Risky, Relentless Discipleship
- davidwperk
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
Devotional Reflection, Monday, July 14, 2025
Proper 10, the week of the fifth Sunday After Pentecost
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s Acts reading:
19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, and they spoke the word to no one except Jews. 20But among them were some men of Cyprus and Cyrene who, on coming to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists also, proclaiming the Lord Jesus. 21The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number became believers and turned to the Lord.
. . . .
25it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians.’
(You will find the full text of today’s Acts reading at the end of this reflection.)
Daily Office Lectionary readings (BCP, 974)
AM Psalm 25; PM Psalm 9, 15
1 Samuel 18:5-16,27b-30; Acts 11:19-30; Mark 1:29-45
Today we celebrate the Feast of Samson Occum. (See below.)
David's Reflections
Stephen, one of the seven chosen to serve tables in Acts 6, became the first Christian to die for his faith, according to the account in Acts 7-8. Luke, the author of Acts, narrates that his death forced Jewish Christians of similar persuasion, to flee Jerusalem. Wherever they went, they told their fellow Jewish people about their faith in Jesus. According to the Acts account in today’s reading, some of them went as far as Antioch, a major port city in Syria. There some of those fleeing Christians began sharing the message of Jesus with people outside the Jewish faith and met with a very positive response of faith in their hearers. So, in a sense, Stephen’s death propelled others outward; Stephen’s witness got expanded through the persecution in that way. A caveat—these earliest believers remained Jewish while embracing Jesus as God’s Son and savior.
Once it became obvious that Stephen's more inclusive attitude toward Gentiles, also displayed by the witnesses in Antioch, was acceptable to the Twelve, Barnabas and Paul settled there to encourage the new faith community. According to the author of Acts, it was there that the label "Christians" first was applied to believers in a negative sense (Christianoi, the plural in Greek). Christ is the Greek rendering of the Hebrew term "messiah," anointed one. The ianoi suffix is a Latinism meaning "supporter of." So, they were called supporters of or followers of Christ.
It may well be that this term was applied to Christians by outsiders in a political sense, supporters of the political rebel Jesus the Christ (because Jesus was executed by crucifixion, a sentence for traitors against Rome). We do know that Christian victims of Nero's persecution were called Christiaoni by Roman writers. And, we have no evidence that Christians called themselves by this term until the early second century.
As was true then, in our day the term Christian often does not carry a positive connotation. Like these early followers of Jesus, we encounter false images and understandings of Christians and of the church, some of which our own inconsistencies and betrayals of Jesus' teachings have helped to foster.
Yet, I affirm that I am a supporter and follower of Jesus. Before I am a priest, before I am an Episcopalian, before I am an American, before I am a Southerner, I am a follower of the Christ. What I do as a priest, I do not because I am a priest, but because I seek to follow Christ. Priesthood is simply another form of expressing the same Christian commitment that any layperson expresses in their daily life, a specific form of the baptismal calling and ministry we all share.
My values as a Southerner come under the scrutiny of my Christian values, as do my values as an American. Stephen and his fellow Hellenistic Jewish Christians found themselves unable to share the exclusive attitude toward Gentiles that they encountered in their Palestinian Jewish Christian brothers and sisters, and their pioneering efforts at Antioch served to begin changing those attitudes. An essential and challenging part of the Christian journey involves sifting through values and beliefs and attitudes that I might discover are more regional and national than they are Christian. The civil rights era of the 60’s and 70’s gives just one example of the ways we get those values and beliefs and attitudes confused. The Christian nationalism persuasion in our time has fallen captive to skewed values and beliefs.
If others caricature what being a follower of Christ means and reject us on the basis of those caricatures, so be it. Our calling is to trust in and follow Jesus of Nazareth and witness to our faith no matter what. These earliest believers show us what that risky, whole-hearted commitment looks like. Emboldened by their examples and by those we know who share that boldness, we can live a risky, relentless form of discipleship that puts the lie to those caricatures of our faith.
As poet Mary Oliver put it in her poem “Sometimes.”
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
[Mary Oliver, Red Bird (Boston: Beacon, 2008), p. 37]
Collect of the Day, Proper 10, the fifth Sunday after Pentecost
O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 231)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Samson Occum, native American witness to the faith in New England (died 14 July 1792 CE).
Collect of the Feast of Samson Occum
God, the Great Spirit, whose breath gives life to the world and whose voice thunders in the wind: We give you thanks for your servant Samson Occum, strong preacher and teacher among the Mohegan people; and pray that we, cherishing his example, may love learning and by love build up the communities into which you send us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
A Collect for the Renewal of Life
O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 99)
For Local Government
Almighty God our heavenly Father, send down upon those who hold office in this State (Commonwealth, City, County, Town, __________ ) the spirit of wisdom, charity, and justice; that with steadfast purpose they may faithfully serve in their
offices to promote the well being of all people; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 822)
A Prayer for Light
Almighty God, we give you thanks for surrounding us, as daylight fades, with the brightness of the vesper light; and we implore you of your great mercy that, as you enfold us with the radiance of this light, so you would shine into our hearts the brightness of your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 110)
A Collect for Mission
O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 100)
Daily Office Epistle, Acts 11:19-30
19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, and they spoke the word to no one except Jews. 20But among them were some men of Cyprus and Cyrene who, on coming to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists also, proclaiming the Lord Jesus. 21The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number became believers and turned to the Lord. 22News of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23When he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast devotion; 24for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were brought to the Lord. 25Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for an entire year they met with the church and taught a great many people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians.’
27 At that time prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28One of them named Agabus stood up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine over all the world; and this took place during the reign of Claudius. 29The disciples determined that according to their ability, each would send relief to the believers living in Judea; 30this they did, sending it to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.
Daily Prayer Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, p. 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p. 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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