Intersections

Representative John Lewis, a towering figure for civil rights, coined the phrase "good trouble." This week's text says some wrongs need to be righted: there are systems, presumptions and prejudices, oppressive patterns, and economic cycles that are impossible to break out of without help. We are making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. What does that transformation look like?   Wait - you might be thinking that this is going to get political... No - don't worry. It might get political, but not in the way you think. At least - not in any more than I have been any other week. Isn't it political to call for the transformation of the world? Doesn't that cast a vision on how we want to live?  In that vision, do we sing about peace and stop studying war? Shall we pray about an end to hunger and living into God's abundance even here and now in our fruitful world? Who can we look to partner with?  These are questions to ask when ...

  A little background on this week’s reading: The apostles, starting in verse 12 of this chapter, are teaching and doing “signs and wonders” in the temple. Peter is getting to be known, almost as a celebrity for teaching and preaching on the Gospel, so the religious authorities have them put in jail. The priests want to question the apostles about what they are doing, and find that they have escaped (via an angel of the Lord) to continue preaching and teaching about the Good News. They are “non-violently” re-arrested, and they are currently standing trial as our scripture begins.  Our story this morning is part of a bigger story, which goes clear through verse 42, which I’ll let you read at your own time, because this is the part I’d like to focus on today. We have a quick back-and-forth with the priests and the apostles because they each kind of have their own agendas. Imagine being one of these apostles. They were given the task of preaching the Gospel, but now they end up i...