First Vatican Council

Acts 15:1-11

           I am not a Biblical scholar and the history of the Church that I know is from 20 years of Catholic school which included 3 years in the Seminary.  Having said that, it has not stopped me from commenting on passages as the Spirit moves me. The messages from Scripture are always personal and timely. What I read twenty years ago may have a different message for me tomorrow. There are some constants and facts that can be gleaned though aside from personal direction and messages from God.

          Here we have what amounted to the very first 'Vatican Counci'. Of course the Vatican hadn't even been invented yet, formed or even thought of. This might better be considered the Council of Jerusalem. The import far exceeds that of Vatican II that most people see as a breath of fresh air to the church even if the windows have been systematically closed ever since.

          Jesus was a Jew and his Apostles were devout Jews. Perhaps they were not Pharisees or Sadducee's. Perhaps some were Essenes.  Perhaps Judas was not the only Sicarii member in Jesus' band of followers. While all that is great fodder for intriguing thought, the fact is they were all Jews. Here we have salvation being opened to the Gentiles and the arguments that were made on each side of this 'discussion' is simply highlighted here. I suspect it was a battle royal.

           Some of the same arguments that I would use to engender inclusiveness, especially of the LGBTQ people of today are highlighted right here.  Whether the tendency to argue of minutia may be a human condition that we will always have to bear, the message of Jesus is love. Jesus' life of inclusiveness is well known from scripture. While some of it may seem almost normal for us today, in His time he was a radical and a rebel.  It is no wonder he was killed. Jesus human life may have ended but the love he professed is still alive today. So we say "Jesus is risen!". The Spirit is as alive today as it was when it landed as tongues of fire on Pentecost and again when it inspired the new Church to include gentiles because the Spirit of God, the love of God told them it was right. It was the loving thing to do.

             A book I read several years ago, God vs. Gay, highlighted a simple tool for deciding what is of God or not. When making a decision, such as marriage equality lets say, the balance should always go to love.  When deciding about passages of scripture, which position falls in line with the saving grace, enthusiastic and all embracing love of God? The answer will always defer to love, not hate, not divisiveness, not arrogance or anything that is even remotely wrong or evil.  Perhaps it would be a good time to review 1 Corinthians 13. 

            That first Vatican Council if you will, was all about the Spirit alive, love and the all embracing love of our Creator. Back then gentiles, today LGBTQ. Amen

Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’ And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders. So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the believers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, ‘It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses.’

The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, ‘My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.’