Monday, October 8: Acts 8 - Trying days.

As I read this morning, my thoughts connected with the ‘all’ and the ‘men and women’ rather than with the apostles or the central characters in this narrative. It opened my eyes to faithfulness.

 And Saul was there, giving approval to his death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison. Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went (1-4).

God expands the reach and witness of the church by thrusting everyday believers into preaching and witnessing. These verses mark a dramatic shift. Now, not only are the apostles publicizing Jesus’ message, most everyone is now advancing the gospel reach.

The apostles remained in Jerusalem. It was the ‘Pentecost-day believers’ who spoke the languages of the world who were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. And as they ran, they told Jesus’ Message… they preached the word wherever they went.

It must have been exciting days*…

But it was also terrifying days. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison. As frightening as it might have been to see their leaders dragged into prison, now the ‘rank-and-file Jesus-followers’ were being snatched, too. Plus with Stephen’s execution, the penalty for following Jesus increased significantly.

Despite the chaos (or probably as a result of the chaos) the Word spread because everybody was now an agent for advancing the Gospel.

Oh God, help us to recapture the sense that everybody who follows Jesus is a witness to Jesus. And may Your message, Jesus, spread like fire in our locales. Amen

 

*And from Philip’s story we learn that when major outbreaks of the Gospel emerged, the apostles stepped in to make sure the teaching was solid and on track.