Wednesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 343
Acts 5:17-26
Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
John 3:16-21
On Monday of this week, Rev. William Barber along with two others were arrested while praying on the steps of the Capitol. Reverend. Barber – a public theologian and co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign among many other things – he along with those gathered prayed, “We are here crying to you, Oh, God, because we have heard the cries of your people.” (source)
“We have heard the cries of your people” and for that prayer, for that proclamation of the most basic tenets of the Gospel, they were arrested and threatened with jail.
I can’t help but think of the Apostles in today’s readings:
“The high priest … filled with jealousy, laid hands upon the Apostles and put them in the public jail.” (Acts 5:17-18)
The Acts of the Apostles are not stories from a bygone era; they are Acts happening day by day as the People of God stand strong and true, prayerful and passionate, calling for – working for – peace and justice on behalf of the kindom of God.
What a reprieve the Apostles had in that man-made, hate-made structure meant to imprison not just their bodies but their prayers, their words and their actions! The angel of the Lord appears and sets them free. Free not to return quietly to their homes or to exile under the cover of night, but to go back in the light of day to pray, to speak words, and to stand for and with the people of God. They stood in the light of day, ready once again to proclaim, “We have heard the cries of your people”, and to risk imprisonment once again.
But what is the risk of imprisonment, when the risk of the life of the people – especially those who are among the most vulnerable and poor – is constantly under threat? And not just threat, but grave harm and even death?
The Acts of the Apostles in the early Church and the Acts of the Apostles today are not man-made, hate-made. They are the Acts of “Apostolos”, which is Greek for “ones who are sent out”. They are ones who are call for ecclesial and societal transformation in order to build the kindom of God, not the kingdom of men. They call for reform and they also call for a new way of doing things that is meant for all creation, including those who seek to imprison them.
They are people who have heard the words “God so loved the world” and wept. They know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that God sent God’s own Beloved into the world – not to condemn the world – but that the world might be saved. (John 3:16)
Saved by love. Not money or power. Saved by love. Not singularity or arrogance. Saved by love. Love stirs within the hearts of the Apostles. And it stirs within you and me. What Acts will you Apostles write today? What small acts of kindness — or resistance — will you proclaim with your lives this day?
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image : Rev. William Barber speaking at a Moral Monday rally on July 15, 2013 ; photo by Ted Buckner
julie vieira 
Julie you capacity to encompass all of these readings, pull them together, AND make me read, respond, and think – always something I admire and cherish about you.
my acts of kindness today….
patience for all and everything around me
appreciation for the little things
positive thoughts to help me respond in thoughtful ways in stead of reacting in tornadic way
participate instead of feeling like what I can/could do is not big enough to make a difference
be grateful that the spring is softly exploding in colors that help calm me, and be sure to share that soft, rainbow, of healing breath with all
I’m not an apostle, don’t even play one on tv.
I am someone who can make a difference in just being kind
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Karol, it was amazing how it came together of its own accord. Providence. That’s the thing though about doing things that seem “not big enough” or about “just being kind” … what is small for us may be life-changing for the one receiving. So glad to ponder these things with you!
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