Same Conversations; Different Age

The church, for all the ways that it has changed over the centuries still seems to find itself acting and dealing with the topic of identity. Here’s what I mean by that. I remember being in college and attending a seminar on music down in San Diego and being a part of conversations about contemporary music and pitting it against traditional music.

Some of the conversations that I had heard were about how guitars and drums shouldn’t be in a church building. I heard people say that the music was too hard to sing. I heard people mock the music as the 7-11 music, where you say the same 7 words 11 times and then the song is over. I also heard people rail against the installation of screens in the sanctuary because it would cause people to “worship” the screen and not God.

To give some personal context to this conversation. I grew up going to worship in a church where every Sunday was the same traditional service no matter what time you attended and it wasn’t until I was older that once a month our organist would take a week off and our pastor would lead worship with his acoustic guitar and we would use the “contemporary” hymnal from our pews. It wasn’t until I went to college at Cal Lutheran that I experienced what people call contemporary worship. I quickly grew to love contemporary music and styles of worship while still loving my traditional roots which is why I ended up attending worship on Sunday mornings at a local church for their traditional service and then Sunday night worship at the church on campus. I continue to love all styles of worship and what they bring and how they reach different people. I tried to balance those conversations in San Diego with my perspective and my personal upbringing so people could hopefully see or at least appreciate a different perspective.

This is just one of many issues the church has faced throughout the centuries. Today we have conversations about race and sexuality. Before that it was about divorce. It’s also been about the proper way to dress for church. It’s been about roles of leadership including the conversation about women as pastors and leaders. Before that it was about what is a sacrament. And on and on.

One of the issues the early church faced was that of circumcision. Circumcision is a command that was given to Abraham by God as a sign of his covenant between them as we see in Genesis 17:1-14. In that covenant God says that it will be a symbol of their relationship and that any male who is not circumcised will no longer be a part of the covenant. Now that the church had begun preaching and teaching to Gentiles and they were converting to this new faith in Jesus Christ, the issue of whether they needed to follow the covenant that was passed on to them from Abraham became one of those central issues of the day.

There were some Jewish converts that came from the Pharisees that felt strongly that they needed to be circumcised that they went so far as to travel to those Gentile communities to tell them so. The matter reached Jerusalem and they basically called a congregational meeting to discuss the matter. We don’t have all the meeting minutes of what was discussed on both sides but we do hear what ends up being the points that make the decision on the matter.

I believe we really need to pay attention to what is said. Peter stands up and says that he was put in charge of the mission to the Gentiles and that when they accepted Christ the one and same Spirit was moving in and through them as were any of the other Jewish followers of Christ. And if God chose to place the Spirit in them then who is to argue with who God chooses to claim as a forgiven child of God? Peter also makes the point that this basically isn’t a human debate because if God chose to do this then they have no matter in this business. We also see in Paul’s letters that he points out that if we have faith then we can do the works of God and the Spirit is in us, and if we do not then we cannot. Clearly the Gentiles are filled with the gift and power of the Spirit and therefore they are doing the works of God even without being circumcised. Then Peter concludes that above anything else we are saved by grace through Jesus Christ, including uncircumcised Gentiles.

Then basically to back up the point of Peter with examples we see Paul and Barnabas tell of those signs and wonders the Gentiles have done after converting and receiving the Holy Spirit. Then the final argument comes from James the brother of Jesus who quotes from Amos 9:11-12 to try to show that even then God talks about returning all people who accept God’s name not just the Jews. Even though we don’t have this in our text James then declares the verdict that they do not need to be bothered with circumcision but should abstain from food from idol worship, from blood and things strangled, and finally from fornication. A letter is written and sent with a delegation of representatives and the people rejoice when they hear the letter.

All of these conversations in this passage as well as those from today about worship and race and sexuality are all ways that the church of Christ has come together to discuss what it is that the Spirit is doing in the world and among the people. And I, again, believe that we need to listen to what Peter says, “8 And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; 9 and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us.”

In all that we say, in all that we do, in all the decisions we make we need to discern what the Spirit is doing in and through the world and help God to free what needs to be freed so that the Gospel can continue to reach people who need to hear it, or who have heard it but have been put down or oppressed because of human decisions and not ones that God is saying. May we, who have been given that life giving message of the Gospel, be as bold as Peter, James, Paul and Barnabas to step up and declare God working in and through people in unexpected ways and in unexpected places so that we can continue to free the Spirit to move where it will move. In doing so we can let God do what God does best: open God’s loving arms to all who are in need of love, grace, forgiveness, and everlasting life through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.