From the Word of the Day
Some of the party of the Pharisees who had become believers stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and direct them to observe the Mosaic Law.”
Acts 15: 5-6
How should we live this Word
The trials of the early Church were not so different from those we live today. Jesus’ coming was like the eruption of new wine in old wineskins that were moth-eaten and corroded by time. It is not the Law of Moses, the Decalogue given by God onMount Sinai. This will remain the holy binary to run on the way of eternal life and to avoid derailments and quagmires. Rather, the Gospel overtook those interpretations and additions to God’s Law, not the law written in our heart when we are truly human.
Then as now, there were those purists of the Law that sought to observe its letter and not its spirit. They were so attached to religious practices that they did not believe in the innovative power of Jesus and of His Gospel nor of the practice par excellence of living as Jesus did and ‘loving each other as He has loved us.’ It is interesting to observe how the apostles and the elders react. They do not become angry nor enter into heated debates, nor do they judge. Instead, they gather to ‘examine the problem.’ This they must have done in the light of Jesus’ teachings and with the freedom of spirit that He came to bring.
Today in my pause for silent contemplation, I will think about how earnest the early Church leaders were in seeking to reach consensus in truth.
Lord, grant me a thinking mind and a heart open to Your truth.
The voice of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Lutheran Minister and Author
To be free means nothing other than remaining in love, remaining in God’s truth.
Living Scripture 