Sirach 25 – “There are three
things my soul delights in, and which are delightful to God and to men: concord
between brothers, friendship between neighbors, and a wife and husband who live
happily together” (25:1-2).
The
three things his “soul hates” are a “poor man swollen with pride, a rich man
who is a liar and an adulterous old man who has no sense” (25:3-4).
The old should rejoice
in their experience and wisdom.
And
then come what are called “numerical proverbs”: he lists mostly what he has
already said in various chapters.
On
women: “I would sooner keep house with a lion or a dragon that keep house with
a spiteful wife” (25:16).
“Bad
temper, insolence and shame hold sway where the wife supports the husband” (25:22).
“Sin
began with a woman, and thanks to her we all must die” (25:24). What lame thinking – doesn’t seem wise to me!
Sirach 26 – On the happiness of
those with “really good wives” (26:1): “[R]ich or poor, they will be glad of
heart, cheerful of face, whatever the season” (26:4).
He
goes back to the “three things [his] heart dreads, and a fourth which terrifies
[him]” (26:5): “slander by a . . .town, the gathering of a mob, and a false
accusation” (26:6) The fourth thing is “a woman jealous of a woman” (26:7).
Things valued in women – her grace, accomplishment, silence, modesty, chastity,
goodness and beauty.
Acts 13:1-25 – The church at
Antioch had recognized prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger,
Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (raised with Herod the tetrarch), and Saul. During
worship one day, of which fasting had been a part, they felt the Holy Spirit
calling them to send Saul and Barnabas to a particular task. They went to
Seleucia and Cyprus (Barnabas’ home). John was with them too.
They
go to Salamis (on Cyprus) to the synagogues first. The travel the whole island
and in Paphos they meet a Jewish magician (Bar-jesus), an attendant of
proconsul Sergius Paulus (very intelligent). Paul reprimands Magos for trying
to “twist. . .the straightforward ways of the Lord” (13:10) and he strikes him
blind. The proconsul is converted.
They
then go to Perga (S. Anatolia) – John returns to Jerusalem – and then to
Antioch in Pisidia: Paul is asked to address congregation. He talks about their
origins. Then, from David, he jumps the Jesus. “To keep his promise, God has
raised up for Israel one of David’s descendants, Jesus, as Savior, whose coming
was heralded by John when he proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the whole
people of Israel” (13:24).
Acts 13:26-52 - He tells of Jesus’
death and resurrection. “[I]t is through him that forgiveness of your sins is proclaimed.
Through him justification from all sins which the Law of Moses was unable to
justify is offered to every believer” (13:38-39). Then he cites Habbakuk,
warning them not to “mock” his message. God is “doing something in your own
days” and it is hard for people to accept.
I think
this last note is very insightful. I can only imagine what it must have been
like for early Christians to be telling Jews that the living God who had
nurtured them for so long and given them a narrative and a tradition so
important to them was now acting again in history, but in a way that changed
the direction they had thought so unmovable. I think that today as ever, our
God is a living God. It is utter foolishness to assume that God has sent his
last prophet or spoken his last revelatory word to man. I believe he will come
again – himself? through prophets? -- to move us forward toward a closer unity
of the religious narrative, weaving the separate threads of divine intervention
together through prophets who can speak to man through the haze of disbelief,
unwarranted certainty and doubt.
The
success of Paul and Barnabas raises hackles in some who finally convince some
of the more influential members of the synagogue to expel them from their
territory. They go to Iconium.
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