...and still has the power to do the same thing today.
One of the most remarkable days in the early history of the Christian church is the Day of Pentecost. Jews who had been scattered by various conquests and invasions but had remained faithful came to Jerusalem to celebrate. The Holy Spirit came upon the members of the Christian church at that time in dramatic fashion, visibly appearing as flames of fire while breaking down the barrier of language among the Jews gathered from different parts of the known world, allowing those gathered to hear that the Messiah had come in the form of Jesus of Nazareth who had just been crucified and resurrected from the dead. Peter preached, the message was heard and received, the Holy Spirit was present and three thousand souls were added to the kingdom. The conversion of so many Jews from different places guaranteed that the gospel would be spread and churches would be planted among Jewish communities everywhere to which those who were saved in Jerusalem would return.
But as miraculous and barrier-crossing event as that was, even after Pentecost, the Christian church and its leaders still saw the gospel as only being for Jews. The church had bridged the social and religious prejudices and barriers that existed within Jewish religious culture, but its leaders still could not fathom that the message of salvation in Christ was intended for gentiles.
The first indication that the developing church would break down, and inevitably ignore, ethnic and racial barriers is found in the account of Jesus and the disciples travelling through Samaria, where Jesus encounters the woman at the well and miraculously reveals himself as the messiah to her. While Samaritans were not really of a completely different race, the differences that developed between them and the Jews taken into captivity in Babylon meant that they were separated by ethnic prejudice and hatred.
Following Pentecost, the first account of the conversion of a Gentile to Christian faith is slipped into the account of Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, Phillip encounters an Ethiopian court official returning home from Jerusalem. Apparently, he was a Jewish proselyte, not an unlikely situation at the time. At the instigation of the Holy Spirit, Phillip does something a good, practicing Jew would never do. At the invitation of the Ethiopian, Phillip gets into his chariot. This would be a "double whammy" in Jewish culture since the man was a gentile and a eunuch, both conditions which would have made him "unclean" and caused Phillip to become unclean as well. But this racial barrier is broken in an instant. Phillip shows the Ethiopian that Jesus is the Messiah about whom Isaiah speaks. The Spirit opens his heart and mind to the gospel and he is baptized. This is clearly a spiritual initiative because Phillip is "swept away" and the eunuch does not see him again following his baptism. So this African man becomes the first gentile convert to Christ mentioned in the New Testament.
The narrative in the book of Acts moves to Peter's encounter with Cornelius, a Roman who also appears to be a proselyte to Judaism, or who at least has a working understanding of the Jewish covenant and scriptures. A meeting that wouldn't have happened without the prompting of the Holy Spirit, who moves Peter through a vision in a dream, giving him the courage to set his Jewish convictions aside and visit Cornelius' home where a potential church was already gathered. Peter explains that it is unlawful for him, as a Jew, to enter the home of a gentile. The key words in the English narrative as translated in the NRSV are "but God."
"But God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean." And right there, in the words of one of the church's Apostles, is the whole foundational Christian teaching on the matter of race and ethnicity. Cornelius had gathered all of his relatives and friends and they were sitting there, ready to listen and willing to respond, waiting to hear from Peter. Pentecost happened again as the Holy Spirit appeared, giving each of those who were gathered the same miraculous gifts that confirmed his presence the first time Peter preached. Grace was poured out, God answered the question and resolved the difficulty right then and there. Peter would still struggle with this issue, and so would the church, which struggles with every issue that it attempts to resolve on its own and not by depending on the power of the Holy Spirit.
Of course, it caused a controversy. Peter faced a critical inquiry when he went back to Jerusalem because the word had come back to the church leaders there that Peter had gone to Cornelius' house and that he had preached, fellowshipped, and eaten with the uncircumcised, and had baptized them. The scripture says that after he explained everything to them, "they were silenced." (Acts 11:18). And they praised God saying, 'Then God has given even to the gentiles the repentance that leads to life." Was it really that easy? Was an ingrained, cardinal doctrine based on centuries of religious bigotry and hatred overcome by a single encounter with the Holy Spirit based on the testimony of the experience by a single apostle? But God....
But God...
The boundaries of centuries of religious and racial prejudice set in place by Jewish practice were swept away in these encounters with the Holy Spirit. God had a purpose he intended to accomplish through Christ and that was the salvation of his human creation. Think about the depth of religious bigotry that prevented people from associating with people of a different racial and religious background to the point where it was believed that to do so separated one from the presence of God and required a lengthy, obnoxious purification ritual to regain your previous status. How would the gospel get shared across a gap like that?
But God's presence gave both Phillip and Peter confidence that they were following his will and boldness to take the necessary steps to do it. Phillip climbed into the chariot with an Ethiopian who, by Jewish law was unclean first because he was a gentile and second because he was a eunuch. Phillip's action not only won the man to Christ, but also opened the door for the gospel to be preached in Ethiopia. Peter crossed the threshold of a house where a group of people had gathered for the purpose of becoming a church. The Holy Spirit's response, witnessed by one of the church's apostles, open the door for the eventual evangelization of the whole world but the miraculous signs poured out on the gentile believers testified to the fact that they were God's chosen as well and that what had been symbolized by the torn veil in the Temple was a prophetic occurrence come to pass.
The Church Resolving Racism Today
The early church in Jerusalem clearly did not have a concept that included preaching the gospel to gentiles. Even though it can be seen from this side of those events in the Old Testament scriptures, at the time they were blind to it. Look at the dramatic transformations which were required to convince the leaders. Phillip was physically moved from the spot where he baptized the Ethiopian to Azotus as confirmation of the Spirit's presence. Peter witnessed a full repetition of the Pentecost experience at Cornelius' home following a supernatural revelation through a vision. It took the same kind of spiritual encounter to lead Paul to a transforming encounter with Jesus.
In spite of the fact that the indwelling Holy Spirit gives Christians direct access to the "mind of Christ" and to the very wisdom of God (I Corinthians 1 and 2) it is also evident that the fallen nature of the world has had an impact on the church's effectiveness. Having this spiritual power and wisdom is one thing. Using it is quite another. It is not there for us to conjure up at those moments when we seem to need it the most, but set it aside, counting on our own wisdom when we want to do something our own way. Submission is a requirement when it comes to accessing the Spirit's power because using it is intended to accomplish God's will, not our own.
"But God..." Must be Experienced
The title of the conference was intriguing, the "Baptist Conference on the Holy Spirit," hosted by Dr. Dwight McKissic, pastor of the Cornerstone Baptist Church of Arlington, Texas on the church's campus. The speakers and presenters included pastors from a variety of Baptist churches, some dually affiliated with National and Southern Baptist conventions, some independent, some predominantly African American, some predominantly white, with participants mainly from Texas but from a scattering of other states including Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana. The title caught my attention, so I went.
Unlike most other church conferences I've attended, the purpose of this one was more on the experiential side and less on the informational side. The lineup of speakers and worship experiences was intended to focus participants on the Spirit's presence, discerning the Spirit's will, submitting to the Spirit in order to be transformed through an encounter in worship. I had never experienced anything like it. The only way I can describe it is that the presence of the Holy Spirit is truly transformational. I felt conviction, the release of forgiveness, a variety of other emotions, a sense of the presence of God and unity with the other believers who were present. In the follow-up sessions on the second day, there was openness and fellowship with people I'd never met before. God was present in the form of his indwelling Spirit.
There was unity. The divisions between people that were present, from different local churches, different denominational backgrounds, different racial and ethnic backgrounds, were gone. It dawned on me that, for the first time in my life that I could remember, I was submitted not only to the Holy Spirit, but to the preaching and spiritual guidance of men who were of a different race than me, and it didn't make a difference. No one pointed that out, not that they had to, but it was something that I noticed. It made permanent differences to me in many things, not just in the way I approach worship and submit to the Holy Spirit, but in the way I relate to Christian brothers and sisters of different racial, ethnic and denominational backgrounds. Those are all things which the enemy has used to divide and attempt to conquer the church, quite successfully in most cases, at least among American Christians.
"Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God"
There can be no human agenda in this. Anything less than complete reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit will fail. The wounds run too deep. There are those who don't want to see this issue get resolved, who prefer the status quo and who thrive on hostility. It's not easy being a peacemaker, it comes with a price called sacrifice. Look at what happened to Jesus. We still live in a world where there are those who would rather burn a cross, or nail someone to it than to lift it up as a symbol of redemption.
But God...
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