What God Has Made Clean: God Went First

Focus Statement

To follow Christ faithfully,

we must be willing to let the Spirit lead us

beyond the lines we thought were holy.

Point of Relation

In 1967, the Supreme Court ruled that laws banning interracial marriage were unconstitutional.

The case was called Loving v. Virginia.

A Black woman and a white man—Mildred and Richard Loving—

had broken the law by loving each other.

Their marriage crossed a boundary others had decided was sacred.

And for generations, people had used Scripture to defend those laws.

But the court decided something deeper: that love, not fear, must lead.

Things to Consider

To the earliest Christians, purity laws weren’t optional—

they were core to faithfulness. So when Peter sat at a Gentile’s table,

it wasn’t bold; it was scandalous.

And when Paul preached grace that tore down those boundaries,

some thought he’d lost the plot—

too soft, too radical. Too… woke,

we might say now.

But maybe the Spirit was just getting started.

What Scripture Says

Peter stood before critics—

faithful, devout, law-keeping believers—

who couldn’t understand what he’d done.

He had crossed a boundary.

Sat at a Gentile’s table.

Ate their food.

Prayed in their home.

Baptized their household.

And they wanted answers.

But Peter didn’t argue. He told the story.

He told them about a vision—

of animals considered unclean.

He told them about a voice from heaven saying,

“Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

He told them about the Spirit falling not just on “us,” but on “them.”

And he ended with the only question that mattered:

“Who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

It wasn’t a defense.

It was a confession of awe.

Because Peter realized what we all eventually must:

God doesn’t wait for permission. God goes first.

Pause

And sometimes grace moves faster than tradition knows what to do with.

In Revelation, John sees the end of all things—

and what he sees isn’t fear or division.

It’s a new heaven. A new earth.

A new city with no locked gates.

And at the center of it all:

God dwelling with people. All people.

This is where the Spirit leads us.

And this is the story we’re still learning how to tell.

What This Means for You

Maybe you’ve had a moment like Peter.

A moment when God did something unexpected—

something that didn’t fit your categories or comfort.

Maybe the Spirit nudged you toward someone you were taught to avoid.

Maybe a line you thought was permanent started to blur.

If so, you're not alone. God still goes first.

And when grace moves ahead of us, our calling is simple: follow.

What This Means for Us

As a church, we’re called to move with the Spirit—

not ahead of it, not behind it.

That means listening closely,

telling the truth about what we’ve seen,

and refusing to call unclean what God has made clean.

This week, we’re not here to draw lines.

We’re here to recognize where God has already crossed them.

And our task, as always, is to follow. Amen? Amen.

Written by Rev. Todd R. Lattig with the assistance of ChatGPT (OpenAI).