They Returned to Lystra?
This past Sunday we heard at Mass a brief excerpt from Acts 14:21-27. In this narration from St. Luke, we’re told that Paul and Barnabas “returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.” To say that they “returned” meant that they had been there before. What happened to them the last time they were in Lystra? Unless we made an effort to look that up, we probably missed something that has great significance for us in these tumultuous days in which God has destined us to live.
So, what did happen when Paul and Barnabas were in Lystra the first time? Luke tells us. “But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead” (14:19). Can you picture this?! Paul and Barnabas so stirred up the people by their preaching that Jesus is Lord (not Caesar or anyone else), and this announcement so enraged some people that they stoned him. And they did such a thorough job that they thought he was dead!
Now, if that had happened to me, I would probably have written off the people of Lystra, not to mention the towns of Iconium and Antioch, where the violent crowd came from, and headed in the opposite direction. But not Paul. Instead, he “returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.” In other words, he went right back into the fray. He not only returned to the place where he had been stoned, but he returned to the places from which the people who tried to kill him came.
This past Sunday we heard at Mass a brief excerpt from Acts 14:21-27. In this narration from St. Luke, we’re told that Paul and Barnabas “returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.” To say that they “returned” meant that they had been there before. What happened to them the last time they were in Lystra? Unless we made an effort to look that up, we probably missed something that has great significance for us in these tumultuous days in which God has destined us to live.
So, what did happen when Paul and Barnabas were in Lystra the first time? Luke tells us. “But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead” (14:19). Can you picture this?! Paul and Barnabas so stirred up the people by their preaching that Jesus is Lord (not Caesar or anyone else), and this announcement so enraged some people that they stoned him. And they did such a thorough job that they thought he was dead!
Now, if that had happened to me, I would probably have written off the people of Lystra, not to mention the towns of Iconium and Antioch, where the violent crowd came from, and headed in the opposite direction. But not Paul. Instead, he “returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.” In other words, he went right back into the fray. He not only returned to the place where he had been stoned, but he returned to the places from which the people who tried to kill him came.
Why on earth would Paul do that? Did he have some sort of death wish? Hardly. Three things spring to mind with regards to this reading, which seems oh so timely for us these days.
First, when Paul returns, he finds the small Christian community and starts preaching again to them. One can only imagine what Paul looked like at this point. His body must have been disfigured beyond imagination. Standing there in front of the young Church, Paul told them, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). In other words, expect hardship in this life. We are disciples of a crucified and risen Lord. We should hardly expect this life to be a breeze if we follow Him. That hardship might come in the form of physical attack; it might come in the form of being ostracized; it might come in the form of being “canceled;” it might come in the form of being maligned and slandered in some way or other, perhaps even by family members. The attacks will come. Plan on them. Do not think it strange when they do.
Second, given what had just happened to him, why in the world would Paul return to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch? Well, I might suggest he went back because it was worth doing so. In other words, even though he knew he might be met with fierce opposition again, Jesus had sent him to continue the rescue mission He began on Easter Sunday and to proclaim the gospel to all men and women. Paul’s desire was the same as God’s: he wanted all men and women to be saved, to be rescued, to come to know that Jesus and Jesus alone had defeated the power of Death, and Sin, and Satan. And so he wanted even those who saw him as an enemy to be liberated from the various powers and dominions and to have the abundant life that only Jesus can give.
Third, Paul knew the ending of the story. That is to say, Paul knew what we heard proclaimed in the 2nd Reading this past Sunday. He knew that one day, one real day, God “will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order” will pass away (Rev 21:4). Because Paul knew history was His-story, he could give himself entirely to God without reserve, holding nothing back, putting all his gifts at God’s disposal — even his very life — to lead as many people as he could into a life-changing, life-saving, encounter with Jesus.
This seems like a timely reading for us today. It can be so tempting when vicious attacks are being made against Christians — sometimes in speech, sometimes in action — to just hunker down, build a Catholic ghetto, and let the world go to hell. But to do that would be to forget our mission as disciples. Jesus hasn’t broken into our lives only for ourselves. He has called us, like Paul, to carry on the work He began on Easter Sunday and that He will one day gloriously bring to fulfillment, when we experience that passage so beautifully described in Revelation.
What motivated Paul to return to Lystra was love. Intense love for the God who had created and rescued him from the clutches of hell, and intense love for every man and woman he encountered, even if they were hostile to him. May this great giant of the faith intercede for us. May God graciously grant us that same love for our contemporaries. May we truly desire that all men and women be saved. May we remember that “it is necessary to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” And may we remember that while we do not know what the future holds, we do know Who holds the future.
Why on earth would Paul do that? Did he have some sort of death wish? Hardly. Three things spring to mind with regards to this reading, which seems oh so timely for us these days.
First, when Paul returns, he finds the small Christian community and starts preaching again to them. One can only imagine what Paul looked like at this point. His body must have been disfigured beyond imagination. Standing there in front of the young Church, Paul told them, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). In other words, expect hardship in this life. We are disciples of a crucified and risen Lord. We should hardly expect this life to be a breeze if we follow Him. That hardship might come in the form of physical attack; it might come in the form of being ostracized; it might come in the form of being “canceled;” it might come in the form of being maligned and slandered in some way or other, perhaps even by family members. The attacks will come. Plan on them. Do not think it strange when they do.
Second, given what had just happened to him, why in the world would Paul return to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch? Well, I might suggest he went back because it was worth doing so. In other words, even though he knew he might be met with fierce opposition again, Jesus had sent him to continue the rescue mission He began on Easter Sunday and to proclaim the gospel to all men and women. Paul’s desire was the same as God’s: he wanted all men and women to be saved, to be rescued, to come to know that Jesus and Jesus alone had defeated the power of Death, and Sin, and Satan. And so he wanted even those who saw him as an enemy to be liberated from the various powers and dominions and to have the abundant life that only Jesus can give.
Third, Paul knew the ending of the story. That is to say, Paul knew what we heard proclaimed in the 2nd Reading this past Sunday. He knew that one day, one real day, God “will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order” will pass away (Rev 21:4). Because Paul knew history was His-story, he could give himself entirely to God without reserve, holding nothing back, putting all his gifts at God’s disposal — even his very life — to lead as many people as he could into a life-changing, life-saving, encounter with Jesus.
This seems like a timely reading for us today. It can be so tempting when vicious attacks are being made against Christians — sometimes in speech, sometimes in action — to just hunker down, build a Catholic ghetto, and let the world go to hell. But to do that would be to forget our mission as disciples. Jesus hasn’t broken into our lives only for ourselves. He has called us, like Paul, to carry on the work He began on Easter Sunday and that He will one day gloriously bring to fulfillment, when we experience that passage so beautifully described in Revelation.
What motivated Paul to return to Lystra was love. Intense love for the God who had created and rescued him from the clutches of hell, and intense love for every man and woman he encountered, even if they were hostile to him. May this great giant of the faith intercede for us. May God graciously grant us that same love for our contemporaries. May we truly desire that all men and women be saved. May we remember that “it is necessary to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” And may we remember that while we do not know what the future holds, we do know Who holds the future.
