Acts 11:1-18 Commentary

Illustration/Worship Idea:

To start the sermon this week, consider making a big announcement that, effective immediately, all of people’s beloved traditions and favorite programs are canceled. Worship, Music, small groups, Sunday school, service projects.  Every church has their own canon of beloved things.  Name them and announce you are canceling them. That’s not how we worship God anymore.  Then pause and check in, something like:

Okay, so how are we feeling? The leadership chairperson is probably trying to figure out how to tackle me out of the pulpit right about now. Have I made everyone a little bit uncomfortable and unhappy? I did try to make sure I covered all of my bases. And y’all are sitting there thinking, “We’re doing what now? Can she do that?”

The answer is no. No, I can’t just do that. So, I’m kidding. Definitely kidding. None of what I just said was true. BUT I want you to hold on to how you felt when I made those “announcements.”

For most of us, our identity as Christ-followers is wrapped up in at least one of those activities. Without those things, we don’t know how to follow God in the world.

Commentary:

“So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him and said, ‘You went into the house of the uncircumcised and ate with them.’”

They might also have said, “You betrayed your identity. You did not remain set-apart. You broke our food laws. Without that, we don’t know how to be followers of God in the world. And you baptized Gentiles without first properly teaching them to be observant Jews. You baptized them without first circumcising them? You did what now? Can you do that?”

But the Gospel isn’t about one apostle going rogue, doing his own thing. It’s not about one leader thinking he’s got all the answers, he’s enlightened and progressive and liberal and he can do what he likes. The fact is that Peter still shows up in Jerusalem to give an account. Because what has happened in the story of Cornelius has deep reverberations throughout the life of the whole church. That’s why Luke tells the story three times!

“If Gentiles don’t have to become Jewish in order to become Christian, then what about all those things I’ve done my whole life that help me know God’s presence? What about all the ways I have worshipped, that my faith has grown and developed over the years? Are you saying that none of that matters anymore? Because, I’ll tell you, it matters a whole lot to me!

It can be difficult for us to appreciate just how disorienting all of this was for the early church. Asking questions like:

How do we know this is from God? But it makes me uncomfortable. I don’t know how to define my identity anymore.

And what is the bottom line? It used to be, the bottom line was about becoming Jewish. About being circumcised, part of this particular and unique group of people, following their rules, customs, rituals and traditions.

What if God is doing a new thing? This morning’s text teaches us that it wouldn’t be new for God to be doing a new thing. The United Church of Christ has a slogan: “God is still speaking.” I like that a lot. God is still speaking. But is God changing His mind? And how do I know that what I’m hoping is God’s new thing isn’t just a baptism of my own desires, of what would be nice or easy. Of what would make us “successful” or culturally-sensitive or seeker-friendly?

The believers in Jerusalem listen to Peter’s story. A familiar story for us at this point. About the sheet lowered from heaven and the mish-mash of animals. The voice from heaven commanding Peter: “Kill and eat.” And Peter’s insistence that he is Jewish and that is just not how he rolls. But then he hears: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” And he hears this three times. ‘Cuz it takes awhile for truth to sink in. Kind of like how Luke record the story 3 times.

So he goes to Cornelius’ house – “and these 6 guys went with me.” And he hears how God has been leading Cornelius’ too.  So that, when the Holy Spirit comes upon those uncircumcised Gentiles, Peter concludes: “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?”

And the believers in Jerusalem chime in, “So then, even to Gentiles, God has granted repentance that leads to life.” Repentance. New life. Faith in Jesus Christ.  That’s the bottom line.  And it isn’t new.  It is, pardon the expression, as old as sin itself.  It is the story of the Old Testament over and over and over again.  Noah, Abraham, Moses & the people wandering in the wilderness. It is the day of atonement and the heart of every priestly ritual. It is they cycle of the people sitting under the rule of Judges.  It is the cry of the prophets over and over again:

What is the bottom line? Repentance. New life. Faith in Jesus Christ. It isn’t new. Yet, just because it echoes through their history, don’t expect that it will come easy for the early church. The rest of the book of Acts AND most of the epistles center on the church trying to figure out how this is going to work.  Jews and Gentiles together.

When the church concludes, “So then, even to Gentiles, God has granted repentance that leads to life,” there is a Greek word used that has no English equivalent. It is the word “hara.” It’s a word intended to communicate anxiety, impatience or coming to an uncertain conclusion. It is the verbal equivalent of shrugging your shoulders and lifting upturned hands. We’re not exactly sure where to go from here but we’re pretty sure that the Gentiles have repentance, new life and faith in Jesus Christ. It is the kindness of God, the gracious gift of God that accomplishes faith so we guess we’d better go with it.

God’s redemption may reach farther than what makes us comfortable.  There is room for variety and variation in the outworking of this salvation and discipleship.  And many of the customs, practices and traditions that have been so integral to our faith development may not be absolutes. As a community of faith, can we ask these questions of God:

Where are you bringing repentance and new life?

Where is conversion and faith in Jesus Christ blossoming?

God, what are you up to in the world?

Also, God, what are you up to in me?

You are doing what now?