First Saturday after Pentecost

Lectionary Texts for Saturday:

Genesis 2:1-4a

Romans 5:1-5

Lectionary Texts for Trinity Sunday (Color is white)

OT: Isaiah 6:1-8

Psalter: Psalm 29 (UMH 761)

Epistle: Romans 8:12-17

Gospel: John 3:1-17

Thanks to Jennifer for her comment. My sister Nancy also had to endure the series of shots for rabies (she was an adult at the time). She said it was horrible. I'm glad God brought you and her through that. Little Roxie likes to sleep, which works well with us. She has an eye infection. She doesn't like getting eye drops. She's energetic enough on walks and likes to be outside. She's really cute. Interestingly enough, our house guests this week asked whether we had seen the PBS "All Things Bright and Beautiful." We had not, although Marianne had seen an earlier version a few years ago. I'll look for it next time it comes around on PBS.

 

Back to Acts: Please read Acts 20:13-17. 

 

Here Luke gives a summary travelogue narrative. If you don't have maps in the back of your Bible, get a map of Paul's journeys from your computer. On the map you can follow Paul's progress. Our text today marks the turning point in the third missionary journey. He is now heading back to the Middle East, this time to Jerusalem rather than Antioch.

I remember in the late sixties and early seventies teaching fifth grade Bible school on Paul. The Cokesbury kit provided us with a board game of the journeys of Paul. Each fifth grader would roll the dice and advance spaces forward on the map of Paul's journeys. Today, for example, I would perhaps have to get from Troas to Assos--perhaps five spaces. The next roll would need to get me from Assos to Mitylene, which might be more spaces. The object was to get to every city on all four missionary journeys of Paul. The winner was the first student to get to Rome. I loved playing this game with the kids. They had fun and learned a lot about Paul's travels and about Eastern Mediterranean geography. 

 

Luke does first person narrative in these verses ("we" passages). The more i read the  "we" passages; the clearer it becomes to me that they are authentic. That is, Luke himself was there. There are a couple of things to notice 

 

There are several things for us to notice in these Acts verses of travel summary. Paul doesn't sail with Luke and co. the first leg of the trip, from Troas to Assos. Apparently he had some folks to meet with and work to do on land for that part. After meeting the ship at Assos, Paul and friends sail down the coast of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey), putting in port at island towns and avoiding the mainland. Mitylene is on the island of Lesbos. Chios and Samos are islands further south. Luke points out that Paul quite intentionally sails past Ephesus. After his barely escaping the riot there, he apparently feels that there would be continued danger for him there. They put into port at Miletus. From there Paul summons the elders of the church at Ephesus. The word translated elders in verse 17 can also mean bishops (episkopos in Greek. Apparently at this point the church is not yet distinguishing between elders and bishops. By the end of the first century it will, using the word presbyteros for elder.

One other thing to notice in this travelogue is that Paul wants to get to Jerusalem in time for Pentecost. Jerusalem is where the Holy Spirit had first filled the believers on the day of Pentecost after Jesus had ascended to heaven 10 days earlier. Is Pentecost already being celebrated as a Christian holiday (holy-day) at this point? Verse 16 makes it sound like it is. I wish we would have grander celebrations of Pentecost in our churches today.

God of traveling mercies, 

We are grateful that you protected Paul through all of his arduous journeys. We are grateful that he had the courage to take the beatings and the imprisonments that he endured. Grant your traveling mercies to us, as our pent up from Covid communities begin to move out into the world again. Amen.

Faithfully,

Christian