"If God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God saying, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life"
Acts 11:17-18As pastor/head of staff, I get all sorts of unsolicited mail across my desk, every piece holding out the promise of church growth. Conferences on evangelism and church leadership, stewardship programs, church growth seminars, technological devices and innovations - some actually guaranteeing to attract new members and transform the church. Evangelists, consultants, strategic planners, specialists, gurus, snake oil salesmen, Elvis imitators, they all file across my desk on a regular basis to peddle their wares.
They know what they’re doing. They know that church growth is the holy grail of the modern-day church and everybody - clergy and laity alike are “Indiana Jones” in search of it. When I read the Congregational Information Form for Hidenwood when I was looking for a church, it was there…If you read the Mission/Vision statement that the Hidenwood Session just adopted you’ll see it’s there. And if you read the Presbytery of Eastern Virginia’s new Mission/Vision statement you’ll see that it’s there too. Everybody is looking to grow…myself included.
So when that unsolicited mail streams across my desk each week, I am not entirely disinterested…I am enticed, at least a little. And regardless of what I think about Rick Warren’s theology (or lack of it) I am envious of the growth of Saddleback Church in Orange County, California. So when I receive his glitzy conference brochures I find myself perusing them anyway, in hopes of gleaning something/anything that led to his success in growing the church in godless California.
So my eye naturally gravitates to the book of Acts today when it shows up in the lectionary, because Acts is all about church growth. The Book of Acts chronicles the history the early church – from its birth on Pentecost through its expansion in the Roman Empire by Paul. In Acts we witness the unprecedented growth in the church – a growth rate unparalleled in the history of Christendom. So what better place to look when considering the elusive notion of growth and emerging models for growth in this new age we find ourselves in.
Today’s passage centers on the church in Jerusalem which was under the leadership of the Apostle Peter. The emerging model of the Jerusalem church was decidedly Jewish in flavor. It professed the same allegiance to the Torah as did Judaism. It practiced the same patterns of worship and followed the same moral code. But that model was about to be challenged.
Peter had a vision in which God teaches him something new about what food was clean and unclean, and what people were clean and unclean. In the vision, a large white sheet is lowered before Peter with all sorts of unclean foods upon it - and a voice told him to eat. He refused because these were all the foods no self-respecting Jew would ever consume. But the word from the Lord was: “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” This happened three times. Then three people from Caesarea showed up at Peter’s door and asked him to come to Cornelius’ place – a Roman centurion. Cornelius, (a Gentile) told Peter that an angel told him to send for him and that he would deliver a message by which he and his household could be saved. So Peter preached the gospel to Cornelius and the Holy Spirit fell upon them all in the presence of Peter himself. And Peter remembered the words of Jesus: “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” And Peter realized the Lord had given the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles too! So he concludes: “Who was I that I should hinder God?” (Who am I to stand in the way of God?) So the church in Jerusalem praised God and said, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”
Some have called this passage “Peter’s Report of Cornelius’ Conversion,” but a more apt title would be, “The Conversion of Peter and the Church in Jerusalem.” What the book of Acts is underlining here, and indeed throughout, is the importance of conversion. Conversion is what grows the church. And conversion is not something that must happen to both unbelievers and believers both. Cornelius’ conversion was important, but without the conversion of Peter and the Jerusalem church, he would never have been included into the fellowship of the church, so the church would not have grown. We all need to be converted in order for the church to grow.
The word “conversion” (Greek - Metanoia) literally means to change one’s mind. Cornelius changed his mind when he became a believer. Peter also changed his mind when he saw evidence of the Holy Spirit in these Gentiles. And the church in Jerusalem changed its mind when they heard Peter’s story about it…they praised God when they realized that God was leading even Gentiles to repentance and faith! And all of this conversion is quite surprising because people don’t change – not easily – and yet here in this short passage everyone is changed. Conversion is a gift of God.
Conversion is what grows the church – not a great internet site, not drums and guitars instead of the organ, not computers in the Sunday School class, not a charismatic youth pastor, not clever sermons, not even serving coffee after worship. Conversion grows the church…and everything else is window dressing. And that’s not such good news because conversion isn’t easy…putting drums in the church is easier than conversion. (In fact, conversion isn’t even our domain is it? It’s God’s domain…and all we can do is be open to it happening to us and open to those to whom God makes it happen.)
Theologian Hans Kung put it this way:
“We are to preach metanoia. We must entice people from the world to God. We are not to shut ourselves off from the world in a spirit of asceticism, but to live in the everyday world inspired by the radical obedience that is demanded by the love of God. The church must be reformed again and again, converted again and again each day, in order that it may fulfill its task.”
God has plans for us all to be new creations in Jesus Christ. But that change is so radical and so demanding that it will take a lifetime of conversion to bring it about. The greatest danger of this spiritual journey we are on is to think that we have arrived…to think conversion only happens once, to think you are so at one with the will of God that you don’t need to listen anymore.
I have a clergy friend in the PCUSA whose grandfather was involved in the church way back when they were debating the issue of the ordination of women. In fact, his grandfather was at the Assembly where the vote was taken and women were invited to be ordained as pastors. After that vote he was asked if he was in favor of women being ordained. His answer was very faithful: He said, “I am not; but God apparently is.” I like that answer. It takes seriously our need to be open to metanoia (conversion) throughout our lives. In fact metanoia is in our genetic makeup as a reformed denomination. As Presbyterians we claim to be reformed and reforming. We haven’t arrived yet – God isn’t through with us yet – we are still being converted by God. That does not mean that we have no strong beliefs…it doesn’t mean we adhere to the motto “It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe something.” No, Presbyterians actually have strong opinions about what they believe…and they enjoy arguing and debating…especially theological beliefs. We believe that it is through such debate that the truth eventually gets sifted out and we know the will of God. So we hold fast to and strongly defend our beliefs but at the same time we are always open to God’s word changing our minds. It is how we grow in our faith.
The Book of Acts reminds us that the unprecedented growth of the early church was a result of conversion…not because of the introduction of contemporary music or using name tags in worship, not because of a glitzy website, or putting the principles of the purpose driven life into the practice in the church. No, the growth was a result of conversion - made possible by the Spirit of God and God’s people being open to it. God is working still – converting our hearts and minds - making us all new creations in Jesus Christ. Let us be open to the metanoia of God in our studies, in our worship, in our lives, and we will grow and find life in abundance. Let us begin even now as we share together this meal prepared for us in Jesus Christ.
Amen