Creative Conflict Resolution
- davidwperk
- Jun 4, 2024
- 8 min read
Devotional Reflection, Tuesday, June 4, 2024
Proper 4, the week of the second Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key verses for reflection from today’s epistle reading:
2Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2I went up in response to a revelation. Then I laid before them (though only in a private meeting with the acknowledged leaders) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure that I was not running, or had not run, in vain. 3But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. . . . . 6And from those who were supposed to be acknowledged leaders (what they actually were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those leaders contributed nothing to me.. . . 9and when James and Cephas and John, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do.
You will find the full text of today’s epistle reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 968
AM Psalm 45; PM Psalm 47,48
Eccles. 2:16-26; Gal. 1:18-2:10; Matt. 13:53-58
Today we celebrate the Feast of John XXIII. (See below.)
David’s Reflections
German theologian Jürgen Moltmann writes of the unity of the church with these words:
In the community of Christ and in the energies of the life-giving Spirit we experience God as the broad place which surrounds us from every side and brings us into the free unfolding of new life. In the love which affirms life we exist in God and God in us. The church is not just the space for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is the place indwelt by the whole Trinity. The whole Trinity is the living space of the church, not just the Holy Spirit.*
In today’s epistle, the earliest Christian leaders were wrestling with a divisive issue that could have splintered this nascent missionary effort. Should those who were not Jewish be required to accept circumcision and Jewish ritual law to share in the salvation wrought by a Jewish savior? They had been initiated into the community in baptism, but was a second initiation, via circumcision, required? Paul argued in the negative, but his opponents, conservative Jewish Christians argued the reverse.
The matter went before the leading Apostles, including Peter and Jesus’ brother James in Jerusalem. Paul’s account of that meeting makes up today’s reading. The result—all parties involved resolved the issue in a fashion that furthered the mission of the church to share the good news of Jesus in the world. Gentiles would not be compelled to accept Jewish ritual law. Paul and his associates would take the Christian message to Gentiles and Peter and his, to the Jewish people. And, that also meant that Jewish and Gentile believers could share in Holy Communion at the same table.
Our church in recent years has suffered conflict and attrition around differences in the place of women and the place of homosexuals in the ordained ministry of the church. Both sides in these issues have made recourse to Scripture, buttressing their arguments with proof texts and interpretive strategies. My perspective, hammered out during and immediately after seminary in the late 70’s, calls for full inclusion of all persons and mistrusts any use of Scripture that leads to the oppression or exclusion of any group (a tactic being employed by Paul's opponents).
However, my complaint against those on both sides of our current conflicts arises out of my reading of this text. Imagine that both sides in our debates made the mission of the church in the world with the Christian message their number one priority. What would happen were we to ask the basic question, “How can we resolve these issues in a way that furthers the mission of the church in the world with the Good News of Jesus Christ?” Both sides might immediately claim that they have done so. My response would suggest that the mission of the church in the world has suffered.
Without claiming that I know the answer to my own question, I maintain that Paul, Peter, James, and John showed an amazing lack of parochial narrowness in their discussions. Some within the church rejected their solution and continued their divisive behaviors. The necessity for the letter to the Galatians gives evidence of resistance to the agreement. Even in the next paragraph from today’s reading, Paul narrates a confrontation with Peter before the assembly for not holding to the agreement previously reached. Yet, these missionary pioneers named above got it right—make mission the priority.
Would be to God that our energies could be directed more to that core value of mission and less to who is right or wrong about the Bible on sexuality and women (I consistently stand opposed to any demeaning of a person on the basis of sexual orientation or gender). Would be to God that we would allow the Spirit to knit us together. Would be to God that we would refuse any solutions that leave us alienated and mistrustful of others engaged in bringing the freshly baked bread of Christ’s redeeming love to a starving world.
The late Gerald Ford had it right. According to his Episcopal priest rector, Ford spoke with him often of the controversies in our church. Robert G. Certain, Ford’s rector, summarized Ford’s sentiment. “He said he did not think they should be divisive for anyone who lived by the Great Commandments and the Great Commission to love God and neighbor.” +
Former President Jimmy Carter captured Ford’s spirit in a eulogy delivered at Ford’s funeral service in Michigan. “We (Ford and I) took to heart the admonition of the apostle Paul that Christians should not be divided over seemingly important but tangential issues, including sexual preferences and the role of women in the church.” #
If we, as faith communities, indeed are indwelt by the Triune God and if our dwelling place is within the Triune God, we become responsible for preserving that essential oneness. To the extent we contribute to the unraveling of community, to that extent we become responsible and, in Paul’s words, are not acting consistently with the truth of the Gospel (Gal. 2:14, tomorrow’s reading). Yet, the possibility of a deep overarching unity remains open to us because of our sharing in the Spirit and in the life of the Triune God.
*Jürgen Moltmann, Experiences in Theology: Ways and Forms of Christian Theology, trans. Margaret Kohl (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2000), p. 330.
+ Robert G. Service, cited in “A healing president and devoted Episcopalian.” The Christian Century, January 23, 2007, p. 10.
# Jimmy Carter, cited in “A healing president and devoted Episcopalian.” The Christian Century, January 23, 2007, p. 10.
Collect of the Day: Proper 4
O God, your never-failing providence sets in order all things both in heaven and earth: Put away from us, we entreat you, all hurtful things, and give us those things which are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 229)
Today we celebrate the Feast of John XXIII, bishop of Rome (died 3 June 1963 CE)
Collect of the Feast of John XXIII
God of all truth and peace, who raised up your bishop John to be servant of the servants of God and bestowed on him wisdom to call for the work of renewing your church: Grant that, following his example, we may reach out to other Christians with the love of your Son, and labor throughout the nations of the world to kindle a desire for justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
A Collect for Peace
Most holy God, the source of all good desires, all right judgments, and all just works: Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, so that our minds may be fixed on the doing of your will, and that we, being delivered from the fear of all enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through the mercies of Christ Jesus our Savior. Amen. (BCP, 123)
For the Nation
Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP,258)
A Prayer for Light
Almighty God, we give you thanks for surrounding us, as daylight fades, with the brightness of the vesper light; and we implore you of your great mercy that, as you enfold us with the radiance of this light, so you would shine into our hearts the brightness of your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 110)
A Collect for Mission
Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (BCP, 100)
Daily Office Epistle, Galatians 1:18-2:10
18 Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him for fifteen days; 19but I did not see any other apostle except James the Lord’s brother. 20In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie! 21Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, 22and I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; 23they only heard it said, ‘The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy.’ 24And they glorified God because of me.
2Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2I went up in response to a revelation. Then I laid before them (though only in a private meeting with the acknowledged leaders) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure that I was not running, or had not run, in vain. 3But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4But because of false believers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might enslave us— 5we did not submit to them even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might always remain with you. 6And from those who were supposed to be acknowledged leaders (what they actually were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those leaders contributed nothing to me. 7On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised 8(for he who worked through Peter making him an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me in sending me to the Gentiles), 9and when James and Cephas and John, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do.
Daily Offices in the Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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