Daily Liturgy and Scripture

If you feel shipwrecked, look around for what God is still doing. Paul was, but God still had things for him to do on the island where he found himself. What if Paul had been blinded by despair? What if he had been bitter toward his captors? Because he wasn't, the Gospel was able to spread to the island of Malta. 

There probably haven’t been very many times in history where law enforcement were thankful to have a prisoner with them, but Paul is exceptional. Not only was God sparing him in this shipwreck, but his presence meant saving the lives of all aboard. This is what the Kingdom is all about: lives so full of God that those around us sometimes reap the benefits, even if they aren’t fully decided themselves.

I really wonder if Paul putting the, “I am sending you to the Gentiles” piece so emphatically into his story didn’t stick with the court that day. He wasn’t just telling his own story or defending his knowledge of Jewish customs, he was unveiling something for the very people in the room. That must have been very difficult. When we’re in trouble, it’s easy to focus on the trouble, but Paul remembered that even the Roman rulers were invited to join the Kingdom of God. Agrippa recognized what he was doing, posing the question, "Can you persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?" Perhaps he did.

Paul is about to meet Agrippa, who was a regional governor. Since Paul appealed to Caesar, Festus is really just trying to pawn his decision off on middle management -- the ruler between himself and Caesar. Meanwhile, Paul remains in prison. 

Do you wonder if there was some spreading of the Kingdom as Paul was in prison? It happened everywhere else he went, so why wouldn’t it occur there? We are reading about Paul sitting in prison for two years, but you can be certain he was still preaching to anyone who would listen. I can’t help but wonder if Paul’s prison term wasn’t responsible for little seats of the Way popping up all over the Roman Empire.

Someone who has done nothing wrong has nothing to be ashamed of, and Paul certainly fits that description. Were the people he offended not in power, it is unlikely that Felix would have ever heard this trial. As it was, that’s exactly who he offended. Paul told the story the same way he has done over and over: he follows the law, but he also follows the Way (an early expression of Christianity). He doesn’t back down because he has been shown a far better way than the powers can ever provide.

Today we remember Andrew, who was an apostle of John, then followed Jesus. That is kind of a wild part of his life to consider: he heard John’s preaching and wanted to be his disciple. But John’s purpose was to point to Jesus, and he could scarcely hold anyone back from finding that ultimate truth. So should it be with us: while we might be tempted to promote our own talents, the best we have to offer is still Jesus.

Again Paul uses his Roman citizenship to save his own life, as well as some help from his family. Roman citizenship was a big deal because the Romans were running that part of the world, and their protection was ironclad. While Christianity was far from the official religion of the empire (that would happen later) they were doing their part thanks to Paul to help grow the Church!

Paul uses his Roman citizenship to get himself out of a few scrapes. This is pretty strong proof that sometimes, it is in line with the Spirit to show a little cunning. Paul had a purpose in the Kingdom that couldn’t be fulfilled if he were dead, and God certainly had a plan in mind when he made this Roman citizen a traveling evangelist at the critical point of the early Church.

Our story has power when it’s intertwined with the story of the Spirit. Paul is, without a doubt, someone whose story is intertwined in just such a way. While his audience turned on him at the end, there was still power in what he was telling. It’s been said that if nobody disagrees with you, what you say doesn’t hold much strength. If that’s true, then Paul’s delivery on those steps was both Spirit-filled and powerful.