A Long Trek

 Last Saturday Before Pentecost

Lectionary Texts:

Saturday:

Galatians 5:16-26

John 20:19-23

Sunday:

Acts 2:1-21

Psalm 104:24-35

Roman 8:22-27

John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15

Please read Acts 20:1-6. This is another one of Luke's travel summaries. This one is a bit different in that Luke seems more concerned with who is traveling than where they are going. He mentions six people by name and where they are from. The geographical dispersion of these six may indicate that Paul has picked them as a delegation. Five of the six are mentioned at various points in Paul's letters. None of the six is from Corinth. They all will be headed to Jerusalem for the major purpose of taking the collection for the Jerusalem Church. Although Luke seems largely unaware of the collection, Paul has written about it numerous times in his letters, especially in 2 Corinthians 8-9.

The purpose of the collection is to help the Jerusalem Christians in a time of severe economic distress. We don't know fully the reasons for this distress. There appears to have been famine. Although I've never read this, I can imagine that some capitalist economists could blame the distress on the sharing of all property in common among these earliest Jerusalem Christians (Cf. Acts 4:32-5:11). That the events of Acts 4-5 were 20 years earlier than the collection would not favor this explanation.  There are entire books about the collection. I just haven't read any of them.

Situations in Jerusalem worsened during the late 50's and early 60's. Its church's leader, James the brother of Jesus was executed in 62. Jerusalem was rife with Jewish rebellion. When the Jewish War against the Romans broke out in 66, the Jerusalem Church, wanting no part of war, fled to Pella, on the other side of the Jordan. After the destruction of Jerusalem, they did not return.

When the Ephesus riot was over, Paul fled to Macedonia (where Thessaloniki and Philippi are). Paul liked to check in with churches he had founded to give them encouragement. Paul then travels south to Greece for three months. His plan to sail to Syria was foiled by Jews. Luke does not tell us why. Paul goes back by land through Macedonia. 

In verse 6 we encounter another "we" section. Luke has apparently joined up with Paul again, this time in Philippi. They sail from there a short distance across the northern Aegean to Troas on the coast of Asia Minor, where they meet up with the six others. 

God of all travelers,

We thank you for your protection of Paul and his companions throughout all his dangerous travels. His constant courage daunts any of our own small efforts to spread the faith. Grant us a measure of his courage. In Christ's name. Amen.

Faithfully,

Christian