"The Church Learns and Adapts"

            During January, we have been studying the Book of Acts.  Acts provides a history, describing the birth and development of the early Christian Church.  We have used this examination to try and identify four essential characteristics of the early Church.  I have called this four-part series, “Re-Claiming the Essentials of the Early Church” because I believe that the four characteristics identified in this exploration should also be integral to the life of the contemporary Church. 

The first characteristic we identified was that the first Church was a community of faith, in which members loved and supported one another.  The second characteristic was that, early in its development, the first Church realized that everyone has a role to play in terms of service—and, that many are called to lead in various areas where they are qualified.  Last week, we studied the story of the Ethiopian eunuch, who became a Christian convert, and we realized that a third essential characteristic of the first Church was that it  welcomed and accepted everyone because Jesus last instructions to the apostles were to share the good news of God’s love “to the ends of the earth.”

On the fourth and final Sunday in this series, we will examine how the Church learned and adapted in response to its changing pastoral context.  Our focus this Sunday, January 26th, will be the Great Jerusalem Council, described in Acts 15.  The cause for this church council actually came from the early Christians in the city of Antioch.  As Luke, the author of Acts, sets the stage:

Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’ And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders.

            In my interpretation of Acts, at Pentecost the first Church is established as basically a spiritual renewal movement within Judaism.  That is, the first converts were already Jewish faithful, who saw Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah, as foretold the prophecies of the Hebrew scriptures.  Peter and the original Twelve lived in Jerusalem and would go to preach and teach about Jesus in the Temple. Over time, devout Jews became Christians, and there was no firm distinction between Jews and Jewish Christians. 

            However, more and more non-Jews also heard the Gospel and were attracted to Christianity.  Initially, these non-Jewish were “God-fearer” Gentiles:  persons who had been strongly attracted to Judaism and who studied Jewish scriptures and worshipped in Jewish services.  The Ethiopian eunuch, whose story we studied last week, would be an example of the type of non-Jews who were attracted to Christianity.  Their interest raised an important question:  Did one have to become a Jew first, before becoming a Christian? 

If Christianity were nothing more than a spiritual renewal movement within Judaism, then perhaps one could be required to become a Jew.  The problem with requiring persons to become Jews before Christians, lay in the circumcision requirement which even grow men would have to endure.  Obviously, circumcision on a grown man would be incredibly painful and there was always the risk of infection.  So, for the early Christians this seemed to be a particular onerous burden for a Gentile seeker, who was really just interested in passing through Judaism to participate in Christianity.

Actually, this question of whether Gentiles could become Christians had already been resolved before we come to Acts 15.  As we saw last week, in Acts 8, Philip baptizes and accepts the Ethiopian into the Christian faith.  Also, in Acts 10, we have the story of how God spoke to Peter in a vision, reassuring him that it was appropriate to baptize and welcome Gentiles as Christians.  Later, when Peter returns to Jerusalem, he is questioned about welcoming Gentiles as members of the Christian community.  However, after Peter describes his vision from God, everyone agreed that God intended for the Gospel to be shared with Gentiles as well as Jews.

So, the controversy stirred up in Antioch by Jewish purists had actually already been resolved and the trouble-makers in Antioch were completely out-of-line in their condemnation.  Still, the controversy was serious enough that the Antioch church decided to send Paul, Barnabas, and some others to Jerusalem to clarify whether or not Gentiles can be accepted into Christian fellowship. 

When they arrive in Jerusalem, this first question concerning whether Gentiles can become Christians is easily dispatched:  Of course, Gentiles can become Christians because this is in keeping with Jesus’ last instructions before his Ascension into Heaven to share the Gospel, beginning first with the Jews and then secondly with the Gentiles—carrying the Gospel to “the ends of the earth.” 

However, a second question, concerning lifestyle and table fellowship arises from a group of Christian Pharisees.  Although they recognize and accept that Gentiles can become Christians, they question whether Gentile and Jewish Christians should co-mingle in the same faith community; perhaps there should be separate Gentile and Jewish Christian communities.  As Luke describes in Acts 15:

When they [Paul, Barnabas, and the others from Antioch] came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, ‘It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses.’  Acts 15:4-6

In Antioch, the question raised by the critics was whether Gentiles converts had to follow conventional Jewish practices, including circumcision, in order to become Christians.  The second concern, raised by the Pharisees in Jerusalem, was whether Jewish Christians would have to become like Gentiles in order to be part of the Christian community.  This was basically a question of Jews remaining loyal to their ancestral traditions, even though they accepted and worship with Gentile Christians, who were not keeping the Jewish traditions.

Peter addresses the assembly by reviewing how God has called him to share the Gospel with the Gentiles.  Then, he asks, “Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?”  

The Biblical scholar, Robert Wall, helpfully observes that “Peter’s conclusion addresses the purity of a Jewish social identity within an inclusive faith community.  If Torah purity demands utter blamelessness and this state is impossible to attain, then the Pharisees’ concern is misplaced even if sincere.  More to his… point is that such a [purity] perspective actually subverts a Jewish identity marked by trusting a faithful God to ‘save us through the grace of the Lord Jesus’ (v.11).”[1]

After Peter has finished speaking, the gathered assembly listens as Paul and Barnabas describe how they have perceived God’s Presence through the conversion of the Gentiles to the Christian faith.  After hearing about the experiences of Peter, as well as Paul and Barnabas, James, who is the new leader of the Jerusalem Church, asks if there is a scriptural warrant that would confirm their decision to admit Gentiles into the new Church, along with Jewish Christians.  James finds a scriptural warrant in the following scripture:

 “After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the dwelling of David, which has fallen;
   from its ruins I will rebuild it,
     and I will set it up,
so that all other peoples may seek the Lord—
   even all the Gentiles over whom my name has been called.
     Thus says the Lord, who has been making these things known from long ago.”

A strong case has now been made for including Gentiles, based upon Peter’s vision from God, Paul and Barnabas’ experiences sharing the Gospel with Gentiles, and the scriptural warrant from the Hebrew prophets.  At this point, James proposes a compromise of sorts.  He proposes that the early Church welcome the Gentiles without reservation, but that the gathered assembly should write to the Gentile churches, asking “to abstain only from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from whatever has been strangled and from blood” (Acts 15:20).  Robert Wall notes that the church council basically asks the Gentile Christians to abstain from “four impurities observant Jews associated with the pagan world.”

I believe that the story of the Jerusalem church council in Acts 15 illustrates an essential characteristic of the first Christian Church, which is vitally important for us, today, in the twenty-first century church.  That characteristic is the willingness to learn and adapt to shifting pastoral contexts for ministry.  It has been said that the seven most deadly words for a church are:  “We’ve never done it that way before.”  These seven deadly words certainly did not apply the early church.  Instead, through a process of learning from experiences and studying scripture, the first church was remarkably open to change, if it meant being faithful to the Gospel.  That is, the Church learned and adapted. 

If you live in the Lincoln, Nebraska area and do not have a place of worship, then I invite you to join us at Christ United Methodist Church this Sunday, January 26, as we reflect upon the importance of the Church learning and adapting as its pastoral context shifts.  During the Proclamation, I will share some ideas about how the current, twenty-first century church may be required to learn and adapt. 

Christ UMC is located at 4530 “A” Street.  We have three worship services on Sunday mornings at 8:30, 9:45, and 11:00.  The 8:30 and 11:00 services feature a traditional worship format and the services are held in our Sanctuary.  “The Gathering” at 9:45 is held in our Family Life Center (gym), and it is more informal and interactive.   

Come, join us.  Everyone is welcome and accepted because God loves us all.

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[1] Robert W. Wall, “Commentary on the Book of Acts” in the New Interpreter’s Bible,  vol. 10, (Nashville, Abingdon Press, 2002), CD-ROM Edition.