THE SLAVE GIRL

PLUS: A Note

FIRST –A woman Lutheran pastor in Denver pointed this out in a book I read this week. She described working on a sermon about Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. Christians nowadays usually point out that the eunuch's conversion was part of the expanding nature of the faith, as I indicated in the introduction to this unit – and that's true. However, in her struggle to deal with the story in a sermon, a thought hit her. Maybe the story is about PHILIP'S conversion. The Lord was showing Philip that his salvation was not conditioned on nationality or sexual ability. Today, especially in the South, we focus on his being black. But to the Jews of that day, a eunuch was not allowed in the Temple – see Deuteronomy 23:1. I'm not sure this was Philip's hangup, however, because he was one of the Seven (deacons?) with a Greek name, aand possibly not a Jew.

However, do you remember Peter's weird dream. In Acts 10? He was taking a late afternoon nap on the roof, when the smells from the kitchen activated his hunger glands. That may have helped the Lord decide on which dream to send him. At any rate, the dream was a tablecloth set with all kinds of food, a whole lot of it forbidden to Jews. Starving thought he was, Peter recoiled and protested he had never eaten anything common or unclean. At that point I imagine the voice of the Lord ROARED:

“WHAT GOD HAS CLEANSED, THAT CALL THOU NOT COMMON!

Would you believe that didn't quite do it for Simon? Yes, he went with the centurion's men to visit the officer. But when he arrives, he brags about how as a Jew he's not supposed to be there, but God had shown him that he was not to call anyone impure or unclean. Then he blew it! “Why did you call me?” Huh? All the way though Acts none of the apostles ask permission to preach. They just do it. Peter had preached at Pentecost and 3000 people joined the church. Now he asked one Roman soldier what he wants?

But God had been at work at both ends. Not only did He speak to Peter, He also gave a vision to the Roman commander. In that vision, an angel told Cornelius to send for Peter and gave him the disciple's latest address. The Centurion told Peter this and told him that here IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD, tell me what the Lord has commanded you to say!

The translations don't pick up the thrust of Peter's answer. In the Greek, the present tense conveys continuous action. So what Peter actually said, I suspect in a thoughtful voice, was “I am beginning to catch on that God is no respecter of persons...” I AM BEGINNING TO CATCH ON? After the Samaritan woman at the well, Pentecost, the Grecian widows and deacons, and he's just now catching on. Well, I reckon I'm being too hard on the dude.

We still try to limit whom God can love and Jesus can save. Remember the good Samaritan? The man asked Jesus “Who is my neighbor,” but Jesus ansered a different question: Whose neighbor can I be.

The Book of Acts is also about the discovery of the Christian Church that its message was universal.

So, how do you limit the grace of God?

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

or Bible study group...This Sunday hath been declared by the SBC as Right-to-Life Sunday. It was established many years ago as an anti-abortion crusade, but over the years, its focus has widened. This week, the lesson goes back to Acts 16:16. Seems Paul and his crew were on the way to a place of prayer when they met a slave girl with a “gift.” Rather than a gift, Luke says she was demon possessed. She was exploited as a fortune teller who was making a good deal of money – for her owners. Suddenly she began shouting out that these men are from God and can tell you how to be saved. Listen to them!

She kept this up awhile until Paul had enough. (When you get irritated at someone, do you heal them?) He cast out the demon, and her personality immediately changed so much that her owners realized she would no longer make them rich. So they got Paul and Silas thrown in Jail, and we've already talked about that. So let's go back to the slave girl and the right to life.

I keep reading here and there that there are more slaves in the world today than ever before. I also keep running into more and more information about “White Slavery,” which means girls being kidnapped and made into sex workers. For years, pimps have taken advantage of women by getting them hooked on drugs and making them work as prostitutes to feed their habit. Nowadays, apparently there are several scams out there than entrap women. One is to bring them to America cheaply in hopes of finding good jobs and having a great life. When they get here (if they survive the trip) the only job open to them is prostitution.

I know that Lifeway and the WMU are not frequent in consultations. The women have their own publication arm. And from glancing through my wife's mags as they come through, it appears they have been focusing on the traffic in women during the past year. I wonder if the Lord who spoke to Peter and Cornelius by movies before movies (holograms?) picked out the two emphases, including this week's lesson?

If so, could it mean we're supposed to do something?

Maybe we're only beginning to catch on...

What IS this right-to-life stuff anyway?