Written by Jonathan Melton, Episcopal priest
Acts 14:18 (NRSV) Even with these words, they scarcely restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.
Paul and Barnabas proclaim the good news, manifest a healing, and are elevated as objects of worship. The people want to make them gods. To our contemporary ears (and toward the end of one doozy of an election in the United States), the truly strange thing about this story is that Paul and Barnabas refuse the people’s worship.
Personally, professionally, and in our communities of faith, the pressure to produce and impress is constant. Who doesn’t want to be compelling, attractive, and relevant? It can be difficult to step back and credit God with any positive gains. The simple act of redirecting praise to its rightful object does not come naturally to us. But this is exactly what Paul and Barnabas do.
Day by day, we are invited to surrender our natural desires to be seen and appreciated (if not worshiped) by others. If we are able to surrender these desires, it is only through the good news that, whether seen or unseen by the eyes of this world, God in Christ has seen and come to us in love. Whether we go noticed or unnoticed by others today, may we point with glad hearts to the God who sees, acts, and loves.
Join more than a half million readers worldwide who use Forward Day by Day as a resource for daily prayer and Bible study.
No comments:
Post a Comment