Old and New

Isn’t it wonderful that nothing ever changes? I mean can you imagine what life would be like if we had to deal with constant change all the time? Ok so maybe that wasn’t the best start to a sermon, but it’s funny because we are daily faced with changes in our lives and for many of us, myself included the idea of change just drives us crazy. Now I haven’t shared this publicly, but back in the fall I wasn’t feeling well and with the help of some doctors I ended up discovering that I needed to change the things I eat.

Now you might be thinking to yourself, Pastor Brian, there are things that lots of people can’t eat. And you’re right. And I am at that place now, but when I first started eating differently, I did not like that change one bit. No more chips and salsa. I have eaten chips and salsa for as long as I can remember. In fact, chips and salsa was a go to snack of mine if I felt like I needed a little something to eat. No more salami, and many other meats. But I mention salami again, because if you were to ask my brothers about my salami eating habits as a kid you probably would have used the word ‘obsessed’. Same thing goes for ice cream. I’ve had ice cream on occasion because it’s just that hard to change that habit. And probably one of the biggest ones is anything spicy. Oh my goodness I love spicy food. The spicier the better. Bekkah and I would go to Thai restaurants and she’d order a 0 or 1 depending on the place and I would order a 4 or 5 depending on the place.

I knew that eliminating these foods and others was the right thing to do, but changing from eating all these things that I have loved for so long to no longer eating them was so hard. Now I don’t mean hard as in I had no self control (except for ice cream), but the mental toll it took on me to realize that all these foods that I loved were things that I can no longer have was difficult. I am in a much better place now. And I do occasionally have a day where I ignore the recommendations like having a steak with the family on Mother’s Day, but I have learned to adapt and find new snacks, and new meals that are good for me so that I can continue to feel well.

I tell you all this not to get sympathy, but to explain that very recently in my life I discovered just how hard change is and how long it took for me to accept this change even though I knew, I knew, that it would be something that would directly affect how I felt each day. So imagine what change might be like for someone who doesn’t see the direct benefit. How difficult it might be for them to accept the changes that are happening around them.

So imagine what it must have been like to be a part of this conversation and debate that the Jerusalem council was having. There are these new believers in Jesus who are from the Gentile community and they are being told by certain groups of people of Jesus followers that they cannot be saved unless they are circumcised. As you may well know this practice of circumcision dates back all the way to Abraham, and in that covenant with God, God declares that any male who is not circumcised will be cut off from his people and will have broken God’s covenant. So what do you do? Do you require the Gentiles to change by being circumcised, or do you decide to not have them circumcised and force the Jewish Jesus followers to change the way they view their covenant with God? Either decision is big and someone is going to have to change no matter which side of the debate is decided.

What is incredible about this is that despite the complexity of this decision, they are able to look at the experiences of the missionaries like Paul, Barnabas, Peter and others and see how the Spirit was and is working through these Gentiles even though they haven’t been circumcised. The text doesn’t put it that was specifically but it does say they witnessed Gentiles doing incredible works of the Spirit and it says that they weren’t circumcised so we have to conclude that despite circumcision they are doing incredible works of God. Then Peter stands up, and while he doesn’t address the specifics of circumcision he does point out that not a single person present has been perfect under the law and yet here they are, so why should we put burdens on people when we ourselves can’t even do it.

Then Peter and James make their final points. Peter points out that we are not saved by the law, but by the grace of our Lord Jesus. Then James chimes in with a quote from the prophet Amos who declares from God that all humanity will seek God including the Gentiles who belong to God. James reminds everyone that God is the God of all people not just those who were a part of the covenant. The desire of God has always been for all people to come to faith so that the whole world will come to worship together on the holy mountain which we can find several prophets talking about.

The final part of the this council we actually didn’t get as a part of the reading, but I feel is really important, because while the decision is to change and make circumcision not mandatory for salvation in Jesus, we do see that James proposes and it passes that there are things in the law that they are to refrain from doing. And I think it is also really important to point out that the council isn’t saying that Gentiles can’t be circumcised, they are simply saying that circumcision isn’t necessary, or mandatory, for salvation. If someone felt that it was important for their faith to do that then they are welcome to do that, but it was a prerequisite for receiving salvation through Jesus.

The reason why this lifting up of the other laws and the idea of optional circumcision is important is that it shows that there is a blending of the old and the new. There is a way to understand the importance of what has come before while also understanding that change is important especially when it comes to welcoming new groups of people into your community. Change isn’t easy. In fact, if you look at Paul’s letters your will see this whole conversation about circumcision keeps showing up, along with a host of other things people are either trying to change or trying to hold onto so that change doesn’t happen. However, just because change isn’t easy, doesn’t mean we should avoid it. Just think about how impactful this decision was on the life of all the Gentiles who were now believing in Jesus. And the whole reason I brought up the other laws being held onto shows how they are blending what has been a part of their faith with how to help move God’s saving work forward.

This is a beautiful text for us to hold up and hold onto any time that we are looking at ways that God is working through us and our community in new and maybe different ways. Change today is still hard, but perhaps if we look at the way that the Spirit is at work and moving in these unexpected ways and through unexpected people, we too can open ourselves up to change. And perhaps through that change we will experience the blessings that God brings about through these new situations and people. May God give us the wisdom to see the change that is happening in and around us, and the strength and the courage to help bring it about, so that like the ancient church in Jerusalem we can welcome all who are already doing God’s good work in this world. Amen.