As this series of posts winds down and wraps up, it is good to look back to notice the threads connecting one post to the next, one week to the next. There are three truths that leave a lingering impression upon me as we leave Acts.
1. An openness to the Spirit. We tend to think of this specifically when the Spirit stirred on Pentecost and the disciples were able to speak a variety of languages. Yet, I would also suggest that Philip had an openness to the Spirit when he had the courage to engage in conversation with the Ethiopian Eunuch. The same for Ananais when he went to go see Saul, Mr. Persecuting the Early Church. The same for Peter who let go of his cherished understandings to embrace a Roman military official. One of the struggles of our contemporary world is that we do cling too tightly to our ways or it is the highway. We cling tightly to who is in and who should be out. We cling tightly to our truth and easily dismiss others with an agree to disagree line. To be sure, engaging others who passionately see the world differently is difficult. If it was easy to draw the circle wide, everyone would do it! This is why the openness to the Spirit matters and can make a difference today...in our lives. But it may call us to talk to the stranger, sojourner, and even someone who adamantly disagrees with us.
2. When we do this, Acts tells story after story of being wrapped in wonder. This sense of awe is in short supply today. One reason is our heady, analytical ways can strip the world of seeing its beauty. A second reason is we can think that the bad news cycles in the paper, TV, and internet are the only news. They are not! But God's still speaking voice doesn't seem to get much airplay, or at least not in a way that comes across very lovingly. Too often the voice boxes for God today are judgment and intolerant. I am not sure many folks have really read Acts inclusion and extravagant love. Or if they have, many seem glad that such truths are ancient history. But they are not for me. And I don't believe they can be for the church. Wonder comes when we open ourselves to another, expecting the worst, and find more than a trace of God's grace. Wonder comes in small, sometimes insignificant moments that really make all the difference. A few examples, our family recently went to see several of the Smithsonian museums in Washington D.C. Priceless artifact after priceless artifact. Tactile and tangible items that tell a story. I touched a moon rock...a moon rock! Saw dresses that 1st Ladies centuries ago wore to balls. I saw painful photos of lynchings that reminds me our history is not all beauty; but I did find myself in a state of wonder at the beauty of putting a picture of racism next to a photo of the courage in the face of violence. I could go on and on. And it isn't only vacations. The wonder today of an afternoon off. The wonder today of my kids coming back from camp and telling me what they learned about prayer. Now that is wonder-filled!
3. Draw the Circle Wide is a theme throughout Acts. It was mentioned above with the ways the earliest followers kept reaching out to the other and outcast. But to draw the circle wide has an expectation and implication today. To keep engaging others to the best of my ability. It doesn't mean I get it right all the time. It doesn't mean that people won't come by and seemingly erase all the effort and energy I put into including someone else. But I keep going, because that is the song God is still singing to my heart.
To be open to the Spirit...
To sense and share the Wonder...
To draw the circle wide to include others, especially those who are different from me.
What if that is what the church stood for and set out to be about in the world today? I believe there would be more than a trace of grace in that kind of telling and teaching in such a time as this.
Grace, peace, and blessings ~~
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