Acts 13.44-52; Psalm 97; John 14.7-14
‘If anyone does not welcome you or listen to what you have to say,’ Jesus once declared to his disciples, ‘as you walk out of the house or town shake the dust from your feet.’ [Matthew 10.14] It was the ultimate insult, declaiming any connection whatever with the inhospitable place.
Today we read of Paul and Barnabas shaking the dust from their feet as they left Pisidian Antioch. They have done their work there, but the message has not been received.
Sometimes we are called to perseverance, to standing firm. Sometimes, though, God gives us the freedom to move on from hopeless and fruitless situations. We consign those who have not been able to hear us into the hands of the Holy Spirit, that that Spirit may judge them, heal them, renew them according to God’s purpose. But we ourselves emotionally let go. We follow Jesus himself who walked away from places where he could do no mighty work.
[Mark 6.5-6] We follow him, trusting that he will work his work in his own right time.