Daily Devotion for Lent 2020 - Day 22

Scripture Reading: Acts 15:1-41 (NRSV)

We see in this chapter the council of Jerusalem that formally develops a doctrine surrounding circumcision.  Were Christianity only to remain a sect of Judaism, this would never come up as the circumcision of males would be assumed.

The covenant that God makes with Abraham is very clear in Genesis 17:9-14:

God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. Throughout your generations every male among you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. Both the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money must be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

This seems pretty direct.  Even foreign slaves should submit to this covenant which would speak in favor of Gentiles being circumcised if they want to be a part of the people of God.

But the more Christianity moves into the Mediterranean, the more push back we see regarding this issue.  The Greeks thought that circumcision was barbaric and there was prejudice in this culture against males who were circumcised.  The inter-Testamental book of 1 Maccabees 1:11-15 shows that there was even Jewish resistance to circumcision:

In those days certain renegades came out from Israel and misled many, saying, “Let us go and make a covenant with the Gentiles around us, for since we separated from them many disasters have come upon us.” This proposal pleased them, and some of the people eagerly went to the king, who authorized them to observe the ordinances of the Gentiles.  So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, according to Gentile custom, and removed the marks of circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant. They joined with the Gentiles and sold themselves to do evil.

So there is precedent in Jewish tradition in how they were to deal with this incursion of Greek culture: resist and continue to be faithful to God's covenant!

The difference here seems to be that the Gentile converts to Christianity have received the Holy Spirit just as Jewish believers, showing that God "has made no distinction between them and us." (Acts 15.9).  If the Holy Spirit is a gift from God, then God seems to declare that circumcision is inconsequential with regards to this new covenant in Jesus Christ. 

What is fascinating is that in Acts, Peter is shown as the early adopter of sharing faith with Gentiles while in Galatians, Paul states that he is now the authority of Gentile evangelism:

On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter making him an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me in sending me to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.      (Galatians 2:7-9)

Many scholars seem to think that Galatians 2:1-10 is Paul's version of the Council of Jerusalem but others dispute this because it disagrees with much of Acts 15. 

Within Acts, this council seems to end peacefully enough with allowances to the uncircumcised as long as they continue to observe some purity laws around diet and sexuality.  Paul does seem to ignore the dietary laws while observing those concerning immorality in 1 Corinthians 10.

I'm not sure this shirt is accomplishing its intent!

While we may think they escaped without much contention, Luke does acknowledge that Paul and Barnabas split ways here.  Should Paul have been more forgiving of John Mark who he saw as a deserter?  It just goes to show us that the Christian fruit of the Spirit that Paul lifts up such as patience, kindness and generosity are sometimes easier to display in theory rather than in practice.

As Christians looking back on this ancient history, we may appreciate both Paul and Barnabas and wonder why they couldn't have worked things out.  In the moment, things can burn so hot!  In situations that may cause a split or arguments so sharp that we part company, how can we fast forward to a time of peace where we can look back and find greater love for one another?

It may be that we allow each other to go in ministry each to our own context.  But might we go with one another's blessing rather than a curse?

Prayer for the day:

God, let us mean it when we sing together,
When we all get to heaven,
what a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
we'll sing and shout the victory!
Help us to live out this assumption more each day.
Amen.

Prayer based on lyrics by Eliza E. Hewitt, 1898.

Photo by greyloch via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

All scripture quoted is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.