Mtr Kelli Joyce

Friends in Christ,

Today’s readings from John and Acts both recount attempted stonings - of Jesus in John, and of Paul and Silas in Acts. Jesus and Paul and Silas were doing amazing works of power, healing and feeding and providing for many people. And they were teaching, too. Teaching about Jesus’ unique relationship to God the Father, and about God’s plan to redeem and restore the world. It was the latter that got them in trouble. Jesus gets a little snarky about it - “which of my good deeds is it that you’re going to stone me for, exactly?”

But it’s not the good deeds that are the problem, they make clear. It’s the motivation, the implications, the instruction accompanying the good works. Charity is generally popular with people of all kinds of backgrounds and beliefs, but neither Jesus nor Paul nor Silas would leave it there. They explained how and why they were doing the good that they were doing - they explained that Jesus was the Son of God, and that all of us are called to believe in him and in the mission for which he was sent.

We do our “good works” in a very different environment than they did. “Jesus loves you” has become a cliche instead of a moving and profound theological truth. I’m not suggesting that when we help people we should make sure we also try to proselytize them. But I do think that as we care for the poor and marginalized with our actions, we should also think about how and why we do what we do, and should be bold enough to tell the truth in the presence of powerful people who may be upset by that truth. That God cares about the lives of people we’ve written off as much as the lives of the respectable and the successful and the righteous. That we are obligated to be good stewards of the creation that God entrusted to our care at the beginning. That our ultimate loyalty is to the Kingdom of Heaven, not to any earthly nation or authority. That we are able to love because God first loved us. What truths are we willing to rock the boat for, even if it might cost us something? How is Christ calling us to follow his example in our own day?

In peace,
Mtr. Kelli