Radically Loved

Last week Sharon preached on the Great Commission where we heard that the apostles are to go out into the whole world, baptize people, and teach them everything that Jesus had commanded them. Then as we turn to our text this week we have that very thing happening. It is a beautiful connection between these two stories, but as we see there are some issues that arise at the onset of our story.

Despite the fact that Acts tells us that Cornelius and his household were pious God worshippers, we have to really pay attention to the fact that he is a Roman citizen in the Roman army from Italy; the core of the Roman Empire. Also 99.9% of all people so far in the book of Acts that have come to faith in Jesus Christ have all been Jewish people. They may have been from around the ‘whole world’ as Jesus had commanded, but they were still Jewish. This concept of converting a Gentile must have been very perplexing to Peter. Gentiles and Jewish people didn’t often intermingle partly because of the whole occupation thing, but a very devout and pious Jew would consider a Gentile unclean and would not want to engage with, let alone enter their house. On top of that Peter has no idea what the meaning of the animals on the sheet from heaven means until much later. He has to live in this state of bewilderment from the time he has the vision until he meets Cornelius and everyone in his household.

Peter thinks his vision is about eating animals that were forbidden in the Levitical laws and what that might mean for him, and then suddenly he’s confronted with Gentile visitors telling him he has to travel with them to visit their master. If it was me, I would want more than a few minutes to sit down and just process everything that is happening, and he doesn’t get that because the Spirit of the Lord tells him to get up an go with them. We don’t actually get that in our text but it is one of the very next verses that we happen to skip. Not only that, but the Spirit even goes so far as to tell him that he can’t even ask questions about what’s going on. I would have SO many questions right now. He has to go to the house of this Gentile Roman soldier who’s job is to enforce the occupation on the Israelite people.

Who are the people that in our own lives that we consider unclean or impure? Who are the people that we have placed in our own boxes so that we can avoid them becuase they don’t agree with our views, or they don’t act the way that we think people should act. Or they have a lifestyle that we don’t agree with because we grew up in a different generation than they did? Or do we still stumble with race, ethnicity, or gender issues? These conversations and struggles that we have are different than what Peter is dealing with and at the same time they are exactly the same. We still continue to compartmentalize people based on who they are, where they came from, or what they look like. Wait you don’t eat meat? Or, you don’t drink coffee? As if those kinds of things define who a person is and what worth they have.

Perhaps some of those same thoughts were going on in Peter’s mind, but the voice of the Spirit wins the day and Peter goes with them despite any and all of the hesitations and preconceived notions he may have about these Gentiles. In fact, another part of the reading we skip over Peter does say that it’s forbidden for a Jewish person to associate with or visit with outsiders. But the very next sentence he connects his vision with what God has called him to do. He realizes that what God has shown him and us that we as people should never call a person impure or unclean.

Then, when we pick up in our reading today we see that Peter is in the process of learning that God shows no partiality to one group or another. This may, on the surface, seem obvious and ordinary, but for Peter it was a profound statement. In fact I love the wording of the translation which tells us that Peter is still learning this. Which also means that he is unlearning his lifetime of understanding that God did show partiality. It means that we are all working, in our own ways, that we too, should not declare on God’s behalf that certain people are impure or unclean. God loves all people and welcomes all into the family of God. God does not show partiality. In other words we need to unlearn our own prejudices and preconceived notions about people and understand that at then end of the day they are loved by God.

This was all God’s decision, this was all God’s acting. God spoke to Cornelius, God spoke to Peter, God brought the two of them together. God helped them understand that despite every single difference they have in their lives, they are the same because they are all children of God. God did this. It wasn’t Peter’s decision or declaration. Peter was learning along the way that this is what God wanted.

If that wasn’t enough proof that God was the one who orchestrated this radical understanding of who is a part of the kingdom of heaven, God then sends the Holy Spirit onto the household while Peter is still speaking. Peter hasn’t finished yet. Peter hasn’t given them a quiz to make sure they understand, he hasn’t forced them to profess a creed or recite passages from scripture. It’s not until after they receive the Spirit that Peter then realizes there’s no reason not to baptize them. That comes after! There is no thing Peter is doing when God then sends the Holy Spirit to be in and among these outsiders as Peter refers to them. The Spirit they receive is NO different that the one the Apostles received at Pentecost. It isn’t a different Holy Spirit, it isn’t a lesser Holy Spirit. It isn’t a figment of the Gentiles imagination trying to pull a fast one on Peter and the other believers that came with him. It is the same Spirit that Peter has, it’s the same Spirit that Martin Luther has, it’s the same Spirit that you and I have. There is no distinction in God’s eyes or mind, we are all the same and all are worthy of being called children of God.

This is God’s radical inclusion of people into the family of God. While some may say that this is a specific example of Peter welcoming these Gentile outsiders, I say that this is God’s radical inclusion of all people regardless of what label we may put on them. We should not put stumbling or road blocks in the way, when God has clearly smashed them all out of the way and made the path easy and obvious. God loves the world and welcomes all people to experience that love, and invites us to put aside whatever may stop us from sharing this radical love for each and every person in this world. Who knows, had God not done this, who of us might not be here today? Know that you are loved radically by a God who includes all of us in God’s family, and invites us to welcome others to this family also. We’ve been radically loved, so let’s radically love this world each and every day. Amen.