15:7 And when there had
been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know
that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should
hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 So God, who knows the heart,
acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, 9 and
made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 10
Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the
disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe
that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same
manner as they.”
12 Then all the
multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many
miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles.
Us and them. Always some form of us and them. Back then in
that tense council it was Jews (us) and Gentiles (them). In the Dominican
Republic right now it is Dominicans (us) and Haitians (them). In Rwanda in the
blood soaked war of 1994 it was the Hutus (us) and the Tutsis (them). In
America right now it is the Democrats vs the Republicans. Now don't miss this
very real human dynamic. When lines are drawn and sides are either chosen or
forced upon people an invisible wall goes up. Anyone who speaks "from the
other side" is a liar and everything they say is either not listened to or
discredited in some way.
In the council in Jerusalem words were thrown around but no
one was listening. When "us" speaks, "them" does not listen
and when "them" speaks, "us" does not listen. Into this
fruitless war of words steps Paul. He is part of "us" so the "us"
side is listening. Then the unexpected happens. He speaks not against
"them" but for "them". His words are truth. His words
create space in the storm where suddenly the room shifts from a place where
everyone was talking and no one was listening to a place where all are willing
to listen. "Us" are willing because one of their own, the most
respected among "us" has spoken on behalf of "them",
presenting a truth they cannot easily dismiss:
Peter speaking - 11 "But we believe that through the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”
12 Then all the multitude kept silent and listened...
In his book called "Feed My Sheep", HMS Richards,
one of the greatest preachers of modern history, spends an entire chapter on
the reality that "the man is the message". His point is that who we
are has more impact on people listening or not listening than on what we
actually say. We have all either said or heard someone say "I will not
listen to anything he/she has to say." When that sentiment arises a
potential avenue of truth has been cut off.
For example a Seventh-day Adventist may reject what a Baptist
says not because it is error but simply because he is Baptist. A "black
lives matters" advocate may be tuned out simply by her affiliation
regardless of what she has to say. All of us, no matter how educated or open
minded or cultured we may be or think we are have these invisible walls. Walls
that potentially shut out the very words we need to hear simply because we
rejected the source before the words were ever spoken.
Our human tendency to erect these invisible and often
impenetrable walls caused the Jews to tune out the Voice of their own Messiah.
The very One their own physical circumcision pointed to became a Voice they
were unwilling to hear.
Based on what the Bible exposes about our nature and our
prejudices all I can say is we need to listen regardless of the source of the
voice and compare whatever is said to the character of Jesus because the
opposite danger is just as real. Sometimes we'll listen to lies simply because
we trust the source.
The best part of the story is that despite our prejudices and
walls, God found a way in that council in Jerusalem to get everyone listening.
It was a miracle and He is still a miracle working God.
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