In-between, Interdependent, Invitational, Insightful, Incarcerated, Involved
“In-between, Interdependent, Invitational, Insightful, Incarcerated, Involved” – September 10th, 2023 (Acts 16)
I’ve never been good at running but have spent a lot of time with friends who are passionate about it. And I’ve noticed that there are so many great lessons to be learned from runners and running. The author of Hebrews urges us to “run with perseverance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:2). We’ve all noticed that different kinds of races require different kinds of running. The key difference between running a sprint and running a marathon is that a sprinter’s body is prepared for speed and power, whereas a marathon runner’s body is made for long, slow endurance. We’re not running this race of life together as a sprint, looking for rapid results or performances of power. Rather, we are running this race of life together seeking to be faithful over the long haul as we follow Jesus wherever and however he leads us. We’ve now reached the second half of the book of Acts but the action is nowhere near slowing down. Today we’re going to camp on Acts chapter 16 and discover six insights that all begin with the letter “I” (because I love “I-lliteration”) which describe the kind of people God has called us to be. All Scriptures I read today come from the NRSV.
We are an in-between people
Acts 16:1-5 – “Paul went on also to Derbe and to Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. He was well spoken of by the brothers and sisters in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they went from town to town, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers daily.”
The events of Acts chapter 16 are all part of Paul’s second missionary journey in late autumn 49 AD. This passage introduces us to Timothy, who, in modern day lingo, might be described as multiethnic, multiracial, or multicultural. Timothy was an in-between person. His mom was Jewish, his dad was Greek. That would have given Timothy a rich cultural heritage from both of his parents. But we are well aware of the complexities and complications involved with being an in-betweener. Everyone who has lived in more than one culture knows this. Every adopted person knows this. Every person who doesn’t fit neatly into human-created categories knows this.
The main challenge associated with being an in-betweener has to do with identity. Timothy likely asked himself and his parents, “Who am I?” We know that Jews and Greeks had had complicated relationships for centuries – at times they were hostile enemies, at times they found ways to live near one another in relative harmony. Was Timothy a welcome insider or an unwelcome outsider? Where, if at all, did Timothy fit?
All followers of Jesus are called to be in-betweeners. Our identity is not primarily rooted in where or to whom we were born or any other demographic descriptors. Our identity is rooted in two simple words – “in Christ.” Here are a few of the almost 100 references to “in Christ” in Scripture. “In Christ we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). “All will be made alive in Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:22). “The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ” (Romans 6:23). “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ” (Romans 8:1). “Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ” (Romans 8:39). We are in Christ. “There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ” (Galatians 3:28). “We, who are many, are one body in Christ” (Romans 12:5).
To be an in-betweener means tuning our hearts, minds, and bodies to the joy of learning from and living with others who are different from us, even enemies. We move towards God’s embrace and towards embracing others.
Our primary identity is rooted in Christ as “Beloved.” And our primary job is to love. We are beloved lovers – of God, of people, of creation. It’s B-L-I-S-S to be Beloved Lovers in Sacred Spaces. We are in-betweeners who know that we are beloved, allowing God’s love to flow through us, making us beloved lovers wherever we go, each place being a sacred space because it is where God’s love becomes known, experienced, and embraced. We love like Jesus loved, radically and expansively, beyond juvenile jealousies, deep-seated divisions, political principles, theological trenches, social systems, and cultural clashes. Jesus withheld love from no one. Jesus loved each person completely, calling them forth out of the world’s labels and categories and into God’s highest and best. Jesus shows us who God is and who we are in God.
2 Corinthians 5:18 – “God . . . reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation”
Application: Where and to whom is God calling you to be a beloved lover in sacred spaces as an in-betweener?
We are an interdependent people
As we read the next passage, let’s pay careful attention to the pronouns in the action.
Acts 16:6-10 – “They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.”
The pronouns go from “they” to “he” to “we.” This is very intentional on Luke’s part. New Testament professor Craig Keener says that when Luke writes “we,” he is no doubt reporting that he accompanied Paul as an eyewitness, making his telling of his experiences one of the most dependable sources for this historical narrative.
We live in a country where there is so much emphasis on independence (the Declaration of Independence, Independence Day, and so forth). While independence says “I can do it myself”, interdependence says “We can do it together.” Christianity is a team sport! As the African proverb says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Author Stephen Covey described a journey from the shackles of dependency to the empowerment of independence to the abundance of interdependence. Interdependence creates community.
Paul saw a vision. Luke received that as God’s instructions for not just Paul but for all of their group. That’s how interdependence works. We learn to live in community whereby each one contributes the gifts and graces they’ve been given by God and have developed with humility and hard work. As we journey together in interdependent community under the lordship of Christ, we learn to trust one another. It won’t be easy; community never is. But it’s worth it! God created and designed us to live in interdependent community.
Romans 12:5 – “We, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.”
Application: Is there something you’ve been doing independently which you could pivot to doing it interdependently with another or others (e.g. praying, exercising, projects)?
We are an invitational people
Acts 16:11-15 – “We therefore set sail . . . to Philippi . . . We remained in this city for some days. On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.’ And she prevailed upon us.”
At that time, in Greek culture, women were limited to being powerless participants in their homes, prostitutes, or perhaps goddesses. Women lacked legal status as persons, the right to vote, full citizenship, and property rights. Their only acceptable place was within their family and household, both of which were ruled by a male lord or master. Only men could participate in community life. Any business transactions by women had to be conducted on her behalf by a man. The only sphere in Greek culture in which women could have some public responsibility was religion. Jesus came to restore all things, including God’s original intent and purpose that all people, male and female, are created in God’s image and have been given gifts and graces from God to use in every arena of life! Jesus elevated women to the place of honor and equality with men, as God originally intended. Wherever the good news of Jesus is preached, possibilities for freedom open up, especially for those on the margins of life.
Paul first sermon on European soil was in the major Greek city of Philippi. Greek religion relied not on priests or sacred texts, but only rituals. Women had no access to teaching of any kind (also being excluded from learning in synagogues). Many men would have looked down on preachers who spoke to women because of the belief that a woman’s role was to remain loyal to her family’s religion. Paul’s message that day was received eagerly by Lydia, causing her to act on it right away as she and her household got baptized.
Lydia also responded to God’s movement in her heart by inviting Paul and his companions into her home and showing them hospitality (which literally means to be a friend of strangers). Here are some of the facets included in hospitality: doing nothing to distress others; providing food, clothing, and lodging; and comforting, counseling, and directing them in matters in which they stood in need. We are probably each more comfortable with some of these aspects than with others. The point is that hospitality is always up close and personal.
Several things are worth noticing in Lydia’s choice to be invitational. As a woman, Lydia risked the disdain of others for inviting men into her home, even though she did not live alone, being a member of a household. Lydia was hospitable to Paul and his companions in a way that honored God and each person involved. But Lydia was first and foremost a follower of Jesus who, in spite of the obstacles surrounding her on every side, listened to and leaned into not the human system, but the Holy Spirit. This took both generosity and courage. Lydia was also a person of power and prestige who chose to act contrary to the accepted social order by using her influence and resources to support the spreading of the good news of Jesus.
Hebrews 13:2a – “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers.”
Application: In what ways could you invite others into your home in order to show hospitality?
We are an insightful people
Acts 16:16-18 – “One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a female slave who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, ‘These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.’ She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And it came out that very hour.”
We do not need to fear letting people be where they are or to control others in case they say or do something that is out of line with God. What we do need is to pray and speak and act with Holy Spirit insight. This unnamed young woman lived a tangled and confused life in a body that was considered a commodity for others to use. Enslaved persons throughout history tend to be drawn towards religion, either because of familiar structures or because of the hope of emancipation. Slavery today takes many forms, including the ownership of a person as property, debt bondage, human trafficking, captive domestic servants, forced marriage, and child soldiers.
This young woman was drawn to follow these disciples of Jesus. She notices something about them that seems familiar to her, calling them “slaves of the Most High God.” It seems somewhat accurate, but her sight is tangled and confused. Their allegiance to Christ Jesus is not the same as her slavery.
Paul and his companions could have fallen into a trap here, one that we are all too familiar with in the church today. It’s so easy to get off track when others flatter us or put us on a pedestal. It’s so easy to do things so that others will notice and say nice things about us. When I first began to respond to the Lord’s call on my life to practice and develop the leadership and teaching gifts God has given me, a caring friend wisely cautioned me to “always remember to give all the glory to God.” I am also reminded of 13th century theologian Thomas Aquinas’s definition of love: “the choice to will the good of the other.” How easy it would be to treat others as objects who exist to give us praise and affirmation. It is so important to cultivate a healthy relational culture in which both words of love and words of truth can be spoken in every direction. This sort of thing is easier to notice when we meet someone new (whether in person or online) who is enamored with us because of an accent, an attribute, or an affiliation that they find endearing. Our culture is centered on ego and self-promotion, and the church is not immune to these dangers. The feeding of the ego is addictive, no matter where we fall on the insecure-secure spectrum, if our focus is on ourselves.
Paul received insight from God as to what was really going on, enabling him to will the good of this young woman over and above his own gospel fame or good feelings. The Holy Spirit showed Paul what lay behind this young woman’s spiritual power and economic gain: she was enslaved by both human masters and a demonic spirit.
Paul’s insight was followed by his words, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” Jesus, through Paul, set this young woman free. It’s not enough to be insightful, although we need that in order to see beyond religious talk to notice where people are enslaved and oppressed. We also need to act on what God shows us. We’re not told of any special discernment in this story – Paul was simply “very much annoyed.” It’s good to get annoyed when we begin to notice too much religious repetition, too much noise. The point of Paul’s actions here was not to silence this young woman, but to release her voice from captivity. We are not inviting people into a rigid or closed system, but into the Kingdom of God where freedom reigns! It is for freedom that Christ has set us free! We also need to remember that to free someone is never without cost, as we are about to see.
Proverbs 9:10 – “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”
Application: What insight has the Holy Spirit showed you that the Lord would have you act on, for the glory of God and the good of the other?
We are an incarcerated people
Acts 16:23-24 – “After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.”
A couple of weeks ago we talked about the horrific condition of prisons at the time the book of Acts was written. Jailers were known for (or even chosen for) their brutality. Being a jailer came with limitless control and liberal compensation. Paul and Silas’s wounds from flogging combined with the filthiness of the prisons put them at risk for infection. A prison’s “innermost cell” was harsh, crowded, degrading, and unventilated, often leading to overheating, dehydration, and contagion.
Our modern prisons continue to be places of horror. More than 2.2 million people are incarcerated in U.S. state prisons, federal prisons, and local jails. In spite of the U.S. having only 4.3% of the world’s population, we have more than 20% of the world’s prison population, with huge racial and ethnic disparities. Although the U.S. formally abolished debtors prisons nearly 200 years ago, a new trend has risen in recent years in which poor people can be arrested and jailed for failure to pay legal debts they can never hope to afford. Similar horror stories abound around the world. Few people would deny that the justice system is broken. Even the LORD of hosts “expected justice but saw bloodshed; righteousness but heard a cry!” (Isaiah 5:7)
One specific kind of injustice is the persecution of Christians because of their faith. Christianity Today reports that every day, thirteen Christians worldwide are killed because of their faith. Every day, twelve churches or Christian buildings are attacked. And every day, twelve Christians are unjustly arrested or imprisoned, and another five are abducted. The ministry Open Doors USA says that 360 million Christians live in places with very high or extreme levels of persecution. We must remind ourselves to remember the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Christ. And upon seeing it, we must encourage one another to pray, speak, and act on their behalf. Jesus specifically names the incarcerated in Matthew 25:36 – “I was in prison and you visited me.” We must identify with the incarcerated. How we treat the incarcerated is equated by Christ Jesus himself with how we treat him.
Why were Paul and Silas thrown in prison? Was it because they had committed crimes? No, verse 20 tells us it’s because they were “disturbing our city and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us.” This is significant. If we are truly following Jesus, we will be disturbing our city. We will bump up against unjust laws. We will say and do things that are unpopular. We will be swimming against the cultural currents.
1 Corinthians 12:26 – “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.”
Application: How can we respond through prayer, words, and action, to those who are incarcerated? In what specific ways can we suffer together with them?
We are an involved people
Acts 16:25 – “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.”
Notice what Paul and Silas did when they were incarcerated. They prayed and they praised God, in the presence and hearing of the other prisoners. I want to point out two unseen realities going on here. Firstly, whenever we pray or praise, we are joining the prayers and songs of the angels and saints who have gone before. Secondly, whenever we pray or praise, we are joining the prayers and songs of our incarcerated brothers and sisters around the world who are crying out in desperation to the God who saves and delivers. Even when we cannot physically hear these voices, God calls us to be involved in worship and in action. How would our worship change if we kept these two realities in mind every time we prayed or sang together? We can get involved like Paul and Silas did.
Theologian Willie James Jennings points out that “there is a space between the truth that people do wrong and horrible things and the truth that people go to prison. The disciples of Jesus live in that space, because it is the space where the incarnate God has chosen to be seen and known.” Jesus was innocent, but that did not prevent him from suffering the ordeals of excessive torture, an unjust trial, and public execution. It’s easy to write people off in prison if we think that they somehow deserve their horrific punishment. God invites us into the space between people and prison systems. We need to realize that the definition of “a crime” is not as simple as a dictionary might present it. It’s complicated and often has more to do with public policies, government actions or inactions, and concealed private interests. We all know of cases where those with the best lawyers were able to avoid legal consequences, while those with fewer resources are often profoundly disadvantaged. As followers of Jesus, we must remember that no one is without hope in God’s eyes. How could death, abandonment, or disrespect be part of God’s highest and best for anyone? Jesus came that all “may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
James 2:17 – “Faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”
Application: How can we become more present and involved in the lives of others, some of whom we see and interact with, others of whom are hidden from our eyes?
N. T. Wright assures us that Scripture is challenging because it asks us “to come into the world of the story and find out what it’s like to live there.” It can make us uncomfortable. But it can also change us from the inside out. Wright goes on to say that “To pay attention to the good news is to see the world . . . God . . . your neighbor . . . [and] yourself with different eyes. This is the challenge of the good news for today and tomorrow.”
As followers of Jesus, we want to make God’s plans and purposes known by the way we pray, speak, and act. We learn to become the good news. It won’t be easy. Much will be required of us. Let’s do it all for the glory of God and the good of others.
May we each live as in-between, interdependent, invitational, insightful, incarcerated, and involved people, with our arms outstretched, one to embrace the God who is love, the other to embrace the world desperate to receive that love.
