of Paul, the bold and successful evangelist of Acts, as someone who was personally familiar with disappointment, let alone, someone who failed at dealing with it.  But Paul was just as human as we are and in Acts 13:13 we are given a foretaste of one of Paul’s biggest disappointments- a young man by the name of John Mark.  He grew up in the Jerusalem church (Acts. 12:12) and is considered to be the author of the Gospel of Mark.  In Acts 13:4 John Mark is selected to accompany Paul and Barnabas (his cousin) on their first missionary journey.

              The Greek word to describe John Mark’s role on this mission is hyperetes.  This word can be used in 3 ways.  First it can be used to define a person who waits on and carries out the wishes of a magistrate or public official (Mt. 26:58; Mk. 14:54; Ac. 5:22, 26). Secondly it is used of the person who handed the scroll to the reader and then returned it to its storage place during worship in the synagogue (Lk. 4:20) and thirdly it can be used in a general sense of someone who is an attendant, associate, or minister in any kind of work (Jn. 18:36; Ac. 13:5).  Many commentators place John Mark’s role on Paul’s first missionary trip in this third definition.  But for me, this is too broad.  If John Mark was just an assistant who helped Paul and Barnabas with whatever they needed, he could easily be replaced with another helper.  I can’t see Paul being THAT upset over such a nominal role.  In Acts 13:13 we read that John Mark leaves the mission quite abruptly and returns to Jerusalem.  But we are never given an explanation as to why.  However, a few chapters later (Ac. 15:36-41), when Barnabas suggests reinstating John Mark for the second missionary trip, Paul vehemently opposes it.  It appears to me that Paul’s disappointment over John Mark’s hasty return home was more than the evangelist was ready to deal with but it had to be more than something as simple as bringing Paul his morning cuppa and making sure there was a water bottle at the preaching lectern. 

            Many have speculated on the reason why John Mark left so quickly.  Was he intimidated by the journey?  That is possible.  The route the entourage was about to take was one of the most dangerous and demanding in the Roman Empire.  Could it have been health related?  That is possible too.  It was common for people to contract malaria in the Pamphylian lowlands where Paul et al had just come from.  Was John Mark jealous for his cousin Barnabas whose role was decreasing as Paul’s was increasing?  This could be true as could a theological difference in opinion.  The Jerusalem contingent of believers was squarely grounded on Torah but the recent council had decided the Gentiles had leeway there (Acts 15:13-21).  Did John Mark have an issue with that?   The early church leader Chrysostom thought John Mark just wanted to see his mother!  We will never know what caused John Mark to leave.  What we do know is that his desertion cut deep into Paul’s heart and it not only affected the relationship between Paul and Peter’s protégé, it affected the relationship between Paul and Barnabas too.

            How do you deal with disappointment like this?  Do you let the anger and bitterness you feel over that disappointment control you?  Do you withdraw from trusting others because of the hurt and sorrow over that broken relationship?  Do you attempt to work out a solution with the one who has disappointed you if they recognize their failure or do you hold it against them in the form of a grudge?  When we are disappointed in life, as Paul was with John Mark, the Bible offers only one solution- reconciliation.  That is a tall order!  But it is truly possible through the inner working on the Holy Spirit.  After Barnabas and Paul parted and went their separate ways we do not hear about John Mark for almost 20 years.  Somehow, someway and somewhere during that time frame, Paul came to grips with his disappointment and he managed to put it aside and reconcile his differences with John Mark.  Barclay wrote in his commentary on Acts, “When he re-emerges 20 years later, John Mark is the man who has redeemed himself.  Paul tells the Colossians to receive him if he comes to Colossae (Col. 4:10).  And he tells Timothy just before his death that John Mark is very useful to me (2 Tim. 4:11).”  Paul recognized that both he and John Mark had a bigger task at hand, spreading the Good News, and it was important that they do it in unity.  Unity is our goal too and we are to forgive those who have disappointed us just as Christ forgave us when He died on the Cross (Mt. 5:21-26; 6:12; 18:15; Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:18). 

Ann H. LeFevre, M. Div.
https://www.annhlefevre.com; [email protected]; https://www.linkedin.com/in/annhlefevre; https://www.facebook.com/ann.h.lefevre