Galatians 2:11-14

I want to begin by telling you one of my all-time favorite stories about Bill McKerley and Greg Wentz.  In 1988, while I was youth minister here, I put together an activity I called Mystery Night.  It was just a fun and silly night where the kids would have to solve a mystery.  This particular mystery was to find some hidden people in the Santa Fe Mall.  I had gone earlier to the mall and set up a series of clues where the kids had to go into different stores and fill in the blanks of letters on their clue sheet.  When they had found all the clues their sheets would reveal who the mystery people were. What the kids didn’t know was that Bill had dressed up like an old woman in a wheel chair and Greg Wentz like an old man.  They were wheeling back and forth in the mall all through the activity.  The kids went right by them many times without recognizing them.  After an hour or so the kids filled in the sheets and it said the mystery people were Greg and Bill.  Ryan, Bill’s own son, said, “My dad is not here.”  And the funny thing was he was less than 40 ft. from him in plain sight. Greg’s oldest daughter, Kelsey also never saw her father. I would give a great deal to have a picture of that night.  Funny sidebar, when they finally recognized them they started teasing them and a security guard busted the whole bunch of us. 

The reason I tell you this story, besides being a great memory, is because of the makeup.  Greg and Bill became different people.  They weren’t the young dynamic men they were twenty years ago, but they had transformed into an old frail couple. There is a Greek word for this; u`po,krisij hupokrisis.  It comes from the Ancient Greek Theater. In the ancient Greek theater they didn’t even do makeup.  Instead the actors held little masks on sticks in front of them to tell the audience who they were. You have seen the icon which represents thespians; the happy and sad faces?   To us that seems pretty lame, but it was a start.  Makeup artists have come a long way since the Greeks invented theater.  The word, u`po,krisij came to be a technical word for actor; a person playing a part. And not many years later became the word we recognize… hypocrite.     

I tell you about hypocrite because Paul, the apostle, calls Peter, the apostle, a hypocrite in the next section of our study in Galatians. “You have got to be kidding me?” Go ahead and say it… I’m not.  Paul calls Peter a hypocrite.  Listen and see why. 

Galatians 2:11-14  When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.  Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.  The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.  When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?”

Wow.  I didn’t know one apostle was allowed to accuse another of hypocrisy.  Let me unpack what is going on in this paragraph to figure out why Paul called Peter a hypocrite and then see if we can relate why to our search for freedom. 

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Paul worked in the area of Antioch of Syria for 14 years… allow time to go by.    At some point during that 14 year time Peter made the 300 mile trip from Jerusalem up to visit the church there.  Remember from our study in Acts, last year, that Antioch was a center for taking the Gospel to the Gentiles.

Acts 11:19-26  Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews.  Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.  The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.  News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.  When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.  He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.  Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

This Antioch became the headquarters for the mission effort all over that part of the world.  And it was going great.  Gentiles were turning to the Lord and being adopted into the family of God, in great numbers.  And at some point, because of this success, Peter came up to see what was going on.  When Peter got there he joined right in fellowshipping with the Gentiles.  Peter treated the Gentiles as members of his family. Note; he had table-fellowship with the Gentiles. 

Remember also from last year’s study that it was Peter who was the first to teach a Gentile. In the verses right before these Antioch verses we find that it was Peter who baptized Cornelius and crew. 

Acts 10:44-48  While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.  The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, "Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have."  So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

Peter knew, better than anyone, that God had accepted the Gentiles into the fellowship of the body of Christ.   Yet even knowing that, yet even witnessing with his own eyes the Holy Spirit working in the Gentiles, even baptizing Cornelius himself, Peter crawl-dadded. Do you know crawl-dadding? Peter began to back off from eating with the Gentiles, when certain men came from the “Circumcision group.” 

“What? Why would Peter stop eating with a Gentile? I don’t get it?  I eat with Gentiles all the time. There will be a bunch of Gentiles over at my house after church eating a roast Tanya has in the oven.”  It is hard for us today to see how serious this table-fellowship really was, for them.  We walk right into any restaurant and sit down and there might be any number of nationalities, or races or colors or religions.  We don’t ask someone’s religion or dietary practices before we invite them over for dinner.  You may ask about allergies or if they are a vegetarian, but not race or religion.  Yet, not too many years ago, even in our country, the color of your skin might get you denied in some restaurants. And in some places around the world today there are laws against mixed eating.

In Paul’s world the Jews took the dietary regulations of the Old Testament to extremes.  Not only could they not eat anything unclean, they could not eat with anyone unclean.  Part of their distinctiveness, as Jews, was their exclusion from table-fellowship with those who were not. It was a big deal.

I think we can understand this at least a bit. Eating together is a powerful thing.  Once you have shared a meal with someone there is this sense of bonding.  If I sit across the table and share a meal with you, there is a connection that is formed or strengthen by the very act of eating together. I accept you as worthy, as an equal, as precious when I eat with you.  There is a validation of our relationship in table fellowship.

Maybe I need to throw in a commercial here.  This afternoon we are going to participate in what we call “The Table.”  Part of the mystic of “The Table” is this sharing of acceptance and confirmation of each other.   When we gather around The Table we are communing with each other spiritually.  And guess where else this should be felt?  The Lord’s Supper.  All of this is tied together and is still powerful today.

But let’s get back to why Paul called Peter an actor, a hypocrite and let’s listen to the other side of the conversation here.  Remember we are only hearing one side of the phone call to the Galatians.  What might have prompted Paul to tell of this confrontation with Peter anyway?  It seems pretty harsh and out of place for Paul to have been so cold to talk bad of another apostle. I suspect - I don’t know - but I suspect something like this was going on, on the other side of the phone call. Those who were upsetting the Galatians may have said, “Even when Peter went to Antioch he would not eat with the Gentiles because they had not been circumcised.  See, even Peter wants you to be circumcised.” Perhaps, they were using Peter’s reticence to share the table with the Gentiles as an argument for the Galatians to become Jews in order to be Christians.  So, Paul brings out the real facts of this incident and calls Peter a hypocrite! 

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The real Peter knew in Jesus there is only one family. 
-The real Peter remembered Jesus sharing water with a Samaritan woman.
-The real Peter could tell you the story of Jesus healing a Canaanite woman’s daughter. 
-The real Peter had not forgotten a vision of a sheet full of unclean animals and being told, “Take and eat.” 
-The real Peter had preached, “The Holy Spirit is a promise to all who are a far off.” 
-It was this actor Peter who felt the pressure from those who “came from James” who would not approve of the practice of eating with Gentiles,
-It was this actor Peter who conveniently did not schedule any meals with the Gentiles. 
-It was this actor Peter who was just tying to avoid any misunderstandings. 
-It was this actor Peter who was just honoring their wishes. 
-It was this actor Peter who held this mask of Jewish respectability in front of his face just when those hard-liners were there to keep from having any problems.  But Paul calls this hypocrisy! 

What was the big deal?  So he didn’t eat with the Gentiles for a few days?  Why was Paul so upset?  Watch what Peter really did.
- He hurt his Gentile family.  What was he saying to these Gentiles?  They were still really 2nd class family members. There was still something inferior with them.  Hypocrisy damages relationships.
- He even led the tender-hearted Barnabas, as well as others, to marginalize the Gentiles as well.  Hypocrisy is contagious. 
- He gave ammunition to the knuckleheads. I suspect those who went on to the pervert the Gospel in Galatia were these same guys which Peter catered to.  Hypocrisy, by definition, misrepresents the truth. 

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Because Peter was wrong and it hurt the cause of Christ and marginalized the Gentiles, so Paul called Peter a hypocrite. In an effort to avoid controversy and appear respectable, Peter hurt the very people who needed his support the most.  And Paul called him on the carpet because of the damage he did.  I wish we knew the rest of the story.  I would kind of like to believe Peter repented and apologized for his behavior and made it right with the Gentiles he had stiffed.  Maybe he did.  Peter certainly was willing to repent.  He did it often enough with Jesus.  But it would be nice to know the rest of the story.  But maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe we do what is right even when we don’t know what the rest of the story might bring; even when we don’t know what might happen.

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Now, I promised we would connect this hypocrisy thing to our freedom.  We have a goal in our study of Galatians.  It is summarized in our theme verse.  Say it with me with emphasis on the free. 

Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us (free).

We have taken three steps toward that freedom already:
Step one – We Please God
Step Two – The Faith becomes Your Faith
Step Three – Be in fellowship

In Galatians 2:11-14 we don’t find a fourth step.  Rather, we find a warning about taking a false step.  In fellowship, step three, there is a temptation toward being respectable.  When we all come to church on Sunday mornings we want everyone to think we are good Christians.  We are tempted to wear the mask of respectability. The pull is to be looked upon as mature, loving, solid, respectable Christians.  Just like Peter, who wanted to be thought of as a good Jewish Christian.  He didn’t want these certain men to know of his table-fellowship with Gentiles, so he pretended to be something he wasn’t.  The dark side of fellowship draws us to pretend to be something we are not; actors.   

- Hypocrisy hurts the family. Others are discouraged by the lack of authenticity. Our fellowship is actually diminished by the pretending. 
- Hypocrisy is more contagious than the crude that is going around.  We all start acting because we want fellowship. No one wants to be the only real person. It just spreads.
- Hypocrisy gives ammunition to those who call us hypocrites.  Evangelism stops because we are a bunch of hypocrites.   

Hypocrisy is slavery, not freedom.  We can loose our freedom in hypocrisy. The joy of being who you really are with a bunch of people who know you and still love you is the freedom Christ wants us to have.  Anyway,  I know your secret, because I have the same secret.  We are all broken people in need of grace-offered fellowship.  In real fellowship there is freedom.  In hypocrisy there is chains! 

So, how do we do it? How do we walk without hypocrisy?  How do we avoid this misstep in our journey toward freedom?  Look at the clues.  

1) We must keep each other honest.  Paul did. In real fellowship there is accountability and responsibility. When we see each other being hokey we point it out.  Wow! That might work. 
2) We realize the importance of every person.  We understand that hypocrisy always hurts someone! 
3) Our respectability is irrelevant.  It is not about me it is about being real. 
4) Table fellowship is crucial. The sharing is a chance to be free in who you are.  Take someone to lunch and be open! 

Bill McKerley and Greg Wentz were able to fool their own kids by pretending to be people they were not.  Perhaps we can do the same, for a while.  Hey some of us are great actors.  But freedom is found in being who we are in Christ.  It is found in being real.  It is found in the humility of authentic fellowship. 

 

Los Alamos Church of Christ
February 8, 2009