Christianity is for all people
Series: FOR ALL PEOPLE
Speaker: James Barnett
Date: 25th July 2021
Passage: Acts 15:1-41
00:00:00 --> 00:00:04 Good morning, Church. My name is James. It is good to be with you this morning.
00:00:05 --> 00:00:09 My family and I have been doing a number of walks lately,
00:00:09 --> 00:00:14 because it's about the only thing you can do to get out, and it's the only thing we've been doing to stay sane.
00:00:15 --> 00:00:20 And one of the things that's happened for Alyssa and I is that we'll often have a location in mind.
00:00:21 --> 00:00:24 We're going to go to this particular park. We're going to go to this playground.
00:00:24 --> 00:00:26 We're going to walk down to the National Park.
00:00:26 --> 00:00:31 And what will happen is that as we were walking there, I'll say to Alyssa,
00:00:31 --> 00:00:37 why are you going to turn down that street? Go this way. This is the fastest way there.
00:00:37 --> 00:00:42 I don't know what you're doing. And this has happened a number of times over a number of years,
00:00:43 --> 00:00:46 so much so that I've coined a phrase for it, which is,
00:00:46 --> 00:00:50 you're doing something different, therefore you are wrong.
00:00:50 --> 00:00:56 What are you going to go down that path? That's the wrong way. You're doing something different to me.
00:00:56 --> 00:00:58 Therefore, you are wrong.
00:00:59 --> 00:01:05 It's a way of explaining a certain frustration that we can feel when people are doing things different to us.
00:01:06 --> 00:01:10 I wonder if you've felt this kind of feeling in the past.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:13 We see people doing things that are different to us,
00:01:13 --> 00:01:17 and we can quickly jump to judgment and assumptions.
00:01:17 --> 00:01:22 You use different utensils to eat food. That's different, therefore it's wrong.
00:01:22 --> 00:01:24 You eat smelly cheese. Oh, that's gross.
00:01:24 --> 00:01:27 You eat durian. I can't even understand that.
00:01:28 --> 00:01:32 You value radical individualism. That's just wrong.
00:01:32 --> 00:01:35 You value the collectivist family unit.
00:01:36 --> 00:01:39 That's different to me, so you must be wrong.
00:01:39 --> 00:01:46 What is the impact of God's command to love our neighbor when it comes to this?
00:01:47 --> 00:01:50 Do we only love those who are like us?
00:01:50 --> 00:01:54 Do we actually find it really hard to love those who are different,
00:01:54 --> 00:01:57 because we can quickly jump to thinking that they're wrong?
00:01:57 --> 00:02:03 I'm not sure how you felt yesterday as you saw the protests through Sydney.
00:02:04 --> 00:02:09 I felt particularly frustrated that there would be thousands of people gathering
00:02:09 --> 00:02:11 and wanting to get out of lockdown,
00:02:12 --> 00:02:17 and yet seeming, in my mind, to be doing something that's just going to make COVID worse.
00:02:17 --> 00:02:19 I was frustrated, and I was angry,
00:02:19 --> 00:02:24 and I was quickly jumping to assumptions about these people.
00:02:25 --> 00:02:27 I don't know their individual circumstances.
00:02:27 --> 00:02:32 I don't know how desperate these people are feeling in this very difficult season.
00:02:33 --> 00:02:34 And so for all of us,
00:02:34 --> 00:02:37 it is easy to think you are doing something different,
00:02:37 --> 00:02:39 and you are wrong,
00:02:39 --> 00:02:40 and to judge people quickly.
00:02:42 --> 00:02:44 We are in the second half of the book of Acts.
00:02:45 --> 00:02:47 Jesus has been raised from the dead.
00:02:48 --> 00:02:49 He has ascended to heaven.
00:02:49 --> 00:02:52 He has sent His disciples out to spread the good news,
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 that Jesus is for all people.
00:02:55 --> 00:03:01 And now, we are seeing that the gospel is spreading out from the ethnic base in Jerusalem.
00:03:02 --> 00:03:05 But as it's spreading to different ethnic areas,
00:03:06 --> 00:03:08 it's going to cause problems.
00:03:09 --> 00:03:11 It's going to spread to people who live differently,
00:03:11 --> 00:03:12 who eat differently,
00:03:12 --> 00:03:13 who think differently,
00:03:13 --> 00:03:18 and who are going to worship the same God slightly differently.
00:03:18 --> 00:03:20 What's going to happen?
00:03:20 --> 00:03:24 Will the church flourish and grow in a multi-ethnic way?
00:03:25 --> 00:03:29 Or will there be conflict because people are doing things differently?
00:03:29 --> 00:03:33 And will they just think you are wrong and have conflict?
00:03:33 --> 00:03:39 As we follow the gospel spread out of Jerusalem across the world,
00:03:40 --> 00:03:45 our challenge today will be for us to grow in awareness of our own cultural,
00:03:46 --> 00:03:47 ethnic blind spots.
00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 For us to be aware of how quickly we judge.
00:03:50 --> 00:03:54 And for us to grow in love for our neighbors.
00:03:55 --> 00:03:58 So why don't I pray as we have a look at Acts chapter 15.
00:03:58 --> 00:03:59 Let me pray.
00:03:59 --> 00:04:03 Heavenly Father, we ask that you would be with us this morning.
00:04:05 --> 00:04:10 Give us an awareness of our own blindness to other people's differences.
00:04:11 --> 00:04:14 Give us an awareness of how quickly we judge.
00:04:15 --> 00:04:17 And Father, help us to be like you.
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 Help us to love people.
00:04:20 --> 00:04:22 Love people even when they are different to us, Lord.
00:04:23 --> 00:04:24 We ask this in your Son's name.
00:04:25 --> 00:04:25 Amen.
00:04:25 --> 00:04:25 Amen.
00:04:26 --> 00:04:28 Three points today.
00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 You'll be able to find those on the St. Paul's app.
00:04:31 --> 00:04:34 First of all, we are going to see a conflict that arises
00:04:34 --> 00:04:38 before we see the resolution and finally reconciliation.
00:04:39 --> 00:04:40 So let's have a look at the conflict.
00:04:41 --> 00:04:47 We've seen some of the church in Antioch in the last couple of weeks.
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 And it has been an exciting place.
00:04:50 --> 00:04:53 Steve mentioned last week that the Antioch is the place
00:04:53 --> 00:04:56 where a lot of the Gentile missionaries spread.
00:04:57 --> 00:05:01 And, you know, we as a church in Chatswood can trace our roots back to Antioch.
00:05:01 --> 00:05:03 It has been a flourishing church.
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 And some Jewish Christians who are misinformed
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 come down to Antioch and bring some problems.
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 Please have a look with me at Acts chapter 15, verse 1.
00:05:14 --> 00:05:31 Now, there is two layers to this problem.
00:05:32 --> 00:05:35 First, there is a theological difference.
00:05:35 --> 00:05:39 And then there is an ethnic or a cultural difference.
00:05:39 --> 00:05:43 And we need to carefully look between these two.
00:05:44 --> 00:05:48 And it's just lazy to dismiss someone
00:05:48 --> 00:05:50 because they are saying something different.
00:05:51 --> 00:05:55 They're saying something that we don't necessarily agree with.
00:05:55 --> 00:05:59 It would be very easy to think they're adding to salvation here.
00:05:59 --> 00:06:00 Let's just ignore these people.
00:06:02 --> 00:06:05 These Jewish believers have come down from Judea
00:06:05 --> 00:06:08 and they're obviously very concerned for the Gentiles.
00:06:09 --> 00:06:10 They want them to be saved.
00:06:10 --> 00:06:11 They've come down.
00:06:12 --> 00:06:15 They've gone on a journey from Jerusalem to Antioch.
00:06:15 --> 00:06:16 They've gotten out their soapboxes
00:06:16 --> 00:06:18 and they're standing up in front of everyone and saying,
00:06:18 --> 00:06:22 if you want to be saved, this is what you must do.
00:06:23 --> 00:06:26 They're not doing it because they don't care for these people.
00:06:26 --> 00:06:28 They're actually doing it out of love,
00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 even if there is a problem with what they're saying,
00:06:31 --> 00:06:35 even if there is big theological issues.
00:06:35 --> 00:06:38 It would be easy to just dismiss them.
00:06:39 --> 00:06:40 It would be easy to ignore them,
00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 to think these Jewish Christians are wrong.
00:06:44 --> 00:06:46 It's salvation by grace alone.
00:06:46 --> 00:06:48 I'm going to have nothing to do with them.
00:06:48 --> 00:06:51 But we need to just step into their shoes for a moment,
00:06:51 --> 00:06:53 into these Jewish Christian shoes,
00:06:53 --> 00:06:57 because it's not just a matter of them wanting people
00:06:57 --> 00:07:00 to just follow very religious rules.
00:07:00 --> 00:07:02 Because for these Jewish Christians,
00:07:03 --> 00:07:06 it's a matter of identity and ethnicity.
00:07:07 --> 00:07:10 To be saved meant to be part of God's family,
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 to be part of Israel.
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 And the way that happened in the Old Testament,
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 the covenant set up by Moses,
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 which we've seen in our series through Exodus,
00:07:20 --> 00:07:23 it only happened through obedience to the Lord.
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 It only happened through circumcision.
00:07:25 --> 00:07:26 Circumcision.
00:07:26 --> 00:07:30 Other people have joined Israel in the past,
00:07:30 --> 00:07:32 and this is what it looked like.
00:07:32 --> 00:07:36 Circumcision was the external mark of the inward reality.
00:07:36 --> 00:07:39 It was the mark that you were a part of God's family.
00:07:40 --> 00:07:45 But now, entry into God's family is different.
00:07:46 --> 00:07:46 Jesus has come.
00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 He is the true Israel.
00:07:49 --> 00:07:53 The one who could obey the Mosaic laws fully.
00:07:53 --> 00:07:57 The one who came so that we would not just have a circumcision of the flesh,
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 but a circumcision of the heart,
00:07:59 --> 00:08:01 so that we could love God.
00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 And so, we see these Jewish believers,
00:08:05 --> 00:08:10 they come with sincere love for these Gentiles,
00:08:10 --> 00:08:11 these Gentiles in Antioch.
00:08:11 --> 00:08:17 But Paul and Barnabas have good cause to have a conflict with them,
00:08:17 --> 00:08:19 to have a dispute with them.
00:08:20 --> 00:08:23 Because understanding their ethnic background is important,
00:08:23 --> 00:08:28 but we also need to understand the theology, the issue at hand.
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 Because what we believe about God matters.
00:08:32 --> 00:08:33 Have a look with me at verse 2.
00:08:33 --> 00:08:40 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them.
00:08:41 --> 00:08:42 Conflict here.
00:08:43 --> 00:08:45 I'm not sure how you feel about conflict.
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 Maybe you don't like having conflict.
00:08:47 --> 00:08:50 Maybe you think conflict is equal to war,
00:08:50 --> 00:08:51 and it should be avoided at all costs.
00:08:52 --> 00:08:56 But here, conflict is actually quite important.
00:08:57 --> 00:08:59 Because what these Jewish Christians were saying
00:08:59 --> 00:09:03 was going to be deadly to the Christian faith.
00:09:04 --> 00:09:06 It was dangerous to this young church,
00:09:06 --> 00:09:11 and it ran the risk of taking all of the power out of the Christian faith.
00:09:12 --> 00:09:16 Because what they were preaching was that it is Jesus plus something,
00:09:16 --> 00:09:17 and that's how you get salvation.
00:09:17 --> 00:09:20 It's Jesus plus obedience to the law, circumcision.
00:09:20 --> 00:09:22 That's how you get salvation.
00:09:23 --> 00:09:27 Whenever we add to the gospel, we actually destroy it.
00:09:28 --> 00:09:31 Jesus plus anything does not equal salvation.
00:09:31 --> 00:09:35 That's just being burdened with something else to follow.
00:09:36 --> 00:09:41 And this is one of the wonderful things that sets Christianity apart from any other religion.
00:09:41 --> 00:09:44 Religions say, this is what you must do to be saved.
00:09:45 --> 00:09:47 Christianity says, Jesus has done it.
00:09:47 --> 00:09:53 God's grace to us is Jesus came, he lived, and he died,
00:09:53 --> 00:09:56 and he was raised so that we could be raised too.
00:09:56 --> 00:10:04 We must be careful to not be like these Jewish Christians and add anything to the gospel.
00:10:04 --> 00:10:10 Whether it's adding the sacraments, whether it's adding obedience to our family,
00:10:11 --> 00:10:12 whatever it is that we add,
00:10:13 --> 00:10:17 it takes away from Jesus dying on the cross.
00:10:17 --> 00:10:20 As if I could add to God dying on the cross.
00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 Now imagine you were this young church in Antioch.
00:10:26 --> 00:10:28 You have been seeing people come to faith.
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 You've got Paul and Barnabas preaching there.
00:10:31 --> 00:10:32 You are hearing the good news.
00:10:33 --> 00:10:34 You are being encouraged.
00:10:36 --> 00:10:37 You've changed your life.
00:10:38 --> 00:10:40 And you've gotten rid of sexual immorality.
00:10:40 --> 00:10:44 You've stopped sinning in certain ways.
00:10:44 --> 00:10:47 You are growing in your knowledge and faith of the Lord.
00:10:47 --> 00:10:49 And then people come down from Jerusalem.
00:10:50 --> 00:10:51 These are people from the home church.
00:10:53 --> 00:10:55 These are people who may have seen Jesus.
00:10:56 --> 00:10:58 And they come down and you're excited.
00:10:58 --> 00:11:01 And then they start telling you, you've got it all wrong.
00:11:02 --> 00:11:04 You actually don't know how to get salvation.
00:11:04 --> 00:11:06 You've got to do these other things to get salvation.
00:11:06 --> 00:11:11 Imagine how you'd feel if you were the church in Antioch.
00:11:13 --> 00:11:15 Maybe nobody here is actually saved.
00:11:16 --> 00:11:19 Maybe I'm actually not good enough for this God
00:11:19 --> 00:11:21 because I can't do everything required.
00:11:23 --> 00:11:26 If I was in Antioch, I'd feel shamed.
00:11:27 --> 00:11:30 Or maybe I'd just feel tempted to ignore these Jewish Christians
00:11:30 --> 00:11:34 who'd come down because what they were saying was different to me.
00:11:34 --> 00:11:35 And so I'm just going to completely ignore them.
00:11:37 --> 00:11:38 This is the conflict.
00:11:38 --> 00:11:39 This is the issue.
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 And we're going to see how it gets resolved.
00:11:43 --> 00:11:47 And so what the church in Antioch do is they send Paul and Barnabas
00:11:47 --> 00:11:51 back to Jerusalem to see this situation get resolved.
00:11:52 --> 00:11:53 They get to Jerusalem.
00:11:53 --> 00:11:57 They report to the elders and to the leaders there
00:11:57 --> 00:11:58 everything that is happening.
00:11:59 --> 00:12:01 They report the church is growing.
00:12:02 --> 00:12:03 Lives are being changed.
00:12:04 --> 00:12:05 There is real faith.
00:12:05 --> 00:12:07 There is growth in the church in Antioch.
00:12:09 --> 00:12:13 And the party that had started these issues gets up and speaks.
00:12:13 --> 00:12:14 Have a look with me at verse 5.
00:12:14 --> 00:12:21 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said,
00:12:21 --> 00:12:27 The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.
00:12:27 --> 00:12:32 The Gentiles must be circumcised.
00:12:32 --> 00:12:34 This is the Pharisees who stood up.
00:12:34 --> 00:12:40 And I'm not sure how you feel, but as soon as I see the Pharisees come on, I'm just tempted to boo.
00:12:40 --> 00:12:44 It's like the villains have come onto the stage and I want to throw tomatoes at them.
00:12:44 --> 00:12:49 You know, the Pharisees, they're the ones who led Jesus to be crucified.
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 These are the bad guys in so much of the New Testament.
00:12:53 --> 00:12:56 Paul himself was a Pharisee.
00:12:56 --> 00:12:59 He was out there trying to kill Christians until he got saved.
00:13:00 --> 00:13:04 I can't help but see Pharisees here and not like it.
00:13:04 --> 00:13:06 And I want to see them get put in their place.
00:13:06 --> 00:13:11 And it's really easy to demonize these people.
00:13:12 --> 00:13:14 But Luke, the author of Acts, he doesn't do that.
00:13:15 --> 00:13:16 Have a look with me again.
00:13:16 --> 00:13:16 Verse 5.
00:13:17 --> 00:13:23 Then some of the believers, some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up.
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 Luke actually describes them as believers.
00:13:28 --> 00:13:29 They're Christians.
00:13:32 --> 00:13:36 They are Christians who have converted, but they're also Pharisees.
00:13:36 --> 00:13:37 They're not the enemies.
00:13:39 --> 00:13:40 They're part of the same family.
00:13:40 --> 00:13:42 They have some theological issues.
00:13:43 --> 00:13:45 They need to continue to grow following Jesus,
00:13:46 --> 00:13:52 to change their previous thoughts and understand how the gospel impacts their lives
00:13:52 --> 00:13:55 and what it means and how Jesus is the one who has obeyed.
00:13:55 --> 00:13:57 But Luke describes them as Christians.
00:13:58 --> 00:14:02 And sometimes people in the family of God will disagree.
00:14:04 --> 00:14:05 Sometimes there will be fights.
00:14:05 --> 00:14:07 It's fights over what is important.
00:14:09 --> 00:14:14 Disagreements sometimes need church councils and leaders of the church to gather together
00:14:14 --> 00:14:16 to work on these issues.
00:14:17 --> 00:14:21 In church, there might also be some disagreements about music
00:14:21 --> 00:14:26 or styles of music or preferred seats or morning tea.
00:14:26 --> 00:14:30 But most of these issues in the church come down to personal preference and pride.
00:14:32 --> 00:14:36 Here there is conflict that comes from the Pharisees' background.
00:14:37 --> 00:14:41 They have historically seen the Gentiles as unclean.
00:14:41 --> 00:14:46 They need to be cleansed by obedience to the law.
00:14:46 --> 00:14:49 They need to be circumcised so they can be part of God's family.
00:14:50 --> 00:14:53 And these Pharisees have legitimate theological concerns.
00:14:55 --> 00:14:56 And so Peter stands up in verse 7.
00:14:56 --> 00:15:03 And the first thing that we see get clarified here is not the ethnic and cultural difference.
00:15:03 --> 00:15:06 The first thing that gets clarified is the theological issue.
00:15:06 --> 00:15:07 Have a look with me.
00:15:07 --> 00:15:07 Verse 7.
00:15:07 --> 00:15:10 Peter got up and addressed them.
00:15:11 --> 00:15:15 Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you
00:15:15 --> 00:15:20 that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.
00:15:20 --> 00:15:21 And believe.
00:15:22 --> 00:15:28 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them,
00:15:28 --> 00:15:30 just as he did to us.
00:15:30 --> 00:15:32 He did not discriminate between us and them,
00:15:32 --> 00:15:35 for he purified their hearts by faith.
00:15:35 --> 00:15:40 Peter reminds everyone of the vision he had in Acts 10
00:15:40 --> 00:15:43 and his experience of Gentiles being converted.
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 God has showed that he is for all people.
00:15:48 --> 00:15:52 The Pharisees, his concern, their concern is that the Gentiles would be pure,
00:15:52 --> 00:15:53 that they would have pure hearts.
00:15:54 --> 00:15:55 And Peter says God's done it.
00:15:56 --> 00:15:59 God has made their hearts pure, not by obedience to the law,
00:15:59 --> 00:16:04 but by Jesus, but by his blood, people can be cleansed.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:07 Verse 10.
00:16:07 --> 00:16:11 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles
00:16:11 --> 00:16:15 a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear?
00:16:15 --> 00:16:16 No.
00:16:17 --> 00:16:21 We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved,
00:16:21 --> 00:16:22 just as they are.
00:16:23 --> 00:16:26 The issue of theology is clarified first.
00:16:26 --> 00:16:31 It is only by the grace of Jesus that we can be saved.
00:16:32 --> 00:16:35 Not by what happens to a certain part of our body,
00:16:35 --> 00:16:38 not by what we do, but only by Jesus.
00:16:39 --> 00:16:43 This issue of conflict, while we might want to avoid conflict,
00:16:43 --> 00:16:46 it's actually really important for the life of the church here.
00:16:47 --> 00:16:48 It's really helpful.
00:16:48 --> 00:16:53 Because there was a group that wanted to say that you had to believe in Jesus
00:16:53 --> 00:16:56 and do these certain things,
00:16:56 --> 00:16:59 but that was never going to work.
00:16:59 --> 00:17:03 Because salvation is by God's grace alone.
00:17:04 --> 00:17:08 So we have seen this conflict that has ethnic issues
00:17:08 --> 00:17:10 and also a theological issue.
00:17:10 --> 00:17:15 We have seen the issue be resolved,
00:17:16 --> 00:17:18 but we're going to see reconciliation now.
00:17:18 --> 00:17:21 We're going to see the reconciliation that comes from
00:17:21 --> 00:17:24 the ethnic layer being dealt with as well.
00:17:26 --> 00:17:30 What is happening now is, as the gospel is spreading out,
00:17:31 --> 00:17:33 it's going from being an ethnic faith
00:17:33 --> 00:17:37 and it's growing across the world and it's changing.
00:17:37 --> 00:17:40 It's moving from just being ethnically Jewish
00:17:40 --> 00:17:42 to being a worldwide religion.
00:17:43 --> 00:17:46 But that doesn't mean there won't continue to be differences and issues.
00:17:47 --> 00:17:49 It actually means there will be more issues.
00:17:50 --> 00:17:53 As there are ethnically Jewish Christians
00:17:53 --> 00:17:56 and different types of ethnically Gentile Christians.
00:17:57 --> 00:18:00 How are these groups of people going to live together?
00:18:01 --> 00:18:04 How are they going to grow as a church without splitting
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 and without having continual conflict?
00:18:07 --> 00:18:11 Because keeping circumcision is neither good nor bad.
00:18:11 --> 00:18:13 It doesn't save and so it doesn't actually matter.
00:18:14 --> 00:18:18 And so for the sake of this growing multi-ethnic church,
00:18:18 --> 00:18:21 James, the leader of the church in Jerusalem, gets up.
00:18:21 --> 00:18:25 He speaks and he goes back to prophecy from the Old Testament
00:18:25 --> 00:18:28 that said that the Gentiles would come in.
00:18:29 --> 00:18:31 The Gentiles were promised to come in.
00:18:31 --> 00:18:39 And yet, being aware of that means that they need to be aware
00:18:39 --> 00:18:43 that faith is going to look different for different people.
00:18:44 --> 00:18:47 James is keen to see these Gentiles brought into the faith,
00:18:48 --> 00:18:51 but he doesn't expect them to look like Jewish Christians.
00:18:51 --> 00:18:55 And so he sets out a plan for the Gentiles.
00:18:56 --> 00:19:02 It is for them to be culturally aware of their Jewish Christian brothers and sisters.
00:19:03 --> 00:19:07 To not need to be circumcised, but to love those who are different.
00:19:08 --> 00:19:12 Have a look at the plan James sets out with me in verse 19.
00:19:12 --> 00:19:17 It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult
00:19:17 --> 00:19:20 for the Gentiles who are turning to God.
00:19:21 --> 00:19:26 Instead, we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols,
00:19:26 --> 00:19:31 from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from blood.
00:19:32 --> 00:19:36 James sets out a plan for these different groups of people to work together.
00:19:37 --> 00:19:40 The Gentiles were to love the Jews by not eating meat
00:19:40 --> 00:19:46 that had been strangled, don't eat food sacrificed to idols, and don't eat blood.
00:19:47 --> 00:19:54 These are all things that the Jews would religiously and also culturally find disgusting.
00:19:55 --> 00:19:58 It's not a legal way to earn salvation,
00:19:58 --> 00:20:01 but it was a love of those people who were different.
00:20:02 --> 00:20:07 The Jews were moving from a long history of what it meant to follow God,
00:20:07 --> 00:20:11 now that they had Jesus, these Jewish Christians,
00:20:11 --> 00:20:13 but they would need love.
00:20:14 --> 00:20:20 And so don't get in their face and eat meat that had been full of blood,
00:20:20 --> 00:20:22 because it would be offensive to them.
00:20:23 --> 00:20:25 It wouldn't be loving to someone that was different.
00:20:26 --> 00:20:29 James here also mentions sexual immorality.
00:20:29 --> 00:20:32 And this might seem strange as we're talking about ethnic differences,
00:20:33 --> 00:20:38 but the Jewish people had a history of seeking to be sexually pure,
00:20:38 --> 00:20:42 of seeing marriage as the place for sexual relationships.
00:20:42 --> 00:20:46 It's in the Ten Commandments, it's in the history of the Old Testament.
00:20:48 --> 00:20:50 But what's this got to do with ethnic concerns?
00:20:50 --> 00:20:57 Well, the Gentiles were historically far more sexually immoral than the Jews.
00:20:59 --> 00:21:01 The Christian gospel calls people to sexual purity,
00:21:02 --> 00:21:03 just like the Old Testament.
00:21:04 --> 00:21:07 But it is of so much cultural importance,
00:21:07 --> 00:21:09 so much Christian importance,
00:21:09 --> 00:21:13 that James really stresses it for this Gentile church in Antioch.
00:21:14 --> 00:21:18 We saw that there was two layers of problems at the start.
00:21:18 --> 00:21:22 There was the theological issue of what must be done to get salvation,
00:21:22 --> 00:21:25 and it's only by the grace in Jesus.
00:21:25 --> 00:21:26 That's the first issue that's been clarified.
00:21:28 --> 00:21:30 James and Peter have clarified that,
00:21:30 --> 00:21:34 but now the issue of ethnic difference has been dealt with.
00:21:35 --> 00:21:36 The council has met,
00:21:37 --> 00:21:41 they've confirmed that it's only the gospel of grace in Jesus,
00:21:42 --> 00:21:46 but now the gospel is actually breaking down barriers
00:21:46 --> 00:21:49 between different cultures.
00:21:50 --> 00:21:53 Previously, Jews would have nothing to do with Gentiles,
00:21:54 --> 00:21:59 but now they can have close relationships.
00:22:00 --> 00:22:03 They can only do this when they love each other,
00:22:03 --> 00:22:05 when they're aware of the cultural differences.
00:22:06 --> 00:22:09 This young church in both Jerusalem and in Antioch
00:22:09 --> 00:22:12 is learning what it's actually going to look like for them
00:22:12 --> 00:22:14 to walk together in love,
00:22:15 --> 00:22:16 to see the unity in Christ
00:22:16 --> 00:22:20 and not their cultural differences which divide.
00:22:21 --> 00:22:25 The Gentiles here are called to have cultural intelligence,
00:22:25 --> 00:22:29 to understand the impact of their actions on other people.
00:22:31 --> 00:22:34 American multi-ethnic church pastor, Mark DeMaz,
00:22:34 --> 00:22:35 wrote this book.
00:22:35 --> 00:22:38 It's called Building a Multi-Ethnic Church,
00:22:38 --> 00:22:42 and he describes the lessons that these churches use
00:22:42 --> 00:22:45 as different stages of cultural awareness.
00:22:46 --> 00:22:50 The first stage is called cultural destructiveness.
00:22:51 --> 00:22:54 It's effectively what the Jewish Christians had come down
00:22:54 --> 00:22:56 to the Antioch church were doing.
00:22:56 --> 00:22:57 They were saying,
00:22:57 --> 00:22:59 you must become like me.
00:22:59 --> 00:23:01 You must leave your culture,
00:23:01 --> 00:23:03 and you must culturally become like me.
00:23:04 --> 00:23:05 You must take on circumcision.
00:23:06 --> 00:23:08 You must take on obedience to the Mosaic law
00:23:08 --> 00:23:09 if you want to be saved.
00:23:10 --> 00:23:12 That's cultural destructiveness.
00:23:14 --> 00:23:16 The Gentile Christians were effectively
00:23:16 --> 00:23:18 in a period of cultural blindness.
00:23:20 --> 00:23:23 They weren't aware of their actions,
00:23:23 --> 00:23:24 the food they ate,
00:23:24 --> 00:23:27 that would cause issues to Jewish Christians.
00:23:28 --> 00:23:29 And that is why James says,
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 be aware of these things.
00:23:31 --> 00:23:32 Don't be culturally blind.
00:23:33 --> 00:23:37 Be aware of these cultural differences out of love.
00:23:38 --> 00:23:40 James is seeking to bring cultural awareness
00:23:40 --> 00:23:43 so that there is not cultural destructiveness.
00:23:43 --> 00:23:44 You must become like me.
00:23:44 --> 00:23:46 You need to leave who you are at the door to church.
00:23:47 --> 00:23:49 No, we can have cultural differences.
00:23:50 --> 00:23:51 Don't be culturally blind,
00:23:51 --> 00:23:53 but be culturally aware.
00:23:55 --> 00:23:57 We, as ethnic Jews,
00:23:58 --> 00:23:59 we find these things harmful.
00:24:00 --> 00:24:01 So don't do these.
00:24:01 --> 00:24:02 Be aware of them.
00:24:03 --> 00:24:04 Out of love for us.
00:24:05 --> 00:24:06 The step after this
00:24:06 --> 00:24:09 is called cultural sensitivity.
00:24:10 --> 00:24:11 The Apostle Paul shows this
00:24:11 --> 00:24:13 in dealing with Christians
00:24:13 --> 00:24:14 of different maturity levels.
00:24:15 --> 00:24:16 In 1 Corinthians 8,
00:24:16 --> 00:24:17 Paul talks about
00:24:17 --> 00:24:21 that if it would cause a brother or sister
00:24:21 --> 00:24:23 to sin or to stumble,
00:24:23 --> 00:24:26 he would rather not eat meat at all.
00:24:28 --> 00:24:29 He is saying,
00:24:29 --> 00:24:30 I have freedom to eat meat.
00:24:31 --> 00:24:32 I can do whatever I like,
00:24:32 --> 00:24:33 but out of love,
00:24:33 --> 00:24:35 I will not do that
00:24:35 --> 00:24:37 because I don't want to hurt somebody else.
00:24:37 --> 00:24:39 I don't want to cause them to sin.
00:24:40 --> 00:24:42 He is aware of his actions on somebody else
00:24:42 --> 00:24:44 and he will actually limit
00:24:44 --> 00:24:46 his freedom
00:24:46 --> 00:24:48 out of love.
00:24:48 --> 00:24:51 Gentile and Jewish Christians
00:24:51 --> 00:24:53 were to remember the gospel
00:24:53 --> 00:24:54 that unites them
00:24:54 --> 00:24:56 before their cultural differences
00:24:56 --> 00:24:57 got in the way.
00:24:58 --> 00:24:59 And so James sends a letter
00:24:59 --> 00:25:01 and two brothers from Jerusalem,
00:25:02 --> 00:25:03 Silas and Judas,
00:25:03 --> 00:25:04 with these details.
00:25:04 --> 00:25:06 And it's a really wonderful thing
00:25:06 --> 00:25:07 as this letter is sent.
00:25:08 --> 00:25:10 Remember how this young church in Antioch
00:25:10 --> 00:25:11 could have been feeling.
00:25:12 --> 00:25:13 Nervous.
00:25:13 --> 00:25:15 What is the church at home
00:25:15 --> 00:25:16 going to say to us?
00:25:16 --> 00:25:17 Are we going to get in trouble?
00:25:17 --> 00:25:19 Are we going to have to change
00:25:19 --> 00:25:19 what we're doing?
00:25:19 --> 00:25:20 Are we really saved?
00:25:22 --> 00:25:23 And James sends this letter
00:25:23 --> 00:25:25 with Judas and Silas
00:25:25 --> 00:25:27 and the news comes back.
00:25:27 --> 00:25:28 Have a look with me.
00:25:28 --> 00:25:29 Verse 30.
00:25:30 --> 00:25:31 So the men were sent off
00:25:31 --> 00:25:32 and went down to Antioch
00:25:32 --> 00:25:34 where they gathered the church together
00:25:34 --> 00:25:35 and delivered the letter.
00:25:35 --> 00:25:36 The people read it
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 and were glad
00:25:37 --> 00:25:39 for its encouraging message.
00:25:40 --> 00:25:41 Judas and Silas,
00:25:41 --> 00:25:42 who themselves were prophets,
00:25:42 --> 00:25:43 said much to encourage
00:25:43 --> 00:25:44 and strengthen the believers.
00:25:45 --> 00:25:47 After spending some time there,
00:25:47 --> 00:25:48 they were sent off
00:25:48 --> 00:25:49 by the believers
00:25:49 --> 00:25:51 with the blessings of peace
00:25:51 --> 00:25:52 to return to those
00:25:52 --> 00:25:52 who had sent them.
00:25:54 --> 00:25:55 This issue of conflict
00:25:55 --> 00:25:58 has actually been really wonderful.
00:25:58 --> 00:25:59 It's brought gospel fruit.
00:26:01 --> 00:26:04 The conflict through dispute
00:26:04 --> 00:26:05 taken to the council,
00:26:06 --> 00:26:07 it's brought clarity
00:26:07 --> 00:26:09 on the good news of Jesus.
00:26:09 --> 00:26:11 But not only that,
00:26:12 --> 00:26:12 coming back,
00:26:12 --> 00:26:13 it's actually encouraged
00:26:13 --> 00:26:14 the believers.
00:26:14 --> 00:26:15 Believers are strengthened.
00:26:16 --> 00:26:17 There was peace now
00:26:17 --> 00:26:18 between these two churches.
00:26:20 --> 00:26:21 Now, we might be tempted
00:26:21 --> 00:26:23 to think that conflict
00:26:23 --> 00:26:24 is only a bad thing.
00:26:25 --> 00:26:27 Conflict over theological differences
00:26:27 --> 00:26:29 are actually a hindrance
00:26:29 --> 00:26:31 to good and close relationships.
00:26:31 --> 00:26:34 But this shows that
00:26:34 --> 00:26:36 conflict can actually be good.
00:26:36 --> 00:26:38 Conflict is important
00:26:38 --> 00:26:41 because there is a close connection
00:26:41 --> 00:26:42 between our theology
00:26:42 --> 00:26:43 and fellowship.
00:26:44 --> 00:26:46 We are only connected
00:26:46 --> 00:26:48 because of what we believe
00:26:48 --> 00:26:49 about our God.
00:26:50 --> 00:26:52 As we continue to learn
00:26:52 --> 00:26:53 more about our God,
00:26:53 --> 00:26:55 as we read in the Bible
00:26:55 --> 00:26:56 throughout the week,
00:26:56 --> 00:26:57 we learn more about our God,
00:26:57 --> 00:27:00 it brings us to greater worship of Him.
00:27:00 --> 00:27:03 It doesn't need to harden us
00:27:03 --> 00:27:04 to each other.
00:27:05 --> 00:27:08 But it can be like here in Antioch,
00:27:08 --> 00:27:09 where we are strengthened
00:27:09 --> 00:27:10 and encouraged
00:27:10 --> 00:27:12 to love one another.
00:27:14 --> 00:27:15 For us,
00:27:15 --> 00:27:17 as a multi-ethnic church
00:27:17 --> 00:27:18 full of people
00:27:18 --> 00:27:19 of different backgrounds,
00:27:19 --> 00:27:21 different theologies,
00:27:21 --> 00:27:22 we all think different things
00:27:22 --> 00:27:23 about God,
00:27:23 --> 00:27:24 we are all growing
00:27:24 --> 00:27:25 to learn more
00:27:25 --> 00:27:26 and more about Him.
00:27:26 --> 00:27:29 we are going to face
00:27:29 --> 00:27:30 many of these
00:27:30 --> 00:27:31 two issues.
00:27:32 --> 00:27:33 Cultural differences,
00:27:34 --> 00:27:35 theological differences.
00:27:36 --> 00:27:37 The person that
00:27:37 --> 00:27:39 thinks differently to me
00:27:39 --> 00:27:41 and therefore they're wrong,
00:27:41 --> 00:27:42 is that going to be
00:27:42 --> 00:27:43 our first thought?
00:27:44 --> 00:27:45 You think differently,
00:27:45 --> 00:27:46 you think differently,
00:27:46 --> 00:27:47 you've got different practices,
00:27:48 --> 00:27:49 you've got different theology to me,
00:27:49 --> 00:27:50 therefore you're wrong.
00:27:51 --> 00:27:52 Is that how we are going
00:27:52 --> 00:27:54 to first think and act?
00:27:54 --> 00:27:56 A community,
00:27:56 --> 00:27:57 a church here,
00:27:57 --> 00:27:59 is united by Jesus.
00:28:00 --> 00:28:01 We are people
00:28:01 --> 00:28:02 made up of many
00:28:02 --> 00:28:03 different ethnicities.
00:28:03 --> 00:28:04 This is expressed
00:28:04 --> 00:28:05 in the flags
00:28:05 --> 00:28:05 that you can see
00:28:05 --> 00:28:06 to my sides.
00:28:08 --> 00:28:09 But we can all suffer
00:28:09 --> 00:28:10 from similar issues
00:28:10 --> 00:28:11 to the church
00:28:11 --> 00:28:12 in Jerusalem
00:28:12 --> 00:28:13 and Antioch.
00:28:14 --> 00:28:16 Some from the church
00:28:16 --> 00:28:16 in Jerusalem
00:28:16 --> 00:28:18 had a culturally destructive view.
00:28:18 --> 00:28:20 You must be like me.
00:28:20 --> 00:28:23 We can have that view too.
00:28:23 --> 00:28:24 You must do
00:28:24 --> 00:28:25 exactly what I do.
00:28:25 --> 00:28:26 You must think
00:28:26 --> 00:28:27 exactly like me.
00:28:27 --> 00:28:29 You must leave
00:28:29 --> 00:28:30 who you are
00:28:30 --> 00:28:31 at the door
00:28:31 --> 00:28:32 and become like me.
00:28:34 --> 00:28:35 We can be culturally
00:28:35 --> 00:28:36 destructive to others
00:28:36 --> 00:28:38 instead of celebrating
00:28:38 --> 00:28:39 our differences
00:28:39 --> 00:28:40 and that it is Jesus
00:28:40 --> 00:28:41 that unites us.
00:28:42 --> 00:28:43 They were also adding
00:28:43 --> 00:28:44 to Jesus' work
00:28:44 --> 00:28:45 for salvation.
00:28:46 --> 00:28:46 But thankfully,
00:28:47 --> 00:28:48 this council in Jerusalem
00:28:48 --> 00:28:50 clarified the gospel.
00:28:51 --> 00:28:52 The letters sent back
00:28:52 --> 00:28:53 to Antioch
00:28:53 --> 00:28:54 make sure
00:28:54 --> 00:28:54 that the Gentile church
00:28:54 --> 00:28:56 don't have
00:28:56 --> 00:28:57 cultural blindness.
00:28:58 --> 00:28:59 But we can walk
00:28:59 --> 00:29:01 with cultural blindness too.
00:29:01 --> 00:29:02 We can be driven
00:29:02 --> 00:29:04 by these same issues.
00:29:05 --> 00:29:05 We can be driven
00:29:05 --> 00:29:06 by pride
00:29:06 --> 00:29:08 in our own cultural way
00:29:08 --> 00:29:09 of doing things,
00:29:10 --> 00:29:11 in our own theology.
00:29:13 --> 00:29:14 All cultures
00:29:14 --> 00:29:14 want to emphasize
00:29:14 --> 00:29:15 different things.
00:29:17 --> 00:29:18 Western culture
00:29:18 --> 00:29:20 emphasizes radical
00:29:20 --> 00:29:21 individualism.
00:29:21 --> 00:29:22 Asian culture,
00:29:22 --> 00:29:23 Asian communities
00:29:23 --> 00:29:24 emphasize
00:29:24 --> 00:29:26 communal collectivist culture.
00:29:27 --> 00:29:28 And there are impacts
00:29:28 --> 00:29:29 both inside
00:29:29 --> 00:29:31 and outside the church.
00:29:31 --> 00:29:32 Inside the church,
00:29:33 --> 00:29:34 we would talk
00:29:34 --> 00:29:35 about the importance
00:29:35 --> 00:29:37 of a person being saved.
00:29:37 --> 00:29:38 So from a Western view,
00:29:39 --> 00:29:39 we would talk about
00:29:39 --> 00:29:40 the importance
00:29:40 --> 00:29:41 of you
00:29:41 --> 00:29:42 following Jesus.
00:29:43 --> 00:29:43 The importance
00:29:43 --> 00:29:44 of you
00:29:44 --> 00:29:45 repenting.
00:29:45 --> 00:29:46 repenting.
00:29:46 --> 00:29:46 The importance
00:29:46 --> 00:29:47 of you
00:29:47 --> 00:29:48 as an individual
00:29:48 --> 00:29:49 turning your life
00:29:49 --> 00:29:51 around and following God.
00:29:51 --> 00:29:52 That is what
00:29:52 --> 00:29:53 the Western culture
00:29:53 --> 00:29:54 is going to identify
00:29:54 --> 00:29:55 and emphasize.
00:29:57 --> 00:29:59 An Asian community
00:29:59 --> 00:30:00 might emphasize
00:30:00 --> 00:30:02 that it is we
00:30:02 --> 00:30:04 as a church
00:30:04 --> 00:30:05 who follows Jesus,
00:30:05 --> 00:30:06 that we
00:30:06 --> 00:30:07 need to repent.
00:30:08 --> 00:30:09 And the individual
00:30:09 --> 00:30:10 can think,
00:30:10 --> 00:30:10 oh well,
00:30:11 --> 00:30:12 I'm going in the same direction.
00:30:12 --> 00:30:14 Now there is
00:30:14 --> 00:30:16 positives and negatives
00:30:16 --> 00:30:17 to both of these.
00:30:19 --> 00:30:21 I am not saved
00:30:21 --> 00:30:22 because of the faith
00:30:22 --> 00:30:23 of my parents.
00:30:24 --> 00:30:25 Both of my parents
00:30:25 --> 00:30:26 are wonderful Christians.
00:30:27 --> 00:30:28 But their faith
00:30:28 --> 00:30:29 hasn't saved me.
00:30:29 --> 00:30:29 It's just like
00:30:29 --> 00:30:30 my faith
00:30:30 --> 00:30:31 and Alyssa's faith
00:30:31 --> 00:30:31 is not going to
00:30:31 --> 00:30:32 save my children.
00:30:33 --> 00:30:35 But what we do
00:30:35 --> 00:30:36 as a family
00:30:36 --> 00:30:37 and what we do
00:30:37 --> 00:30:37 as a church
00:30:37 --> 00:30:38 is that we
00:30:38 --> 00:30:40 teach our children.
00:30:40 --> 00:30:42 And so I'm not saved
00:30:42 --> 00:30:43 because of my family
00:30:43 --> 00:30:44 but they certainly
00:30:44 --> 00:30:45 took me to church.
00:30:46 --> 00:30:47 I certainly bring
00:30:47 --> 00:30:48 my kids to church.
00:30:48 --> 00:30:49 I'd love if they were
00:30:49 --> 00:30:50 here at church today.
00:30:50 --> 00:30:51 But we've been
00:30:51 --> 00:30:52 sitting with them
00:30:52 --> 00:30:52 and reading the Bible
00:30:52 --> 00:30:53 with them.
00:30:54 --> 00:30:55 It's not just
00:30:55 --> 00:30:57 I will leave you
00:30:57 --> 00:30:59 to choose
00:30:59 --> 00:30:59 as an individual
00:30:59 --> 00:31:00 whether you will
00:31:00 --> 00:31:01 follow God.
00:31:01 --> 00:31:01 No,
00:31:01 --> 00:31:03 I value this so much
00:31:03 --> 00:31:05 that I will teach you
00:31:05 --> 00:31:06 and disciple you.
00:31:06 --> 00:31:07 I want to have
00:31:07 --> 00:31:08 other people
00:31:08 --> 00:31:09 in your life
00:31:09 --> 00:31:09 as well.
00:31:10 --> 00:31:11 And so we can
00:31:11 --> 00:31:12 easily go down
00:31:12 --> 00:31:13 one side
00:31:13 --> 00:31:14 and emphasize
00:31:14 --> 00:31:15 Western values
00:31:15 --> 00:31:17 or Eastern values
00:31:17 --> 00:31:19 to the detriment
00:31:19 --> 00:31:21 of having both.
00:31:22 --> 00:31:23 We do need to take
00:31:23 --> 00:31:24 individual personal
00:31:24 --> 00:31:25 responsibility
00:31:25 --> 00:31:26 for the faith
00:31:26 --> 00:31:27 that we have
00:31:27 --> 00:31:29 but we are also
00:31:29 --> 00:31:30 a family
00:31:30 --> 00:31:31 of believers
00:31:31 --> 00:31:31 a community
00:31:31 --> 00:31:33 encouraging each other
00:31:33 --> 00:31:34 calling each other
00:31:34 --> 00:31:35 to continue
00:31:35 --> 00:31:36 to follow the Lord.
00:31:36 --> 00:31:38 We can't expect
00:31:38 --> 00:31:39 to put all Christians
00:31:39 --> 00:31:40 in the world
00:31:40 --> 00:31:41 into the same box
00:31:41 --> 00:31:42 and say
00:31:42 --> 00:31:43 you must worship
00:31:43 --> 00:31:44 exactly like me.
00:31:45 --> 00:31:46 You must think
00:31:46 --> 00:31:46 about faith
00:31:46 --> 00:31:48 exactly like me.
00:31:49 --> 00:31:50 Because the Bible
00:31:50 --> 00:31:50 doesn't do that.
00:31:51 --> 00:31:52 There is space
00:31:52 --> 00:31:53 for difference.
00:31:55 --> 00:31:55 I liken it
00:31:55 --> 00:31:56 to eating.
00:31:57 --> 00:31:58 All cultures
00:31:58 --> 00:31:58 across the world
00:31:58 --> 00:31:59 eat food differently.
00:32:00 --> 00:32:01 And there isn't
00:32:01 --> 00:32:01 necessarily
00:32:01 --> 00:32:03 one right way
00:32:03 --> 00:32:03 to do it.
00:32:04 --> 00:32:05 Imagine you had
00:32:05 --> 00:32:05 a table
00:32:05 --> 00:32:07 even eating
00:32:07 --> 00:32:07 at a table
00:32:07 --> 00:32:08 is a cultural
00:32:08 --> 00:32:08 assumption.
00:32:08 --> 00:32:09 Imagine you've got
00:32:09 --> 00:32:10 a group of people
00:32:10 --> 00:32:11 eating together.
00:32:11 --> 00:32:11 You've got a person
00:32:11 --> 00:32:12 from England
00:32:12 --> 00:32:13 they've got a lovely
00:32:13 --> 00:32:15 set of cutlery
00:32:15 --> 00:32:15 silver
00:32:15 --> 00:32:16 knife and fork
00:32:16 --> 00:32:17 wonderful.
00:32:18 --> 00:32:18 You've got a Chinese
00:32:18 --> 00:32:19 person with chopsticks.
00:32:20 --> 00:32:20 You've got a Kenyan
00:32:20 --> 00:32:21 sitting at the table
00:32:21 --> 00:32:22 and they're eating
00:32:22 --> 00:32:23 with their right hand
00:32:23 --> 00:32:24 and they're scooping up
00:32:24 --> 00:32:25 ugali with a curry
00:32:25 --> 00:32:26 and you've got an Indian
00:32:26 --> 00:32:27 also using their right
00:32:27 --> 00:32:29 hand to use naan
00:32:29 --> 00:32:30 to get curry.
00:32:30 --> 00:32:31 You can say
00:32:31 --> 00:32:32 that they all have
00:32:32 --> 00:32:33 to do the exact
00:32:33 --> 00:32:34 same thing
00:32:34 --> 00:32:35 but it is not
00:32:35 --> 00:32:36 being aware
00:32:36 --> 00:32:37 that there is
00:32:37 --> 00:32:38 good cultural
00:32:38 --> 00:32:40 difference among us.
00:32:40 --> 00:32:41 Celebrating
00:32:41 --> 00:32:42 what is different
00:32:42 --> 00:32:43 remembering that
00:32:43 --> 00:32:44 it is Jesus
00:32:44 --> 00:32:45 who unites us.
00:32:47 --> 00:32:48 This is a really
00:32:48 --> 00:32:49 important word
00:32:49 --> 00:32:50 for us
00:32:50 --> 00:32:51 for when we return
00:32:51 --> 00:32:52 as a church.
00:32:53 --> 00:32:54 But I've hardly
00:32:54 --> 00:32:55 been seeing
00:32:55 --> 00:32:55 anybody.
00:32:56 --> 00:32:57 I'm sure
00:32:57 --> 00:32:57 it's the same
00:32:57 --> 00:32:58 with you.
00:32:58 --> 00:32:59 I would almost
00:32:59 --> 00:33:00 love to have
00:33:00 --> 00:33:02 had cultural
00:33:02 --> 00:33:03 conflict or
00:33:03 --> 00:33:04 theological conflict
00:33:04 --> 00:33:05 with someone
00:33:05 --> 00:33:05 because that would
00:33:05 --> 00:33:06 mean I would be
00:33:06 --> 00:33:06 in relationship
00:33:06 --> 00:33:07 with people.
00:33:08 --> 00:33:09 Church, I miss
00:33:09 --> 00:33:09 you.
00:33:10 --> 00:33:10 I miss all
00:33:10 --> 00:33:11 of you.
00:33:13 --> 00:33:14 But the challenge
00:33:14 --> 00:33:14 for us in this
00:33:14 --> 00:33:15 season of lockdown
00:33:15 --> 00:33:17 is that as we
00:33:17 --> 00:33:18 stay at home
00:33:18 --> 00:33:20 we tend to do
00:33:20 --> 00:33:21 what is easiest,
00:33:21 --> 00:33:22 the things that
00:33:22 --> 00:33:23 we prefer
00:33:23 --> 00:33:24 and what is
00:33:24 --> 00:33:25 most comfortable.
00:33:27 --> 00:33:28 This is not
00:33:28 --> 00:33:29 what a multi-ethnic
00:33:29 --> 00:33:29 church does.
00:33:29 --> 00:33:30 A multi-ethnic
00:33:30 --> 00:33:31 church doesn't
00:33:31 --> 00:33:32 do what is
00:33:32 --> 00:33:33 easiest for us.
00:33:35 --> 00:33:36 In this season
00:33:36 --> 00:33:36 we are not
00:33:36 --> 00:33:37 getting a chance
00:33:37 --> 00:33:38 to love each
00:33:38 --> 00:33:38 other,
00:33:38 --> 00:33:40 to love across
00:33:40 --> 00:33:41 cultural differences.
00:33:42 --> 00:33:42 You know,
00:33:42 --> 00:33:43 we saw Paul
00:33:43 --> 00:33:44 choose to put
00:33:44 --> 00:33:46 aside differences
00:33:46 --> 00:33:47 out of love
00:33:47 --> 00:33:47 for somebody
00:33:47 --> 00:33:48 so he said
00:33:48 --> 00:33:48 he would never
00:33:48 --> 00:33:49 eat meat again
00:33:49 --> 00:33:50 if that was
00:33:50 --> 00:33:50 what was required.
00:33:50 --> 00:33:52 The Gentile
00:33:52 --> 00:33:52 Christians were
00:33:52 --> 00:33:53 to practice
00:33:53 --> 00:33:54 love for their
00:33:54 --> 00:33:54 Jewish brothers
00:33:54 --> 00:33:55 and sisters,
00:33:55 --> 00:33:55 the Jewish
00:33:55 --> 00:33:56 Christians,
00:33:56 --> 00:33:57 by not eating
00:33:57 --> 00:33:58 meat that was
00:33:58 --> 00:33:59 strangled to idols
00:33:59 --> 00:33:59 and those things
00:33:59 --> 00:34:00 by being culturally
00:34:00 --> 00:34:01 aware.
00:34:03 --> 00:34:04 When we come
00:34:04 --> 00:34:05 back from lockdown
00:34:05 --> 00:34:07 it's going to be
00:34:07 --> 00:34:07 easy to think
00:34:07 --> 00:34:08 that church,
00:34:08 --> 00:34:09 you know,
00:34:09 --> 00:34:09 it's not as
00:34:09 --> 00:34:10 convenient as it
00:34:10 --> 00:34:11 used to be.
00:34:11 --> 00:34:11 You know,
00:34:11 --> 00:34:12 I've gotten
00:34:12 --> 00:34:13 used to sleeping
00:34:13 --> 00:34:14 in and watching
00:34:14 --> 00:34:15 the service at
00:34:15 --> 00:34:15 2.30 in the
00:34:15 --> 00:34:16 afternoon.
00:34:17 --> 00:34:17 I'm going to
00:34:17 --> 00:34:18 keep doing that
00:34:18 --> 00:34:19 instead of going
00:34:19 --> 00:34:20 back when church
00:34:20 --> 00:34:20 opens up.
00:34:21 --> 00:34:22 I've gotten
00:34:22 --> 00:34:22 used to walking
00:34:22 --> 00:34:23 out halfway
00:34:23 --> 00:34:24 through and
00:34:24 --> 00:34:24 getting a coffee.
00:34:25 --> 00:34:25 You know,
00:34:25 --> 00:34:26 I'm at home
00:34:26 --> 00:34:26 and so I've
00:34:26 --> 00:34:27 gotten used to
00:34:27 --> 00:34:28 watching the
00:34:28 --> 00:34:28 Olympics during
00:34:28 --> 00:34:29 church.
00:34:29 --> 00:34:30 I've gotten
00:34:30 --> 00:34:31 used to being
00:34:31 --> 00:34:32 distracted.
00:34:33 --> 00:34:34 We will all
00:34:34 --> 00:34:35 have gotten
00:34:35 --> 00:34:35 used to doing
00:34:35 --> 00:34:36 our own
00:34:36 --> 00:34:37 personal
00:34:37 --> 00:34:37 preferences.
00:34:38 --> 00:34:39 We need to
00:34:39 --> 00:34:40 be prepared
00:34:40 --> 00:34:41 for when we
00:34:41 --> 00:34:41 come back as
00:34:41 --> 00:34:42 a church,
00:34:42 --> 00:34:42 whenever that
00:34:42 --> 00:34:43 is,
00:34:43 --> 00:34:44 hopefully very
00:34:44 --> 00:34:45 soon,
00:34:45 --> 00:34:46 to do the
00:34:46 --> 00:34:46 hard thing
00:34:46 --> 00:34:48 of loving
00:34:48 --> 00:34:49 across differences,
00:34:49 --> 00:34:50 across our
00:34:50 --> 00:34:50 comfort zone.
00:34:50 --> 00:34:53 It will be
00:34:53 --> 00:34:54 hard when
00:34:54 --> 00:34:54 we return
00:34:54 --> 00:34:55 to church.
00:34:55 --> 00:34:56 We will
00:34:56 --> 00:34:56 go back
00:34:56 --> 00:34:57 with the
00:34:57 --> 00:34:58 four square
00:34:58 --> 00:34:58 metre rule,
00:34:58 --> 00:34:59 we'll go
00:34:59 --> 00:34:59 back and
00:34:59 --> 00:35:00 not be able
00:35:00 --> 00:35:00 to sing.
00:35:01 --> 00:35:02 These things
00:35:02 --> 00:35:02 aren't to
00:35:02 --> 00:35:03 my preference.
00:35:04 --> 00:35:04 They're not
00:35:04 --> 00:35:05 my preference,
00:35:05 --> 00:35:05 I'm sure
00:35:05 --> 00:35:05 they're not
00:35:05 --> 00:35:06 your preference,
00:35:07 --> 00:35:08 and it can
00:35:08 --> 00:35:08 just be easy
00:35:08 --> 00:35:09 to think,
00:35:09 --> 00:35:09 oh,
00:35:09 --> 00:35:09 I'm just
00:35:09 --> 00:35:09 going to
00:35:09 --> 00:35:10 stay at
00:35:10 --> 00:35:10 home.
00:35:12 --> 00:35:13 But we
00:35:13 --> 00:35:14 will miss
00:35:14 --> 00:35:15 out on what
00:35:15 --> 00:35:15 the Gentile
00:35:15 --> 00:35:16 church had.
00:35:16 --> 00:35:17 they had
00:35:17 --> 00:35:19 joy from
00:35:19 --> 00:35:20 being encouraged
00:35:20 --> 00:35:20 by people,
00:35:21 --> 00:35:21 encouraged by
00:35:21 --> 00:35:22 people who
00:35:22 --> 00:35:23 were different
00:35:23 --> 00:35:23 to them,
00:35:23 --> 00:35:24 but united
00:35:24 --> 00:35:25 in Jesus.
00:35:26 --> 00:35:27 Being able
00:35:27 --> 00:35:28 to love
00:35:28 --> 00:35:28 and to be
00:35:28 --> 00:35:29 loved by
00:35:29 --> 00:35:30 each other.
00:35:31 --> 00:35:32 Maybe we
00:35:32 --> 00:35:33 weren't particularly
00:35:33 --> 00:35:34 good at either
00:35:34 --> 00:35:35 of those things
00:35:35 --> 00:35:35 before lockdown.
00:35:36 --> 00:35:37 Maybe we
00:35:37 --> 00:35:37 weren't good
00:35:37 --> 00:35:38 at loving
00:35:38 --> 00:35:40 across cultural
00:35:40 --> 00:35:40 or theological
00:35:40 --> 00:35:41 differences.
00:35:41 --> 00:35:43 But when we
00:35:43 --> 00:35:44 return,
00:35:44 --> 00:35:45 we will have
00:35:45 --> 00:35:46 a chance
00:35:46 --> 00:35:46 to do that.
00:35:47 --> 00:35:48 To be a
00:35:48 --> 00:35:49 community that
00:35:49 --> 00:35:50 doesn't say
00:35:50 --> 00:35:50 you're different
00:35:50 --> 00:35:51 and so you're
00:35:51 --> 00:35:51 wrong,
00:35:52 --> 00:35:53 but a community
00:35:53 --> 00:35:54 that sees past
00:35:54 --> 00:35:55 cultural and
00:35:55 --> 00:35:55 theological
00:35:55 --> 00:35:56 differences,
00:35:56 --> 00:35:57 to be a
00:35:57 --> 00:35:57 people loved
00:35:57 --> 00:35:58 by Jesus.
00:35:59 --> 00:36:00 When we
00:36:00 --> 00:36:02 carefully work
00:36:02 --> 00:36:03 through differences,
00:36:03 --> 00:36:03 whether they're
00:36:03 --> 00:36:04 theological or
00:36:04 --> 00:36:05 ethnic,
00:36:06 --> 00:36:06 because of our
00:36:06 --> 00:36:07 unity in Jesus,
00:36:07 --> 00:36:08 we become
00:36:08 --> 00:36:09 a community
00:36:09 --> 00:36:11 who love
00:36:11 --> 00:36:12 each other.
00:36:13 --> 00:36:14 Let me finish
00:36:14 --> 00:36:14 with a quote
00:36:14 --> 00:36:16 from German
00:36:16 --> 00:36:17 theologian and
00:36:17 --> 00:36:18 pastor Dietrich
00:36:18 --> 00:36:18 Bonhoeffer.
00:36:19 --> 00:36:20 He said,
00:36:20 --> 00:36:20 the person
00:36:20 --> 00:36:21 who loves
00:36:21 --> 00:36:23 their dream,
00:36:23 --> 00:36:24 the person
00:36:24 --> 00:36:24 who loves
00:36:24 --> 00:36:25 their dream
00:36:25 --> 00:36:26 of community
00:36:26 --> 00:36:27 will destroy
00:36:27 --> 00:36:28 community,
00:36:28 --> 00:36:29 but the person
00:36:29 --> 00:36:30 who loves
00:36:30 --> 00:36:31 those around
00:36:31 --> 00:36:32 them will
00:36:32 --> 00:36:33 create community.
00:36:34 --> 00:36:35 Let us be
00:36:35 --> 00:36:36 that church.
00:36:37 --> 00:36:37 Let me pray.
00:36:39 --> 00:36:41 Dear Heavenly
00:36:41 --> 00:36:41 Father,
00:36:42 --> 00:36:43 I thank you
00:36:43 --> 00:36:43 so much
00:36:43 --> 00:36:44 for Jesus,
00:36:45 --> 00:36:46 that because
00:36:46 --> 00:36:47 of him,
00:36:48 --> 00:36:50 not only
00:36:50 --> 00:36:50 are we
00:36:50 --> 00:36:50 forgiven,
00:36:51 --> 00:36:51 not only
00:36:51 --> 00:36:52 do we have
00:36:52 --> 00:36:53 salvation,
00:36:54 --> 00:36:55 but that we
00:36:55 --> 00:36:55 can have
00:36:55 --> 00:36:56 unity with
00:36:56 --> 00:36:56 people who
00:36:56 --> 00:36:57 are different.
00:36:58 --> 00:36:59 Father,
00:36:59 --> 00:37:00 give us
00:37:00 --> 00:37:01 slowness to
00:37:01 --> 00:37:02 judge,
00:37:03 --> 00:37:04 give us
00:37:04 --> 00:37:05 awareness of
00:37:05 --> 00:37:05 differences,
00:37:06 --> 00:37:07 but fill us
00:37:07 --> 00:37:08 with love,
00:37:08 --> 00:37:10 fill us
00:37:10 --> 00:37:10 with love,
00:37:10 --> 00:37:11 your love,
00:37:12 --> 00:37:13 your sacrificial
00:37:13 --> 00:37:13 love,
00:37:13 --> 00:37:14 that we
00:37:14 --> 00:37:14 would be
00:37:14 --> 00:37:16 people who
00:37:16 --> 00:37:17 choose to
00:37:17 --> 00:37:18 limit our
00:37:18 --> 00:37:19 freedom out
00:37:19 --> 00:37:19 of love for
00:37:19 --> 00:37:20 other people,
00:37:20 --> 00:37:20 Lord.
00:37:21 --> 00:37:22 We pray this
00:37:22 --> 00:37:22 in your
00:37:22 --> 00:37:23 son's name.
00:37:23 --> 00:37:23 Amen.
00:37:23 --> 00:37:24 Amen.
00:37:24 --> 00:37:24 Amen.
00:37:24 --> 00:37:54 Thank you.