Osler's Razor

I look forward to my Sunday School class all week. It's a small group, but one which teaches me so much-- it is a place where I am a follower, not a leader, in the company of intellects often much stronger than my own. We are, uh, deliberative... in the sense that it takes us months to work through (work over?) a single book in the Bible.

Most recently, we have been studying the Book of Acts, which is a fascinating collection of stories. The ending, though, seems at first reading to be pretty lame. For chapter after chapter, the apostle Paul is imprisoned, on the run, and on trial, escaping death at every turn. Usually, we would expect such a story to end with a final grand escape or his death as a martyr. Nope. Here' the conclusion:


He [Paul] lived there [Rome] for two whole years at his own expense and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

What? That's it?

This morning, though, someone suggested that the story was left open at the end because it is left for us to finish through our own lives.

That's an idea that is both comforting and very, very challenging.