July 16, 2006
“I Now Realize...”
Acts 10:34-45
Dr. Dan Ivins, preaching

Our text is Simon Peter at his best. “I now realize God shows no partiality. But in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Some of the most beautiful words in the Bible! But more importantly, they mark the beginning of a new era in early Christianity. This is the “Gentile Pentecost.” The 1st Pentecost occurred in Jerusalem, for Jews. The 2nd Pentecost occurs in Caesarea and is an even greater event, because this one was for foreigners.

Behind the passage lies a problem. A change was taking place in the way church was done. Predictably, it ruffled the feathers of the “powers that be.” Some Christian leaders were receiving Gentiles as church members in full standing, without paying homage to Judaism. The church was birthed in the midst of a fierce debate. And that’s one change we could do without.

But the energy behind the conflict is understandable. When you’re a member of a group that has a particular identity -- along with prerequisites for membership, you want others to conform; to fit in. But Luke’s great affirmation is -- Gentiles can know God as genuinely as Jews. So. If the gospel isn’t for everybody, its for nobody. This is not to downgrade Judaism or upgrade Christianity. It is to say God meant to unite both Jews and gentiles under one big tent, as surely as “the Parthians, Medes, and Elamites” were united on Pentecost. The Jewish-Christians were shaken when the Spirit of God landed upon Gentiles. They just assumed that to become a Christian, you had to be a Jew first. And nobody was more surprised than Peter when the words “no partiality” fell out of his mouth in Cornelius’ living room.

Cornelius was a God-fearing Gentile, but kept at a distance because he didn’t observe kosher. So his inclusion, was little more than tolerance; since he might slip-up and eat some pork ‘n beans every now and then. It’s hard for us to comprehend how important dietary laws were to the Jews. We’ve been brought up on bacon and sausage most of our lives. And never think twice about combining milk with meat. But just the thought of it makes the orthodox break out in hives.

And if that doesn’t help you understand how important victuals were. Imagine anything you loathe. Or somebody opposed to your political or ethical outlook. For you, that’s the dividing line between Christians and non-Christians. It’s what makes you who you are; a non-negotiable. And you can’t let it slide without losing your religious identity. Whatever it is, the person or thing or philosophy you just love to hate. Now let it go! Because that’s precisely what Peter did. He could do no other.

God gave him an unsettling vision that changed everything he believed about who he was; who’s in and who’s out. I wonder. Can people change that much? Do we really believe God shows no partiality? Well, its not completely true, because God does have faves. He’s partial to sinners. & always takes the side of the poor; the disenfranchised. But this text is dyn-O-mite! Anytime a stubborn guy like Peter --1st to try out his water-wings on the Galilee. First to confess Jesus’ as “the Christ” at Caesarea. The first to deny him. And then, after his ascension, the first to welcome Gentiles into the Church! Even though it was the farthest thing from his mind. But in the “mind of Christ” it was destiny.

Can it still happen today? Apparently not. But here’s how it happened then. According to Luke the story-teller. Peter was napping in Joppa one fine day. Cornelius was in Caesarea a few miles up the sea coast. And God was between them, arranging a vision to bring them together. Cornelius’ dream came first. Luke provides details. An angel showed up at 3 PM and instructed him to send some folks down to a tanner’s house in Joppa, where Peter was. Next day, at noon, Peter went up on the roof to pray. Soon he got hungry and sent for something to eat, just before Cornelius’ contingent arrived.

But while its still cookin,’ Peter had a vision too, in which heaven opened and a large sheet was lowered to the ground. Inside it was every kind of forbidden creature imaginable--everything on the “don’t eat” list in Leviticus; all that he’d been taught to avoid his whole life to that point.

Then Peter heard a voice, with the radical suggestion that salvation is not about our diet but our heart! Imagine that. “Wake up Peter. Kill and eat.” “No way, Lord. I’ve never eaten anything unclean.” So! Its not the menu that matters as much as the relationships. “What God has made clean, you must not call unclean” said the voice. Three times more for emphasis. And the sheet was hauled back into heaven. The point was hard to miss. So when Cornelius’ men appear, shortly after Peter’s dream. And allowed-as-how they also had a vision from God, Peter connected-the-dots. He went back with them to Caesarea where he was met by Cornelius and received into his house, full of relatives and friends. Peter was stunned.

Expecting to meet one Gentile, he found a whole house full! He stutters and stammers, “Now ya’ll know it’s unlawful for a Jew to associate with a Gentile.” They’re waiting for a gospel word from the Lord, and this is all they get? This is the right-hand man of Jesus, Cornelius told us about? And he turns out to be no better than the rest of them. Acting as if he might catch something, just by standing in the same room with them. You know how people can make you feel dirty? Sometimes that’s the best the church can do. “But...” Peter remembers the vision and makes a comeback. To think that the gospel rides on a little conjunction “but.” But it does. “I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.” That’s a pretty big “but,” if you ask me.

Only three letters, but they’re gargantuan. Because it means things can change. People can change. It means we don’t always know everything there is to know. It means God can still teach us something. “I now realize,” said Peter...some of the greatest words in the Bible! “I’ve always been taught we shouldn’t be doing this. But God showed me something I hadn’t seen before. I must not call anyone unclean. So I was sent for and here I am.” “Now what do you want from me?”

How’s that for a powerful witness? The one and only Simon Peter, up in the Galilee, with the “keys to the kingdom” in his pocket. Knocks on their door. They say “Come in.” And he asks them what they want! And Cornelius wasn’t shy. He allowed-as-how they’re eager to hear what God has to say. So Peter shares what he learned in the dream. “I now realize that God shows no partiality. But in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable.” Now that’s a mouthful!

If anybody in Cornelius’ living room breathed for a whole minute after that, they weren’t listening! Peter just opened the Christian Church to those previously assumed to be off limits. But Christianity is not Judaism, which is for Jews only. The Gospel of Christ is for everybody. Peter just said something nobody in the Middle-East would ever authorize him to say.

And he didn’t clear it first with Jerusalem or Washington. He quoted no scripture passage for backup. He just verbalized a fresh revelation from God and that sheet-vision about Jesus Christ being Lord of all. Not some. All ya’ll. And so his church should accept...all. I know it bothers some people that God says all. But it’s there and you’ll have to deal with it.

While he was still speaking the 2nd Pentecost happened. In Caesarea this time, not Jerusalem. People were speaking in tongues and praising God and Peter asks, “Can anyone prevent water for baptism for these who have received the Spirit like we have?” And while there are always those who try to undermine anything new and different, nobody hindered them from being baptized -- because they were in Caesarea. Peter got in big trouble for this. Because you don’t change old ways without a fight in church or anything else. When he got back to Jerusalem, he got jumped-on for crossing the threshold of a Gentile’s house, eating Gentile food, and even baptizing ‘em for God’s sake!

To the unconverted Peter had sold out. He stepped over the dividing line between God’s people and the rest. He broke a non-negotiable law. But Peter learned a hard lesson on Good Friday morning, when his sad eyes met the loving eyes of Jesus in the courtyard.

And on the seashore where he had to confess 3 times that he loved the Lord. He won’t go through that again! So this time, as honestly as he could, Peter told about what happened in Caesarea: How God took one thing away but gave something else in return--an encompassing vision for all creatures, whom nobody better be calling “unclean.”

Nah, Peter hadn’t sold out. He just traded up. And when he saw what God did at Cornelius’ place, he knew it was right. “Who am I that I should hinder God?” And when he said that, everybody got real quiet. To the early church’s credit they wouldn’t give in to the “rapture right.” They just blinked real hard and praised God, and confessed: “Well then. God’s given even to the Gentiles ... the repentance that leads to life!” Like so many biblical passages, this story about how not to hinder God, is both a comfort and a challenge. Something for us and something for others. First, the comfort. Through his Spirit, God makes it possible for US to know him intimately. And to stand freely and fully before him. Historical Baptists call this “the priesthood of all believers.”

And the challenge? We’re to recognize that God pours out His Spirit on OTHERS, who are different from us in the way they live and believe and view the world. Even those we consider bad people. The church calls this “amazing grace.”

But the lesson’s unequivocal: Let no one even hint at trying to put limits on the grace of God. Especially those who see themselves as the gatekeepers, who think its their duty to guard God. Its important and painful to the watchdogs, because we haven’t learned this lesson yet! And the church still struggles with admitting God’s grace is for everybody.

This is a disturbing idea--Jesus is not just ours. He belongs to all or us! Easy to say. Hard to practice. But this story is here to remind us that God sets the limits, not us. For God, the limits are simple: anybody who accepts Christ as savior becomes our faith sister or brother. Which is to say God is inclusive. And the only exclusion is self-exclusion.

And that leaves me with a question I wanta leave with you. Have you ever noticed how much time churches spend, trying to say where and in whom God’s Spirit may or may not blow? When the only thing God wants us to do is to keep up with it wherever it goes. God shows no partiality. Why do we?

Prayer: Doubters, believers, disciples, deceivers...we’re all here Lord, gathered for worship -- celebrating the power of your Spirit to energize the church for its mission. We’re so in love with life and committed to all that enhances life! And yet, we recognize how often the church gets at cross-purposes with your life-affirming intentions.

You just want us to believe. And we keep hassling them about their doubts. You just wanta liberate us from all forms of bondage. And we keep locking them back up by our prejudices. And locking them out because of our orthodoxy. You encourage courageous risk. And we keep playing everything close to the vest. You unnerve us with surprises and we work overtime, establishing routines that make life predictable. Your Spirit goes before us, summoning us forward, while we hesitate to move much at all. Forgive us O God, for trying to narrow-down what you’ve opened-up. Forgive us for failing to pursue all that life can be, those times when we put into practice your unlimited vision for us.

Help us not to fear those who are different. Prod us beyond our closed doors. Give us the courage to reach out to all in need—those who need a church, or a Savior; those in need of healing and a good dose of hope, those who desire forgiveness and renewal, and always, those coming to terms with their losses. You have given us so much. Help us to share it with those who have less.

Remind us in this worship that each of us was once outside the boundaries of the family of faith. And you invited us in. As you have opened the door to us and welcomed us, help us to show the same hospitality we have received to others.

Into the hands of your church you have placed the seeds of the eternal flower. In the power of your Spirit, let us not hold them securely. But take the bold risk of scattering them abroad. For its through the faithful planting of the seeds of the gospel of grace that your kingdom grows. And through dying and rising shall your people live.

Be our bridge over troubled waters. And the lighthouse that guides our steps. Be ahead of us, and among us and underneath us till our journey’s end. In the name of your Son Jesus, and in the power of your life-giving Spirit, we offer this and all our prayers. Amen.