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| "Dunes of Gold" by Patrick Emerson |
Paul
†
A Greeting
It is you who light my lamp; the Lord, my God,
lights up my darkness.
(Psalm 18:28)
A Reading
When he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples;
and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was
a disciple. But Barnabas took him, brought him to the apostles, and
described for them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who had
spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the
name of Jesus. So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem,
speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He spoke and argued with
the Hellenists; but they were attempting to kill him. When the
believers learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent
him off to Tarsus. Meanwhile the church throughout Judea, Galilee,
and Samaria had peace and was built up. Living in the fear of the
Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
(Acts 9:26-31)
Music
Meditative Verse
O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.
(Psalm 43:3)
A Prayer
Christ as a light
illumine and guide me
Christ as a shield
overshadow me.
Christ under me;
Christ over me;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all powerful...
Christ as a light;
Christ as a shield;
Christ beside me on my left and right.
A Celtic canticle, found in Celtic Daily Prayer:
Prayers and Readings from the Northumbria Community,
a resource produced by the Northumbria Community
Verse for the Day
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
(Psalm 119:105)
†
Acts 9 offers the first of three accounts in the book of Acts of the conversion of Saul the persecutor of Jesus' followers, to Paul the apostle and early founder of the church. They all describe how Paul was making his way to Damascus in Syria to arrest more people, when he was blinded by a flash of light on the road and Jesus appeared and spoke to him. Jesus not only forgives Paul but calls him to be a leader in his church. Immediately, Paul goes forward into Syria as a force of light. When we hear Paul’s story, it's hard not to think about what a blinding light means today to anyone walking on the road from Damascus: rather than a sign of God's presence, it is likely a dangerous moment of war. Paul's instantaneous conversion began a new path of prophetic witness. Those early days were rough for him because he carried a dangerous and dire reputation. Jesus forgave him, but would the others? It takes Barnabas, who will eventually become closely associated with Paul’s missionary voyages, to convince the apostles to accept him as one of them. Can today's blinding lights of war become the lights of reconciliation and love? In the LC† Welcoming the Stranger Lenten project, the story of Paul's conversion was used to begin a week of looking at refugees and migrants displaced by climate change. The link between the drought in the Fertile Crescent and the war in Syria was discussed then. (Click here to revisit that devotional page.) Drought caused by climate change meant that grain could not be grown in what was otherwise the “breadbasket” of Syria. In today’s video, as part of the ongoing efforts in Canada to support Syrians through refugee sponsorship and contributing aid, some Canadian farmers have joined together to farm grain that they then sell and send to Syrians displaced by war. Farmers still able to work, are assisting farmers who had to flee, down the roads once traveled by Paul.
The next devotional day is Thursday, June 2nd.
LC† Acts of the Spirit is a project of
Lutherans Connect / Lutheran Campus Ministry Toronto.
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