The Thorns of Love

A Reflection on the First Reading for May 19th, 2019:
Fifth Sunday of Easter

Acts 14.21b-27

Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, then on to Iconium and Antioch. There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, “It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.” And after they had appointed elders for them in each Church, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe.

Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had completed.

When they arrived, they called the Church together and related all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles.

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I chuckled the first time I heard the expression, “No good deed goes unpunished.” I was an adult by then and had lived enough to recognize the kernel of truth in that aphorism. Sometimes actions done out of love are met with ingratitude or even outright hostility.
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I am prudent by nature. I seldom act with no regard for consequences. While I may not foresee all the consequences, or decide to act regardless of the consequences, I automatically take time to weigh up the possible effects of my actions. Also, I vacillate between thinking this approach is wise (which is good) and thinking it is calculating (which is … less good).

For this reason, I was grateful to read this Sunday’s first reading in which Paul, accompanied by Barnabas, sets out with a heart full of love on his first missionary journey to share with Jew and Gentile alike the Good News of Jesus Christ—and ends up getting stoned for his efforts.

Wherever they go, Paul and Barnabas initially are well received, but soon public opinion turns against them. While preaching in Iconium, they persuade a “great company” of Jews and Greeks, and through them the Lord performs “signs and wonders.” In time, however, unbelieving Jews begin stirring the pot and public opinion becomes divided. Paul and Barnabas get the message and set out for Lystra.

In Lystra, by the power of God, Paul heals a man crippled from birth, and many are thereby converted to Christ. Right about this time, however, the unbelieving Jews from Iconium appear in town and again stir up trouble for Paul and Barnabas. Paul is stoned and chucked out of Lystra. Undeterred, the two carry on with the mission, eventually returning to the cities where they had been persecuted. They establish churches, appoint elders and entrust these communities to the Lord. In spite of everything, the apostles are “filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 13:52). They return to Antioch to share “all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles.”

"​If we could be condemned for a good deed, should we do it anyway?"

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This brings me back to that thorny question: If we could be condemned for a good deed, should we do it anyway? 1 Peter 2:20-2 says, if our action is “right,” we should do it regardless of the consequences: “… [I]f you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.”

Of course, this answer requires us first to determine that our action is “right”—and that is a topic for another day and, I hope, another blogger.

Lord, give us the courage to carry out good deeds in Your Name so that, as with Paul and Barnabas, it may fill us with joy and the Holy Spirit. ​

Donna Davis

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