Our friends own some sheep and they invited us out to spend some time feeding them this afternoon. If you’ve never had the chance to do this, you should really try it. It’s such a great way to decompress from the stress of everyday life. I’m thinking we typically miss out on these kinds of things that were more common for previous generations.
Today our family celebrates a special day in the life of a special person. Happy birthday, Sunny!
This is what I wrote about Sunny for her birthday last year:
She pursues goodness and exudes quiet strength.
In her love, she hopes all things.
She is unwavering in her commitments and gracious in her ways.
She is joyful and playful; a compassionate teacher and a steadfast encourager; a faithful friend, a tender mother, and a very, very, very patient wife. (She’s still waiting on that new couch! Haha!)
In short, she is the best person I’ve ever known and her loving presence makes me a better man.
Two things:
I finally broke down and got her that couch.
The past twelve months have done nothing to change my opinion. She’s still the best person I’ve ever known.
Several years ago, I figured out that Sunny’s quintessential quality was her goodness. I’ve never known anyone who wants to do the right thing more consistently or more completely. She pursues goodness at every turn and this makes her the conduit of God’s goodness in the lives of so many people: her family, her students, her friends, and me. If I only had three words to describe her, I think I’d say, “She seeks goodness.” This is the truest thing I can say about Sunny.
But of course, we’re far more than any one quality, no matter how “quintessential” we might deem it to be. And such is the case for the woman I love. Sunny is also exceedingly joyful. Resiliently joyful. True joy is unwavering in any set of circumstances and such is the case with Sunny’s joy. Even as she has faced down the inevitable storm clouds of life, she remains steadfast and resolute in her joy. This is another essential facet of her character. Sunny came into my life in a time of personal darkness for me; we started dating a little more than a year after my mother died. And her joy helped me smile again. Contagiously joyful. “She seeks goodness…and joy.”
This is my favorite picture of us, taken by a friend in 2013. Seriously, I could look at this picture forever. I can’t remember what I said that made her laugh, but I know exactly what this picture sounds like. I know the laughter that follows when Sunny gets really tickled like this, tears welling up in her eyes. And it’s the sound of pure joy to me.
Sunny, today we celebrate and cherish you. I am most thankful for the fruit of God’s Spirit in you, particularly your goodness and your joy. These have made all the difference in the lives of your loved ones.
But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”
Acts 15:1-5
When some people from Judea arrive and begin preaching a “gospel” of circumcision, Paul and Barnabas engage in a rigorous defense of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. I’m impressed by this as I read through Acts slowly: the early church is not soft on doctrine. Whereas we might be tempted to politely overlook someone’s unorthodox theology for the sake of unity and peace, the early church was quick to dissent and debate these matters. It is clear that there was a desire to adhere to apostolic teaching on the core doctrines of the faith, respecting the clear line of movement from Jesus (as origin of Gospel and doctrinal teaching) to the apostles (proclaimers and interpreters of the Gospel and its teaching) down to the church. This has been the position of the church for thousands of years and we see it in full form here in the description of the early church.
Paul and Barnabas have witnessed God’s saving work among the Gentiles firsthand. So naturally, they oppose the circumcision gospel, knowing it to be falsehood. This debate prompts the church in Antioch to send a delegation to Jerusalem. It seems as though Antioch is asking the pillars of the faith to weigh in on this matter and give a ruling. But this is complicated by the fact that some of the earliest believers belong to the circumcision group – the Pharisees!
It’s discouraging that some of these believers hold this view. But at the same time, we can draw encouragement from the fact that some of the Pharisees came to believe in Jesus!
This sets the stage for the important Jerusalem council which will dominate the rest of Acts 15.
already & not yet 