Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction.”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, May 25, 2025
by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: The saving work of Christ is already done. We can set our sights on doing our best and moving through the world unafraid of failing or getting it wrong.
Paul started his rant by admitting he had been one of the early church’s worst and most violent persecutors. But after God revealed Jesus to him, everything changed. He became one of the most vocal and effective proclaimers of Jesus’ word.
When he saw Peter struggling to claim his own early Christian identity, he could not hold back. Peter had at one time eaten with the Gentiles, believing that God had abolished food as a means of separating people. But when some Pharisees following James pushed back, Peter backed down and once again ate like a Jew. Paul called him out for his hypocrisy, proclaiming that Jesus’ followers were saved, not by what they ate or said or did, but because of the abundant grace of God.
Being Christian can be hard, in that we are constantly challenged to do better and be better. But it can also seem sometimes that the goal posts are moving. Peter had been pushed and pulled by Gentiles, Jews, followers of Christ, Pharisees, and even his own vision of what was right and wrong. Paul, too, had been challenged to rethink everything he thought he knew about what was right and wrong.
When we are faced with similar challenges to determine right from wrong amid a constantly moving goal post, we can take a cue from Paul, who anchored his post in the work of Jesus. It is because of Jesus’ sacrifice that our salvation does not rest upon how well we follow God’s law. So, we can continue to try, fail, try again, succeed, find the goal has moved, and keep moving forward. We can do so for our own sake, and for the sake of the people that have been placed in our path. It is never too late to make a change, and we need not fear doing things differently. Salvation is already ours. Our work is to figure out how to navigate this world, loving, accepting, and uplifting those whose lives we are blessed to encounter.
