The Gentiles are coming, the Gentiles are coming!
Acts 15:22-29
Last week we had Paul and Barnabas getting home after a long business trip. They had had a combination of good days and bad days as they were gone for about two years. When they get home, they tell the church that sent them all that happened.
The hardships and troubles they faced for God on their journey. Harsh words, threats and even being stoned. They also talked about radical conversions, large numbers of people coming to believe and they probably mentioned the signs and wonders that allowed them to prove God’s hand was on them.
Our scripture to day is the result of a big discussion that happened in Jerusalem.
It is a letter that came from an official meeting of the Apostles and the elders of the church. The letter is a statement of the results of the meeting.
I guess it is something like conference which we have every year or General conference which happens every 4 years. The issues and problems of the church are brought before the senior officials of the church or a spirit led decision.
In these early days, 15 years after Jesus was crucified they had the second called meeting. The first one happening about 5 years before when Peter came back to Jerusalem to tall what he had been up to.
It seems that some men…you know like those people, what people?
You know “those people”…came to Antioch teaching the brothers. "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved."
Ok, it would seem pretty bold for these men to walk into the church meeting of mostly gentile people and tell them that if you really want to be saved need to follow the law of Moses which includes being circumcised.
Wait a minute, when I signed on with this outfit, I was told that all I had to do was believe in Jesus the Christ. That I needed to live a life like him of loving my neighbor and God. You know, I knew that was just a little too easy. I knew there was fine print on the covenant.
There are a few basic things we can discern about the men and the Antioch church
One is that worship in the church in Antioch was similar to the synagogue. Visitors were recognized and asked or allowed to speak.
Two, the visitors message clearly shows that they are Jewish Christians. They are not converts and that makes them old school. You must become a Jew in order to receive salvation form the messiah
Three, these visitors were from Judea and we guess that means Jerusalem. It may go farther and they actually believe that that these men have an official standing or authority. Perhaps they are sharing what the official, Jerusalem church is doing and therefore they should be doing.
It seems that there is some un-stated position of official status from the church in Jerusalem. Perhaps sent as observers and when given the opportunity to speak they tell what they know from the view point of the mostly Jewish convert position.
It seems that Paul and Barnabas had words with the visitors. The flatly denied that circumcision was required for salvation.
So they were locked into a running argument, Is to, Is not, Is too, is not and it was probably going nowhere. So they gat a group together the go up to Jerusalem to get the apostils and the elders to settle the dispute.
Ok, do we remember the difference in Apostils and Elders? Elders are selected for leadership from the church membership. Apostils are set apart to ministry to the whole church.
The Jerusalem church is the “First” Church…Literally. We have the remaining apostils located there. And while the harsh persecution faded they are not directly the center of God’s explosive movement.
However, they were currently the source of information and doctrine. They are the resource for what was right and wrong, what to believe and not believe, what to do or not do.
But, they were not in constant communication and periodically would send observers out to check thing out.
When the dispute can’t be dealt with in Antioch, they form a delegation to go the authorities up in Jerusalem for a decision.
The question is not as obvious as it might seem from the discussion. But it is actually simple. What is required for salvation? That is the only question but, it is a biggie.
Fro us the question has been answered all our lives. From child hood people have told us faith alone. We have songs and dovitionals that reinforce that. We have the New Testament that says it all over the place.
But the people in Antioch and other places at best had our Old Testament which clearly supported the law of Moses at the only path of salvation.
Some one needed to make some decisions. Paul and Barnabas had been teaching that the Law was fulfilled and that all men were invited into a relationship with God and through faith in Jesus Christ received salvation….eternal life.
If adherence to the law was required then Jesus actions had to be purchased by physical action of man.
That means that salvation came from a work or an act and not faith.
So the group goes to settle the question.
The group takes the most direct path right through Samaria; in the old days they might have traveled around Samaria just to remain pure. That was not needed now. As they go they share the story of the Gentiles responding to the Good News with the Christians in the region normally shunned. The Samaritans express happiness.
When they arrive in Jerusalem they tell the stories of the gentile conversion and the Jew’s rejection of the message. Then they add the special things that God did through them, signs and wonders.
The response is a bit different, no mention of joy or happiness. Instead, the scripture says, “Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses."
Ok, let’s review a bit. Barnabas was dispatched years ago to Antioch to check out what was going on with those Jews and Gentiles in the city. He reports back that God was working in the city.
So far in Acts we have covered a 15 or 16 year time span. And we are now 1 to 3 years after Paul and Barnabas started their First missionary journey into gentile territory. They have not been requiring the gentiles to be circumcised in order to be in the church and even to be a leader in the church. but, in Jerusalem they must have been.
The chapter says the Apostles and elders meet to consider the question of salvation.
It says, “After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them.”
Do you think that “after much discussion” means the same thing that that means at my house…perhaps raised voices, direct words, looks involving facial gestures and perhaps, just perhaps a door slamming or two?
Luke does not give us any of the opposing view’s points or words. And what he records from the other side seems quite civil.
Peter says, "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."
We don’t know how long Peter has been back in Jerusalem. We don’t know if he is again the official leader or just in attendance. He seems to have some influence, at least in the way that Luke records his speech.
He reminds them what happened about 5 years ago with Cornelius and his family.
The Holy Spirit sent him to the Gentile family and when he spoke VIVAL came. The Spirit makes the same signs apparent that had come on the disciples on the disciples at Pentecost.
He asks the hearers the hard question, why would you test God and the gentile believers by expecting them to keep the Law and a requirement for salvation. Basically, If the Jews already failed why would they expect the Gentiles to do any better.
What is really the problem that they seem to be dancing around. Isn’t it almost the same problem that Paul experienced in Lydia? When the Jews see the explosive growth of the Gentile believers they get jealous or worried about loss of power.
- You know it wasn’t that bad when it was only the Samaritans, at least they are part Jew.
- Then we had that Ethiopian, fellow but he went home so that was fine.
- But Antioch seems a little out of control and no body asked us for permission to run off into the wild gentile territory …
How many times to we fear success? We agree to participate in something, not really expecting much.
When not much happens well that was nice and just what I thought would happen.
But what happens when we get a little too successful. The cost goes up and the work gets harder.
Do we back off what we are doing...with draw support and encouragement. If the success looks like hardship in work or funds then it is a whole lot easier to just back off and let it die.
OR
Do we raise the ante? We make the rules for getting in a little harder.
That is what the Pharisee party Jews were doing. They connected the grace of God to the covenant with Abraham.
They had heard the message of grace and it was obvious that their past attempts to keep the Law always failed.
But they had grown up that way and it might seem purely natural that grace could not be that easy…..
Perhaps it is not raising the ante as much as a genuine concern that the Gentiles really are saved. Crossing all the Ts and dotting all the is…..
I wish I could convince myself that these people were better Christians than we are today and they might be really concerned.
Unfortunately, I think they were reacting out of the Jealousy and fear.
What if they lost control of the church? These people (Gentiles) are just being allowed to join, no formal training, no limited membership. Some were selected as elders only months after believing. How is it that that could be ok….?
Barnabas and Paul speak and it seems that it was Barnabas that did the talking as he is named first in this part of this weeks reading. Then James gets up and ties the inclusion of the Gentiles into the scriptures.
He closes his comments telling the group that they should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.
And he maps out a few rules that they should be encouraged to keep. They select some representatives, one Jew and one gentile to join the delegation including Paul and Barnabas. They prepare a letter stating the decision and the group goes back to the church in Antioch.
That brings us to our focused scripture this morning…
With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings. We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.
The letter is brief and to the point and is delivered by official representatives of the Church in Jerusalem. It removes al the requirement of Covenant of Abraham (circumcision) which ultimately was a commitment to the law of Moses.
However there are 4 “requirements.”
1. No food sacrificed to IDOLS, -- Like TV Dinners?
2. No Blood – Don’t cook or consume it
3. No strangled animals – The animal was to be slaughtered and no blood
4. No sexual immorality – Wow that seems like a jump doesn’t it?
That last one stands out because of the translation. The words used in the Hebrew scriptures are said to be broader and less direct than our interpretation.
Basically, Immorality could include a lot of things that were not sex, like unmarried people visiting without a chaperone and other cultural no..no’s.
It says that these 4 things are requirements, but what of?
Are they requirements for salvation?????
No, They are requirements to be church members!
The Church in Jerusalem understands that they don’t get to define who is saved or not.
They don’t get to make decisions on who receives the Holy Spirit. They can only make rules that will help the Jews and gentiles to get along better in church.
The can only set up expectations for membership.
This letter, opens up the church officially to the gentiles. IT totally affirms the teachings of Barnabas and Paul….Now each time there has been a change in the name order I have pointed out the thinking on why. This time, the order respects Barnabas’s position and standing with the Jerusalem church……Technically Baranbas has the reputation and the relationships and Paul is the new guy some 10 or so years later. So Barnabas was probably the main speaker and defender. Technically, Barnabas and Paul are on trial in a way for what they have been dong. Their going out and focusing their ministry on the Gentiles. They are being asked to explain themselves and why they thought it was OK the receive the hordes of Gentiles into the church. Their only defenses is that God gave them, the ability to do signs and wonders. To heal people.
It was God that made people respond. It was God that gave the holy Spirit. It was God that sent them on the journey to the gentiles.
The ultimate decision of the church in Jerusalem is not to limit what God can do. To not make up rules that block people’s approach to God.
Have we looked to see if we stand in the way of people coming to God? Sometimes Christians are viewed as being holier than though …some how morally superior.
Do outsiders think that they have to be sin free to enter a church?
To they believe that they will be welcome here?
Do we expect them just to know automatically?
Last night we had a service here for an Emmaus community. It is a pot luck dinner and then a worship service where there are two speakers.
After the service, on of the attendees invited me to come to the new service at Rome 1st. Called celebrate recovery, an independent service for people that are fighting addiction. People that don’t often feel welcome in normal church situations.
He was not assuming that I knew I was welcome. He was personally inviting me co come and see what happens in that community.
