How will Jews and Gentiles function in the church together

Acts 15:1-5

15 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.’ 2 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. 3 So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the believers. 4 When they 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. 5 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.’

The debate about how Gentiles could become followers of Jesus, and recognized members of the church, was reopened. While it appeared that with Cornelius (Acts 10) a Gentile who became a follower of Jesus, this question was answered. His story was quite different from the Gentiles in Derbe and Lystra who became followers of Jesus while Paul and Barnabas were on their mission. Cornelius was someone who followed much of Jewish practice in his life; it appears that in Derbe or Lystra there were no synagogues, so the Gentiles were not aware of Jewish practice. These Gentiles were coming to faith in Jesus knowing almost nothing about Jewish practice, let alone adopting Jewish patterns as part of their lives. Even though some Gentiles (like Cornelius) had become Christians, there was still a strong belief in some parts of the church that Christianity was part of Judaism and not a separate religion. And the way into Christianity was through Judaism and Jewish practice, including circumcision.

The leaders of the church decided to hold a conference to find a way forward, the proceedings and results of that conference will be covered next week. I want to turn the conversation to reflect on the historical relationship between Judaism and Christianity.

Sadly, the history of the church includes times when Christians have attacked and killed members of the Jewish community. And then have justified the brutality in the name doing God’s work. Such violence and hatred are not acceptable behaviour, yet it took the church a long time to confront those who did such things, holding them to account. Any violence or bigotry against Jews is inappropriate behaviour, but especially so for Christians. Jesus, who was a Jew, invites his followers to be peacemakers, seeking the wellbeing of the other.

PRAYER:

We confess two things to you, O Lord. We at times think we are so right in our views and understanding that there can be no other way, such certain at times has more to do with our pride than with following the Holy Spirit. Second, we confess that we are of the Christian community who through time in our pride and arrogance has demeaned and brutalized Jews. For the actions of the church, we are sorry. In Jesus’ name. Amen.