The Right Hand Of Fellowship

When you see God working, cooperate!

It was a bit uncomfortable. The person sitting across from me, asking questions about becoming Orthodox, was not what I expected. She was not the “typical” seeker from the conservative American South who had an Evangelical upbringing and wanted to find a “conservative” church for her children to protect them from the societal chaos swirling around the culture!

No. This dear lady had pink hair, a nose ring, and had a “yankee” accent! (Oh MY!)

She was genuine, sincere, respectful, and asked the right questions!

In other words, it was time for me to deal with the Holy Spirit leading seeking hearts to the Faith, NO MATTER what their background.

By the way, this dear woman became Orthodox and a precious spiritual child! Welcome home!

We get in real trouble when we allow our biases and fears to blind us to the Holy Spirit's work in redeeming even people who are not like us!

Look at our lesson today in Galatians 2:6-10

Brethren, from those who were reputed to be something (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality) - those, I say, who were of repute added nothing to me; but on the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for the mission to the circumcised worked through me also for the Gentiles), and when they perceived the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised; only they would have us remember the poor, which very thing I was eager to do.

St. Paul's letter to the Galatian Church is a classic example of what happens when God does what He promised to do, but we aren’t ready to deal with the consequences of God’s faithfulness!

God had always promised to bless the whole world with salvation, no matter what “tribe” they might come from. And now Christ has come, and the Holy Spirit had even come to the Gentiles! But some couldn’t imagine that.

Some reputed “leaders” from the Jerusalem Church came to the Galatian church and found that most of the people in the Church weren’t from a Jewish background; they were Gentiles. These “leaders” started telling these Gentiles they had to, in effect, become Jewish if they were going to be Christians. They told them to start following the Jewish customs and diet if they wanted to follow the Jewish Messiah.

When Paul heard what had happened, he hit the roof!

The whole letter is a masterpiece in Paul's explanation that this was not just a mistake but an actual heresy. Even the Jews, for centuries, failed to uphold the Law, and now Christ has come and lived, died, buried, risen, and ascended into heaven to put an end to this pattern of failure by explaining that the Law was given to us to teach us we need a Savior, not a rulebook! We needed a heart transformation.

The end of this foolish heresy came when even the Apostles Peter, James, and John all recognized that the Holy Spirit was indeed working to bring the “outsiders” into the Church. They refused to fight the unmistakable grace of God in St. Paul and his ministry to the Gentiles, and they showed this by giving him “the right hand of fellowship.” These Apostles would continue their ministry to “the circumcised,” and all they asked was that these Gentile converts would remember the poor! Of course!

It’s easy to let our expectations get the better of us. But when that happens, we become blind to what the Holy Spirit is doing around us. God genuinely loves, even people we don’t love ourselves. That’s a “me” problem, not a God problem.

St. Callistratus was a believer in Christ when Diocletian was Emperor of pagan Rome. In 288 AD, he was arrested for being a Christian and was sentenced to death. He was to be placed in a sack and tossed into the sea to drown. But God had other plans. When the sack holding the hero was thrown into the sea, it burst open, and the saint came to dry land safe and sound. Seeing this miracle, forty-nine Roman soldiers converted to Christ. They were all arrested and beheaded for the Faith. Many were surprised to see forty-nine Roman soldiers following a “criminal” to Christ!

Today, do you know where you are blind to the gracious work of the Holy Spirit? Are there “some people” you can’t imagine wanting to come to Christ and His Church? It’s time to abandon the “too small” god in our heads and embrace the true God Who loves us all and calls all of us to Himself no matter who we are. Called to Him to be transformed, to be sure, but called to Him nonetheless! That’s Normal Orthodoxy.

P.S. O all-wise and godly Saints, today the whole Church, showing honor to you all, do now in spirit sing your praise; for you contested in her behalf, O right-victorious Martyrs of Christ our God.

Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouragedTV