Daily Devotions
Acts 11:19-23a – Now those who were scattered because of the persecution … traveled … speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists [to the Gentiles] also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord …
This devotion pairs with this weekend’s Lutheran Hour sermon, which can be found at LHM.org.
There’s a story about a young woman in England by the name of Jenny Jerome. Later Jenny would become the mother of Winston Churchill, the famous British prime minister who led the country during World War II. Before Jenny became Winston’s mother, she had the opportunity to meet two men who would also be Great Britain’s prime ministers, in a prior generation: William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli. Jenny said that when she met Mr. Gladstone, she was amazed at how bright he was—all the facts and figures he knew, the people he’d met, the stories he could tell. She said she left that meeting feeling that Mr. Gladstone was the cleverest person in all England. Soon after, she met Mr. Benjamin Disraeli, Gladstone’s political opponent. After meeting Mr. Disraeli, Jenny said she felt like she was the cleverest person in all England.
Author David Brooks writes in his book, How to Know a Person, it may be good to be Gladstone, but it’s better to be like Disraeli. It’s the difference between being an illuminator and being a diminisher. When we diminish people, we look past them, or see them only as features in the landscape of our lives. In contrast, when we illuminate people—like Mr. Disraeli illuminated Ms. Jerome with his attention—we shine the brightness of our care on people and make them feel lit up, loved, treasured, respected. David Brooks writes, “Being an illuminator … you’re offering a gaze that says, ‘I want to get to know you and be known by you’ … It’s a gaze that radiates respect … says every person is unique, unrepeatable, and yes, superior to me in some way.”
Consider Acts 11 in this light. Why did those Jewish Christians from Jerusalem only share the Good News of Jesus with fellow Jews? Why not with the Gentiles? Maybe they weren’t trying to be diminishers. Maybe they just had so much going in their heads that they looked right past them, regarding them like features in the landscape. Or maybe they just didn’t like Gentiles. This had long been a struggle for God’s people, Israel. Read the book of Jonah. Jonah didn’t want to share God’s Good News with the Gentiles of Nineveh. Not just because Jonah thought they were unworthy, but because he knew God was an Illuminator! Jonah didn’t want to see Ninevah illuminated with God’s love and forgiveness. But the light of God broke through anyhow—both in Jonah’s case and here in Acts. Other Jewish Christians from out of town started talking with the Gentiles, and they came to faith. Then, when Barnabas got there from Jerusalem, how did he see these people? He could have focused on all the problems that would inevitably arise with a multi-cultural church. He could have diminished them. But instead, he sees people for whom Jesus was willing to die and rise. Barnabas let the light of Jesus’ love shine through him. And that new, multi-ethnic church in Antioch lit up.
WE PRAY: Dear Jesus, shine in us, so that others may light up in Your love. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, Speaker for The Lutheran Hour.
Reflection Questions:
1. When has someone made you feel diminished? What was it that made you feel this way?
2. When has someone made you light up? How did they shine the light of their care on you?
3. What are some ways you could be more of an illuminator in the Name of Jesus?