40th Day of Easter, Thursday May 21: Acts 21:40-22:29

This biographical summary put in the mouth of Paul reinforces a familiar narrative. Paul started in the heart of synagogue Judaism. He persecuted the early followers of the Way. He was extending his work north to Syria. Stop. Perhaps this is too familiar – can you rehear this today, as a tale admitting privilege, not just repenting of Jewish faithfulness?

Retelling the Damascus road experience takes a paragraph, and so does the tale of Ananias reorienting him through baptism, and the tale of his own mission to the Gentiles. The dramatic conversion experience has taken on a life of its own in our time and evangelical culture as a dramatic psychic break from the bad old to the good new. Stop. Perhaps this is too familiar – can you rehear this today, as a tale of a flash of epiphany, insight, or ‘aha’, which demands a paradigm shift to be worked out in a new context? Gentile conversations cannot be like Paul’s!

Mob violence interrupts the recital. The tribune proposes to mollify the crowd by beating the truth out of Paul. Paul asserts his privilege as a Roman citizen, and the beating is prevented. Paul has more ‘juice’ than the tribune – he is not an easily beaten underling. What do you know about such privilege? It’s unfair, but how does your privilege insulate you from violence and insult?