Seeking a God's Direction

Pastor Burcham’s Sermon

 Sunday, January 20, 2008

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Should I wear a suit this morning or a coat and slacks? Should I have a bowl of cereal or maybe a granola bar would be enough? Should I go to work tomorrow? Should I skip class on Tuesday? Decisions. We make lots of them every day and we probably don’t give them really much of a second thought. But then there are those decisions in life that take a great deal of thought. Should we get married? Should we get divorced? Should I go on to college or should I go into the workforce? Should we buy a new home? Should I take the job transfer? All kinds of decisions that you just don’t make on the spot, decisions that take a lot of contemplation and discernment. And as Christians, as God’s people, we want to make sure we make those decisions guided by our God.

Last week, we sought to hear God’s voice, to be patient and to be quiet and to hear Him speak to us and lead us. This week, we want to go a little bit deeper into that and now we want to seek God’s direction. We want to seek God’s direction through God’s people and through God’s Word so we truly can make the big decisions in life guided by our God.

Well, the early church had a monumental decision on its hands and we’re going to take a look at that closely in Acts 15 because, as we look at the church that’s making this monumental decision as far as how will Gentile Christians fit into the whole scheme of things into the church, and it’s a decision that is so weighted that it could either unite the early church or could divide it, I think as we follow through, we can find three key principles that work in how they made this big decision and how also you and I can make big decisions as we seek to hear what God has to say and to be directed by Him.

The first thing we notice from the church is they go deeper into the decision. What I mean by that is they look at more than just the big decision that’s at hand but they also look at the implications, the ripple effect of whether you go one way or whether you go the other. Let’s take a look at the early church. Let’s take a look at the big decision they had to make. Chapter 15 begins, “Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.’ This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debated with them.” The big question here is we have some Jews who come down from Judea and they come to the Gentile Christians in Antioch and they tell the Gentile Christians they, too, must be circumcised like all the rest of the Jews are if they want to be saved. Paul and Barnabas say, “No, no, no, no, no. That is part of the old covenant. That’s not part of the new covenant with God. They do not.” So the big question is do the Gentiles have to be circumcised as all of the Jews are circumcised?

Now to really understand the gravity of this question, we really need to take a look at the early church itself. We’re only about two or three years into the church after Jesus’ resurrection. We’re only about two or three years into it that Gentiles have even come onto the scene. About three years earlier than what’s happening here in Chapter 15, Peter has a vision. God tells him to go to the house of a Gentile and there he is to preach the good news. Well, Jews don’t associate with Gentiles. For generations upon generations, they’ve been taught that they are unclean, you have nothing to do with them. But he goes. The Holy Spirit comes upon them and now God reveals to His church that yes, the Gentiles are part of God’s plan of salvation as well. So now the early church is trying to adjust to the fact that not only are the Jews part of God’s plan but the Gentiles as well.

From their point of view, they’ve been taught for thousands of years that they are God’s chosen people, they are His holy race and yes, God is going to send a Savior, a Messiah for them. And only them. And that’s what they were taught. That’s what they believed. So now they have to sort of wrap their arms around the fact that no, no, God’s salvation was for all people. Well, you can imagine there’s some friction going on here because the Jews bring with them all of their traditions, all of their history, all of the customs. And at the heart and center of that, is circumcision. You see, that goes all the way back to Abraham. When God called Abraham out of his country and He said to Abraham, “I am going to make a holy people out of you. I’m going to make a nation for myself.” He says, “Your descendants will be more numerous than the stars in the sky.” And He says, “And to mark you as my people, I give you the sign of circumcision.” So now for countless generations, that’s how they were distinguished from all the other nations in the world, this marked them as God’s people.

So you can imagine then the Jewish Christians, alright, they understand that Jesus is the Messiah. He’s the Savior of them so they come into this but what about the Gentiles? So they embrace the fact and they say to the Gentiles, “Alright, we can sort of grasp the idea that you can call upon Jesus as your Savior, as your Messiah, as much as I can, so you’re in the club. But if you’re in the club, you have to play by the rules. And the number one rule we have around here is, if you’re God’s people, then you wear the mark of God’s people.” As you might imagine, this didn’t go over well with the Gentiles. It just wasn’t something they were going to grab a hold of real easily. Beyond that, Paul and Barnabas have theological reasons for their disagreement with this insistence the Gentiles must adhere to circumcision. So the big question that has to be asked, the big decision is, “Do we require the Gentiles to be circumcised?”

But there are implications that go along with that, either on one side or the other. If the Gentiles are going to be required to be circumcised, if they’re going to be required to fulfill that part of the Old Testament covenant, well, where does that stop? What else will be required of them? Will there be dietary restrictions put upon them as were put upon the Jewish people? What about the festivals? What about the sacrificial system? How much of that also will they have to adhere to? You see, there is more than just the big decision that has to be made.

What about the implications for the sharing of the gospel? At this point in the church’s history, Paul and Barnabas are actively preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to all the Gentiles who they come in contact with. If now this restriction is put upon them, how will that affect the evangelism of the nation of the Gentiles? But my point here is whenever there is a big decision that needs to be made, there is always the ripple effect. There are always the implications on both sides of the equation. And you have to go deeper into the decision so you understand the implications.

The same is true for us. We have a big decision to be made. We can look at the big decision that’s there but also take into account what are the implications if I go forward? What are the implications if I don’t? How often when we make a big decision we ask the question, “Alright now, let me just understand. What’s this going to cost? What’s it going to cost financially? What’s it going to cost emotionally? What’s it going to cost relationship-wise if I move forward with this decision?” Should we not also ask, “What is the cost if I don’t move forward?” There are implications on both sides.

Let me give you an example. Last week, we used as an example somebody who had a job transfer. So they’ve been offered a big promotion and, along with this promotion, comes a big pay raise and also it kind of skyrockets their career. The only hitch is you have to move down to South Carolina if you want this promotion. So the big decision you’re looking at is, “Do I accept the promotion?” But what are the ripple effects of that? What are the implications of that decision? Well, one implication may be you may go ahead and move forward with that decision and move your family down to South Carolina but what are the emotional and relational costs that are involved? You, having the promotion, will immediately have a cadre of people you will know and have acquaintances. Meanwhile, your spouse and your children, they won’t have that advantage. It will take them much longer to assimilate into the community. Is it worth that kind of cost? On the other side of the equation, if you stay here, maybe you travel four out of seven days so you’re never there for your family. But if you take the new position, no more travel. You’re home at night. Maybe you’ll catch a soccer game or two or maybe you’ll be able to go to the softball game. You see, you have to look at the implications of those decisions. What’s the ripple effect? Because you need to understand those if you’re going to make the big decision up on top. Go deeper into the decision.

And then go to God’s people. How often do we think that we need to make decisions by ourselves? You know, men particularly, we just sort of climb into a cave and we’re just going to think this through and we’re going to reason it out and we’ll come out with this enlightened decision. We don’t need to do this ourselves. God has given us fellow Christians. That’s what the early church did. They didn’t rely upon just themselves. There are a couple of names I want you to note here of what happens. There’s this dispute. Paul and Barnabas on one side. You have the Judean Christians on the other side. So what happens? “So Paul and Barnabas were appointed along with some of the other believers to go up to Jerusalem to see the elders and the apostles about this question. They go down to Jerusalem.” It says, “The apostles and the elders met to consider this question and, after much discussion, then Peter stands up.”

There are two really important things that happen here. You have Paul and Barnabas on one side and you have the Judean Christians on the other side and they have locked horns and they cannot come to an agreement. They cannot come to a consensus between the two of them. What didn’t they do? They didn’t throw in the towel. They didn’t get angry with one another and say, “Oh, well, we’re never going to agree on this. Let’s just go our separate ways,” essentially splitting the early church. No, they said, “We can’t work it out but we’re going to work it out. We need to work it out. We need to keep in dialect. In fact, we’re going to broaden this. We’re now going to go to fellow Christians. We’re going to go to the religious leaders down in Jerusalem and bring this question before them. Both sides were committed to making the big decision, to answering that question.

The next thing you note is they go down to Jerusalem and, while they’re in Jerusalem, it says, “After much discussion, Peter stands up.” My friends, there is wisdom when God’s people come together in love. There is wisdom and discernment. When God’s people will come together openly, honestly and lovingly and look at all sides of the questions, look at all of the aspects of the decision at hand so after much discussion, after the discernment of God’s people coming together, now they can make the big decision.

The same is true for us. We have a big decision in our lives. We don’t need to make it by ourselves. After awhile, you start looking at the decision and you get so muddled down in it that you begin to see only one side. Sooner or later, a bias is going to come in. Sooner or later, your emotions are going to have an undue influence on that decision and you’re not going to see the whole picture. Find a trusted Christian friend. Find a trusted Christian family member and talk to them. Someone who knows you, someone who understands you, someone who will be brutally honest with you, someone who will ask the right questions. You’re not looking to them to make the decision for you but instead, what they will do, they will help you see the whole decision and the implications. They will ask the right questions so you can ask God the right questions so you seek to answer the big decision. You also seek to answer the implications because as you answer the implications, that will aid you in making the big decision. Go to God’s people.

Then go to God’s Word. Once you fully understand the big decision, once you understand the implications, now you can go to God’s Word for answers because you know what you’re looking for. You know the answer you need. Once again, it’s exactly what the early church did. The early church goes to God’s Word. The next thing it says is, “After much discussion, Peter got up.” Well, Peter recounts this whole deal where he went down and he preached to the Gentiles and the Holy Spirit came upon them so, yeah, they really are part of the club. James who is the leader at Jerusalem at that time, he is the one then who gets up and he says, “Not only that but God’s Word speaks directly to this decision.” He quotes from the prophet, Amos. He says, “After this, I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. It’s in ruins. I’ll rebuild it and I’ll restore it but the remnants of men may seek the Lord,” and here it is, “and all the Gentiles will bear my name.” The Gentiles will bear my name. From the beginning, God has always had the plan that salvation was for all people. He would use the people of Israel to bring forth the Messiah but the salvation He brought would be for all people, established fact in the decision-making process here. The Gentiles are part of the club. They’re part of God’s plan.

God’s Word also speaks indirectly to the decision at hand. It speaks to the implications of this decision. It’s not just simply, “Will we require the Gentiles to be circumcised?” But there are some big implications that go along with that. Peter is the one who picked up on the biggest implication. He talks about how the Gentiles are part of the plan but then he concludes with this, “Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?” And this is the important part, “No, we believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” No, we believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved. Peter saw an implication to this teaching that says, “You need to believe in Jesus and be circumcised if you’re going to be saved.” Peter says, “No, no, no, no, no. You’ve missed the whole gospel point.” He says, “Why do you put a burden on them that we couldn’t live up to?” In other words, the Jews had God’s law. They couldn’t live up to God’s law. They couldn’t keep all the standards that God wanted. That’s why Jesus came to begin with, to grant forgiveness for that, to release them from that. Salvation from God is a gift. It’s not something that can be earned and it is complete. What Jesus accomplished on the cross is complete. It needs no additions to that. It is not, “Believe in Jesus and then just do this one thing and then you’re saved.” No, no. Believe in Jesus and you’re saved. Period. It’s complete. It’s not something we can earn. It’s not something we deserve. It’s God’s gift to us. That’s what Peter’s saying. You can’t put a requirement on the gospel. That’s what’s really at stake here.

You see, if they had not have dug deeper into the decision, if they had not had the discussion, the very gospel itself might not have been preserved. Once this point comes out, the decision is easy. It’s very easy. No, we will not require that of the Gentiles. The gospel stands alone. The work of Jesus Christ stands alone. Salvation is a gift. We will not require the Gentiles to be circumcised. The decision, the big decision is made.

You and I need to go to God’s Word. We go to God’s Word to seek the answers. Sometimes God’s Word speaks directly to the decision we have at hand. It’s not often but sometimes. If you’re contemplating robbing a bank, if you’re contemplating having an adulterous affair, boom, it’s right there. It’s black and white what God has to say about that. Often times, that’s not the case, though. Often times, we get into circumstances and have to make decisions that we can’t go to Chapter 2, Verse 3 and there God answers. God answers it more indirectly as He gives us guidance and principles for life. So that’s why it’s so important we understand the big decision. We understand the implications of that decision so we can answer all of those. So, in other words, you ask yourself, “In this decision, if I go right or if I go left, how will that affect my relationship with God? Positively or negatively? How will that help me fulfill what God wants to accomplish in my life? How will that affect my relationship with my spouse or with my family? Will I still be able to be a good steward of what God has given me, not only my finances but also my health and my emotional health and all the other things He’s bestowed upon me?” You see, you start looking deeper as you think of the implications. You start answering, “Alright, what does God say about the implications on either side of the equation?” If you answer those questions, you can find out that God is leading you to answer the big question, to make the big decision.

And in the end, we can say what the early church said, “For after James got done speaking,” it says that, “the early church, the elders and the apostles and all the believers decided to write a letter to the church up in Antioch.” And in that letter, it said this, “It seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us.”

My friends, when we’re making a decision, big decision in life, if we dig deeper into the decision, we pull out the implications. We seek guidance from fellow Christians. We look into God’s Word and we dig into that and find out what God has to say. I believe, in the end, we can say, “It seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” And you can have confidence in that decision. Amen.

Copyright 2008 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church