Easter Week 5

Psalm: Psalm 22:25-31 
Acts: Acts 8:26-40 
Gospel: John 15:1-8 
Epistle: 1 John 4:7-21

I hope you all are enjoying the start to May and the change in weather. Perhaps you also have been watching the TV show AD on NBC. Perhaps that is what is inspiring me to work with Acts in the weeks since Easter. But I am also finding the readings really interesting and learning some new things. I hope that your readings of Acts have been insightful as well. As interesting as Acts this week is, we also have to touch on our 2 readings from John and 1 John for no other reason than the importance of what they say.

So, starting with Acts I came to the realization today how important Phillip is to the story of the early Church. Everyone can tell you about Paul, Peter, or John, but it is actually Phillip who gets the first honor of spreading the Gospel outside of Jerusalem in Acts. The narrative of Saul, soon to be Paul, begins at the stoning of Stephen and the persecution that heightens in Jerusalem. But then there is a pause in his story while the author explains how Paul's persecution led to the evangelistic journeys of Phillip. Throughout history, Phillip was know as the Phillip the Evangelist to distinguish him from Phillip the Apostle. Phillip the Evangelist was one of the seven who helped distribute the money and care for the orphans and widows.

But this brings up a good point about the early Christian leaders. Out of the first three "missionaries" in Acts--Phillip, Peter and Paul-- only one was a part of the 12 apostles. We don't know what Phillip and Paul were doing or if perhaps Phillip followed Jesus before the Crucifixion. The leader of the Christians in Jerusalem, the center of the movement, again was not one of the Apostles or early followers of Jesus, it was James the brother of Jesus. Then there was Barnabas and Timothy, who journeyed with Paul, and the unnamed Ethiopian today who no doubt brought the Gospel of Jesus to Northern Africa on his journey home. Tradition has it that he converted his queen, Candace, (a title such as Pharaoh or Caesar, rather than a name) and brought Christianity to Ethiopia. The early Church very quickly spread from the 12, or the 120, or even the 500 mentioned in 1 Cor. 15:6, to include a whole host of individuals. I think this fact is what I am learning from our readings from Acts the past 5 weeks and it is pretty interesting to think about how quickly Christianity spread throughout the Roman empire and even beyond to places such as India.

Well, there is much more to talk about in terms of the interaction between Phillip and the Ethiopian, but I want to touch on the corresponding passages from John and 1 John. John 15:1-8 are Jesus' words about Jesus being the vine and the importance of his followers staying connected to the vine. The importance of "abiding" in Jesus is stressed as the only way to truly follow him. Abiding or remaining in Jesus means that we don't waiver or go back and forth between following sometimes and then doing our own thing other times. This is the lifestyle that bears fruit and glorifies the Father.

In 1 John 4, John tells us what that life of abiding looks like. It is a life characterized above all else by love. Love God and love the "brethren" (fellow Christians). It is that simple for John. I don't want to stress the "brethren" part too much because the example John asks us to follow is Jesus who died not only for his friends or the Jews or those who accept him, but died for all of humanity and even all of creation. Later John writes that if we can't love our brothers, who we do see, how can we love God, who we have never seen? There is one other point that is more historical to 1 John that one commentary made. (The Abingdon Bible Commentary)John is writing to an audience struggling with Gnostic influence and a more mystical, esoteric view of Christianity. And although John himself is deemed by some to be a mystic, (he is after all the traditional writer of Revelation) he firmly grounds his theology and following Jesus not just in love of God, but in love of our fellow man. How we live and treat others actually matters! So abiding in Jesus, the true vine, means that we constantly seek to live a life of love.

This week may we be faithful to the life of love God has called us. I might be a broken record on this point, but we, of course, do this not through our own strength, but only through the help of the Holy Spirit and the fellowship of believers.

Grace and Peace.