Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“And when an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, the apostles learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country; and there they continued proclaiming the good news.”
NL Daily Devotion for Friday, May 5, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
I can’t help it. When I read this, I find myself singing the chorus to Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping.”
I get knocked down, but I get up again
You’re never gonna keep me down
Yeah, it’s a pub drinking song, but it sort of feels like it encapsulates a lot of Paul’s missionary journeys. Everyplace he went he kicked off little maelstroms of religious jockeying. He was threatened, mobbed, stoned, arrested, chased off, and more and every time he got knocked down…well, see the chorus, above.
And while it’s tempting to look at Paul and think, “Wow! What tenacity! I could never have done what he did!” the fact of the matter is that it wasn’t Paul who was tenacious. It was the Holy Spirit through Paul working because the good news of Jesus was too good, too big, to world-transforming to be squashed. And guess what? It still is. So the Holy Spirit is still out there calling us into the work of bringing Jesus’ reign to life in the world. And no matter how many times we get knocked down, we need to get back up again. Because no one can ever keep the good news of Jesus down!
What inspires you to share your faith in action for others?
