An Historic Moment
Thursday, September 9, 2010 -- Week of Proper 18, Year Two
Constance, Nun, and Her Companions, 1878
To read about our daily commemorations, go to our Holy Women, Holy Men blog:
http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/
Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 983)
Psalms 50 (morning) [59, 60] or 93, 96 (evening)
Job 29:1, 31:1-23
Acts 15:1-11
John 11:17-27
Acts 15 chronicles the most important moment in the early church's history. It was the moment when the Jesus movement decided whether it would open its membership to Gentiles without making them become Jews. The presenting issue was circumcision. Would male converts be required to be circumcised as the scripture demands? The secondary issue was the law. Would Gentile converts be required to follow the Torah, not just the ethical commands, but also the dietary and cleanliness statutes?
Until this moment, the Jesus cult had been a reform movement within Judaism, not unlike the party of the Pharisees, who sought to promote full observation of the law among the people in everyday life. The early church went to the synagogue and debated scripture with fellow Jews, seeking to show through traditional rabbinical debate that Jesus was the true messiah who had come to initiate the promised new age. This is the good news, they said.
In some synagogues they were warmly received. In others, they were not. But there is a long tradition of rabbinical debate, and Jewish communities have a gift for tolerating disagreement while maintaining the identity of the congregation.
So the early Christians observed the Jewish sabbath, went to prayers in the Jerusalem temple and in the village synagogues, and followed the Torah. The extra thing they did was on the first day of the week, the day after the sabbath. They gathered in homes for the eucharist, the communion or agape meal, where they recalled the Last Supper and participated in the gift of bread and wine as the Body and Blood of Jesus.
Here's where something different might have happened early on. One of the distinctive and scandalous features of Jesus' ministry was his extraordinary table hospitality. "This fellow welcomes and eats with sinners," the Pharisees complained of him. (Luke 15:2) It may have been at these Sunday gatherings that the first boundary between careful Jewish observance and a more radical hospitality was breached.
Acts 10 tells the story of Peter's vision and subsequent conversation with Cornelius, the first Gentile convert. When Peter witnessed the presence of the Holy Spirit among the Gentiles, he baptized them into the fellowship for, he said, "these people have received the Holy Spirit just as we have."
When Paul took his ministry into the Jewish diaspora, he went as a Jew to Jews, speaking in the synagogues. He met great resistance, but he also met with great enthusiasm, particularly among Gentiles who attended synagogue but who were not Jews themselves. Gentile "Godfearers" were an important part of synagogue life. They were people who were attracted to Jewish monotheism and the reputation for a high ethic. But they were cultural Greeks, not circumcised and not observant of the many purity laws peculiar to Jews. Many of these Godfearers responded eagerly to Paul's message and became important members of the early church. Many of them were wealthy and powerful citizens.
What was the early church to make of these Gentiles? If the church were to remain faithful to its identity as a movement from within Judaism, it would need to require these Gentiles to go through the rituals of becoming Jewish, to be circumcised and to follow the Torah as taught and practiced within the church in order to become full members of the congregation. This would have been the traditional, conservative position. There was a long history of practice and there was a body of scripture requiring circumcision as a mark of identity and a sign of the covenant for God's people.
Acts 15 is our record of the church's consideration of this question. It is a turning point in the church's history. Would the church be a movement within Judaism -- the synagogue of the Jews who follow Jesus as the Messiah? Or would the church break so significantly with Jewish tradition that the community would welcome Gentiles fully, without requiring them to become Jews, without requiring circumcision? It was the most important decision of the early church.
Tradition or hospitality? Law or inclusion? What will our essential identity be?
Constance, Nun, and Her Companions, 1878
To read about our daily commemorations, go to our Holy Women, Holy Men blog:
http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/
Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 983)
Psalms 50 (morning) [59, 60] or 93, 96 (evening)
Job 29:1, 31:1-23
Acts 15:1-11
John 11:17-27
Acts 15 chronicles the most important moment in the early church's history. It was the moment when the Jesus movement decided whether it would open its membership to Gentiles without making them become Jews. The presenting issue was circumcision. Would male converts be required to be circumcised as the scripture demands? The secondary issue was the law. Would Gentile converts be required to follow the Torah, not just the ethical commands, but also the dietary and cleanliness statutes?
Until this moment, the Jesus cult had been a reform movement within Judaism, not unlike the party of the Pharisees, who sought to promote full observation of the law among the people in everyday life. The early church went to the synagogue and debated scripture with fellow Jews, seeking to show through traditional rabbinical debate that Jesus was the true messiah who had come to initiate the promised new age. This is the good news, they said.
In some synagogues they were warmly received. In others, they were not. But there is a long tradition of rabbinical debate, and Jewish communities have a gift for tolerating disagreement while maintaining the identity of the congregation.
So the early Christians observed the Jewish sabbath, went to prayers in the Jerusalem temple and in the village synagogues, and followed the Torah. The extra thing they did was on the first day of the week, the day after the sabbath. They gathered in homes for the eucharist, the communion or agape meal, where they recalled the Last Supper and participated in the gift of bread and wine as the Body and Blood of Jesus.
Here's where something different might have happened early on. One of the distinctive and scandalous features of Jesus' ministry was his extraordinary table hospitality. "This fellow welcomes and eats with sinners," the Pharisees complained of him. (Luke 15:2) It may have been at these Sunday gatherings that the first boundary between careful Jewish observance and a more radical hospitality was breached.
Acts 10 tells the story of Peter's vision and subsequent conversation with Cornelius, the first Gentile convert. When Peter witnessed the presence of the Holy Spirit among the Gentiles, he baptized them into the fellowship for, he said, "these people have received the Holy Spirit just as we have."
When Paul took his ministry into the Jewish diaspora, he went as a Jew to Jews, speaking in the synagogues. He met great resistance, but he also met with great enthusiasm, particularly among Gentiles who attended synagogue but who were not Jews themselves. Gentile "Godfearers" were an important part of synagogue life. They were people who were attracted to Jewish monotheism and the reputation for a high ethic. But they were cultural Greeks, not circumcised and not observant of the many purity laws peculiar to Jews. Many of these Godfearers responded eagerly to Paul's message and became important members of the early church. Many of them were wealthy and powerful citizens.
What was the early church to make of these Gentiles? If the church were to remain faithful to its identity as a movement from within Judaism, it would need to require these Gentiles to go through the rituals of becoming Jewish, to be circumcised and to follow the Torah as taught and practiced within the church in order to become full members of the congregation. This would have been the traditional, conservative position. There was a long history of practice and there was a body of scripture requiring circumcision as a mark of identity and a sign of the covenant for God's people.
Acts 15 is our record of the church's consideration of this question. It is a turning point in the church's history. Would the church be a movement within Judaism -- the synagogue of the Jews who follow Jesus as the Messiah? Or would the church break so significantly with Jewish tradition that the community would welcome Gentiles fully, without requiring them to become Jews, without requiring circumcision? It was the most important decision of the early church.
Tradition or hospitality? Law or inclusion? What will our essential identity be?
Lowell
_____________________________________________
Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link: Morning Reflection Podcasts
About Morning Reflections
Morning Reflections is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.
Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117
An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this location -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html
The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
is to explore and celebrate
God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love.
Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org
Our Rule of Life
Lowell Grisham, Rector
Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link: Morning Reflection Podcasts
About Morning Reflections
Morning Reflections is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.
Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117
An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this location -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html
The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
is to explore and celebrate
God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love.
Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org
Our Rule of Life
We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.
Lowell Grisham, Rector
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas
posted by Lowell @ 8:31 AM
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