Food for Thought

If you pay attention to the news you might have heard about a bomb left over from WW II that unexpectedly exploded over in England just a few days ago. The military was using a new technique to slowly diffuse the bomb by causing the gases to do what is called a slow burn that is release slowly over time rather than rapidly, but something went wrong, causing it to send smoke and fire and debris way into the air. Fortunately no one was near when it exploded and no casualties were recorded.

And so we see from our text that this is a volitle time. The issue.. Gentiles being full recipients of the Kingdom of God through the preaching of the Gospels, and their reception into the body of Christ that is the church has been slowly burning in the background, and is about ready to explode into all of the world.

Peter is the instrument of choice that the Lord will use to get things going, and Paul will carry the torch deep into the un-reached parts of the earth. The catalyst that ignites it all is food.

GOD IS BREAKING DOWN ALL SOCIAL BARRIERS TO THE GOSPEL

TURN TO:

Ephesians 2:11–22 ESV

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Israel in the Old Testament was meant to be a light to the nations. They were to be distinct and separate. God had chosen Abraham out of the nations. He chose Israel to be His people.

Deuteronomy 14:2 ESV

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

Israel in the Old Testament was meant to be a light to the nations. We must remember that though Israel was the people of God, it was always the plan to save the nations. What we find in acts was not a change of plans or charting a different course but the slow unveiling and revealing of all that God had promised to Abraham. That the nations of the world would be blessed through him.

Matthew 8:11 ESV

I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,

From the beginning there was always concession made to the foreigner that those outside could be saved. They were called different terms God fearers and proselytes. The difference is that God fearers were those who worship and revered the God of Israel but could not participate in temple worship because they did not receive the sign of circumcision and observe dietary laws and restriction. Proselytes are those who adopted such practices.

CORNELIUS

Look at Cornelius, the text indicates that he and others like him were not circumcised. They loved the God of Israel and worshipped Him but did not follow the external rites of their religion namely the right of circumcision and the dietary restrictions.

Look at Cornelius, the text indicates that he and others like him were not circumcised. They loved the God of Israel and worshipped Him but did not follow the external rites of their religion namely the right of circumcision and the dietary restrictions.

Leviticus 11 spells out these restrictions in detail. Infact on of things that we left off with in chapter 9 was that Peter was staying at Simon the Tanners house, whose occupation itself would have made him unclean and unfit for much of the temple worship.

FOOD MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE - well at least in part

For Israel these distinctions were important. They were designed to keep them pure and distinct from the surrounding nations. Food is at the center of every culture, gatherings and fellowship and social interaction almost always revolves around food. If you have ever felt the awkwardness around a table to eat in the presence of another person is a very intimate thing at times. We do not eat with our enemies we eat with friends.

When we were first dating Mindy and I wanted to get to know one another better and so we went out to eat together. I remember one of our first dates, that one of us had some food stuck in our teeth. We both remember it differently I though it was her she thought it was me.

God gave the Israelites certain ceremonial laws concerning food that was clean and unclean. All of those laws in the Exodus and Leviticus were not just random do’s and don’ts. they were not meant to bore every us every time we read through them, but were to distinguish them and separate them from the nations. They were not to intermarry, they were not to mingle, they were not to gather in homes and eat meals together. Israel was to remain pure and to separate herself from the nations and their idols.

BUT NOW GOD IS DOING AWAY WITH THESE

Mark 7:14–19 ESV

And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

TRANSITIONING FROM FOOD TO FOREIGNER

If this food is for thought then we must eventually move past it to the real issue. It wasn't about food it was about the acceptance of unclean and and common people into the family of God. Later in in chapter 11 we read about the party of the circumcision, those who though that the gentiles had to be circumcised and observe the ceremonial food laws. It was a powerful tradition, even Peter need special revelation and even at that God has to repeat it three times. This was obviously a struggle for Peter as he says

Acts 10:28 ESV

And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.

WHAT IS IT THAT SEPARATES US TODAY?

Not the clothes that we wear, not the foods that we eat, not the language that we speak, but the manner of our conduct. The believer is called be different in that we are to clothe ourselves in modesty, we are to give thanks for whatever foods we eat, and we are to be in fellowship with the body of Christ, and we are to spend our money and resources differently to honor the Lord with them, we are to speak not a different dialect or language but the content of our speech must be radically different. So it is not so much the external outward signs. If a believer and non believer stood side by side in a line up you might not be able to distinguish between the two, however as the days draw more and more evil the distinctions are rightly so becoming more apparent. My point is this , it is not the external ritual that makes us different, but that we have been given a radically new and different nature all together.

1 Peter 2:9–11 ESV

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

The visions of these two men are part of the same story. God is calling this God-fearer and Peter as the catalyst that will ignite the wild fire and convert the nations.

WHAT ARE THE BARRIERS THAT NEED TORN DOWN IN ORDER FOR US TO REACH OTHERS WITH THE GOSPEL?

Just like the Israelites were tempted to look at their Jewish practices and customs and think that those things became distinguishing marks of their Jewish. He came not to do away with the law in itself, that is Christ fulfilled the law in its entirety, but to do away with the ritual of the the law the ceremonial aspect of the law.

All of this is not racism but tribalism. Marriage is an adjustment. One of the worst things you could say to your wife especially in regards t her cooking is It ain’t like mama fixes it. We do this so often do we not, we say you have to look like me. If you want to be in my club you have to dress like me, talk like me, walk like me. You don’t do it like me.

God was and still is bringing two groups and making them one. Giving them not their former identity but a new one. One of the problems that a country faces especially like ours is when foreigners do come in and do not assimilate to the new culture but keep their own. It creates not unity but disunity, it creates pockets of people. We need to tear down walls and break down barriers.

Safe spaces, Critical race theory, BLM. Systems divide, they put people into categories and do exactly what the OT dietary laws did. It perpetuates the problem. Do you know how we are going to fix problems of race in our country? Not through institutions or laws. Do you know how we are going to win others to Christ who are different than we are?

One meal at a time. Whats on the menu?

Crab soup, any type of sea food. If you live south or west away from the water then pork barbecue. We lived in Kansas City, Missouri, for 10 years before coming here. Let me tell you folks around here don’t know what barbecue is. But thats ok I wont hold it against you. I might even share some with you if you come over.

MOTHER IN LAW

It was never about the sacrifices themselves.

Next week we are going to focus on the result and STANDING IN THE WAY OF GOD focus on vs 47.