Bigger Than We Think

Intro

Acts 10:9–48 ESV

The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven. Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood at the gate and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.” And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?” And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.” So he invited them in to be his guests. The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.” And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. 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. So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.” And Cornelius said, “Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’ So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.” So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

Addressing Our Bias

Peter had a bias against the “unclean.”

Good reason.

Jewish Law.

The reason for the Law.

To be set apart.

This bias initially led him to resist the idea of the movement of God among the Gentiles.

External over internal.

We all carry our own biases.

What we were taught.

What we have caught.

Our own experiences.

What I DON’T mean.

The idea of “everyone is racist” that some have proclaimed.

If you don’t think this way you are a bigot! (or fill in whatever “phobic” word fits the situation)

What I DO mean.

We all have feelings about lots of things.

Those feelings bias us toward somethings and away from others.

When someone you love has a conflict you tend to take their side. You are biased toward them.

In its most basic form, bias is a preference. At its worst, bias leads to genocide.

A bias that is not based upon good reason is outright sinful. Bias based upon good reason still cannot get in the way of the Gospel.

We should still live set apart.

When we aren’t careful, living set apart turns into sinful bias.

The Heart of God

God’s heart was for the inclusion of the “unclean.”

Sometimes the heart of God is bigger than our minds can handle.

What God DID DO in including the Gentiles.

Fulfilled his initial plan.

The law was fulfilled, and those restrictions were for his people pre-Christ, now that Christ fulfilled the law, the command is to reach those people.

What God DID NOT DO.

He did not change his mind.

He said don’t call unclean what I have made clean.

This explains that what God was doing was more than simply

The difference between us and Peter.

This is not an invitation to rewrite Scripture via vision.

This is the fulfillment of the plan of God from the beginning.

The progression from one nation as God’s set apart people among the nations, to through that nation, drawing all peoples to himself in Christ.

What this WILL look like.

God changing out heart on things we are wrong about.

What this WILL NOT look like.

God telling us things that contradict what he has said.

The evidence that Peter gave was the presence of the Spirit among them just as it had been on the Apostles.

This was not a changing of what God was doing, but an expansion of their understanding.

The evidence today is always the same.

Confession of Christ as Lord.

The presence of the Holy Spirit.

A changed and changing life.

The Movement of God

If we look forward into chapter 11, the first thing that happened, was that the circumcision party criticized Peter for eating with those who were unclean.

Peter explained all that God had done.

When they heard what God had done, they fell silent. They glorified God, saying “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

When God moves among people, we should celebrate what he is doing, not fear it.

This will be difficult at times.

It will challenge our understanding.

It will push us outside of our comfort zone.

It will make us have to change in pursuit of the will of God.

But when we are faithful, we will see the movement of God in ways we never imagined.

They didn’t realize that what Christ did was going worldwide (even though he told them).

In this God is fulfilling his promise to Abraham in Genesis 22, after he had gone up to sacrifice Isaac in obedience to the Lord, but the Lord provided the sacrifice.

Genesis 22:15–18 ESV

And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

God fulfilled this promise. Jesus, in human terms, the “offspring” and descendant of Abraham, though as Jesus said in John 8:58

John 8:58 ESV

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

Jesus was the fulfillment of this through whom all nations would be blessed.

This comes at the very same instant that God declares what he is going to do.

Have you ever seen one of those movies with a twist that is then expressed to have been shown throughout the movie? That is what God did.

He said that Abraham was blessed because he did not withhold his only son. The very thing that we would do for our redemption.

A Final Example:

Common Bias WWII vets

Unbroken - The story of Louis Zamperini

Troubled kid from a Christian home.

Got in trouble with the law.

Encouraged by his brother Pete to take up running so as not to get in trouble.

Was very good. Placed 8th in the 1936 Berlin Olympics in the 5,000 meter race.

He was training to be the first person to run a sub 4-minute mile.

World War II begins. He enlists in the air force.

On one mission his plane is shot more than 500 times, but they are able to safely crash land it, with one casualty.

The next mission in a new plane, there are mechanical issues and they crash in the ocean, killing eight of the 11 on board.

For 46 days the men wander in the sea. One of the men doesn’t make it.

Louis is then tortured brutally as a POW.

Being forced to race against Japanese runners.

Beat brutally one time that he won.

Being forced

Most of this was overseen by a man referred to as “The Bird.” He was especially cruel to Louis and the others.

He promised to God that if he got him through this, he would follow him.

This misery went on for 2 long years.

When the war ends, Louis and the others are rescued. He kisses the ground when returning to the US.

He marries soon after returning to US.

Louis begins to struggle.

Deals with PTSD.

Doesn’t have a career

Louis is unable to return to running due to injuries sustained as a POW.

He becomes an alcoholic, and his wife considers divorce.

She convinces him to attend a Billy Graham Crusade. He said, “Fine, but I leave at the invitation.”

But he went back a second night.

This time the Lord got a hold of him. In his own words:

“I dropped to my knees and for the first time in my life truly humbled myself before the Lord. I asked him to forgive me for not having kept the promises I’d made during the war, and for my sinful life. I made no excuses. I did not rationalize, I did not blame. He had said, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,” so I took him at his word, begged for his pardon, and asked Jesus to come into my life.”

From this moment on, Louis began to truly follow Christ. He forgave all of those who had tortured him while imprisoned.

But not just in his heart, he traveled to Japan in 1952, and spoke to those who had tortured him… With one notable exception. The Bird. He was told that he was no longer living.

Years later when returning in 1998 for the Olympics, he tried to meet with him after learning that he was alive. The Bird refused.

Louis wrote this letter to him:

To Mutsuhiro Watanabe,

As a result of my prisoner war experience under your unwarranted and unreasonable punishment, my post-war life became a nightmare. It was not so much due to the pain and suffering as it was the tension of stress and humiliation that caused me to hate with a vengeance.

Under your discipline, my rights, not only as a prisoner of war but also as a human being, were stripped from me. It was a struggle to maintain enough dignity and hope to live until the war’s end.

The post-war nightmares caused my life to crumble, but thanks to a confrontation with God through the evangelist Billy Graham, I committed my life to Christ. Love has replaced the hate I had for you. Christ said, “Forgive your enemies and pray for them.”

As you probably know, I returned to Japan in 1952 and was graciously allowed to address all the Japanese war criminals at Sugamo Prison… I asked then about you, and was told that you probably had committed Hara Kiri, which I was sad to hear. At that moment, like the others, I also forgave you and now would hope that you would also become a Christian.