Imagine a potluck meal with no pork! Acts 10:15

Original Illustration from Treasures of the Bible by Henry David Northrop, 1894

I really like barbecue, so I'm thankful that we've figured out the message of this passage as far as food regulations go. I wonder, however, if we've actually figured out how to apply the people side of the equation in our context today.

Of course we know- at least intellectually- that the gospel is for all. I doubt there are any serious students of the Bible who would honestly try to argue anything other than that. But do we believe it?

And by "believe," what I really mean is do we trust that truth?

The funny thing about this story with Peter is that it was not the first time he had been told that the gospel was intended to go to all the world and not just to the Jews. Consider these very familiar words from Jesus:

"...Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Mt. 28:19-20. Emph. mine)

But Peter was a Jew. And as a Jew he had been taught his entire life that he could not associate with anyone who was not a Jew. In fact, he had likely been taught that he could not even associate with a Jew by birth who was not a Jew in practice. He had also heard Jesus say other words during his ministry.

"These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. ⁶ Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel." (Mt. 10:5-6)

and to the Canaanite woman begging for help, Jesus said,

“I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” (Mt. 15:24)

Was it any wonder, then, that Peter had some significant learning to do before he was able to understand that God is no respecter of persons? But when God wants to get a message across about who is and who is not welcome in His kingdom, He knows how to get it done. And therefore as the men sent from the gentile Cornelius are on their way to the house where Peter is staying, Peter is given a vision of unclean animals let down from heaven on a sheet and is commanded to kill and eat. Of course, Peter as a good Jew refuses because he has never eaten anything unclean. But he is reprimanded by the words in verse 15 above. In fact, this same conversation happens three times and just after the third command to not call call impure what God had made clean, the servants of Cornelius knock on the door. I love Peter's response.

First, he invites them into the house, which already would have been a violation of his Jewish upbringing. But he would violate anything that His Lord commanded Him to do because He was convinced that Jesus was Lord and therefore had a better understanding of scripture than Peter. And if the Spirit of the Christ commanded him to view the Old Testament Law differently, then he would obey.

Second, he goes with the men to Cornelius house the next day. You can still hear the hesitation and the uncertainty in Peter's voice even as he is obeying the Spirit's guidance. When he gets to Cornelius' house and finds the group there waiting for him, he says,

“You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. ²⁹ So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?” (Acts 10:28-29)

Once Cornelius explains his side of the story of God's working in his home, Peter is finally able to release his inhibitions about viewing people differently- about viewing them as now understands God does.

Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism ³⁵ but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. (Acts 10:34-35)

 And from there, he preaches to them about Jesus.

Here is my point. Yes we know that the gospel is for all. But do we trust it? Do we respond- to the addicts and the troubled teens, to the unwed mothers of children, to the alcoholics and the crooked politicians, to the continual and persistent "benevolence cases," indeed to the members of a different denomination!- do we respond to them as if they are truly capable of being reached by God's grace in the same way that we have!?

Or do we sparingly offer a word of scripture without offering an investment of our hearts? Do we offer an invitation "to church" without offering an invitation into our lives when we are the church? Are we content to let "those people" be someone else's project who is more able to relate to "them" or are we actually willing to "let" them be our brothers and our sisters?

What would our churches across America look like if we were all able to "realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right"? How much more diverse would our pews be if once we have been shown that we "should not call anyone impure or unclean" we would follow Peter's example in going to people "without raising any objection" about the unlikelihood of their conversion or the lack of safety in the neighborhood or the dangers of "bad company corrupting good morals."

After all, just think about this. Had God not opened the door so convincingly to the Gentiles, the odds are that you would never have known God's grace as you do today. You, your parents, your children, and your children's children would all still be lost and doomed to die. That is...assuming you are not a Jew. But God did open the way for us into the kingdom of heaven. Will we shut it for someone else because we have now become comfortable as God's chosen people and view the rest of the world as "dogs" just as the Jews did of the gentiles?

I'm not saying it would be easy. Most of us have been raised our entire lives to be slightly wary of anyone different from us. Many of us have even been taught that being in association with "unclean" people will eventually make us unclean ourselves. Just think back to your teenage days and how many lectures you heard about being careful how you pick your friends. I pray that God will give us a vision. Maybe it won't be Peter's vision of a sheet full of pigs and birds and whatever else. But I pray that He will give us a vision. A vision of the greatness of God's grace and the fields that are white unto harvest. And I pray that we will finally respond to it without raising any more objections.

May we readily and joyfully accept the implication of this passage about the gospel being the power of God to salvation for all people just as readily and joyfully as we accept the implication of this passage to fill our plates with bbq!