And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

 

Saturday, July 1, 2023


Psalms 1; 2

1 Samuel 20:35-21:7

Acts 13:42-52


Observance: Coming of the Light: First missionaries to the Torres Strait (1871)


And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.


Consider these two men, David in our first reading, and Paul in our second, and how similar their situations are, and yet how different their responses. Paul, preaching in the synagogue to his own people, and rejected; David, anointed king-in-waiting, rejected by his liege. Yet while Paul is filled with joy, David falls on his face and weeps. Both have been put in this situation through circumstances designed by the Holy Spirit: Paul has been sent specifically to Antioch, and David is discovering what it means to fulfill his mission as God’s anointed.


There is no criticism of either man’s response here. Personally, I don’t think I would be half the man either were in their situations.


Looking at these passages in parallel gives us a warning and an encouragement. The warning is to beware the hubris of being persecuted for doing the right thing. Activism is for thrill-seekers, and standing up to power and preaching love makes the soul sing. But that feeling can be twisted; it festers as mould in a corner if it is without the light of the Holy Spirit. We know that Paul and his friends were in the Holy Spirit in this case, firstly because the text tells us explicitly, and secondly because of the direct reference to Jesus’ instructions to dust off our feet in such situations. David also, in his weeping, could have shrunk from his obedience towards God, but instead he goes out determined to see where God was leading him. The same man who was once too weak to wear the king’s armour now wields the enormous sword of the giant he slayed.


If obedience to God is the muscular strength of our faith, trust is the protein-rich diet that fuels its growth. Trusting that God does, in fact, love us very much, and works good things for those who love Him (Romans 8:28) is what inspires us to follow where He leads. And as we will see as we read further into 1 and 2 Samuel and the rest of Acts, adventure awaits those who trust God. The life lived trusting and obeying God is to live filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

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