And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me.14 Simeon [Simon] has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name.15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,
16 “‘After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
and I will restore it,
17 that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,
says the Lord, who makes these things18 known from of old.’19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God,20 but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.21 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”
22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, 23 with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 24 Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions,25 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
I had one of the most difficult and sad experiences I’ve had in my 40 plus years of ministry. The gentleman was a faithful, missional, committed, and Christian. He thought of himself as a true Lutheran, emphasis on true. We were talking about worship, and he made a claim that only worship from one of the services found in the Lutheran hymnal was true and acceptable. He was sincere and committed to this idea. He was captive to his conscience.
So I was not surprised that he was not in worship the following week when I had announced that we were to have a hymn fest order of worship. This would be a service of hymns with few liturgical elements. There would be no Kyrie (Lord, Have Mercy). The hymn of praise would be one of the hymns rather than one of the canticles from the regular order of worship. We might even have sung a hymn for the confession of sins. Whatever the case, he could not allow that those were legitimate orders of worship for a Lutheran church.
I wonder if those who came to Antioch and also spoke at the Jerusalem council were in this same captivity. I suspect that they were not just trying to keep the Gentiles out of the church. I suspect that they were conscience bound to the requirements they were seeking to impose. Sad. For if their ideas were true, it would make the Christian faith into a performance-based religion: we must perform for God certain things in order to be acceptable to him.
There has been a performance to be sure. But it’s not our performance, it’s Jesus’ perfect performance of everything the Law of Moses required. And he did it in our behalf. For we could never do this ourselves. Peter had spoken of this – recorded in the verses previous to these – as a burden no one had been able to bear.
There is one foundational “do” for being a Christian: Repent and believe the Good News of Jesus. We are surely also to love one another, make disciples, baptize and teach. And Jesus tells us, “do this in remembrance of me.” Baptism seals the promises of God. Holy Communion celebrates and reconnects us to those promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation. The word of God points us to those gifts and promises. But the doing is done. So that leaves the “don’ts.” In this case the list was short: “Abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.”
We may prefer one mode of worship over another. But we must not impose our preferences upon another’s conscience. Only God’s word should bind our consciences. Otherwise we become prisoners of our artificial and manmade limitations. Paul would later write the church in Galatia: “You have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.” (Galatians 5:13-14 NLT) That’s a beautiful application of Jesus’ call, “Repent and believe the Gospel.”
David Bahn - Reflections 
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