Acts 28:11-22I’m wreaking havoc with the lectionary for the next couple of days. We’re almost at the end of Acts, which in the Daily Office lectionary concludes on Saturday. In order for us to finish on Friday, I’m skipping chapter 27. In that chapter, Paul’s journey to Rome proved to be as arduous as his time in Jerusalem. But God clearly wanted Paul to go to Rome. “And so we came to Rome,” finally.
Of course, in another sense, the journey is just beginning. As tough as it has been for Paul to get here, the toughest part is just beginning. At least until now, he has been able to play Roman off against Jew by virtue of his Roman citizenship, with the support of his fellow Christians. But Paul is also a prisoner of the Roman Empire, soon to face the judgment of the Roman Emperor Nero. Yes that Nero, who would, in a few years, inaugurate the Roman persecution of the Christians by blaming them for the fire that devastated Rome. Of course, there are the local Jews, whom Paul has no reason to expect will be any friendlier to him than they have been anywhere else he’s been.
Finally, there are the Jewish Christians, who are likely to be just as suspicious as Paul as the non-Christian Jews. Paul had already written to them before he had gone to Jerusalem, in the letter that we have today in the New Testament, hoping to allay the concerns of Jewish Christians that he was prepared to throw out the entire Old Covenant for the sake of winning Gentile converts.
If this all sounds ominous, it should. More on that tomorrow. But today at least, imagine Paul walking toward Rome, still 50 miles away, coming to the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns, and finding a welcoming committee! Christians who have walked 50 miles to welcome Paul as if he was Caesar! Whatever else would happen, Paul knew that he would not be alone. Perhaps, we can endure anything as long as we are not alone. Who are we at Christ Church prepared to go 50 miles out of our way to welcome and reassure that they are not alone?
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