Acts 14:19-21 (NRSV)

“19 But Jews came there from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. Then they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 20 But when the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the city. The next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, then on to Iconium and Antioch.”

This text from the book of Acts follows a successful missionary endeavor that took a turn for the worse in Iconium. It led to divided opinions about their message and to Paul and Barnabas fleeing for their lives. As the horror unfolded, Paul was stoned and dragged out of the city, left for dead.

As I re-read this text several years ago, I was struck by the phrase “But when the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the city,” or as the Weymouth New Testament reads, “When, however, the disciples had collected round him, he rose and went back.”

Paul’s injuries were devastating, traumatic-serious enough to end both his ministry and his life. But when the disciples present gathered around him, something happened enabling him to get up and be able to go on to Derbe the next day.

For me, it’s significant to note that they gathered at all. All too often, even as Jesus’ disciples, even as God’s beloved ones, the reality may be that we find ourselves abandoned and alone in our suffering when we most need to be in the midst of the gathered believers. At times, our isolation is self-imposed. At other times, we may be in the gathering of disciples and still not find what we need to help us go on with life!

So, what happened when the believers gathered? What did Paul find there in “the gathering?” Whatever they did, it seems that Paul found three things-

HEALING, HELP, and HOPE.

HEALING: In the midst of the gathered disciples, Paul found an opportunity for restoration and wholeness-physically, emotionally, and spiritually-through their prayers and loving concern.

HELP: Even when we our healing begins, we still need a shoulder to lean on while we heal-support and empathy-until we are able to get up and move on with living.

HOPE: In the midst of the gathering, Paul found what Andrew Lester defines as “that fervent expectation that enables us to once again be able to see a future.” When we have been that severely wounded, it may be difficult for us to see the possibility of a future, of being able to get up and go on.

Paul’s ability to return to living and to the future God had for him was strengthened by all of these gifts being offered by those who gathered around him after this horrific attack. We may or may not be able to see the wounds of the day or week’s battles around us when we gather to worship, to pray, to study, to play, to simply “be still and know that [God] is God.” As such, we may never know what perils people have survived when they enter into the gathering. Yet and still, each time that we, the Beloved Community, gather-especially during the season of Lent-we can make it our aim to BE the gathering that will us all find healing, help, and hope that enables us to once again be able to see a future.”

Prayer:

O God who loves us into being, thank you for all of those who gather around us when we have been wounded so we can “once again … see a future.”

Amen.

-Dollie Howell Pankey