God's Rules or My Rules?

In Acts 15: 1-35 we encounter a discussion about rules and who they apply to. This is a discussion that should be very relevant to us today.

During Christ's ministry Jesus was often followed by the Pharisees who were searching for faults about what he was doing and preaching. They especially were upset with him if he healed a person on the Sabbath because it broke a rule. Each time he was confronted by them, he would ask them very pointed questions about why it should be unlawful to heal or help someone on the Sabbath.  He was frustrated by the many rules that men had devised for those who practiced the Jewish faith. He confronted those who held the laws of the faith in such esteem and chastised them for the rules that they had laid on men that had little to do with Gods intent. Who can forget the soliloquy by Jesus in Matthew 23 where Jesus confronts the Pharisees in a powerful message.  "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. ( Mthw 23:13) "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. ……But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. (Mthw 23: 2-4).

In Acts we see an important discussion that deals with a similar issue as this new Christian faith is taking hold. The discussion is around whether a practice in Judaism should be continued in order for non-Jews to become Christians. At some point Paul makes the plea that it should be made easier for people to become followers. In essence, focus on the really important stuff and forget all the fringe rules. As the question was being considered, it was not just about the purpose of the rule, more importantly, it was also about  who made this rule and how did it bring one to faith and subsequent salvation?

 How we qualify for salvation has been an on-going  question throughout Christian history. The answer was always evident in what Christ preached, but at some point or another, man has continuously made embellishments and rules which were entangled with the message of the cross. Again and again the question would be asked, are these rules truly God's or are they mans? Hence, great schisms rose up in the church, wars were fought  and the reformation occurred.

So how does this discussion amongst these early Christians affect us today? The on-going examination continues as to whether our rules or thinking is about what God has declared to be true, or whether it is human beings who have conjured up a truth of their own making.

Unlike the apostles who were trying to open the doors to faith in Christ and hence, salvation, by eliminating  items of the old guard Jewish faith that could keep people out, many doors in the Christian faith today  are being opened for what seems a "come with whatever beliefs you want and pay little attention to the Bible."  Sometimes it is called Swiss-cheese faith or smorgasbord faith, but whatever you may term it, many people are creating there own rules to quell what we used to see as sin and make it sinless. There is a thought process that says that ones own version of God and Christ, to meet our own purposes, is an acceptable idea even though it has no Biblical authority. In fact there are whole churches that are marching to this drum beat, as they move away from the word. Because of this, we see controversy. Our culture is troubled by such things as abortion, a woman's right to choose, homosexuality, gay marriage and life-styles where there are children brought into the world without the  marriage of the parents. All of this thinking is really about rules and whose rules work the best---God's or mans? Who is the authority in such matters?

The new covenant, given to us by God through the cross of Jesus Christ, made the Christian faith inclusive- open to all, without the bindings of Jewish law. Conversely, it made it exclusive, in that one must believe that Christ was and is the only way and the Truth and the life leading to the Father. This idea of an 'inclusive-exclusive' faith seems like a paradox, but it the Truth that saves.

            While some desire Christianity to be inclusive, as in, 'an open door to all people, embracing all human desires and all other faiths as co-faiths in the larger universe,' thus making Christ just a spoke on the faith wheel; sin an outdated concept and God's rules no longer correct thinking, there is a wall we cannot get around. God is not dependant on us to make the rules. We are dependant on what God gives us. God is both infinite and unchanging.  His authority is unfailing and His rules still stand.

Laurie Erdman

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Full of Faith

Acts 14:8-28

There are a lot of things that jumped out at me in today’s reading, but one of the most striking for me is in the end of verse 9, “Paul realized he had faith to be healed.” It’s impressive enough that Paul was able to notice the man’s faith. But more incredible to me is that the man had faith to notice. Did you catch that as they came upon this man with crippled feet, that Luke immediately informs us that he had been that way his whole life and had never walked? I don’t know how old the man was when Paul and Barnabas met him, but since he was a man, it seems to me he’d been crippled long enough that, if it were me, I don’t think I’d still be believing I’d walk some day.

I know the faith of the man isn’t the major theme of this passage, but it’s significant. Are there things in your life that you’ve decided to live with, or much worse decided to be embittered by, because you’ve lost the strength to believe God can work in that area of your life? Has God been trying to offer you a solution other than the means of healing you believed was the best solution?

It’s so easy to limit our hope and our faith to areas of our lives where it’s easier to imagine possibilities. Are their areas of your life or heart you’ve left for dead that can be restored by a miracle from God? Rather than praying for the kind of miracle we’d like, perhaps we should pray that in that area of our lives we might begin to live out our faith in a way that is recognizable.

An Appointment With God

Today we read in Chapter 13:48 that "all who were chosen for eternal life became believers". In the NIV, it says that "all who were appointed for eternal life believed". Have you wondered, as I have, what that means? Why was I chosen? Or, am I chosen?

Apparently there are three ways of interpreting this divine "appointment":

• God makes the appointments, and has predestined some people for eternal life
• Only God in His sovereignty can open our hearts so that we can freely chose to follow Him
• God has a standard - belief in Jesus - as the basis for eternal life. Those who are "appointed" are those who believe in Jesus and meet the standard.

In today's reading, it is apparent that though "almost the entire city turned out to hear them preach the word of the Lord", not all of them must have had this divine appointment with God. When the Jews saw the crowds, they were jealous and argued against everything Paul said. But those who had the "appointment", became believers.

How can we understand the difference between those who believe and those that reject the word of the Lord? And what is the correlation to the modern church?

Is it possible that last Sunday, within our sanctuary, there were people in attendance who missed their "appointment"? Like the Jews, were they arguing (at least in their minds) against the message that was preached?

The Jews to whom Paul was preaching missed the very thing they were looking for - The Messiah and His Kingdom. For whatever reason, they rejected the truth that was plainly revealed to them. In the same way, people of our generation can "turn out to hear them preach the word of the Lord", and reject the message.

Why do I believe, and yet my church-going friends and neighbors do not? My simple knowledge of this point tells me just one thing - faith is a gift which is empowered and inspired by the Holy Spirit. In Acts, as today, life in Christ is offered as a gift to all people.


Lord Jesus, we do not understand why the act of believing seems so natural for some, and yet looks impossible for others. We DO know that nothing is impossible for You, and yet how can we understand the way the Holy Spirit's voice cannot penetrate the minds and hearts of those around us? Help us to not worry about what is means to be chosen, but to rather focus on the life and hope You alone can give. Use us as You wish to direct others to their appointments with You. Amen.

What happens next?

Acts 12:24-13:14a

Since the conversion of Saul/Paul in Acts 9, I find myself overwhelmingly fascinated with him. Even while reading of the exploits of the other apostles, I find myself always wanting to know what Paul is up to.

Although we've heard about Paul's preaching (so boldly that some had been plotting to kill him), in today's reading we really see Paul in action for the first time since becoming a believer.

Also, I have always had the (perhaps mistaken) impression that during Jesus' earthly ministry, he and his disciples wandered around the same small area, visiting and revisiting the same places, and that feeling carries over into the first part of Acts, too. But when we read today that Paul and Barnabas got on a ship and set sail for Cyprus, . . . I think "Ah, now we're getting somewhere! The gospel message is really going out, now!"

Here on Cyprus, Barnabas and Paul travel from town to town, eventually encountering the Roman governor, who invites Barnabas and Paul to talk to him about Jesus. But a sorcerer named Elymas (or Bar-Jesus) keeps interfering to prevent the governor from believing.

Now here's where Paul steps forward to confront Elymas, and through the power of God, the sorcerer is struck blind "for some time."

We don't know what happened to him after this. The governor became a believer, but what about Elymas?

It occurs to me that what happened to Elymas is the same thing that happened to Paul. Both were enemies of the gospel. Both were struck blind. Paul, we know, became a key player in the early church, spreading the gospel with the same boldness with which he once persecuted believers and writing the epistles we still look to today for guidance and truth.

But what happened to Elymas?

This must have seemed familiar to Paul. I can imagine that Paul instantly felt an empathy with Elymas, maybe seeing a bit of himself in this man who was struck blind by the power of God.

And maybe that's why many of us find Paul to be such a fascinating figure -- because we can relate (at least a little bit) to him. Paul, like all of us, was blind (spiritually) before he was blinded (physically).

But now we see.

Elymas was blinded "for a time," . . . and after he presumably regained his sight, what then? The rest of his story was not written down.

But our story is being written right now. We were blind, but now we see.

And what happens next?


--Drew Clausen

Nothing Is Impossible With Our God

 

For those who are fans of the program "24" on the FOX network,  you will be familiar with Jack Bauer and his miraculous escapes. As I read the story of Peter escaping from prison, it occurred to me how unbelievable this story may seem, almost like the fictional escapes and escapades of Jack Bauer, who needs no angel because  cel phones and cleverness are his way out of danger. But that is television fiction in the 21^st century. Here we are talking about real life, something that is part of recorded history. It is a fantastic story.

Peter and his brothers in faith could not imagine any way that he would be able to escape such powerful security. He appeared to be doomed. But what should happen but a real miracle. This one in particular leaves one with astonishment. Here is Peter chained up. You can  imagine the guards squished up, sleeping next to him to make sure he is going no where. Then an angel comes into the prison cell and Peter is lead out of the cell and out of the gates of the prison. He is rather dumbfounded himself about the whole thing. Yet, as the angel disappears, Peter is left there on the streets-- out of prison – no explanation except that it did happen. It was an impossibility-but it did happen. As the story progresses, something even more surprising takes place. King Herod, who is the one who has imprisoned Peter, is struck down by an angel of the Lord and is eaten by worms, a rather gruesome and pointed pronouncement of the Lord.

I can understand a non-believer or someone considering Christianity, reading this and going "whaaaat?" They might have some real misgivings: "How could this happen? How can anyone believe such stuff?" It may be hard to accept that these sort of things would happen to the men of Acts, who seem so much like us. How is it that these incredible occurrences happened to these ordinary men who were, at one time, just fishermen? How did they suddenly find themselves full of divine power with extraordinary things happening around them— things that would seem impossible?

The answer lies in what had happened to these men that made them very different. The Holy Spirit entered, and the Pentecost took place and both of these events were to change the world. It is a point that often we do not give as much attention to as we ought to, because here is the evidence that God was doing something extraordinary, beyond the normal or the expected. Even more so, these events occurred after the overwhelming miracle of the resurrection of Jesus. Christian belief accepts this with God's Son. Yet, the events that the apostles experience, particularly this one for Peter, seem somewhat unexpected.  We should not be so surprised by any of this. After all, God had been doing unexpected things through out the scriptures. The scriptures, in many ways, are a recording of how often God keeps showing us who He is and what He can do. It culminates with Jesus, because He is the greatest miracle: the birth of a child who is 'God  with us', born to a virgin, who, when he dies, dies to take on our sin; defeats death and  rises up from being dead, as He had predicted. Could there be a bigger story then this?

Here is the place where we should help our non-believing friends or those who are considering Christianity, understand that this is part of a very large "whole plan of God."  Too often we take these events as separate incidents to consider. What we are really seeing in this incident is this unbelievable, on-going plan set in motion by God so long ago. It involves men and women who God definitely chose for incredible purposes that we read about throughout the Bible. This remarkable story continues as the events of the apostles are carried out.

It continues today, though we sometimes fail to have the eyes to see it. But make no mistake, remarkable things are happening. Change is on the way. God is in control. God lets us know that He is who He says He is and can do anything and all things that He says He can do. We can choose to be watchful for these things and believe some of it some of the time, or none of it some of the time. But in the end the truth will prevail. The truth is not dependant on us. It is God's truth and God's story—always unfolding.

            The apostles were mere men, endowed for a time with divine powers, who were carried on a huge wave towards a shore that built the faith. Without the apostles and the events that occurred to them, where would the faith be now? Praise God for giving us these courageous and faithful men.

Laurie Erdman

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