Pastor's Ponderings: Tuesday Bible Study on Acts of the Apostles 14:8-18 (March 24, 2026)

March 24, 2026:  Tuesday Bible Study on Acts 14:8-18

Blessing and Peace from our Lord and Savior be with you this morning. I am so glad that you are joining me for this study. Today we will learn some legendary history of a city, we will discover Paul's particular gift for speaking to people, and of course, we will see that sharing the Gospel is sometimes very difficult. Today I ask you to pray for the war between Iran, Israel, the United States, and Arab nations who are now involved because they are near Iran. Peace is our prayer for this war, and all others that are currently being fought around the world. We have about 5 more days of hot weather ahead of us, but remember, we have evaporative running in both parts of our facility so that we can all be comfortable. Please plan to attend worship this Palm Sunday, the 29th, and then stay for refreshments and conversations about how you, and others, see our community moving forward considering our issues with such large increases in casualty insurance and deductibles. This issue is hitting both small and large congregations. I am confident that we will have the guidance and care of our Lord's Spirit as this part of our Gospel story unfolds here at American. Please also pray for God's Speed for Mark and Linda as they head back home to Wisconsin, leaving behind the heat, and being home for the celebration of our Lord's Resurrection.

Yesterday, as we found Paul and Barnabas fleeing for their lives from Iconium, they headed to even more rural and backwater communities, one of which was Lystra. This story of Paul and Barnabas in Lystra offers us a very interesting picture of the kinds of situations in which these two men found themselves. Having found a man who was physically challenged, and unable to walk from the time of his birth, Paul realized that the man had really come to faith after listening to him speak about Christ. Paul undertakes healing the man, and, indeed, he is able to walk for the first time in his life. The people are amazed at this healing, and they begin to proclaim Paul and Barnabas to be the incarnations of the gods Zeus and Hermes.

There was a long-standing legend about these two gods having come into their community having taken the form of men. Seeing the power of Paul to do this healing, it was not a huge jump for the people to think of him and Barnabas as a return for this legendary experience. It has probably not helped that Paul began his teaching by speaking of creation itself, as he attempted to simplify how he would try to move those were coming to faith in a step by step fashion by not overloading them with the complexities of theology, grace, sin, the gift of faith, and the action of God's love for their lives through the Messiah, including His crucifixion and Resurrection. 

We all know that we start our children, and those who have had no previous experience beyond coming to faith at its beginning for them, by sharing the easy to remember, and easy to see God's action, through the witness of more simple stories, which by the way, all have more complicated meanings which we usually discover through our years in Christian education.  In Lystra, the people who were coming to faith for the first time, were just like children in their understandings of what Paul and Barnabas were sharing with them. However, when Paul and Barnabas heard what the people were saying about them, they rushed in the crowds, tore their clothing, and proclaimed their humanity. Since most of the people had only just begun their journeys of faith, they were angered due to their lack of understanding, trying to blend the legends with these new claims of Paul and Barnabas. Once again, the two men had to flee for their lives, leaving behind more thoughtfulness to develop in the peoples' faith lives. It became even more problematic for Paul and Barnabas when the people wanted to sacrifice animals to these two men who the people were trying to hold onto as their new gods. The Gospel sharers had to run for their lives when they tried to make it clear to the people of Lystra who they were.

As a longtime pastor of our congregation, I have worked to make certain that there is no pedestal upon which our congregation attempts to place me. There will be other clergy who come to treasure the very special nature of our congregation, and though I am not leaving soon, we all know that it will have to happen sometime. I promise that I will not flee in fear for my life if such an attempt is made to glorify me rather than to glorify the only one who is deserving of such devotion, our Savior Jesus Christ. I have been with you for the sole purpose of revealing and proclaiming the Christ of God, and the power of His Love for all of us. I am, and always will be, a servant of the Gospel!

In Christ's Love, Pastor Kim