I’ve got a great story for you to jump into, a story that comes from the action-packed Bible book called “The Acts of the Apostles”. My suggestion for getting in deep is to try this: Each time you are introduced to a new character, pause to imagine who this person is and in what state of “shackledness” they are. How is this person bound in chains? What is her/his need for freedom? Then weave in some thoughts about which character(s) you relate to. What kind of chains are you dragging around?
Ok, now head on over to Acts 16:16-34, maybe jotting down your insights as you go... and then come back here for a bit…
When I concentrated on each character’s shackledness, I was most intrigued by the exchange between Paul and the un-named slave girl who could "see" beyond the ordinary.
Here Paul has just had a life-changing encounter with the intriguing Lydia, giving to and receiving from someone so different from himself (see last week's blog and/or Acts 16:1-16). So why is he so annoyed by this other "different" person, this enslaved truth-teller who tells him exactly who he is?
I suppose it would be like passing by someone who’s homeless who looks into your eyes and tells everyone around what your occupation is. It would be a bit creepy. And there’s this barrier between most of us and the street people we encounter. We have a hard time valuing that person. We are afraid. And annoyed. And chained to our prejudiced perceptions. How does God reach out to us to unshackle us from the stereotypes that separate us?
Paul goes on to have this intense interchange with the jailer who’s is most certainly enslaved by the Roman empire, even though he’s got a paid position with them. Paul and Silas save the life of this guy and then end up bringing his whole family into the joy of God’s new way of life in Jesus. Life might not be easy for this family, as they turn their backs on their previous way of making sure there’s bread on the table. But they’re connected to a new family of faith.
So was the same gift of life offered to little girl, who was probably ditched by her masters on the spot? I hope so. I guess I’m left feeling like I want to make this story complete by keeping my eyes open to find someone who is undervalued… and offering that someone some grace.
So those are a few of my reflections after reading this story. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please feel free to jot them down here in the “comments”, so others might learn from your journey, too.
This week is a bit different for by the way, since Heidi and I both have unusually eventful schedules. We won’t have a Skype conversation discussing this post, but we’ll be back in action next Thursday (5/20) 7pm EST. If you’re new to by the way and would like to see a more “typical” view of the way we do things, please scroll down to the last blog post and you’ll get a good peek in!
I invite you into a time of prayer… God of little and big people, impoverished and wealthy, visionaries and stick-in-the-muds, those who are free and those who are shackled… In this moment, come into the world of my stresses and fears and set me free. Let me float for a while in your expansive grace. Free me from what enslaves me, so I can look at your world with new eyes, with YOUR eyes… eyes filled with delight and compassion and courage. In your name we pray… amen.
Peace to you,
Kari
3 comments:
thank you Kari, nice reflections, and will help me to preach as well!
The reference to shackles is interesting. I have often felt stuck unable to move but have not thought about it as being shackled. To what am I shackled, what are my self imposed shackes? Who is passing by unbinding my shackles only for me to bind them again myself out of fear, doubt, inadequecy?
Thanks
Heidi
I agree with Heidi, I believe we sometimes make our own shackles out of fear, anger, love, doubt, self-pity and inadequacy. History shows that grass roots rebellion unshackled many from what they felt they were bound up in. Through the Reformation, Martin Luther was unshackled and offered many another way of serving God through the Protestant religion. His own wife, Katie was also unshackled from the confines of being a nun to being a mother.
In the passage, I wondered why Paul was angry with the slave girl for telling everyone that he and Silas were doing the work of God! ELCA Bishop Hansen has challenged Lutherans to go outside of our comfort zones (shackles), outside of the walls of our church buildings (shackles) and reach out to the unchurched and evangelize - after all we are the Evangelical Luheran Church in America. Was not the slave girl just evangelizing?
Paul and Silas were confined by shackles such as leg irons and their jail cell. When the cell doors sprung open, they chose to stay. The Jail Keeper assumed that all the prisoners had escaped and feared that he would be reprimanded. Shacked by his fear, he was prepared to take his own life! Instead, Paul and Silas converted him and he and his family were baptized.
Post a Comment