As we move through the Christian
season that comes after Easter, we have heard some of the events that occurred
in the life of Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples who became a leader in the early
Christian church. Last week, we heard the story of Peter’s visit to Joppa where
he was led by God’s Holy Spirit to help Tabitha be restored to life. This week,
we turn to another event that happened while Peter was in Joppa. He had a
vision that led to Gentiles—non-Jewish people-- becoming fully welcomed to
become part of the Christian church. Hear the story as it is written in the
Acts of the Apostles, chapter 11, verse 1 through 18:
Scripture Reading Acts
11:1-18
The apostles
and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received
the word of God.
So when Peter
went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him
and said, “You
went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
Starting from
the beginning, Peter told them the whole story:
“I was in the
city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something
like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came
down to where I was.
I looked into
it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and
birds.
Then I heard a
voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’
“I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure
or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
“The voice spoke from heaven a second
time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’
This happened
three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.
“Right then
three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where
I was staying.
The Spirit
told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six
brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house.
He told us how
he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon
who is called Peter.
He will bring
you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’
“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came
on them as he had come on us at the beginning.
Then I
remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you
will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
So if God gave
them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ,
who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”
When they
heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then,
even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Here ends this reading of the word of God
for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Prayer for Understanding
O Lord our God, your Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Give us grace to receive your truth in faith and love, that we may be obedient to your will and live always for your glory; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
The elementary
school I attended was a Magnet school focused on international studies. Each
child had daily classes in a foreign language; I took German. We had special
events focused on learning about other countries, had regular classroom
visitors who taught about their country of origin, and learned songs and games
played by children in other lands. One particularly enjoyable event we had was
an “international taste test.” The students gathered in our cafeteria the
serving table was spread with unusual foods from other nations for us to try.
We sampled octopus and sushi and German chocolate and empanadas. Some of the
foods were considered particularly odd, but we were encouraged to try new
things.
This morning, our focus is the
life-changing vision Peter had which encouraged him to try new things. Faithful
Jewish people have food traditions and prohibitions that are thousands of years
old. In the Old Testament, we can read the many rules and requirements that
Jewish believers are to keep: no pork; only eat land animals who eat grass and
have cloven hooves; seafood must have fins and scales, so no shellfish; you
can’t eat birds of prey; meat and dairy cannot be eaten together; meat must be
slaughtered in a precise way with its throat cut and the blood drained out.
Jesus and his Disciples were devout
Jews. The followed the laws of the Torah, including the dietary restrictions.
The kept Kosher.
When Jesus was travelling throughout
Israel, doing his work of teaching, and preaching, and healing, he did have
several encounters with non-Jewish people. He healed the Syro-phoenician
woman’s ill daughter and the servant of a Roman Centurion. Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman at the
well and forgave her sins. Jesus’ miracles and teachings were not exclusively
for Jewish people.
But, initially, the Christian
movement did not see itself as separate from Judaism. The apostles and
evangelists of Christianity saw themselves as proclaiming a Judaism with
corrections or reforms. The first Christians considered their movement as being
a movement within Judaism. They didn’t see their mission as an opportunity for
non-Jewish Gentiles to become believers in God and Jesus.
But then, Peter had a vision. A
strange vision.
Peter saw a sheet drifting down from
heaven. The sheet had non-kosher animals on it: imagine lions, snakes, frogs,
pigs, and eagles…all animals Jewish people were not allowed to eat according to
the laws of the Torah. The voice from Heaven told Peter to eat these odd
animals. Peter protested and was told he was wrong, God wanted him to change
his diet and eat prohibited foods.
Then a group of men from Caesarea
came to the house where Peter was staying and asked him to go with them. The
men were sent to get Peter by Cornelius, a Roman centurion from the Italian
Regiment. Peter went to Caesarea to Cornelius’ home, where a crowd was
gathered. Peter told the crowd about Jesus and told them that God had given
Peter a vision commanding that he should not consider any people unclean,
including non-Jewish people like those gathered in Cornelius’s home. While
Peter was speaking, the Holy Spirit of God came on all the people in the room.
After the Holy Spirit came, Peter baptized the people with water in the name of
Jesus Christ.
So, God commanded the Christians a
new practice – we are to welcome and accept non-Jewish people into the Christian
faith. Christianity is for everyone.
Even in the 21st Century,
we are susceptible of thinking of our faith as an us-against-them proposition. The
United States has hundreds of different types of churches, churches that were
formed by people who believed they had figured out the “right” way to practice Christianity
and everyone else had it wrong. We don’t always do a good job of welcoming
people who are different than us – people of other ethnic backgrounds, people
of other economic backgrounds, people of other sexual orientations, people who
vote differently than we do, people who want to follow different Covid-precautions
than we want to follow. We don’t always do a good job of welcoming people who
interpret scripture different than we do or practice Christianity differently
than we do – I heard a podcast this week that talked about Christians who
absolutely don’t believe women should be pastors – I have problems accepting
different theological perspectives too.
Our work as Christians is to welcome
and to accept people who are different. None of us have the exclusively correct
interpretation of the scriptures. None of us know exactly the right way to
practice Chrsitianity. None of us have it all figured out. But, we do know that
this faith is for all people: young and old, rich and poor, white and African American,
straight and LBGTQ, healthy and not. All people are welcomed to follow God, to
believe in Jesus and to accept the Holy Spirit into their hearts. And, our work
as people of faith is to share our faith with others. Our work is to be invitational,
to share with others why we believe what we believe and to welcome them to
accept Jesus into their hearts. Let us work to be welcoming and to be
invitational, today and all days.
Amen.
