Out of Your Mind
Who are the ones who speak truth and joy and get dismissed?
Acts 12:12-15
As soon as [Peter] realized [he was truly free from his imprisonment], he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many had gathered and were praying. When he knocked at the outer gate, a maid named Rhoda came to answer. On recognizing Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she insisted that it was so. They said, “It is his angel.”
It’s hard to know exactly how long, but it’s been quite some time since since Jesus was raised that the angel jailbreaks Peter out of prison. By now, Jesus has already appeared to Mary and the other women annointers, he’s appeared to his disciples multiple times and ascended to heaven, and the Holy Spirit has cavorted all over the mediterranean making good trouble. You’d think that by now, everyone would have adopted the new rule: believe women.
But no. When the maid Rhoda tells Mark’s house party that Peter is at the door, nobody believes her. They say she’s out of her mind. When she insists, they allow that someone’s probably at the door, sure, but if it looks like Peter it must be some spirit messenger. Couldn’t possibly be that Rhoda’s accurately perceiving what God is up to.
Next time the reality of God’s liberation comes knocking, don’t wait for others to join you in rejoicing, just act. Open the door yourself. You don’t need anyone’s permission and the others weren’t gong to believe you anyway.
Who are the Rhodas in my world — the ones who speak truth and joy and get dismissed? When have I been Rhoda — hearing, seeing, knowing what God was doing — and still told I was “out of my mind”?
—Kate Davoli