Text: Acts 15:1-2, 4-6, 12-13, 19-21
This week at VBS, we learned a lot of awesome stories about how Jesus power is with us.
And every single night we had a totally true, awesome story from the Book of Acts.
We talked about how Jesus helps us do hard things with the story of Ananias who went to help Saul.
We talked about how Jesus’ power gives us hope with the story of Paul’s shipwreck.
We talked about Jesus power helps us be bold with the story of Peter and John healing a man.
And we learned about how Jesus’ power helps us live forever as we let our light shine and share God’s story like so many disciples did.
Last but not least, we remembered that Jesus’ power helps us be good friends and learned about how that community in Jerusalem were connected.
But as we have talked about over these last couple of months, it isn’t easy for a church to get along.
There is going to be conflict as we have different ideas about how to lead and what to do and who is welcomed.
So today we have another totally true story from the book of Acts…. About the first official church council meeting.
In the history books and in the headings of our bibles, we know this as the Council of Jerusalem. It was the first time the leaders gathered to make an important decision about what the rules of the church should be.
As the Holy Spirit moved through this early church argument, we can learn about how we, too, in the 21st century can learn to get past our disagreements.
First – when you see a problem… address it!
The issue here is whether or not Gentiles had to be circumcised before they could be part of the church.
Another way to put it – did you have to fully convert to the Jewish faith before you could accept Christ as your Lord and Savior.
We’ve heard about the missionary work of Paul and Barnabas and how Gentiles were accepting Jesus right and left.
All along, they taught that Jesus was the way and the truth and the life. No prerequisites. No admission exams. Christ and Christ alone was the source of salvation.
But then group of folks comes along teaching something different.
Paul and Barnabas could have ignored them and kept doing what they were doing… But that only delays the debate until a time when people are more entrenched in one position or another.
They could have bullied the newcomers and ran them out of town… after all, that is what often happened to them.
Instead, they addressed the conflict directly.
They confronted the teachers in debate. They spoke their piece. They defended their position.
Of course, the other side made their arguments as well. A healthy conflict allows room for disagreement and conversation. It allows for people to stand in one place or another. They talked and argued… but there were no winners or losers.
And they all realized that this wasn’t something that could be settled once and for all in Antioch.
Which leads me to the second point… some arguments and debates are bigger than us as individuals.
Sometimes you reach a stalemate in a fight. And you need someone else to come in and help.
Paul and Barnabas are sent from Antioch to Jerusalem to get an official ruling on the issue.
In the world of business, this might mean calling in a mediator.
When you are fighting with your brother, this might be when your mom steps in.
In a church, this is the point when you call the district superintendent.
Someone who can help us think bigger and solve our problems.
And… sometimes we need to move the conversation up the chain of command because the impact of our decisions involve more than simply us.
The church in Antioch realized this debate was going to repeat time and time again across the world.
It was not just a conflict they needed to solve, this was a question for the whole Body of Christ.
And how the Body of Christ decided to live, one way or the other, would define the church.
They could either be a church who welcomed Gentiles as they were or a church who demanded circumcision, but they couldn’t be both.
So they sent their questions to Jerusalem and the apostles.
That is not to say that all arguments require calling in the head honcho. If a church can’t agree about what color of carpet to install, you don’t need to call the Bishop.
But there are some disagreements that are more fundamental – questions about our identity and our witness in the world – about who we are as a people… and sometimes we discover they are bigger than just one congregation.
In these cases, we have the opportunity to participate and share our experience and voices, but also, we are asked to listen to the experience and voices of others who are impacted by what we do.
This, is a lesson the partisan politicking in our world today desperately needs to remember.
The third thing that we can learn from this passage is how to engage.
As Acts 15 describes this debate, it plays out much like a courtroom scene. Parties stand and argue their case. People listen and wait their turn. The gathering is respectful and honest.
Oh, how I wish this were true in our local, state, national… or even denominational politics.
One of the more powerful realities of this testimony of scripture is that names are not tossed back and forth. No party made out to be the bad guy. There is no negative campaigning or slander.
Each group simply speaks the truth about who they are, what they have experienced, and what they believe.
Those who believed that all must be circumcised stood and made their case from the perspective of tradition and then others began to speak as well.
Peter talked about the conversion of Cornelius and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Barnabas and Paul shared about their ministry with the gentiles and the signs and wonders they saw.
And in each case, the people were allowed to tell their whole story without questions or cross-examination.
The others listened completely… not with the intent of finding flaws in their argument or how to beat them… but openly.
When one party was done speaking, the body was silent until the next voice was ready to speak.
There is this air of respect and love… it was holy space.
The final lesson comes in the answer to this debate – we should respect and honor each another and God.
When there was no more to say, James stood up to speak.
Having listened to what each party valued, James went back to scripture. He noted the precedent for ministry among Gentiles and the continued value of the teachings of Moses.
And then he made a declaration that was affirmed by everybody.
They didn’t have to vote with winners and losers. They all just agreed.
Gentiles would be welcomed, as they were… no additional burden would be placed upon them.
In many ways, James helped to build a bridge between these opposing groups. He helped them to find their common ground of respect. Each position would be respected and affirmed in its own way… by declaring what was essential and what wasn’t and requiring that all parties treat one another with respect.
John Wesley was often fond of saying: In essentials, unity; in unessentials, liberty; in all things – charity (that is to say, love).
God had moved among the Gentiles and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit showed that a practice like circumcision must not be an essential component of what it meant to be saved in Christ Jesus.
However, this didn’t mean that anything goes. N.T. Wright describes this compromise as “the double principle of no needful circumcision on the one hand and no needless offense on the other.” The Gentile Christians were to honor the scriptures by refusing pagan worship, refraining from sexual immorality, and respecting the dietary laws of their Jewish kin.
The early church would continue to argue about the essentials of who we should be as the people of God and what would be required of us.
New questions would arise as the church continued to expand into new places and new cultures.
But this Council of Jerusalem set a new standard for how we should have these conversations… with grace and love and respect.
Their actions were not focused on creating winners and losers, but on discerning what God was doing.
They returned to scripture and allowed it to speak anew into the present moment.
The questions were important… but even more so was how they chose to answer them.
We have a lot of things we disagree about today.
And the peacemaker in me always hopes that we can find a solution that can bring us all together… a compromise that would unify us, like this moment in Acts 15.
But then I read just a few more verses… and Barnabas and Paul have a disagreement.
They decide that for the sake of the mission they need to part ways.
What is the most important thing that we discover in this chapter is that how we talk to each other… how we listen… and how we show respect to God… and how we protect the most vulnerable is what is really important.
Sometimes that means we can work together.
And sometimes that means we need some time apart.
I don’t know where the church or country or world will be in a few years.
I pray constantly for the healing of our relationships.
And I keep remembering the lessons of the Jerusalem Council.
We need to directly face our conflicts and bring in folks to help us when necessary.
We need to share our stories fully… and listen with hearts wide open…
But above all… rather than our own agenda, we should seek answers that help us to best love and honor and respect one another and our God.