The Park Forum

June 22, 2026June 20, 2026

The Gospel Crosses Boundaries and Brings Joy

Links for today’s readings:

Jun 22 Read: Isaiah 21 Listen: (2:32) Read: Acts 8 Listen: (5:10)

Scripture Focus: Acts 8.4-8, 35-39

4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.

35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.

Reflection: The Gospel Crosses Boundaries and Brings Joy

By John Tillman

Acts begins with Jesus saying, “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1.8) This serves as an outline of Acts, showing one of its main themes is that the gospel crosses human boundaries.

Beginning in Jerusalem, the apostles take the lead. Peter is the frequent frontman. They often minister in the temple and clash with the same religious leaders Jesus did. But for a time, the story shifts from the apostles to a new group called “deacons.”

The first seven deacons were men, but in scripture and church history many women filled the role. Stephen and Phillip the Evangelist (not Phillip the apostle) are the first two deacons introduced, and help to define what deacons do. Deacons were commissioned out of a controversy regarding distributing food to the needy. However, through Stephen and Phillip, (and later through Phoebe) we see that deacons do more than “wait on tables.” (Acts 6.2)

Deacons weren’t merely sanctified hospitality experts, chefs, or waiters. Deacons were speakers, evangelists, teachers, and miracle-workers. Stephen wasn’t killed because he gave food to widows, but because he taught, using the scriptures, that Jesus was the Messiah (Acts 6.8-12; 7.55-58). Deacons led complex church ministries and Phillip, the second deacon spotlighted in Acts, takes the gospel beyond Jerusalem’s boundaries.

The persecution that followed Stephen’s killing forced everyone except the apostles out of Jerusalem (Acts 8.1). Phillip’s stories, in Samaria and with the Ethiopian eunuch, show us examples of what those believers did—they “preached the word wherever they went.” And where the gospel is preached, joy follows.

In Samaria, Phillip took the gospel to a hated ethnic group and culture. Through his meeting with the Ethiopian, Phillip initiated the gospel’s introduction to the continent of Africa. Many Africans captured and enslaved in the United States were Christians who traced their spiritual heritage to this moment.

When the focus of Acts shifts to Paul, he is called and commissioned as the first “missionary.” But Phillip and the Ethiopian were Paul’s forerunners. Taking the gospel across human boundaries brings joy (Acts 8.5-8, 38-39).

You don’t need to be commissioned or ordained as a deacon to take the gospel across boundaries. What boundaries are around you? Race? Culture? Political alignment? Misunderstanding?

The same Holy Spirit that used Phillip wants to use you. Are you listening? Let the Holy Spirit carry you over boundaries to spread the gospel and bring joy.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

Show me your ways, O Lord, and teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; in you have I trusted all the day long. — Psalm 25.3-4

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Enemy Love Starts With Outsiders

Links for today’s readings:

Jun 19 Read: Isaiah 16 Listen: (2:32) Read: Acts 5 Listen: (6:49)

Links for this weekend’s readings:

Jun 20 Read: Isaiah 17-18 Listen: (3:44) Read: Acts 6 Listen: (2:35)
Jun 21 Read: Isaiah 19-20 Listen: (4:49) Read: Acts 7 Listen: (8:49)

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 16.1-5

1 Send lambs as tribute

to the ruler of the land,

from Sela, across the desert,

to the mount of Daughter Zion.

2 Like fluttering birds

pushed from the nest,

so are the women of Moab

at the fords of the Arnon.

3 “Make up your mind,” Moab says.

“Render a decision.

Make your shadow like night—

at high noon.

Hide the fugitives,

do not betray the refugees.

4 Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you;

be their shelter from the destroyer.”

The oppressor will come to an end,

and destruction will cease;

the aggressor will vanish from the land.

5 In love a throne will be established;

in faithfulness a man will sit on it—

one from the house of David—

one who in judging seeks justice

and speeds the cause of righteousness.

Reflection: Enemy Love Starts With Outsiders

By John Tillman

Moab was Israel’s enemy. Isaiah prophesied the fall of Moab and portrayed their refugees as vulnerable birds shaken from the nest.

For centuries, when Israel was in distress or fleeing danger, Moab mistreated them. They mocked, robbed, enslaved, or killed them.

When Israel came out of slavery in Egypt, Moab opposed them, attempted to curse them (Numbers 23.7), and seduced them to worship their god Chemosh (Numbers 25.1-2), which became a recurring temptation Israel dealt with until the exile (2 Kings 23.13-14). Moab conquered and ruled harshly (Judges 3.13-15). They raided Israel and joined other armies to attack them. When others conquered Israel, Moab mocked and mistreated the survivors and refugees.

Yet, Isaiah’s prophetic poem commands Israel not to treat Moab’s refugees that way. Isaiah commanded them to help the refugees. Instead of mocking them, welcome them. Instead of robbing them, aid them. Instead of enslaving them or turning them over to be killed, hide them and shelter them from the oppressor.

Remember, these are not sympathetic refugees. These are historically violent, treacherous, idol-worshiping foreigners who hated and mistreated God’s people. Still, God commanded Israel to welcome and protect them. No excuses. Israel must do unto Moab what Israel would have them do unto them (Luke 6.31).

Isaiah tied this treatment to the coming of a faithful ruler on a throne of love who would bring justice, and enact righteousness. Jesus is this ruler. He sits on a throne of love and does not withhold love from his enemies. He calls us to emulate him. Can we? Will we?

We naturally react with celebration when enemies suffer, and sometimes celebrating the fall of evil is good. But there are also moments when we are called, even commanded, to something else—enemy love.

Enemy love reflects the glory of Jesus in a way that nothing else does. It is unlike the anemic versions of showing kindness to enemies found in other belief systems. They are pragmatic and calculating, seeking selfish returns. There’s no pragmatism in the gospel. It is extravagant love that the pragmatic world calls foolish.

Enemy love’s little brother is love for the outsider. We’ll never graduate to loving true enemies if we can’t love those who are just different. The ones who worship different gods. The ones people claim are dangerous or violent. Stretch your heart to display the glory of Jesus through enemy love. Start loving the outsider and build up from there.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

God is a righteous judge; God sits in judgment every day. — Psalm 7.12

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Mourning and Loving Enemies

Links for today’s readings:

Jun 18 Read: Isaiah 15 Listen: (1:34) Read: Acts 4 Listen: (5:15)

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 15.5

5 My heart cries out over Moab;

her fugitives flee as far as Zoar,

as far as Eglath Shelishiyah.

They go up the hill to Luhith,

weeping as they go;

on the road to Horonaim

they lament their destruction.

Reflection: Mourning and Loving Enemies

By John Tillman

Moab was Israel’s enemy. God brought judgment on Moab, yet mourned for their suffering.

Moab was not an enemy because of who they were but because of what they did. Moab had close family ties to Israel. They descended from Abraham’s nephew, Lot. They had even closer ties to the Davidic kings. Ruth, the Moabitess, was David’s great-grandmother.

Despite being relatives, the Moabites were judged for multiple reasons. Throughout their history, they violently oppressed Israel when they were vulnerable. They also led Israel to sinful idolatry and worship practices that included sexual acts and human sacrifice.

A few examples include Balak, king of Moab, who recruited the false prophet, Balaam, to entice Israel to sin, (Numbers 31.16; Revelation 2.14) Eglon, king of Moab who ruled over Israel for 18 years until he was killed by Ehud, (Judges 3.13-14, 20-21) and a Moabite king who, when threatened by an Israelite attack, sacrificed his first-born son on the wall of his city begging his god to turn back Israel. (2 Kings 3.26-27)

Those led into sin included Solomon, who built a temple to Chemosh, the Moabite deity after building the Lord’s temple. (1 Kings 11.7)

Very few of us will ever face enemies of our faith that threaten us with physical or military violence. Very few will ever face true religious persecution for our faith. But how many of us are looking to the power of the state to enforce our beliefs rather than the power of the gospel to spread them?

Very few of us will be tempted to build a literal temple to a false god next to our churches. But how many of us have temples in our hearts devoted to worldly beliefs, politics, or ideas? What altars are in our hearts?

The Moabites were a real danger to the Israelites, both physically/militarily and religiously/ideologically. Yet, they were also family. God mourned the suffering of these violent and vitriolic enemies of Israel and commanded Jerusalem to be a sanctuary for Moabite refugees. (Isaiah 16.4)

It is dangerous to call other humans “enemies” even if they are truly dangerous. Paul says our enemies are not flesh and blood. It is better that we remember that we were formerly enemies of God, reconciled in Jesus. If God did this for the Moabites and Jesus does this for us, how can we do anything less for those we think of as enemies?

Let us mourn our enemies’ situation and shelter them in their suffering.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; my God, I put my trust in you; let me not be humiliated, nor let my enemies triumph over me.
Let none who look to you be put to shame. — Psalm 25.1-2

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Death, the Final Equalizer

Links for today’s readings:

Jun 17 Read: Isaiah 14 Listen: (5:04) Read: Acts 3 Listen: (3:33)

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 14:9-11

9 The realm of the dead below is all astir
to meet you at your coming;
it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you—
all those who were leaders in the world;
it makes them rise from their thrones—
all those who were kings over the nations.
10 They will all respond,
they will say to you,
“You also have become weak, as we are;
you have become like us.”
11 All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,
along with the noise of your harps;
maggots are spread out beneath you
and worms cover you.

Reflection: Death, the Final Equalizer

By Erin Newton

“There are dead things, dead faces in the water,” he whispered with horror. “Dead faces!”

Gollum laughed. “The Dead Marshes, yes, yes: that is their names…”

“Can’t we get on and get away?”

“Yes, yes,” said Gollum. “But slowly, very slowly. Very carefully! Or hobbits go down to join the Dead ones and light little candles of their own.”

This scene from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers describes the perilous journey of Frodo and Sam to Mordor. In the movie, Frodo is entranced by the faces and falls into the water, being pulled further and further down. Like the refrain in Isaiah 14, “The realm of the dead is astir to meet you.”

The imagery is potent. The dead are ravenous for their newcomer.

When people die, as we often hear from well-meaning friends, “They’ve gone to a better place.” And for those we disdain, we proclaim they are “worm food” or we wish them to “rot in Hell.”

The first sentiment speaks of the loved person’s everlasting soul. The second sentiment sounds closer to the prophet’s description of an eager underworld.

The ancient Near East focused primarily on this earthly life. The taunt in Isaiah strikes at that focus specifically.

The prophet declares to this soon-to-be-fallen king: You’re on borrowed time. You’re definitely going to die.

And the prophet adds: Death has come for your fellow royals already. You are weak, just like them, swallowed up by death.

Instead of cheers of fans or a parade, harps and drums sound a processional to the underworld.

The fallen king’s abode is simply a means of becoming compost—a bed of worms, a blanket of maggots.

Tolkien envisioned the dead as ghostly faces drifting in a dreary marsh. Isaiah describes the dead as lying in beds of decomposition.

All of this morbid description is a reality check for Israel’s enemy king. Gone will be the days of their superiority and subsequent oppression of others. Like all humanity, even kings return to dust.

In the end (quite literally), we are all equals. There is some comfort in knowing even trillionaires become worm food. But more importantly, we remember that our bodies are not the final word. We are more than our frail cells. We are not bound to be dust for eternity. Perhaps our bodies will become part of God’s good creation once more, but that is not our true end. Hallelujah!

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. — Psalm 31.1

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

A Little Babylon In Every Empire

Links for today’s readings:

Jun 16 Read: Isaiah 13 Listen: (3:11) Read: Acts 2 Listen: (6:35)

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 13.1, 10-13

1 A prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:

10 The stars of heaven and their constellations

will not show their light.

The rising sun will be darkened

and the moon will not give its light.

11 I will punish the world for its evil,

the wicked for their sins.

I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty

and will humble the pride of the ruthless.

12 I will make people scarcer than pure gold,

more rare than the gold of Ophir.

13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;

and the earth will shake from its place

at the wrath of the Lord Almighty,

in the day of his burning anger.

Reflection: A Little Babylon In Every Empire

By John Tillman

When Isaiah saw his vision of judgment against Babylon, it was not yet a mighty empire of evil. At that time, Babylon was an upstart city-state under Assyrian oppression, just like other nations. Isaiah’s prophecy against Babylon would be as if someone in France in the early 1700s wrote a prophecy against the imperialism of the United States, before the colonies had rebelled or even declared independence from the British Empire.

Eventually, Babylon rebelled against, and overthrew, Assyria. But the victors were not freedom fighters or liberators. They were just a new oppressive and brutal empire.

When Allied forces swept through Europe following the D-Day invasion, the Nazi empire was destroyed, but America and Britain didn’t enslave and oppress France or the other conquered countries. They set them free. The Soviets, however, harshly ruled Eastern Europe through puppet governments for decades. (Russia today seems to want to reestablish this control, beginning in Ukraine.)

It’s easy to notice “Babylon-like” behavior in enemies. It’s uncomfortable to think about ourselves as Babylon. Americans, especially, like to pat ourselves on the back. “We liberated Europe! We won the Cold War! We are the good guys!” I feel that way. Yet, the Bible continually warns about Babylon. Why? Doesn’t God know where I live? Doesn’t he know my country is the greatest country of all time? Hmm…sounds a bit “Babylon-ish” when I put it that way, doesn’t it?

Peter sent greetings from the church, describing that church as “in Babylon” (1 Peter 5:8) even though Babylon fell centuries before. When we imagine Babylon as a specific nation at a specific time, we miss the point. When we imagine Babylon as a symbol for our enemies, we are in danger of blindness.

The Bible repeatedly cautions God’s people that there’s a little Babylon in every empire. Yes, even the one you live in. This is because there is a little Babylon in every heart, even yours and mine. And that bit of Babylon has imperialist intentions. It wants to grow. To conquer.

We live in Babylon and Babylon will be judged. That will be painful for many (Rev 18.9-10). Our connection to, or complicity with, Babylon will affect how that judgment touches us. Read the judgments against Babylon, remembering that Babylon wants you. It wants to influence you, recruit you, or conquer you.

Resist Babylon, starting in your own heart. Don’t be conquered or complicit. Be faithful.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. — Psalm 92.12

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Posts

The Gospel Crosses Boundaries and Brings Joy

Links for today’s readings:

Scripture Focus: Acts 8.4-8, 35-39

Reflection: The Gospel Crosses Boundaries and Brings Joy

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

Read more: Sufferings and False Prophets

Read more: Be On Lookout

Enemy Love Starts With Outsiders

Links for today’s readings:

Links for this weekend’s readings:

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 16.1-5

Reflection: Enemy Love Starts With Outsiders

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Read more: Grief for the Guilty

Read more: The Church of Acts

Mourning and Loving Enemies

Links for today’s readings:

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 15.5

Reflection: Mourning and Loving Enemies

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

Read more: Solomon’s Cheating Heart

Read more: In Trouble For Good

Death, the Final Equalizer

Links for today’s readings:

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 14:9-11

Reflection: Death, the Final Equalizer

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

Read more: Waiting at the Beautiful Gate

Read more: Taunting Ourselves

A Little Babylon In Every Empire

Links for today’s readings:

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 13.1, 10-13

Reflection: A Little Babylon In Every Empire

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Read more: The Fall of a Superpower

Read more: Falling In Love With Babylon