Open and Shut

Scripture:        Acts 16:6-15,                           Psalm 67

                        Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5        John 14:23-29

Does anyone remember – or will anyone admit to – watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail. There’s a scene in King Arthur and his traveling companion/”horse” Patsy –  as Patsy walks, he clacks coconut shells together to sound like horses hooves -  come to a river across which is a bridge – a plank of wood, really, in front of which stands the Black Knight, who says, “None shall pass.”   King Arthur tells him must to cross the bridge – to which the Black Knight responds, “Then you shall die”.   After a brief fight – during which Patsy bravely hides behind a tree - King Arthur lops off first one arm, then the other, but even with blood spurting from the stumps where his arms  had been, the Black Knight persists in denying passage, dismissing his amputations as “just a scratch” and “just a flesh wound” as he kicks Arthur.  Arthur then proceeds to lop off first one and then the other of the Black Knight’s legs, but even as King Arthur and Patsy pass the Black Knight to get to the bridge, the Black Knight – now just a head and torso upright on the ground - continues to menace them, saying, “I’ll bite your legs off.” 

Our reading from Acts is a portion of the narrative of Paul’s second missionary journey, as written by the author of Luke’s gospel.  It’s interesting that the writer was an eyewitness to many of the events of the journey.  In the beginning of his gospel, Luke explains that he had consulted previously-compiled accounts before organizing them into his gospel, and the same may apply to some of the Book of Acts.  But in today’s reading, Luke uses the word “we” several times, including himself as one present with Paul and the others.  These “we” passages in Acts have an extra level of color and detail even greater than that of the rest of the book.

For context, I should note some background.  Before the events in today’s reading, Paul had returned from what is called the Jerusalem Council, where Paul and his mission partner Barnabas met with Peter and James and other apostles, and it was decided that Gentiles could become Christians without having to be circumcised and follow the Jewish kosher laws.  This is an important note, because without this blessing from the apostles, Paul’s mission would have come to nothing, as his converts would have been rejected and excluded by those who followed Jesus in his earthly ministry, or at best relegated to second class status.  After this, Paul and Barnabas had a falling out, because Barnabas wanted to take a man named John Mark with them – by tradition this man would later write the gospel of Mark – but apparently John Mark had abandoned them on an earlier mission, and so while Barnabas was willing to give him a second chance, Paul said “Absolutely not”.  So Barnabas and Mark went their way on another missionary journey, and Paul chose a man named Silas to go with him.

But this portion of Paul’s journey got off to a slow start.  And as I talk about it, you can look at the map in your bulletin.  We’re told that they went through Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Spirit to speak in Asia.  And I should explain that this is not the area we would consider Asia, but is part of modern-day Turkey.  They tried to enter Bithynia, but we’re told that “the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them.”  And at this point I can’t help but wondering – how did they come to understand that the Spirit didn’t want them to enter Asia or Bithynia?  Did they have visions?  I have this cartoon image in my head of Jesus as the Black Knight saying to Paul, “None shall pass.”  The account in Acts leaves fascinating, tantalizing questions about what they experienced; we can only wish they’d given us more detail.  And several commentators I read noted that it may have been Silas more than Paul who heard the Spirit saying that Asia and Bithynia were off limits to them.  Apparently while Barnabas had been sensitive to discerning where the spirit wanted them to go, Silas was better at discerning where the Spirit didn’t want them to go.  Barnabas was receptive when the Spirit said “yes”; Silas was receptive when the Spirit said “No.”   Perhaps Paul was having second thoughts about his decision to separate from Barnabas; this Silas fellow was throwing cold water all over Paul’s plans.

So at this point they must have been asking, “So where do you want us to go, Spirit of Jesus?  We’re heard ‘no’ to Asia and ‘no’ to Bithynia from you, could ya throw us a ‘yes’”.   And then they get their “yes” – Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

So they went to Macedonia, to a place called Philippi, a Roman colony – we know from history that Rome settled its retired generals and military leaders in Philippi.  Once at Philippi, on the Sabbath they went outside the city walls and down by the river, where they supposed prayers were held – this Roman colony would have relegated Jewish worship to the margins, outside the city wall, down by the river  – and Paul found a little group of women who were, we told, worshippers of God. We don’t know whether these women had fully converted to Judaism or were Gentiles who believed in Israel’s God.  They prayed to Israel’s God, even though they were so far away, hoping Israel’s God would hear their prayers.  Paul spoke to them about Jesus, and we’re told that a woman named Lydia was receptive.  Now, Lydia was a handful – an independent businesswoman who dealt in purple linen cloth, very expensive as purple dye was very expensive in that day, and a forceful personality.  Paul baptized Lydia and her family that day down by the riverside, and we’re told that Lydia prevailed upon Paul and Silas to stay at her home.   Of course, our Bible contains Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi – one of his most joyful letters – and that church started down by the riverside with Paul and Silas and Lydia’s riverside prayer circle.   And in order for Paul and Silas to be with Lydia’s group, he had to bypass Asia and Bithynia.   Guided by the Spirit, they had to say no to Asia and Bithynia in order to say yes to Philippi.  And Lydia’s conversion had significance far beyond herself and her group:  just as Peter’s conversion of Cornelius represented the first Gentile conversion to the way of Jesus,  Lydia was the first European convert, the beginning of the church’s mission in Europe.

We sometimes hit roadblocks in our journey, times when our best laid plans seem to be going nowhere.  We may want something good for ourselves, for our families – or we may want to do some good for the community – and we hit a roadblock.  We tell those around us about our high hopes and our exciting plans, and their response is “meh”.  Or maybe even “yuck”.   Or we find that we can’t afford caviar dreams on our cheese and cracker budget.   

At this point we may need to enter a time of discernment.  Prayer and Scripture reading may help.  Talking to trusted friends may help – in fact, Quakers struggling with life decisions will bring their concerns before a clearance committee, and the group will pray and talk and discern until they reach consensus.  A much lengthier, more elaborate version of this process goes on for people considering entering ministry, as I did; in our tradition, the candidate will meet with a committee and work with a mentor for at least a year before being considered for ordination.  Many people feel they have a call to ministry, but sometimes there are hidden motivations or character defects that will make it impossible for a person to minister without doing damage to themselves or others…and those only become apparent after a time of discernment.  We probably won’t have visions of the Black Knight telling us “None may pass” or of Macedonian men pleading for us to come help them….but we may get some gut feeling or hear the whisper of the Spirit giving us direction.  Sometimes the Spirit may lead us on well-trodden paths, but there may be times when the Spirit leads us where, as the saying goes, “there is no path, and the path is made by walking”, where we have to make our own way in the wilderness.    

And when we hit roadblocks, these are also occasions for prayer, Scripture reading, discussion with friends, discernment.   There are roadblocks that God puts in our way, when we are being willful and God wishes to spare us harm and heartache.  Often we only recognize these afterward in looking back on our journey and seeing where God steered us from harm.  But there are also roadblocks that the enemy puts in our path to discourage us and keep us stuck.  We may be so stuck in our addictions and compulsions that the thought of living free of drugs or alcohol or gambling or overeating or sexual acting out looks terrifying, and so we cling to our chains for comfort.   We may have grown accustomed to isolation, and the thought of reaching out to others may give us nightmares.  We may have grown so accustomed to our safe, stodgy routine that we are afraid to try anything new.  These roadblocks may seem fearsome.  But, like the Black Knight in the Monty Python movie, we may find them to be mostly bluster, all bark and no bite, more easily overcome than we imagine.

In our Gospel reading, Jesus is talking with his disciples at the Last Supper.  He speaks of the Holy Spirit as the Advocate who will teach them everything, and remind them of all that Jesus had taught them.   In Acts we see the Spirit at work, teaching, guiding, directing, closing some doors while opening others.

In the spirit of the old Paul Harvey program “The Rest Of The Story”, I should say that Asia and Bithynia did not stay closed to the Gospel forever.  Paul actually did stop by Asia on his way back home, when he visited Ephesus and planted a church there – and his letter to the Ephesians is in our Bible.  In the region of Bithynia are Chalcedon, the site of several important church councils, and Nicaea, where our Nicene Creed was written.  Chalcedon and Nicaea, located in Bithynia, are important sites in Christian history – but it was left for someone other than Paul to bring the gospel there.

May we become attuned to the voice of the Spirit, both when the Spirit says “no” and when the Spirit says “yes”.  May we submit when the Spirit blocks the road we wish to travel, but may we be courageous in overcoming the obstacles the enemy may plant in our way.  Where Jesus leads, may we follow. Amen.