Basket Case

Acts 9:25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.

A basket case is a person who is extremely anxious or nervous and therefore unable to get their life together and become productive. We have all seen someone in our life that fits this definition. For most who end up as a basket case, the time interval is short before they return to their normal functioning.

And all of us can get overwhelmed by circumstances. All of us have a limit to the things we can endure. This is part of the way the LORD made us. We are not meant to function independently of others. In these times when we are overwhelmed, the community is supposed to respond and bear the burden we are unable to carry at that moment.

The Apostle Paul even got himself in a very difficult position, so much so that others we so concerned about his future and his life that they felt like they had to do something radical. And so they did.

The situation is this. Paul had come to know Jesus personally and this radically changed his life’s trajectory. He boldly preached the Good News, that Jesus is the promised Messiah, and that a way for salvation had been opened up for those who would trust Him.

And this message and the power with which it was preached began to threaten the political and religious structure in Jerusalem. So the current leaders threatened to kill Paul for his beliefs. Those who were helping Paul found out about these threats and took them seriously. The hatched a plan to protect Paul.

Their plan was simple: wait until nightfall and lower Paul out a window and down the city wall to safety. And that is what they did. Under the cover of darkness, they place Paul in a basket and lowered him down.

You would think after an escape like this Paul would be accepted by his fellow believers with open arms. But the other believers remembered well the persecution of which Paul had been a leader. They had good reason not to trust Paul’s word.

But there was someone who had seen the transformation of Saul into Paul, and he stood up and defended Paul and smoothed over the rough edges among the Believers. Barnabas was his name. He bridged the gap between the basket and the ground. He spoke up for Paul and made it possible for his ministry to continue.

Maybe we all need to become basket cases. Maybe we all need to live on the edge of life and death in order for us to sort out what is important and what isn’t. Then we would be able to come together in unity of heart and purpose.