When our days there were ended, we left and proceeded on our journey; and all of them, with wives and children, escorted us outside the city.
Paul is on a journey. In the past few days, he’s been to Cos, Rhodes, Patara and Tyre. He left Tyre and arrived in Ptolemais. At each of these stops, we learn that he encountered some people. It does not seem that he had huge crowds, but he kept going. And going.
Paul’s epic journey and the seemingly sparse crowds makes me think about current day religion. Many traditions have dwindling numbers. Many worshippers are rattling around in buildings built for hoards that are not there now. Many folks are feeling a sense of despair at the low numbers.
But think about Paul. He didn’t worship in a massive cathedral or auditorium sized worship hall. He saw the people who were there, whether that was a couple folks or a couple dozen. It didn’t matter. It doesn’t seem like he cared that there were few in attendance. He shared God’s Good News with who was there.
The accompanying reflection for this section of Acts is from Mother Theresa. She writes, “We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But if that drop was not in the ocean, I think the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” She did not agree with doing things big – big actions with big numbers. Rather she focused on the individual. She said that to get to love an individual, you need to come into close contact with them. You can see this in her ministry to the dying in India.
She wrote, “I believe in person to person; every person is Christ for me, and since there is only one Jesus, that person is the one person in the world at that moment.” Wow. I absolutely agree that Christ is in every person, but I get swept up in numbers, in bigger is better.
Paul didn’t give up because he saw folks a few at a time. But his persistence and epic journey resulted in the spread of Christianity, one person at a time. This morning, I’m thinking about how I might connect with people, one at a time – whether in worship or in the world, and genuinely seek and serve Christ in that person.
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