Read today’s texts first: Leviticus 10-12; Acts 16
Every Christian has the super power of eternal life.
I’ve always wanted to be superman. As a kid, I thought flying would be cool; as a teenager, x-ray vision intrigued me; but now that I’m a senior citizen, invincibility seems to be the ultimate superpower. Who wouldn’t want to see bullets bouncing off your chest. It’s even more dramatic than Neo freezing them midair (I like the Matrix movies too). As we keep reading the adventures of Paul, it seems like he believed he had superman’s capacity to defy death.
Acts 16 is a classic narrative on how to follow the leading of the Spirit. Sometimes circumstances block our way (6,7); sometimes it’s a vision that calls us in a different direction (9,10). Sometimes things you can’t control take you out of commission for awhile (22-24). But Paul and Silas knew enough about following God that they didn’t seem the least perturbed about being stripped, beaten, and chained up in the deepest, darkest and dankest part of a Philippian jail. Paul had already survived a stoning at Lystra – he was invincible! That he was still alive was reason enough to sing God’s praises (25).
After the earthquake shook the doors open and rattled the chains off their feet (a perfect illustration of the power of praise), Paul and Silas stayed right where they were. If it had been me, I would have used my “get-out-of-jail-free” card as fast as I could, but they had this sense that nothing outside of God’s will could hurt them. Because they stayed, the Philippian jailer and his household were saved and the church of Philippi was born. Paul’s letter to that church is filled with the same joy they felt that night in that rat-infested prison.
The reading in Leviticus illustrates that the only Kryptonite we need to fear is disobedience to the Source of our superpowers. Aaron’s sons thought they knew better than God and found out quickly how mortal they were without Him. “Lord, thank you that I am truly invincible when I’m walking in your will. Even death for the believer is just a doorway to eternal life – now that’s true invincibility!”
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