Living as One in Christ

We often think of the Church as a conservative force in society... a force designed to preserve and protect society as we know it.  It has certainly played that role in the history of Western Civilization.  Look at some examples from recent history.  The Church opposed the "democratic revolutions" which swept Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries… our own bid for freedom from the British and the French Revolution which brought democracy to that country. The Church was hostile to the growth of biblical criticism in Germany in the 19th century… believing that God’s Word should not be subject to “scientific method” or an examination of the historical context from which our scriptures emerged.  Even today, anyone who pursues a "progressive" or "liberal" agenda has to be aware that they will find deep opposition within the Church for that agenda.

Then, it should come as no surprise that Peter found opposition within the early Church to his “radical” idea that Gentiles should be included in God’s salvation for Israel. And one wonders what might have happened to this idea, if the vision that Peter presented to justify his position was a vision given to a lesser man… someone whose credentials within the Church were not as powerful as this humble fisherman who had walked with Jesus for three years, learning at the feet of the Master.  The most fundamental principle of Christian religion is clearly articulated in this passage… God shows no partiality between Jews and Gentiles, but, to quote Peter, "in every nation, anyone who fears [God] and does what is right is acceptable to him." It is Peter who tells the amazing story of the conversion of Cornelius… a Gentile who received the gift of the Holy Spirit that the Jerusalem authorities… including Peter… believed was reserved for them.  Peter's words were "If God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?"

Peter realized… and the authorities in Jerusalem eventually agreed… that God's intent was to break down all the barriers that had hitherto existed between people of different faiths and to unite them under a common faith in Jesus Christ. Peter stakes his claim on this revelation from God… this vision that forces him to question the status quo within his own religion.  Now, Peter was not the first to question the status quo within an establish religion: An earlier Jewish rabbi, Gamaliel… who was probably considered a “radical” Pharisee among the leaders of the Jewish faith… had counseled his fellow Jews not to oppose the new, emerging Christian sect, because if it flourished, it was “of God” and no one would want to be found fighting against God.   The question that we are forced to consider this morning is: How do we hear the prophetic voice among us?   How do we judge whether what we do is “of God” or not “of God”?  What steps do we take to insure that we are not simply “doing what we have always done” because that is the path of least resistance?   How would our country be different today if Rosa Parks had simply taken her seat at the back of the bus… or if Susan B. Anthony had been content with her role as a woman without a vote?  How often do we condone the status quo by our silence… even when we sense that something is wrong?

Anyone who has served as an elder on the session of this church during my tenure has heard me speak of the importance of committees and their function.  Committees are fundamental to our form of government… both as a representative democracy and as a church. The ship of state... and the bureaucracy of the Presbyterian Church today… is so large that it is unwieldy without some method of insuring that new ideas are heard and discussed in a forum that allows the full expression of those ideas, but also provides a means for us to discern God’s will for our life as Christians.  Oh, yes, at times, the inherent delay in convening our committees and inviting input to our decision-making is frustrating.  But we are not a church that gives any one individual the power to make decisions without considering input from those who might have alternative means and methods… even alternative goals... to offer.  It is through our committees that we work to discern God’s will for everything in our lives as Christians… from the curriculum that we offer to our youth and adults… to the way in which we manage our funds.  (Let me pause here to say that some of our committees would welcome additional members to bring some fresh ideas and new powers of discernment to the tasks that they confront. Church membership is not a requirement for anyone to sit on a committee or to vote in committee meetings.  If anyone is interested in a particular committee, I would encourage you to seek out the moderator of that committee and express your interest.  The moderators of the various committees are listed in your bulletin.)

In every established organization, there are gatekeepers. And Peter certainly had to deal with these individuals in our text today.  Gatekeepers are those individuals whose job it is to maintain the standards of the organization as those standards were envisioned by those who founded the organization. And yet… every organization simultaneously recognizes the need for change… for without any change, the organization risks becoming obsolete over time. The question that emerges then is this: What changes are beneficial to the organization and its future, and what changes are detrimental to the organization and its future?  Or, more accurately, what changes fulfill the spirit and intent of the founders, and what changes subvert the spirit and intent of the founders?   Within an organization, there is usually some document or testimony that records both the spirit and the intent of the founders.  When it comes to the United States of America, we have such a document, our Constitution, but it takes nine judges who are protected from the forum of public opinion to determine whether or not a law… an interpretation of a law… or an action of an organization or an individual falls within the spirit and intent of our founding fathers or not.  When it comes to the Church, then, the questions that even Peter had to confront on this occasion were:  Who is the founder of the Church? What was the spirit and the intent of that founder? And where can we find documentation… evidence… or testimony that speaks to the spirit and the intent of that founder?

The answer emerges clearly from God’s Word to us: It was God who founded the Church, and God who made Christ the head and cornerstone.  The spirit and intent of the founder… God… can be found in God’s Word to us.  Peter may not have had the written Word, but he had spent three years living and working with the living Word, Jesus Christ, and could distill from his experience the spirit and intent of God.  But note that, even though Peter deeply believed in his vision and in God’s acceptance of Cornelius and other Gentiles, he still brought his decision to the committee in Jerusalem.  It was only through the action of the combined leadership of the Church that Gentiles were accepted into the fellowship.

Our General Assembly meets this year in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  I am privileged to attend as one of the elected Commissioners from Grace Presbytery.  Peggy Kenny will be attending as well, as an Alternate Commissioner from Grace Presbytery.  Since the General Assembly last met, two years ago in San Jose, California, thousands of suggestions have come to the attention of the sessions of individual churches to be considered.  Hundreds of those suggestions have been presented by those sessions to their local presbyteries to be debated. And a substantial number of those have been presented as overtures to the General Assembly to be considered at their meeting in July.  This year, there are eighteen different committees to which each of these overtures has been assigned for consideration.  I have been randomly assigned to one committee that will spend a full week discussing and debating the various overtures to the General Assembly before convening with other Commissioners to vote. Peggy and I are already reading hundreds of pages of documents related to the overtures that are coming to this year’s General Assembly.  This is how we, as Presbyterians, discern the will of God for our life as Christians.

It has sometimes been suggested that the Presbyterian Church (USA) considers frivolous suggestions and takes unconsidered action at its General Assembly, but a study of the process of getting the “well-intentioned suggestion” of a single individual to the floor of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) would refute that.  From the time the ordination of women was first brought as an overture to the General Assembly of the Church to the time that the first women were ordained was more than fifty years… fifty years of discussion… fifty years of prayer… fifty years of debate… fifty years of study to discern the will of God. I’m pretty sure that Peter is glad that he lived early enough in the life of the Church that he did not have to wait that long for a decision about Gentiles in the Church!

It is not easy to balance the lone prophetic voice with discerning the will of God.  We, as Christians, are called to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit in all things.  We are called to listen to the prophetic voice that speaks in our midst.  And we are called to gather together in prayer to discern God’s will for our lives and for our church.  What was clear in Peter’s vision is that God welcomes all of his children into his Church.  Even Peter realized that this was not his decision… it was the will God for the Church that God himself founded. Confirmed by the brothers in Jerusalem, Peter’s vision did, indeed, set a new standard for the young church.  That standard was the standard of unity among those who believe, regardless of race… or faith… or pedigree. Thanks to Peter’s vision and the wisdom of the church leaders, we are one in Christ.  As we come to the Table today to share the feast that God has prepared, we re-affirm our commitment to live as God would have us live… as brothers and sisters of the faith… bound together by the love of Christ who died that we might live.  Amen. 

Acts 11:1-18