Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter
I think sometimes people treat church like it is mainly a social outlet - a place to see friends and "be seen." Church is seen as just that thing most people do for an hour on Sunday rather than as a whole way of life meant to affect everything we do. Today's scriptures remind us of the reason for church and for this Christian way of life.
One of the story lines that is consistent throughout the Book of Acts, as well as evident in Paul's letters, is the ongoing question of whether Christians are Jewish, or their own separate group. At the beginning of Acts, they most clearly look like a small group of Jews. The twelve apostles are Jewish and their customs are very Jewish. In parts of Acts we read about how the earliest Christians went to worship in the synagogue, and that they read the Old Testament as scripture.
In today's lesson from Acts, however, (Acts 25:13b-21), Paul is clearly trying to distance himself from Jewish concerns, as he has been for much of the Book of Acts. Paul is the apostle to the Gentiles and is trying to convert them. The focus on Gentiles comes through in much of Paul's writing and actions. In the passages before today's reading, Jews have accused Paul of blasphemy but Paul does not want anyone to think he is under control of Jewish authority. This is why he has asked that the emperor hears his case instead of being sent to Jerusalem to be tried by the religious court as is his right because he is a Roman citizen. This is also why he is sitting in jail, because it isn't all that simple to have a case heard by the emperor. Usually, we would think that being free would be preferable to being in jail, but Paul is doing this on principle. Christianity is no mere Jewish club but Paul is indicating it is its own new thing.
The irony for Paul is that when King Agrippa (a greatgrandson of King Herod and spokesperson for that part of the Roman empire) hears Paul's case in a later passage, he will find that Paul is not guilty, but because Paul has appealed to the emperor, they cannot simply let him go. And so, Paul is sent to Rome, where he will die a martyr's death by beheading, according to tradition. Today's gospel lesson (John 21:15-19) points out that Peter faces a similar fate. He will go where he does not want to go, in Jesus' name, and will die upsidedown on a cross.
Peter and Paul are much revered apostles of Jesus and are considered the two main founders of the church. But that fame did not come because of their own desires. The impact of Jesus' resurrection is precisely that his disciples do, indeed, take up their crosses and follow Jesus to the death because they believe in the power of the resurrection.
Christianity means so much that people are willing to die for Christ. Christianity is no mere social club but a costly life that many have embraced over the centuries. Today, we are asked to take up our own crosses and to witness to Jesus even when it is costly and difficult.
- Jana M. Bennett