

Acts 16:5 - So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.
This devotion pairs with this weekend's Lutheran Hour sermon, which can be found at lhm.org.
Reading Acts, you get this sense of God's Spirit and God's Word working like a mighty river. Immeasurably deep, once held in reserve with the Jewish people, the reservoir gates have opened. From Jerusalem, God's kingdom streams out in every direction. It barrels south, toward Ethiopia, carrying an unsuspecting Jesus-follower to the chariot of a government official of an African queen. This official is a eunuch—not quite male anymore, but also not female, an emasculated person with the seeds of fatherhood cut out of him. Cut off, like a dried-up river. But the eunuch hears that the welcome and forgiveness of Jesus are also for people like him. He is baptized in the water (see Acts 8:27-38). The river barrels north toward Caesarea. It hurls forward another unsuspecting Jewish follower of Jesus, this time to the home of a supposedly non-potable Gentile. And the Jew, led by God's Spirit, breaks with a thousand-year tradition, sits down for a meal with a pagan and his family, so that they might be washed in the water (see Acts 10).
In barely a blink, already the river has moved on, further out and further in to the wide world to announce God's coming kingdom of Jesus, God's Son. As the river flows, we hear this refrain, "the Word of God continued to grow" (Acts 6:7a); "the Word of the Lord spread through the whole land" (Acts 13:49; see Acts 12:24); "the churches [Jew and Gentile] were strengthened in the faith, and grew daily in numbers" (Acts 16:5).
Inspired by Acts, author Michael Frost uses the same image in his book titled, Mission Is the Shape of Water. Michael says that God's mission to rescue, restore, and reconcile all things through Jesus is like water because water can be diverted, piped, and channeled. It can run through a mill or bleed through walls. It can be squeezed around a causeway or boiled in a brew. But it doesn't stop being water. See, water will take the shape of whatever container it's in. But the container doesn't change the nature of water. So also, God's mission, without changing what it is, the Good News of Jesus takes the shape of its cultural container. You can't stop the Good News from doing what it does and being what it is, and you can't stop water because it's God's water—the God-given physical sign of this Good News, the promise of Baptism—new life through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
This Water-with-the-Word will fit into whatever container it's in, but it won't leave you unchanged. Because God's Word won't stop being who He is and doing what He does. The Word barreled down out of heaven, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and was born of the virgin Mary to hurl Himself toward us, to give Himself to us, to surrender Himself for us by His death on the cross. And He rose from the dead because He never tires, never refuses, never shrinks back, but gives all, carries all, does all. Like a flood takes out everything in its path, His Spirit takes us for God. Like a river cuts through a canyon, He is shaping us to be like Him. Like a stream in the desert, He's quenching our thirst, seeping through our pores, bleeding through the cracks, passing through walls, because God's promise does not change. But its shape will, because it's for everyone. One promise fits all, for all—you included.
WE PRAY: Dear Father, let Your righteousness roll down like a mighty river. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, Speaker for The Lutheran Hour.
Reflection Questions:
1. Read Acts 15-16:5. Where do you see examples of the shape of God's mission adapted to new cultural "containers"?
2. Where do you see examples of the nature of God's Word remaining unchanged regardless of the cultural container?
3. How can their flexibility with consistency be implemented for the church today?
Today's Bible Readings: Proverbs 10-12 Acts 1
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