Acts 15: 1-41
by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
July 21, 2019
As Peter and Cornelius were humbled by the impartial love of God and the power of Holy Spirit (Acts 10-11), Saul of Tarsus was humbled by his own “coming to Jesus” moment (Acts 9). This Pharisee knew the Torah inside and out. Saul was the greatest persecutor of the early Christians.
And yet Saul was also chosen and transformed by God to use his passion to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the known world in the Mediterranean. As a sign of his conversion Saul received the new Christian name of Paul.
The first apostles to meet Paul were afraid of him (Acts 9:26). But Barnabas stood beside Paul as a fellow brother and spoke on his behalf (Acts 9:27). At that time the first century church was growing like wildfire through Judea, Galilee, and Samaria (Acts 9:31). God’s mission would keep moving to make Jesus known throughout the known Mediterranean world.
Therefore, Holy Spirit sent Paul and Barnabas to spread the good news from the ancient city of Damascus, Syria to Antioch (which is now modern-day Turkey) and throughout Asia Minor (Acts 13).
As Paul’s first missionary journey came to a close with Barnabas, they received news that a conflict was needing to be resolved in the church back in Jerusalem. This was the first conflict recorded in Acts. And this is where we enter the story of Acts 15: 1-41.
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.’
Then the apostles and the elders, with the consent of the whole church, decided to choose men from among their members and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers, with the following letter: ‘The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the believers of Gentile origin in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. Since we have heard that certain persons who have gone out from us, though with no instructions from us, have said things to disturb you and have unsettled your minds, we have decided unanimously to choose representatives and send them to you, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.’
So they were sent off and went down to Antioch. When they gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. When its members read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation. Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. After they had been there for some time, they were sent off in peace by the believers to those who had sent them. But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, and there, with many others, they taught and proclaimed the word of the Lord.
After some days Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Come, let us return and visit the believers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.’ Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul decided not to take with them one who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work. The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and set out, the believers commending him to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
As God’s Spirit widened the circle of faith to welcome Gentiles, women and men like Peter, Paul, and Barnabas had witnessed first-hand that God’s love was revealed to new believers without stipulations.
And yet some Jewish Christians wrestled with this. Their understanding of coming into the fold of faith was initiated by circumcision (covenant sign of belonging to God), which began with God’s covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17: 9-14).
While this debate may seem irrelevant today, we know the church does not exist in a conflict free bubble. Many debates and conflict have become stumbling blocks throughout the history of Christianity to present day. Conflict is a part of human life. So how do we handle conflict in the church and in our daily lives as people of faith?
The Gospel of Matthew is my starting point when levels of conflict rise up. Matthew’s words are practical when we spend time in prayer about any issue. Matthew says:
If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector…Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them (Matthew 18: 15-17, 20).
There is more to Matthew’s words than meets the eye. According to the Greek, “to point out the fault” is not to blame. Instead it is to name the problem and ask the individual to explain what has happened from their point of view. And “to listen” is not just to hear a response, but to hear God’s voice from within. The godly goal in times of conflict is for our faith to seek understanding and to be reconciled to God and to one another. Faith tells us that God is trustworthy in times of conflict.
John Paul Lederach is a Mennonite; his faith tradition is committed to working for peace. He has worked in conciliation and for over thirty years. In his book, Reconcile: Conflict Transforming for Ordinary Christians, Lederach sees the church in Acts 15 as a model for working through conflict. He says, “To disagree does not necessarily have to translate into relational distance and separation. It can mean increased understanding, relationship, and growth.”
He notes six key steps for handling conflict from our text today: [1]
1. Recognize and define the problem. The Jerusalem Council recognized there was division and they named the conflict regarding the identity of new Gentile believers. If the council had delayed naming the conflict it would have created more confusion and dissention. The leaders’ willingness to be real and transparent about the matter was central to the process of moving forward.
2. Create the appropriate forum for processing the matter. As God’s love in Jesus Christ was breaking down barriers between Jews and Gentiles, the Jerusalem Council knew the issue needed to be addressed. “They created a forum for discernment with broad participation. Discernment emerges from understanding the nature of the conflict and what level of response is needed to deal with it adequately. Process matters more than outcome.”
3. Let diverse viewpoints be represented. “The Jerusalem Council was intentional to be inclusive so that all viewpoints would be shared. There was no one-sided conversation. Everyone affected by the decision had a place at the table.” Every voice is a child of God and deserves to be heard with respect.
4. Speak well and listen carefully. “The whole assembly engaged in intervals of talking, listening, and keeping silent. The people of Jerusalem, the leaders, Peter, Paul and Barnabas each shared what they saw God doing and what was at stake.” Listening and keeping silent entail some hard, internal work. True listening requires empathy and respect of another’s viewpoint. Keeping silence gives us pause to consider what beliefs or deep values within us have been touched. Silence also allows for us to hear the voice of God through another.
5. Use the gifts in the community. As the meeting progressed, “this diverse group of people united their gifts in order to find common understanding. Certain people rose and spoke. Some brought evidence of what they had seen and heard from their ministry. Some spoke of the past. Some spoke of how God had worked among them. Some interpreted biblical text. Some formulated ideas of how things will be brought together. Some moved the meeting toward a specific outcome. Some wrote the outcome down. Some carried the message to those not present. In times of working through conflict, we need to unite our gifts to initiate, support, help create, and sustain understandings that are reached.”
6. Decide and then implement decisions. The Jerusalem Council reached a conclusion that made a way for the Christian movement to expand into the Church Universal. That conclusive decision was a result of making a compromise. Lederach says, “In essence they decided, ‘We recognize new things that God has envisioned for the church, things we did not expect from our tradition. We are [reforming] our beliefs to match this new understanding of God moving among us. However, we recognize important things from our past that we must not let go, and we share them explicitly with our brothers and sisters.’”
What a powerful example for you and me. Our text reminds me that when disagreement happens within the body of Christ we have hope as we trust God in any level of conflict. Disagreement and conflict are a normal part of human life. And the way we engage it matters.
Taking passive-aggressive postures and pointing fingers of blame are not the ways of the kingdom of God; these are ways of the world. But meeting one another where we are and making room to listen to our differing viewpoints are ways of God's kingdom because God’s kingdom values relationships. That is a core Christian virtue.
If God created you and if God created me and if God created the one whom you or I disagree with then we are still connected in God’s love even when we might disagree about the other stuff.
Trusting God in conflict is about our commitment to connect and grow. We trust God in conflict as we connect with God and one another through prayerful listening as our faith seeks understanding. We trust God in conflict as we are willing to grow in our faithfulness to follow God’s desire for reconciliation and unity.
Not every conflict will resolve with a unanimous decision to reach common ground, to reconcile, and to move forward. The conflict that arose between Paul and Barnabas became so sharp that they went their separate ways (Acts 15:39). Maybe Paul was just a hot-head, blew up, and walked away from Barnabas. We do not know the particulars.
But we do know that despite the sharp disagreement between them, God continued to be at work through Paul and Barnabas respectively; the story of God’s mission did not end there. Whatever human conflicts exist within us, among us, or out in the wider world, human conflict is not powerful enough to thwart God’s purposes in the world – you and I are not that powerful.
My prayer for us is this: when disagreement interrupts our daily rhythm, may we remember who we are and whose we are. You and I are children of God and we each belong to God. Belonging to God carries far more value than belonging to a position.
Instead of trying to be right, may we try to be open. Be open to see the image of God in the one you disagree with. Be open to listen to the story of what has shaped her or his viewpoints, and may they be open to listen to yours. Be open to listen for the Spirit of God speaking through that sister or brother.
May we be empowered by the apostles’ actions of trusting God in conflict.
When you think of conflict – do not think red (for anger), but look at the cross. The vertical line of the cross symbolizes that God has already reconciled us back to God through Jesus Christ. The horizontal line symbolizes the work we are called to do in Jesus’ name to be reconciled to one another.
As we do that work, may the world know that we are disciples of Jesus Christ by our love…not by our divisions.
In the name of God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.
Sources Referenced:
[1] John Paul Lederach, “Reconcile: Conflict Transforming for Ordinary Christians” (Harrisonburg: Herald Press, 2014).
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