Open-ended,
Life-centred,
Gospel-Focused Explorations of Australian P.
B.
Eucharistic Readings
Acts, not Hebrew
Bible, in Easter, hence ACTS 16: 9-15...
6th S. of Easter C. .. (For
JN 14:23-29 scroll.)
NOTES: 1] Reading from v.1 will
help us get a picture of the geography, if not exactly that provided by
Google Earth! Our passage begins in today's Turkey(-in Asia) &
moves via
Neapolis, the port, to Phillipi in the Macedonia of those days. This is
Paul's first touchdown in Europe. 2]
The 'we' of v.10 means Luke (author of Acts & now Paul's travelling
companion) Paul himself, Silas, & Timothy. 3] It has been suggested by Barclay
among others that Luke, a doctor, may have met up with Paul &
travelled with him because he needed attention for an illness that
dogged him. 4] The 'place of prayer' would most likely have been a
gathering of Jews, with maybe a few 'God-fearing' gentiles. That it was
largely if not entirely a gathering of women suggests there were not
the ten Jewish men in town necessary to form a synagogue.
WARMING UP: Do we have set ways of getting from any Point
A to Point B by whatever means of travel?
TREASURES OLD & NEW:
Identify God at work in anything this week?
ENTERING INTO THE STORY:
9-12 What are we to make of 'visions' these
days? Do we ever experience them, or have others tell us of their
visions? How do we discern the truth or otherwise of a vision, our own
or someone else's? Would we apply the same criteria to dreams, or other
out of the waking or rational experiences? How can we be
sure that it's God who is communicating with us & not some other
source?
Is there
a courage, an imagination, an adventurousness, etc. about Paul, here,
that we would do well to pray God to give us, too? What does it take to
convince us to
do this, that, or the other for God? If God calls us to be adventurous
for him in any setting, is it reasonable to expect God will equip us
for that task? If God calls anyone to do anything, doesn't he always
equip them / us to achieve it? Or are we simply on our own?
13-15 When we're
away from home for any reason, do we make a point of finding where
fellow disciples are meeting, & joining in where possible? How
'choosey' - on any grounds - are we when it comes to whether we
join in or not? Are we accustomed to praying in a variety of places
(like the riverside here) or are we pretty much locked into our pews,
&, maybe, our bed/side? Do we provide enough openings,
opportuniuties for men & women like Lydia here, to use their
resources to minister to others within our Christian community? If we
ourselves are those who have the available resources, are we using them
generously to benefit fellow disciples? If we don't do that, can we
identify why we don't? Isn't sharing resources, including hospitality,
with each other fundamental to being a Christian?
Is ir becoming easier
or harder today to identify those who, like Lydia, 'worship God'?
Are there so many options flaoting around these days that we can flaot
or hide among / between them, have a dollar each way? Given advances in
our scientific understanding of how our bodies work, might there be
some advantage in revisiting the old biblical idea of the heart being
the centre of our person? Is it harder today for God to get
people to 'open their heart' to him than it was in biblical days? If
God is Creator, & all powerful, is that his fault or someone
else's? It wouldn't be ours, would it?
Given most churches
concentrate on infant baptism, what are we doing about leading adults
to baptism, or to the point of willingness to 'let their baptism (as an
infant) really happen to them'?
