Article November 25, 1967 Issue

Signs of the Times

Paul W. vander Loo

The Union Signal

From a sermon by,
The Reverend Paul W. vander Loo, Jr.
published in The Union Signal
Evanston, Illinois

From the beginning, it has been the peculiar responsibility of the Christian Church to heal the sick, comfort the oppressed, and lift up the fallen....Sometimes, in order to relieve human suffering, in order to accomplish her calling to healing, comforting, and lifting up, the Church must strike out against evil.

When Paul preached the gospel in Philippi, a mentally-disturbed slave girl was being exploited by her masters. For several days Paul observed her pitiful condition, until he became so concerned about her and so irritated with the way her tragic limitations were being disadvantaged, that by the power of the mighty God, he brought about her deliverance. One would think that Paul would be thanked for his good work— after all, wasn't he doing the work for which the Church has been called into existence? The fact is, however, that he and Silas were seized and beaten and thrown into prison, and later, escorted to the gates of the city and told not to come back.

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