Welcome back to Part 16 of A History of Incompatibility. In this series, we explore the development of Christian beliefs around human sexuality, particularly as it relates to present church schisms over LGBTQ inclusion. If you are just now joining the story, I recommend going back and starting at Part 1.
This week, I invite you to read the comic first, and then come back here for an Imaginative Prayer devotion.
One further author’s note, I do not intend for the content of this comic to be “supercessionist,” as in Christians replacing Jews, nor to insist that a Jewish practice of Torah is intrinsically legalistic where Christianity is intrinsically led by the Spirit. Those are problematic tropes that have played over and over again. My purpose is to use examples from the New Testament of how the church has historically solved problems around who is included in the kingdom of God.
Imaginative Prayer Reading – Scripture: Acts 15:1-12
Lord, I settle my soul in your Infinite Presence. Reveal yourself to me today. Protect me from my own biases and prejudices. Direct my body, mind and soul entirely upon You. Transform my love and my attitude to recognize what is truly You and what is not.
Now, settle your body and breathe deeply. Each breath in, take in God’s unfailing love, breathing out your worries and anxieties, trusting God is holding them for you. Take your time to fully enter into this moment and meet with Christ.
“Enjoy the Lord, and he will give what your heart asks” (Psalm 37:4). Trust that as you enjoy God’s love for you, God enjoys your presence as well.
Let’s soak in the scripture read from Acts 15:1-12.
Some people came down from Judea teaching the family of believers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom we’ve received from Moses, you can’t be saved.” Paul and Barnabas took sides against these Judeans and argued strongly against their position.
The church at Antioch appointed Paul, Barnabas, and several others from Antioch to go up to Jerusalem to set this question before the apostles and the elders. The church sent this delegation on their way. They traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, telling stories about the conversion of the Gentiles to everyone. Their reports thrilled the brothers and sisters. When they arrived in Jerusalem, the church, the apostles, and the elders all welcomed them. They gave a full report of what God had accomplished through their activity. Some believers from among the Pharisees stood up and claimed, “The Gentiles must be circumcised. They must be required to keep the Law from Moses.”
As you hear this story unfold, place yourself in this scene. You are not Jewish. You are what the Jewish people called “a Gentile.” You want to follow Christ, to be a Christian. But you hear people arguing in the church about whether you belong. How does it feel to hear other people debate about whether you’re in or out? How does it feel to hear Paul and Barnabas stand up for your full inclusion?
As we prepare to hear the second half of this story, imagine yourself in a crowded room. It’s a church meeting. What do you hear? What’s the mood in the atmosphere around you? Where are you in the room? Where are Paul and Barnabas in proximity to you? What’s the look on their faces? Where are they looking? Are they looking at you? What do you hope will happen?
The apostles and the elders gathered to consider this matter. After much debate, Peter stood and addressed them, “Fellow believers, you know that, early on, God chose me from among you as the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and come to believe. God, who knows people’s deepest thoughts and desires, confirmed this by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, but purified their deepest thoughts and desires through faith. Why then are you now challenging God by placing a burden on the shoulders of these disciples that neither we nor our ancestors could bear? On the contrary, we believe that we and they are saved in the same way, by the grace of the Lord Jesus.”
The entire assembly fell quiet as they listened to Barnabas and Paul describe all the signs and wonders God did among the Gentiles through their activity.
The assembly ends, and the church has agreed that you belong here. You do not have to change who you are to be loved by God. As the crowd parts ways and people say their goodbyes, the Apostle Paul walks up to you. How do you interact with him? What words are exchanged between you and him? How does he look at you? How do you respond to that look? What happens now?
Allow your heart and mind to ease back into the present. The Holy Spirit is with you, always calling you to new depths of God’s love. This series is designed to challenge the church to consider it’s history of harm against LGBTQ people, and to open hearts to faithfully respond to God’s radical inclusion of those we formally thought had no place at the table.