Beer and Bible: Is That Old Time Religion Good Enough?

Give me that old time religion,

Give me that old time religion,

Give me that old time religion,

It's good enough for me.

 

It was good for Paul and Silas,

It was good for Paul and Silas,

It was good for Paul and Silas,

It's good enough for me

 

“Old Time Religion” (African American Spiritual, Public Domain)

 

Beer and Bible is a small bible study group at our church – about a dozen or so attendees has been our max number so far. B&B meets every 2nd Wednesday of the month at 6:30 pm to discuss selected scripture we’ve read on our own since the last gathering. Before the COVID Era (BCE), we met at Merlin’s Pub, a couple of blocks from our church, to drink a beverage of our choice, ranging from beer to wine to water. Not everyone likes beer. Some of us also enjoyed fish and chips with our drinks while some sampled other pub foods from the menu while others mooched off other people’s plates. 

 

It’s a fun fellowship with a great deal of laughter and learning, critical thinking and critiquing faith amidst the food and beverages. The pastor often has some scholarly background to share and the rest of us always contribute Christian faith connections we found to current social justice issues.

 

In this COVID Era (CE), we started meeting on Zoom but have now transitioned to meeting on the lawn in the front of church. In inclement weather, there is room in our large Fellowship Hall to socially distance. Our numbers are still small, which has been our despair and saving grace during CE.

 

In September, the usual Wednesday we would have met was also the first day of school. Parents asked us to delay a week so they could deal with the anxiety of sending their young ones back to uncertain school conditions, especially the children too young to be vaccinated. So we met a week later to discuss the second half of Acts while eating fish and chips take-out from Merlin’s Rest and sipping the beverage of our choice.

 

Based on the previous chapters from the previous gathering as well as these last chapters, B&B participants agreed with Marcia’s observation that Paul was an activist, organizing fledging communities in different towns, explaining the teachings of that radical rabbi who sparked a movement. In his activism, Paul challenged authority – political and religious – and was challenged in return, risking his freedom and his life for the cause. Like too many activists and movement leaders in our own time, Paul eventually loses his life because he refused to stay silent and do what he was told a “patriotic” Roman citizen should do.

 

B&B participants were fascinated by women named in Acts who were leaders in the movement. Aaron was impressed with Lydia, the wealthy businesswoman who sold luxury purple cloth, supported the Jesus movement with her hospitality (opening her spacious home to Paul and other missionaries), and used her resources to finance Jesus’ ministry. And there was Priscilla who with her husband ran a successful tentmaking business and joined Paul on his travels. Each woman is credited with establishing churches in their home.

 

There was also Damaris, likely a well-educated courtesan, who came to hear Paul’s Ted Talks at the Areopagus in Athens, a court where intellectuals and other cultural elites would meet to critique new ideas; she held her own in Greek academia and joined the new movement.

 

“It was good for Paul and Silas.”

 

Then we got to the part that has troubled me -- when Paul and Silas are imprisoned for their faith. We used to sing a song about those verses when I was a child practicing that old time religion that never questioned what we heard from the pulpit or in Sunday School. I was awed by Paul’s healing power to cast out demons and marveled with everyone else at the conversion miracle that freed Paul and Silas from prison. But only as an adult did I pay attention to why Paul and Silas were arrested in the first place. Gaining this insight, has taught me to not just accept what I learned in the past as the limits of my faith. That old time religion felt good as a child and is still good to a certain degree but it's not good enough now as far as I’m concerned.

 

“Good enough for me?”

Although I had read Acts 16:16-40 numerous times, I never gave much attention to the slave girl who started this episode in Paul and Silas' saga. But now I find myself confounded by the fate of this unnamed fortune-telling slave girl who declared that Paul and Silas were serving a different kind of God and bringing salvation to Philippi, suggesting they were bringing change. 

Her repetitive daily declaration annoyed Paul so much that he drove her fortune-telling spirit out of her. (When I was young, we were told it was a demon.) Her owners, angry that Paul had lost them the income they had derived from their slave girl, complained to the authorities about outsiders bringing in foreign beliefs and threatening their familiar customs. The market crowd that had followed the slave owners supported them with shouts to not let new-fangled customs enter their society. Their old time customs were good enough for them.

 

Yielding to the crowd, the authorities had Paul and Silas stripped naked, publicly whipped, and jailed. Sad for them but we learn how they are miraculous freed to continue their ministry. But what about the slave girl I hadn’t noticed before? What happened to her after the slave owners no longer found her valuable to them? Why is she never seen nor heard about again? Her presence in the story is not inconsequential. Is she? Having unanswered questions just has to be good enough for now because all we can do is speculate, pay attention, and not forget. And we can ask more questions of ourselves: Whose story are we failing to hear?

 

Beer and Bible is scheduled to meet again on October 13 at 6:30 pm and, as always, all are invited to practice this new time religion with us. If the weather holds, we will meet on the lawn to discuss Isaiah 1-22. As you read words from older times, think about what the scripture is telling us today. Whose story lies at the margins and whose story remains unheard? What makes this old story new again? What is it telling us for our time?

 

We expect everyone to bring a chair or blanket to sit on as well as questions and thoughts to share. Some will get take-out from Merlin’s Rest. Some will bring their own choices to eat or drink. Everyone will need to wear a mask because we might have to move inside because loving your neighbor is a Christian thing.

Meanwhile, this old song is good enough for me.

"(Give Me That) Old Time Religion"