One Invitation Two Responses

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today present us with the question of why different people respond differently to the invitation from God. The passage from the Book of Acts tells of the response of the Gentiles in Antioch to the preaching of the Good News. The news that believers from Cyprus have brought news of Jesus to Greeks in Antioch has prompted Barnabas, ranked by the Church as an Apostle like Paul, to visit the city which was characterized by a multicultural population with openness to philosophy and ideas. Luke describes the Presence of the Holy Spirit with Barnabas which moves many to follow Jesus and establish a community of people known for the first time as “Christians”. This response to the Presence of God is in contrast to the rejection of Jesus by many Jews in Jerusalem. The Gospel of John tells us that the religious authorities would not accept the testimony of the works of Jesus for His identity as Messiah. The change He presents in Jerusalem is one of extension of previous understanding of God with the Presence of One in human form who claims unity with the Father and who declares that those who accept Him as Messiah and Davidic heir as the Shepherd of Israel are given Him by the Father. When standing on the outside of this group, trying to hold on to the status quo, we struggle to deal with the cognitive dissonance by rejecting the source of our mental distress. The tension that continues for believers today is to live between drifting to every new and enticing “revelation” of the nature of the Divine and being so stuck in the status quo that the Spirit which animated Barnabas and the people of Antioch is rejected as It calls us to change.