Homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Clergy sexual abuse. The ordination of women. Christian-Muslim relations. Science and religion. Poverty and social exclusion. Declining church membership. Hymns or contemporary praise choruses. Take your choice. There's no shortage of thorny issues in the Church these days.
I couldn't answer even one of them to everyone's satisfaction, so I won't try.
What I will say is that one thousand years from now -- in 3015 -- Christians may well think our debates over same-sex marriage and women bishops as arcane and abstract, of no immediate relevance for Christian discipleship in the fourth millennium.
This is why I keep pointing to Acts 15 as the way forward for the Church, in the midst of all these thorny issues.
When you read Acts 15, as a modern reader, the one question you probably take away from that text (if you take anything) is: How in the world could they possibly be worried about what Gentile Christian men do with their penises? Especially when you remember that this is the same Church that would sell all its possessions and give to the poor. How did they go from that radical commitment to Jesus' Way, only to arrive at a theological assessment of its members' members?
Well, two things. First, these were all Jewish men. And this meant, secondly, that circumcision was not merely an ethnic peculiarity but part of what it meant to belong to God's covenant people. According to Genesis 17, the rite of circumcision was a sign of the covenant relationship between God and Abraham, and between God and Abraham's descendants, the Jews. But now it seemed that God was widening the scope of God's covenant people and allowing Gentiles -- non-Jews -- to belong, too. And so this raised the question: If Gentiles can now be admitted to God's covenant people, and if circumcision has always been a sign of belonging to God's covenant people, then should male Gentile converts be circumcised?
If you're thinking this is all a quaint and provincial discussion, let me just put this spin on it. The issue in Acts 15 is the issue of what makes a Christ-defined identity.
The leaders in the Jerusalem Church in Acts 15 were savvy. I hold no delusions about how backward the ancients were. So when I read this text -- or rather, when my life in read in light of this text -- I realize that these guys were brilliant. They knew when God was doing something new by bringing in Gentiles into the covenant people, in a way no longer defined by the Law of Moses but by Jesus. Isaiah had warned of as much. But hear the words of Peter for yourself:
But take a look again at who it was that said those words: Peter!
The guy who in the gospels was the impulsive, impatient, and rather immature follower of Jesus whose mouth often ran ahead of his brain despite his good intentions. So how did Peter, a simple fisherman by trade, suddenly become an authority on biblical interpretation, respected by those around him? And what lessons might the Church learn from Peter to apply toward those thorny issues today?
Well, first off, it's probably not true that Peter was some simple fisherman. We know from the gospels that he was a small business owner with employees, a partner in business with James and John. He was married and a homeowner, like most of us today. And he would at least have been bilingual -- speaking Aramaic and Greek -- in order to negotiate the choppy waters of commerce in the hinterland of the Roman Empire that was Israel. What's more, he was a literate man -- because he would have learnt Hebrew as a boy (in order to memorize the Torah) and Greek (two letters are attributed to him in the New Testament). Peter preaches three times in Acts, so it's fair to say that he could string sentences together. So all in all, Peter was an intelligent business man.
But it is fair to say that Peter was impetuous. Once he accepted his call to follow Jesus, he had several foot-in-mouth episodes. He challenged Jesus, when the disciples weren't quite sure what to make of what Jesus had said. And there was that denial thing ...
But we also have to affirm several other instances from the gospels in which Peter became a faithful follower of Jesus. Peter had no hesitation in believing the women's accounts that Jesus had risen from the dead. He was the first to recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah. His was the confession on which Jesus built his Church -- including this very Church in Jerusalem who've met to debate circumcision. So pretty much, Peter is us!
So what can the Church take away from all this?
1. It's okay to take some time -- even a long time! (weeks, months, years) -- to deal with an issue. The debate in Acts 15 gets quite heated in the early Church sometimes ... just read Paul's letter to the Galatians. But in Acts 15, the Church is willing to gather witnesses from the field (from other Christian communities throughout the world) in order to arrive at a decision. They listened to the various parts of the debate, to the many interpretations of what's going on. They discussed among themselves -- which, probably a lot like us, got fairly intense on occasion -- and finally came to a resolution that seemed to them, and to the Holy Spirit, to be a good one.
Controversial issues like same-sex marriage will take the Church a while to negotiate. It takes time to listen to the issues and the perspectives of brothers and sisters with whom we disagree. But Acts 15 insists that every voice be heard, especially when we know that those voices have something to say that's opposite what we want them to say.
But here's the thing: Dialogue and debate in the Church are not about winning arguments. They're about discerning the way forward God would have us to go. No one gets to force any agenda. The purpose here is to discern what the Spirit is doing here -- and we always believe the Spirit is doing something in the lives of our sisters and brothers -- as well as in the world -- because we're pretty sure the Spirit is there, too. (Just read the middle chapters of John's gospel if you need reminding.)
2. Notice how open Peter was to what the Church comes to call God's innovation. Peter was open to what God was doing in the Church and in the world. He hadn't formed any preconceived ideas. He knew that following Jesus means we sometimes can get things really, really wrong in the process. Like him, we will make mistakes in discipleship. But the point is that we're being definitely transformed by the Spirit in the Church's Pentecost. That we're being freed -- like Peter -- from all the mistakes of our past to spend the rest of our lives telling others about the Good News of Jesus' death and resurrection.
Through all that, Peter was still sensitive to what's happening around him. Gentiles were becoming Christians and receiving the Holy Spirit. God's community was no longer a "Jews-only" community. And Peter was perceptive enough to realize this is something God was doing. And, as a good Jew, Peter had a thorough knowledge of what we now call the Old Testament, meaning he had a frame of reference by which he could understand what the Spirit was doing with the Gentiles. Peter was so familiar with the Word of God revealed in Scripture, and so grounded in Jewish traditions of interpretation, that he was able to discern what God was doing and add his voice to the important conversation about circumcision taking place in Jerusalem.
And don't forget: Peter had been a guy excited about being a disciple but one also prone to foot-in-mouth. Still, he didn't let those mistakes of the past define who he was. Peter had more than his fair share of mistakes, but he was confident enough in his relationship with Jesus to move on and not dwell on those times he'd messed up. Discipleship means taking your eyes off the times you and your sisters and brothers have messed up, and placing those eyes firmly on Jesus and his successes.
That's an encouraging word for the Church these days. Whatever our past mistakes, those do not have to define us. We needn't be trapped in particular ways of thinking and acting. We can dare to be wrong. (As Luther himself demanded, "sin boldly".) Because, by the Spirit, like Peter, we can be transformed to serve Jesus despite our histories and issues.
3. So here's the thing: If God really is doing a new thing, it's something to get excited about and join in on. I say if, because the time has come to do the hard work of discerning and listening. The Church has always dealt with divisive issues. In the New Testament, it was circumcision. Now, it's things like same-sex marriage. But Peter offers us a model of what that discernment looks like.
Here's what we should do. Watch. Listen. Learn. Only when we've watched what is happening, listened to others, and learnt all the issues at play can we act together as the One Body of Christ to discern what God is up to in the world.
That isn't going to happen when we polarize and insulate ourselves against those brothers and sisters with whom we disagree.
Because what we need to do is follow Peter's example. He's a model of what discipleship looks like. Peter spent his life with Jesus daring to ask questions, challenged Jesus when he thought Jesus needed challenging, acted as a spokesperson for the disciples, and in doing so learnt what it meant to follow Jesus in the bad times and in the good times. By staying close to Jesus, Peter learned to work on the negative aspects of his character so he could be more like Jesus, and discern where God was at work in the world.
Can we?
I couldn't answer even one of them to everyone's satisfaction, so I won't try.
What I will say is that one thousand years from now -- in 3015 -- Christians may well think our debates over same-sex marriage and women bishops as arcane and abstract, of no immediate relevance for Christian discipleship in the fourth millennium.
This is why I keep pointing to Acts 15 as the way forward for the Church, in the midst of all these thorny issues.
Well, two things. First, these were all Jewish men. And this meant, secondly, that circumcision was not merely an ethnic peculiarity but part of what it meant to belong to God's covenant people. According to Genesis 17, the rite of circumcision was a sign of the covenant relationship between God and Abraham, and between God and Abraham's descendants, the Jews. But now it seemed that God was widening the scope of God's covenant people and allowing Gentiles -- non-Jews -- to belong, too. And so this raised the question: If Gentiles can now be admitted to God's covenant people, and if circumcision has always been a sign of belonging to God's covenant people, then should male Gentile converts be circumcised?
If you're thinking this is all a quaint and provincial discussion, let me just put this spin on it. The issue in Acts 15 is the issue of what makes a Christ-defined identity.
The leaders in the Jerusalem Church in Acts 15 were savvy. I hold no delusions about how backward the ancients were. So when I read this text -- or rather, when my life in read in light of this text -- I realize that these guys were brilliant. They knew when God was doing something new by bringing in Gentiles into the covenant people, in a way no longer defined by the Law of Moses but by Jesus. Isaiah had warned of as much. But hear the words of Peter for yourself:
God ... testified to [the Gentiles] 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.That's wisdom. Because if not for those words, I most likely wouldn't be a Christian.
But take a look again at who it was that said those words: Peter!
The guy who in the gospels was the impulsive, impatient, and rather immature follower of Jesus whose mouth often ran ahead of his brain despite his good intentions. So how did Peter, a simple fisherman by trade, suddenly become an authority on biblical interpretation, respected by those around him? And what lessons might the Church learn from Peter to apply toward those thorny issues today?
Well, first off, it's probably not true that Peter was some simple fisherman. We know from the gospels that he was a small business owner with employees, a partner in business with James and John. He was married and a homeowner, like most of us today. And he would at least have been bilingual -- speaking Aramaic and Greek -- in order to negotiate the choppy waters of commerce in the hinterland of the Roman Empire that was Israel. What's more, he was a literate man -- because he would have learnt Hebrew as a boy (in order to memorize the Torah) and Greek (two letters are attributed to him in the New Testament). Peter preaches three times in Acts, so it's fair to say that he could string sentences together. So all in all, Peter was an intelligent business man.
But it is fair to say that Peter was impetuous. Once he accepted his call to follow Jesus, he had several foot-in-mouth episodes. He challenged Jesus, when the disciples weren't quite sure what to make of what Jesus had said. And there was that denial thing ...
But we also have to affirm several other instances from the gospels in which Peter became a faithful follower of Jesus. Peter had no hesitation in believing the women's accounts that Jesus had risen from the dead. He was the first to recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah. His was the confession on which Jesus built his Church -- including this very Church in Jerusalem who've met to debate circumcision. So pretty much, Peter is us!
So what can the Church take away from all this?
1. It's okay to take some time -- even a long time! (weeks, months, years) -- to deal with an issue. The debate in Acts 15 gets quite heated in the early Church sometimes ... just read Paul's letter to the Galatians. But in Acts 15, the Church is willing to gather witnesses from the field (from other Christian communities throughout the world) in order to arrive at a decision. They listened to the various parts of the debate, to the many interpretations of what's going on. They discussed among themselves -- which, probably a lot like us, got fairly intense on occasion -- and finally came to a resolution that seemed to them, and to the Holy Spirit, to be a good one.
Controversial issues like same-sex marriage will take the Church a while to negotiate. It takes time to listen to the issues and the perspectives of brothers and sisters with whom we disagree. But Acts 15 insists that every voice be heard, especially when we know that those voices have something to say that's opposite what we want them to say.
But here's the thing: Dialogue and debate in the Church are not about winning arguments. They're about discerning the way forward God would have us to go. No one gets to force any agenda. The purpose here is to discern what the Spirit is doing here -- and we always believe the Spirit is doing something in the lives of our sisters and brothers -- as well as in the world -- because we're pretty sure the Spirit is there, too. (Just read the middle chapters of John's gospel if you need reminding.)
2. Notice how open Peter was to what the Church comes to call God's innovation. Peter was open to what God was doing in the Church and in the world. He hadn't formed any preconceived ideas. He knew that following Jesus means we sometimes can get things really, really wrong in the process. Like him, we will make mistakes in discipleship. But the point is that we're being definitely transformed by the Spirit in the Church's Pentecost. That we're being freed -- like Peter -- from all the mistakes of our past to spend the rest of our lives telling others about the Good News of Jesus' death and resurrection.
Through all that, Peter was still sensitive to what's happening around him. Gentiles were becoming Christians and receiving the Holy Spirit. God's community was no longer a "Jews-only" community. And Peter was perceptive enough to realize this is something God was doing. And, as a good Jew, Peter had a thorough knowledge of what we now call the Old Testament, meaning he had a frame of reference by which he could understand what the Spirit was doing with the Gentiles. Peter was so familiar with the Word of God revealed in Scripture, and so grounded in Jewish traditions of interpretation, that he was able to discern what God was doing and add his voice to the important conversation about circumcision taking place in Jerusalem.
And don't forget: Peter had been a guy excited about being a disciple but one also prone to foot-in-mouth. Still, he didn't let those mistakes of the past define who he was. Peter had more than his fair share of mistakes, but he was confident enough in his relationship with Jesus to move on and not dwell on those times he'd messed up. Discipleship means taking your eyes off the times you and your sisters and brothers have messed up, and placing those eyes firmly on Jesus and his successes.
That's an encouraging word for the Church these days. Whatever our past mistakes, those do not have to define us. We needn't be trapped in particular ways of thinking and acting. We can dare to be wrong. (As Luther himself demanded, "sin boldly".) Because, by the Spirit, like Peter, we can be transformed to serve Jesus despite our histories and issues.
3. So here's the thing: If God really is doing a new thing, it's something to get excited about and join in on. I say if, because the time has come to do the hard work of discerning and listening. The Church has always dealt with divisive issues. In the New Testament, it was circumcision. Now, it's things like same-sex marriage. But Peter offers us a model of what that discernment looks like.
Here's what we should do. Watch. Listen. Learn. Only when we've watched what is happening, listened to others, and learnt all the issues at play can we act together as the One Body of Christ to discern what God is up to in the world.
That isn't going to happen when we polarize and insulate ourselves against those brothers and sisters with whom we disagree.
Because what we need to do is follow Peter's example. He's a model of what discipleship looks like. Peter spent his life with Jesus daring to ask questions, challenged Jesus when he thought Jesus needed challenging, acted as a spokesperson for the disciples, and in doing so learnt what it meant to follow Jesus in the bad times and in the good times. By staying close to Jesus, Peter learned to work on the negative aspects of his character so he could be more like Jesus, and discern where God was at work in the world.
Can we?