This Sunday in our Tentmakers class, I asked why
it is important for us to know who we are in Christ. If you were there, then you know that, in the
moments after the question was asked, we could have heard crickets chirping –
if that is I played nature soundtracks during class … which I don’t. I posed the question in the first place
because – in starting a new year … and thinking about the direction God has led
(is leading) this ministry – I wanted to thank Him for Who He is and also for
Who I am in Him, but (embarrassingly
for Sunday School leader and Christian blogger) I had a hard time remembering all
of what the Bible tells me about who I am in Christ. So this past Sunday we continued following
Paul down his ministry journey … only this week we looked through a new
lens. And just like a new pair of glasses,
this new lens can help us clarify what we’re seeing and learning, especially
when things seem fuzzy from our own eyes.
So where are we down the path of Paul’s
ministry journey? Well, we traveled with
Paul as well as with Barnabas, Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but an early church apostle
who happened to bear the same name), and Silas back to Antioch of Syria with
the letter from the early church leaders both in their hands and on their lips. Judas and Silas were sent by the church at
Jerusalem to read the letter explaining their position regarding the issue
causing so much unrest in the Gentile church at Antioch. Do you remember what that issue was? If not, look back at Acts 15:1-2… Even if you do remember, go there anyway; we’ll be looking at some nearby
verses soon enough.
The issue?
Was circumcision really a requirement for salvation as some men from the
church in Jerusalem were teaching? Acts
15:30 tells us that the congregation was assembled to hear the reading of the letter,
and I’m sure each one was anxiously waiting to hear the answer to the question
of circumcision. Interestingly, when you
read the letter recorded in verses 24-29, circumcision
isn’t mentioned specifically; rather it is implied as an unnecessary burden (Acts 15:28) that the church leaders refused to
place on the body of Christ.
And there’s our lens for today’s lesson. Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:29-30 that “… no
man ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and
carefully protects and cherishes it, as Christ does the church, because we
are members of His body.” (Amplified). Placing
an unnecessary burden placed on one member of the body ultimately causes all parts
to suffer (1 Cor 12:26). What happens
when you run on a sore foot? You change
your stride to help with pain, and then your knee starts hurting because it has
had to change what it does to help the foot.
And then the hip because of the knee and so on. Instead of additionally burdening the body of
Christ with Jewish traditions – showing hatred and contempt for their Gentile
brothers – they followed Christ’s example of nourishing and protecting and
cherishing the members of His body by (1) sending trusted representatives,
Judas and Silas, to minister to the needs of that congregation and (2) identifying what was really
important to keep the church at Antioch heading in the right direction.
I’ll leave you with two questions for you to
consider today:
(1) Who is/has
been part of your life … a person you know that God Himself sent as His trusted
representative to minister to your needs?
If you don’t have faces popping into your head, ask God to bring them to
mind. You are a part of the body of His
Son. He cares for you!
(2) What practices/traditions
is God revealing to you as unnecessary burdens that you are attempting to
carry? Remember that we are to stay in
step with the Holy Spirit – not running ahead or falling behind. Unnecessary burdens will only slow us down. (Oooh, look up Hebrews 12:1 … one of my
favorites!)
You are a
member of the body of Christ! Now what
are you going to do with that?
… I guess that’s three questions.
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