A ministry obvious

After Galatians 2:1-10 

It was dicey, this idea

of taking the word

to the Greeks, those

gentiles uncircumcised,

the people from whom

they’d been called out

and separated from.

This idea of the word

dying and rising even

for them took getting

used to. They all knew

gentiles who’d embraced

the old faith, or lived

according to the tradition;

some even accepted

circumcision. But this

was a new step, a step

into something unknown,

outreach without requiring

strict adherence to the old,

outreach to Greeks,

foreigners, gentiles, unclean.

And yet the course was

clear, and cleared,

the former persecutor

blessed to proceed. And

everything would change.

 

Photograph by Giorgio Encinas via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Companions on the journey

After Galatians 2:1-10 

After fourteen years,

two accompany him,

him the apostle called,

two who carried

their own reputations,

their own callings,

one a Jew, one a Gentile.

To meet with elders

accompanied by a Jew

never was, would be

an issue. It was

the gentile, both

a demonstration

of the word spreading

beyond its original

confines and a symbol

of the apostle’s calling

and ministry to come.

Some grumble and mutter:

surely circumcision, even

of a Gentile, demonstrates

faithfulness to tradition

and commands, a sign

of separation and

selection, being chosen

and set apart. But 

the grumbling is stopped,

the muttering subsides,

the ministry is approved

and blessed.

 

Photograph by Luke Ellis-Craven via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Fourteen years

After Galatians 2:1-10 

Fourteen years,

a time to prepare.

Fourteen years,

a time to reflect.

Fourteen years,

a time to study

and pray and be

taught.

The time passed,

the time arrived,

the time to begin

what one is called

to do, a new life,

a ministry, a purpose

anticipating change,

movement, travel,

hardship, misunderstanding

and persecution,

and accepting it

because it was a call

to be answered.

The man had learned

much after fourteen

years.

 

Photograph by S Migaj via Unsplash. Use with permission.