"Rejoice & Be Wise" Sermon: Acts 21:17-26

“Rejoice and Be Wise”
[Acts 21:17-26]
January 23, 2011 Second Reformed Church

We return to our look at the book of Acts this morning; let us remember where we are. Acts is Luke’s second book of the history of Christianity. And we will remember that Paul – once the persecutor of the Church – is now ministering among the Gentiles, in particular. And this led to the question – the contention – of whether or not the Gentiles had to keep the Ceremonial Law.

Eventually, a council was held in Jerusalem, and it was decided that the Ceremonial Law had been fulfilled in Jesus, so it was no longer necessary for anyone to keep the Ceremonial Law – and certainly not those who had never kept it before. They did, however, require four things of the Gentiles: they were not to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols, they were not to eat blood, they were not to eat an animal that had been strangled, and they were not to engage in sexual immorality. Why?

Well, we are all called to keep from sexual immorality – that’s part of the Moral Law, but the other things are ceremonial – having to do with food. Why did the Jewish Christians require these three things about their food?

Because they were trying to protect the Gentile converts to Christianity from slipping back into pagan worship: four marks of pagan worship was eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols, eating blood, eating animals that had been strangled, and engaging in sexual immorality. The Jewish Christians required these things of the Gentile Christians, not because eating has any bearing on salvation, but to protect them and set them apart – to emphasize to them that they were no longer part of pagan worship – they were worshipers of Jesus.

We saw Paul lead three missionary journeys, through Israel, Syria, Turkey, and Greece, and perhaps other places. We saw that he had met converts from Rome – so the Gospel had reached Italy.

We saw that Paul had taken a Nazarite vow during his third missionary journey, which meant he would have kept himself from grape products, not cut his hair, and kept away from dead bodies. We’re not told why he made this vow, but it was not for anything to do with his salvation. As part of the end of the vow, he cut his hair in Cenchreae, and was heading home to Jerusalem for the Passover, to complete his vow by offering up sacrifices in the Temple.

On his way back, he stopped in Ephesus, and the craftsmen rioted, because Paul’s preaching of Jesus had decreased the sale of idols, and he was introducing “unknown gods,“ which was against Roman Law. Paul met with the Ephesian elders, told them he would not see them again, and sailed for Jerusalem, despite their pleading with him not to go.

Paul arrived in Ptolemais, spent time with Philip and his daughters, and was visited by the prophet, Agabus, who told Paul that he would be bound and handed over to the Gentiles. Still, he went on to Jerusalem and lodged in the house of Mnason of Cyprus – which brings us up to this morning’s Scripture.

Paul and his companions, including Luke, went to meet with James, the brother of Jesus, the remaining apostles, and the other elders in Jerusalem. After they greeted each other, Paul told them the history of his missionary journeys – how he had gone through Israel, Syria, Turkey, and Greece, and how he had met converts from Rome – and all of the things that God has done among the Gentiles – all that we have seen thus far in the book of Acts. Why?

Because we are all One Body; the Church is the Body of Christ, and we ought to want to hear from each other about what is happening in each others lives – both good and bad – and especially as it relates to our being witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (I Corinthians 12:26, ESV). We are witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our words and our actions.

What is the Gospel? I reviewed a book this week called, The Gospel According to Jesus, and the author stated that most Christians don’t know what the Gospel is. What is the Gospel? “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep” (I Corinthians 15:1-6, ESV).

The way we live, the way we act, the way we interact with each other, and call on each other to hear what has happened in our lives, reflects what we believe about God coming to earth as a human, living, dying for our sins, rising, and ascending back to His Throne to the Glory of the Father. We’ve seen before, Jesus does not give us the option to be neutral about Him – everything we are and do either draws people to Him or pushes them away from Him.

Well, how did the apostles and the elders react to all of the things that Paul told them? They rejoiced and glorified God. When they heard how so many had repented and believed in the Gospel, as they heard how many had been healed, how others had been delivered from demons, how God had delivered Paul and his companions from those trying to squelch the Gospel, they rejoiced. Paul wrote, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15, ESV). Why?

We are the Body of Christ. When you are healed, when you better understand, when you get a better job or a raise, when your children and grandchildren confess faith in Jesus, when anything good happens to you and yours, when you and yours receive a blessing from God, we all as parts of the same One Body of Christ receive the same gift and ought to find ourselves rejoicing with you. We ought to be joyful for each other’s joys, because they reflect on the world’s perception of Jesus and His Church.

When we lose our job, when a loved one dies, when we are frustrated, sick, or depressed, when something goes wrong, we all as parts of the same One Body of Christ also suffer with each other and ought to find ourselves weeping with you. We ought to weep for each other’s sorrows, because they reflect on the world’s perception of Jesus and His Church.

The world knows we are Christians by our love for each other – love that shares in joys and sorrows – really rejoicing in the good and really weeping for each other’s sorrow. Then the world will look at us in wonder, seeing that through Jesus, we love each other and are one in all things.

Paul told the apostles and the elders all that had happened and the response of the Gentiles to the Gospel. And they rejoiced with Paul and his companions, and gave glory to God for all that God had done through them in saving Gentiles and building up the Church, the Body of Christ.

After rejoicing with Paul and his companions, they told him, “There are thousands of Jews in Jerusalem who are doing everything they can to keep the Law, believing that they will be saved and made right with God through the keeping of the Law. They have heard that you teach the Gentiles and any Jews who might be among them that they should forsake the Law of Moses, not circumcise their children, and to ignore everything that we have taught in Judaism throughout history.” So, the Jews in Jerusalem would have a bias against Paul and his preaching of the Gospel.

Wasn’t that true? Wasn’t Paul teaching that? Wasn’t Paul telling his hearers to forget the Ceremonial Law – not to worry about what the Old Testament taught?

What have we seen Paul teach?

Paul teaches us that the Ceremonial Law is not necessary for salvation. We do not need to keep the laws that God gave Israel that have to do with worship and ceremonial cleanliness for salvation. In fact, Paul explains that the Law – none of it – was ever intended to grant us or merit us salvation: “What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet’” (Romans 7:7, ESV).

The Law was never intended to merit or grant us salvation; one of the purposes of the Law is to show us what sin is – to make us understand what sin is. For example: the stoplight in the intersection outside the church does not make someone drive safely – it does not take hold of the wheel or inhabit one’s muscles. But if someone goes through the red light, the person knows that he has sinned – he has broken the law. OK?

So, Paul teaches us that the Ceremonial Law is not necessary for salvation.

Paul also explained that the Ceremonial Law was fulfilled in Jesus the Savior.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1-4, ESV).

In others words, God has called every human being to keep all of the Law perfectly. But we don’t. So God sent Jesus, His Son, Who kept the Law perfectly and took on the whole penalty for our breaking the Law, so that He could credit us with His Perfect Keeping of the Law. So, for we who believe in Jesus Alone for Salvation, there is now no condemnation.

Paul also saw nothing wrong with keeping the Ceremonial Law, if one wants to, for some reason other than merit.

“Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For ‘the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.’ If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But, if someone says to you, ‘This has been offered in sacrifice,’ then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience – “ (I Corinthians 10:25-28, ESV).

The Law says that the people of God are not to eat meat offered to idols, but that Law has been fulfilled in Jesus. So Paul says, if you want to eat meat that has been offered to idols, go ahead, meat is meat. But, if you are with someone who would be turned away from the Gospel if you ate meat that had been offered to idols, don’t eat it for their sake.

Similarly, if someone wants to keep the kosher laws because one believes it to be a healthier diet, have it at, all food is God’s. If you don’t want to wear clothes of mixed cloth, that’s fine, so long as you realize it won’t merit you anything. If you want to take a Nazarite vow as a spiritual discipline, but understand it gains you no merit with God, go ahead. And so forth.

The final thing we should observe here is that Paul did not condemn the keeping of the Ceremonial Law. Paul kept it at times for a variety of reasons, and it’s fine if someone wants to, so long as one understands that keeping the Ceremonial Law does nothing as far as one’s salvation is concerned.

So, the zealous Jews were wrong: Paul did not tell people to forsake Moses, not to circumcise their children, or to abandon the traditions of Judaism. What Paul said was the Ceremonial Law is not necessary for salvation, the Ceremonial Law was fulfilled in Jesus the Savior, there nothing wrong with keeping the Ceremonial Law, if one wants to, for some other reason than merit, and Paul did not condemn the keeping of the Ceremonial Law by anyone who wanted to for any reason other than merit.

So, what did the apostles and elders say should be done, given what was being said about Paul?

The apostles and elders told Paul to do three things: (1) Purify yourself – Paul had eaten with Gentiles, so the Law said he would need to undergo a purification rite before he was allowed into the Temple. (2) Go to the Temple with these four brothers who have completed their Nazarite vow. And (3) pay for the four brothers to be shaved and for the sacrifices they were to offer for themselves. Why?

Because if Paul did these things it would show that he respected the Law, even though he knew the Law did not have the power to save him or anyone. Doing these things would show respect for the Law to those who still believed that there was salvation in the Law, and it would remove the bias they had against Paul so Paul would be able to preach the Gospel to them.

The apostles and elders said that, otherwise, they agreed with Paul and the Jerusalem Counsel, that nothing should be required of the Gentiles other than to abstain from meat offered to idols, from eating blood, from eating a strangled animal, and from engaging in sexual immorality. And this was required of them to help them not slip back into their old ways of pagan worship.

Paul agreed with the apostles and elders and did the things they asked of him: he purified himself before he entered the Temple, in accordance with the Law, he brought the four brothers to complete their Nazarite vow, and he paid for them to be saved and for their sacrifices.

As Christians, we understand that the Law cannot save us – only Jesus can save us. We understand that the Ceremonial Law was only for the nation of ancient Israel – not for all people throughout time, so it is not necessary for us to keep the Ceremonial Law. However, there is nothing wrong with keeping it because one prefers it, or to keep from offending someone else.

What does this mean for us?

It means that if we invite an Orthodox Jew or Muslim over for dinner and some theological conversation, we ought not order a ham and pineapple pizza, because that would offend his belief about food, and we won’t get to say a word about Jesus.

It means that if a family of Buddhists move in on our block, and we want to invite them to worship, we ought not go over to welcome them to the neighborhood with a pot roast, because that would offend their belief about food, and we won’t get to say a word about Jesus.

It means, in things that don’t matter, for the sake of being able to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we will be wise – we will use our brains – we will not do anything to put a stumbling block in the way of someone hearing the Gospel.

Paul wrote, “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings” (I Corinthians 9:19-23, ESV).

Paul is not saying that we should become hypocrites or liars. What he is saying is that the most important thing we can do is to point people to Jesus and Salvation through Him Alone. Therefore, we ought to do everything we can to remove impediments to people hearing the Gospel and believing in Jesus. Therefore, in the things that don’t matter, we ought to be willing to put aside our preferences if it will allow someone to be able to hear the Gospel.

Jesus said, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16, ESV).

In our dealings with the world, we are called to be holy – sinless – innocent. Yet, we are also called to be wise, to do everything we can to get people to hear the Gospel.

Then, as we preach the Gospel, God will bring those to faith as He wills, and we will have opportunity then to rejoice with each other as we see God work through us to His Glory.

So let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You that You have given us each other as part of the Body of Christ. Help us to love each other and rely on each other – weeping and rejoicing together as we have occasion. Cause us to love each other as we love the members of our own body. And as we go about our daily lives, let us be useful witnesses to You – wise and willing to put aside the things that don’t matter that Your Gospel would be heard, that You would be glorified, and that many would call upon Your Name for Salvation. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.