Acts 9:19–31

Be still: Lord, I come before you now, help me to be still and know you are here. I lay down my striving heart and rest in your love. Give me the ears to listen to your Word today. Amen. 

Read: Acts 9:19–31

When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. (v26)

Encounter: Belonging to a community is a beautiful and precious gift from God —our churches, friends, sports teams and so on. Being part of a group is a holy thing, a place of encouragement and laughter, tears and support, and it feels good to be on the inside. However, when in these groups, we can easily forget what it was like to be on the outside, and these communities can become exclusionary places.

In this passage, Saul comes to Jerusalem having had a miraculous conversion and is on fire with the love of God. Yet as he approaches the disciples, the people of God, instead of finding radical hospitality and acceptance, he finds fear and mistrust. It is understandable why the disciples feel this way — the man who persecuted them is now at their front door. And yet, I can't help thinking, how many people have I met whom I judge before I listen? Judge on their appearance, their past, the way they've treated me before. And have shut them out, perhaps preventing them from experiencing the joy of community.

Saul turns out to be a phenomenal preacher and teacher, a man despite his past reflecting the heart of God. I wonder whom we, out of fear and distrust, have pushed out of communities: people who don't look like us or talk like us, who have pasts we would normally shy away from or who have hurt us previously. I wonder what it would look like to open our hands and hearts in radical hospitality, trusting God rather than ourselves?

Apply: Ask God to show you where you may be in a community that is closing in on itself and how you can open up to others, whomever they may be. What would it look like to be communities of diverse people, and to trust God in it all?

Devote: Thank you God that you can perform miracles, transforming people’s lives in ways we cannot imagine. Forgive me for the ways I judge and can exclude others. Help me trust you and open my arms in radical hospitality.