Devotion - Tuesday, Octobe 19

In Acts 23:12-24 we read of one of the plots to kill Paul. There are several such stories, in the Book of Acts. Paul was persecuted in much the same way as Jesus; those who wished to silence his message wanted him dead.

In Acts 23, it is a group of forty men to take a vow that they will “taste no food” till they have killed him. They share their intentions with the religious leaders. They ask these leaders to send to the tribune a request to bring him back before the Council, under the pretense of asking him more questions about this new teaching. When the tribune hears of the plot, he appoints two hundred soldiers and seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to give Paul safe passage. It is the civil authority who protects Paul from the intentions of the religious community.

We know that it does not always operate that way. But in this case, it is the non-religious who do the right thing. I am not merely referring to protecting the message of Christ – I mean that they preserve life and ward off deceit. The tribune was able to see the wrong of what was being planned by those blinded by religious zeal.

I love Jesus as much as anyone. I am guided by his words and I am directed by his teachings. But I pray that my zeal would never overtake my awareness of what is right and what is wrong. I will not accept, for a moment, that it is acceptable to God for my devotion to His Son to lead to my setting aside the foundational teachings of justice and mercy. The message proclaimed by my Lord will withstand any challenge – I don’t need to defend it by silencing those who would preach a different message.

Too many in our world are blinded by religious zeal. This is true of every religious community – ours as well as that of other traditions. Let us take an oath, not to destroy the messengers with whom we disagree, but to listen to their story and to seek ways to bring their story under the umbrella of the Truths witnessed to by our Lord. May our oath be to defend our neighbor’s actions in the kindest of ways, and to assist them in all of their bodily needs.