Acts 15:1-21
“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. 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. 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. 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 apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, ‘My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. 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? On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.’
The whole assembly kept silence, and listened to Barnabas and Paul as they told of all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking, James replied, ‘My brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first looked favourably on the Gentiles, to take from among them a people for his name. This agrees with the words of the prophets, as it is written,
“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.”
Therefore I have reached the decision that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God, but we should write to them to abstain only from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from whatever has been strangled and from blood. For in every city, for generations past, Moses has had those who proclaim him, for he has been read aloud every sabbath in the synagogues.’”
This is the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Would you pray with me?
In 2011, Rev Martin Thielen, the Senior Pastor at Brentwood United Methodist Church at the time, published a book by Westminster John Knox Press titled ‘What’s the Least I Can Believe And Still Be A Christian? The Guide To What Matters Most.’ In the book, he begins by examining ten myths about Christianity that are widely held and reflect claims about who God is that I don’t think many of us would be comfortable with.
Chapter 1 is titled ‘God Causes Cancer, Car Wrecks, and Other Catastrophes’ with a subtitle stating ‘Although God can and does bring good results out of tragedy, God does not cause tragic events to occur.’ After he works through nine other poor myths about Christianity he turns his attention to building up a better house than the one he just deconstructed. Like the title of the book indicates, he is trying to distill Christianity into a few claims about God the Almighty, Jesus the Christ, the Holy Spirit, grace, relationships, and hope among suffering. His writing is clear, compelling, accessible, and refreshing especially when the church and folks in it have built up Christianity to be a monstrosity of doctrine that has to be accepted in its entirety.
The life of faith in Jesus Christ that we as a community share is something of a distant cousin from the simple teachings of Jesus and the clear instructions of the early church. I want to track a bit of the journey on how we got to where we are today with an eye toward this question: what are the essentials of faith in following Jesus Christ?
So let’s begin with Jesus. One day Jesus was teaching and the Sadducees and Pharisees were within earshot as he addressed paying taxes to Caesar, the identity of the Messiah, concerns about the resurrection, and other parables. An expert in the law, in an attempt to trick Jesus hoping that he will answer in a way that undermines the Mosaic tradition, asks him ‘what is the greatest commandment?’ Jesus quotes from a section of the Torah that is part of Judaism’s Shema, ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and might.’ Then he adds a second piece from the Levitical code, insisting that you should not bear a grudge against anyone, rather love your neighbor as yourself. He answers this leading question fully drawing on the tradition of the Pharisee who asked it. All the teachings of the Law and the Prophets rest on those two commands. Love God. Love your neighbor. Simple enough.
On this side of Easter, Peter and Paul are preaching vigorously throughout Judea, and regions throughout the Mediterranean. Jews and non-Jews whom we call Gentiles are receptive to the story of Jesus and joining the early church. Folks are being baptized and brought into the fellowship of the church, whereby they share meals, prayer, and worship together. By the leading of the Holy Spirit, Jewish men are taking the Jesus story into non-Jewish communities. I think it’s hard for us to appreciate the scandalous nature of God’s grace going beyond expected boundaries. Because most of Jesus’ first followers were Jewish, it is not surprising that a good church fight was stirring just under the surface over 1st century Judaism’s relationship to this growing internal movement.
The fight comes to the surface when a few Pharisees made the claim that non-Jewish converts needed to become Jewish in order that they might be Christians. They said, ‘You can’t be saved, unless you’re circumcised and uphold the law of Moses.’ In other words, God’s actions in Jesus Christ are not enough for salvation-you need the Mosaic tradition to satisfy the requirements of salvation as well.
That’s one side of this ancient debate. On the other side, Peter shares all the amazing things he has seen and been part of as God’s grace changed lives in Gentile areas. He objects to the claim that Gentiles need to become Jewish converts before they can partake in the life of the early church. Peter offers this witness claiming that God’s grace is entirely sufficient for the work of salvation. Nothing else needs to be added. “We believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus.”
Each side presented its case and then James, the brother of Jesus, who is heading up the Jerusalem Church where deliberations have taken place offers his own witness. He has searched the scriptures and sees that ministry among non-Jews is a fulfillment of the Prophet Amos. He declares that non-Jews should not be accountable to the Mosaic tradition in order to follow Jesus Christ. He adds a few instructions in sending letters out announcing the decision: abstain from idols, meat that was strangled, illicit forms of sex, and blood.
At least for a time, an essential element of Christianity was agreed upon. In due time, about 300 years later, another debate about the essentials was underway as the early church across the Mediterranean attempted to make sense of Jesus’ relationship to God and the Holy Spirit. On one side was Arianism led by a church elder named Arius, which had a particular understanding of Jesus’ relationship to God the Father. One the other side was Athanasius, another church elder, who was teaching a different relationship of Jesus to God the Father called Homoousios. I’ll spare you the details but the Emperor Constantine called a council of church elders from all over the Roman World to settle the matter. It resulted in the Nicene Creed. Athanasius and the teaching of homoousios won the day.
Arius was exiled from the church and legend has it that on his way to church one morning, he was punished by God for teaching doctrine contrary to the church. He had terrible indigestion, stopped along the way to church, then his intestines ruptured, and he bled to death. It’s more likely that his opponents poisoned him but they rejoiced all the same that he was dead. Their version of Christianity was adopted by the Roman Empire.
In 1563, Thirty Nine Articles of Religion authored by clergy in the Church of England were whittled down from Forty-Two and ratified by Queen Elizabeth I. The Articles of Religion were intended to establish the position of the Church of England against the Roman Catholic Church and other unwanted Protestant groups. In the late 1700’s, John Wesley adopted over 20 of the Articles for use with Methodist congregations in England and the new American colonies. They have remained Methodist doctrine since the founding of the church, are included in our official church governance documents, and are not up for debate and revision when our global governing body convenes.
Some would say the Nicene Creed and the Articles of Religion are essentials for the Christian faith as we practice it here at Kingston Springs UMC and in other Methodist churches. I think that’s a fair assessment. Indeed, the vows we make in celebrating the covenant of church membership point to collectively agreed upon minimum requirements for the life of faith following Jesus Christ. Are they all essentials of faith? Would you say some are non-essentials and open to debate? These seven items are what individuals covenant to fulfill when they join the fellowship of the church.
- To renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil
powers of the world, and repent of their sin;
- To accept the freedom and power God gives them to resist
evil, injustice, and oppression;
- To confess Jesus Christ as Savior, put their whole trust in his
grace, and promise to serve him as their Lord;
- To remain faithful members of Christ’s holy church and serve
as Christ’s representatives in the world;
- To be loyal to Christ through The United Methodist Church
and do all in their power to strengthen its ministries;
- To faithfully participate in its ministries by their prayers,
their presence, their gifts, their service, and their witness;
- To receive and profess the Christian faith as contained in the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.
Of course, there are many other parts of the Christian faith and our practice of it that are non-essentials but still come up as focal points in how the church lives its life in the public sphere. Often these non-essentials are matters of theological approach like biblical interpretation or related to justice, like is healthcare a human right or a privilege?
It’s not likely that we’ll see a good church fight anytime soon over essentials of the faith. Most of them have been agreed upon for quite some time and those decisions are closed. More likely, we’ll see polarizing disagreements as folks turn non-essentials into boundary lines over what is real Christianity.
John Wesley offered some wisdom for such an occasion: “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”
We’ve come a long way from Jesus’ instructions to love God and neighbor, to James’ instructions not to eat strangled animals, to the doctrine of the ancient and medieval church, to the covenant of membership we hold with one another here in this place.
Having taken this journey with me touching the tenets of our faith and tradition, what is the distilled version of your life with God? Is it doctrinal or compassionate? Is it intellectual or experienced? Is there room for diversity with your neighbors and their expression of faith in the everlasting God? What version of life with God will your neighbors see? Would they find it burdensome and off-putting or compelling and invitational?
May it always be so that our neighbors see an invitational faith emanate from this community. Amen.