David Bahn – Reflections

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Acts 13:1-12

 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

⁴ So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ⁵ When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. ⁶ When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. ⁷ He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹ But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him ¹⁰ and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? ¹¹ And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. ¹² Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

Maybe you learned it too: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. It was meant to be a comeback when someone called you a name. I’m not sure it’s used anymore. We’ve become hypersensitive to depecretory epithets. There are certain names you may not use to describe a person. Rather than relying on quippy comebacks, we rely on preemptive prohibitions.

But sometimes names do leak out. Sometimes they hurt. Sometimes they open a door of healing. Sometimes they may also protect us from harm and alert us to danger. We cry, “Thief!” when a purse-snatcher is trying to get away. We may call someone a prophet when she speaks a word of truth in the face of confusion. We might say don’t be a fool when someone is on the verge of making a dangerous turn away from God.

Paul calls Elymas a son of the devil, and enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy. He asked him, “will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?” Sometimes we must call people to account for their rebellious, reckless and wayward ways. 

If a excavator operator accidentally damages part of a building near where he is working he might be called wayward and reckless. But only if he did it intentionally would he be called rebellious. Elymas is all three: reckless, rebellious, and wayward. He is called out as such and will be taught a lesson. We don’t have record of his behavior or faith after his time of blindness.

We do have a record of Sergius Paulus’ turn to faith, after being relieved of Elymas’ dangerous advice. Elymas was called a son of the devil. Peter had been called Satan. Sometimes we must recognize those who would lead us away from Jesus and call them out for what and who they are and thank God for those who turn us toward Jesus rather than away from him.

They are the peacemakers. They are the sons of God. They are those whose feet are beautiful. How beautiful on the mountain are the feet of those who bring good news!