Customs and Disciplines




Acts 18:18-23
18After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow.
19And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.
20When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined.
21But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.
22When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch.
23After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

Those of us who practice Christianity probably participate in various customs and disciplines that keep us mindful of our faith and help us remain present with God. Some denominations are more steeped in these customs than others but we all have something. Perhaps you cross yourself during certain parts of a worship service or prayer time. Maybe you spend your prayer time on your knees or even some of it prostrate on the floor. Some women participate in the practice of wearing a head covering during devotion, worship or prayer. Fasting from food (or other things as well) has long been a devotional discipline which serves to bring an even greater awareness of our life in Christ. These are examples of just some of the disciplines people have used in the past and continue to use now. Our reading today speaks of a custom or discipline where Paul has taken a Nazirite vow for reasons that are not given in the text.

The Nazirite vow was taken by those in the Jewish faith as they experienced a time set apart for God. In the book of Judges we find the mother of Samson takes just such a vow for her unborn child. The parameters of this vow are spelled out in the book of Numbers.

Numbers 6:1-6
1And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord,
3he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried.
4All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.
5“All the days of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the Lord, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long.
6“All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he shall not go near a dead body.

Clearly, the purpose for this vow was to have a time that was set apart for God. For Samson, it was supposed to be his entire life. (He did not fair very well in keeping this vow.) The vow had three requirements.
  1. You would not cut your hair.
  2. You would not touch any fermented drink.
  3. You would not come into contact with a dead body (human or animal).
As you can see, none of these actions are particularly strange. But God established this vow, containing these three actions to keep the mind focused on Him. For our reading today we are moved to wonder why Paul who is now a Christian would participate in this very Jewish activity. That’s fairly simple – he is still also a Jew. Just because he recognizes and claims Jesus as his Savior does not mean he leaves behind his heritage. He was clearly stilled interested in participating in those customs that had served to drawn him near to God throughout his life. Since we are not told why he had taken this temporary vow we must assume it was for good and noble reasons.

An examination of our own spiritual lives would probably reveal that we too have customs that draw us unto God. They can be as simple as always praying before meals (both at home and publically) or as all-encompassing as a vow of celibacy. The purpose is always the same; to draw us to God and bring our minds into focus on Him. These practices are helpful and in many ways becoming lost in our culture. But we don’t have to allow that to happen. Paul’s continued attentions to the customs of his heritage remind me to be intentional about my own spiritual practices for they are useful and a gift from God.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The...
Read more

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv...
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl...
Read more