Freedom to Love

Acts 11:1-18, NRSVue

1 Now the apostles and the brothers and sisters who were in Judea heard that the gentiles had also accepted the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, 3 saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” 4 Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners, and it came close to me. 6 As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7 I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8 But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But a second time the voice answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ 10 This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. 11 At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. 12 The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; 14 he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.’ 15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” 18 When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, “Then God has given even to the gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”

Intro

This morning, we continue our worship series, The Cup of Freedom. Throughout the Easter Season, we will explore how the resurrection of our Lord calls us to respond by moving into a culture of freedom as the cross liberates us. This Easter season, we will explore how we are freed to step into Christ’s resurrection and live as resurrection people. We will dive deeper into how we accept the freedom and power God gives us to live as Easter people. On Easter Sunday, we began as we explored our freedom to move forward, to encounter God where we are and share God’s love with all we encounter, for God’s story continues to unfold all around us. Next, we explored our Freedom to Follow as we named both our differing ways of getting there and our freedom to let go of our failures and shortcomings as we follow after Jesus. Last week, we explored our Freedom to Rise again. We named our need to cultivate communities of love and care where we are vulnerable with one another, so that we can live into God’s plans for our lives. This week, we continue as we explore our freedom to love.

The church is in conflict. For hundreds of years, the church taught and followed scripture. They lived their lives by the laws of the Lord. They followed all the commandments. They read and interpreted scripture the same way. One day, a prominent member stands up and says, “The Lord spoke to me! The Holy Spirit is at work moving among us. Our understanding of how the church works needs to change because God is on the move.” People begin testifying to the work of the Spirit in their lives and how they have seen the Spirit at work in the church's life. Immediately devout, sincere believers begin to push back. That’s not what the scripture says! That’s not what Jesus said! Jesus said he came not to abolish the law but to fulfill the law. God can’t possibly work that way. The church is changing its beliefs and turning from God’s beliefs. We can’t move in this direction. We have to embrace scripture just as it is written. Sound familiar?

This is what is unfolding in our New Testament lesson today. In Peter’s time, there was no New Testament. The gospels were transmitted orally. The church was well-versed in the Old Testament. There were significant questions about who can join the church. Many of the devout converts came to the Christian church by way of Judaism. They believed that individuals needed to convert to Judaism. This means that males must be circumcised. Then they must uphold the laws of the Old Testament plus live into Jesus’ teaching. These people were not doing so maliciously, but out of a heart for who they understood God to be. 

Yet Peter had a different experience. In the 10th chapter of Acts, Peter had a vision of food coming down from heaven. He was told to kill and eat the creatures. Peter was confused because he knew these foods violated the food laws. Yet Peter heard a voice speaking to him and said, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane” (Acts 10:15). As he was thinking about the dream, men came looking for Peter. The Holy Spirit told Peter to go to them. The men were Gentiles and seeking to convert to Christianity. As he is ministering to them, Peter says, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every people anyone who fears him and practices righteousness is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34-35). As Peter was preaching to them, the Holy Spirit poured out on the Gentiles, and they were baptized. And, as they say, that’s when the fight began. 

Peter returns to Jerusalem and reports on what has happened. The sincere, devout believers began to question him. They asked, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” (Acts 11:3). They asked these questions from a place of sincerity. They knew what the scriptures said. They knew the scriptures prevented Peter from meeting in the homes of the uncircumcised, and that the Old Testament certainly has a lot to say about eating unclean foods…which Peter ate since he ministered among the gentiles. They asked these questions out of their love for God and the church. They couldn’t see how it was remotely possible to violate cleanliness laws and eat with those who were uncircumcised. They didn’t understand how Gentiles could join the church without first converting to Judaism. So Peter slows down, looks at them, and tells the story step by step, recounting his vision and exactly what happened. Peter concludes, “If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” (Acts 11:17). 

These people listening to Peter have heard all their lives that they must be mindful of what foods they eat. They must adhere to the cleanliness laws of the Old Testament. This charge against Peter for eating with the uncircumcised sounds much like the charges leveled against Jesus for eating with sinners. I imagine for a moment this meeting between Peter and the leaders of the church is so tense that you can feel the tension in the air. Have you ever sat in a church meeting where you could feel the tension in the air? This tension often occurs when a change to the “way we have always done things is challenged.” It often centers around who is “in” and who is “out” of our spheres of influence. “We can’t cut that pew! It’s there in memory of so and so…” This phase often means we have decided not to include and value persons who have mobility issues. “We can’t let that person get married here” has been used to set policies against marrying persons who live together before marriage, interracial marriages, or same sex weddings. It’s a statement of who is in and who is out….we accept this but not that. 

There always seems to be tension in the midst of discernment. It’s hard to hear, see, and know where God is calling the church to go if we cannot hear and receive the stories of the community around us. This is where most churches seem to get stuck. They are unwilling to really listen and discern the work of the Holy Spirit. They don’t value stories of the ways the Spirit is at work in the church and in the world. If we are honest, that’s what is at work in our New Testament Lesson. Peter doesn’t use scripture. Peter doesn’t use tradition. Peter instead tells a story about how he has seen the Spirit at work in the church, moving to include more people in the kingdom of God. 

Yet we claim to believe that we serve a God who is alive and at work in the world. In John 14 Jesus reminds the disciples that God will send the Holy Spirit. Jesus says, “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you” (John 14:25-26, NRSVue).”

Later, in John 16, Jesus elaborates on this. I love the way the CEB frames it up for us. Jesus says, “I didn’t say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go away to the one who sent me. None of you ask me, ‘Where are you going?’ Yet because I have said these things to you, you are filled with sorrow. I assure you that it is better for you that I go away. If I don’t go away, the Companion won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will show the world it was wrong about sin, righteousness, and judgment. He will show the world it was wrong about sin because they don’t believe in me. He will show the world it was wrong about righteousness because I’m going to the Father and you won’t see me anymore. He will show the world it was wrong about judgment because this world’s ruler stands condemned. I have much more to say to you, but you can’t handle it now. However, when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you in all truth. He won’t speak on his own, but will say whatever he hears and will proclaim to you what is to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and proclaim it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine. That’s why I said that the Spirit takes what is mine and will proclaim it to you” (John 16:4b-16, CEB).

If we believe what Jesus says, we must realize that our God is alive and on the move. If we believe that God is a God of love and relationship, then we believe that God continues to strive to reach new people. God continues to open our hearts and minds to the ways in which God is striving to be in relationship with the world. The Holy Spirit is the one who is called to open our hearts and minds. When the Spirit is at work within us, we will see how we have been wrong about judgment. We will see the ways the Spirit might be at work in new ways. Much like Peter, we must trust communal discernment to lead us and guide us. 

If you look at the text, you realize that it wasn’t just Peter’s crazy story that changed the community from what the church has always done and how scripture has always been interpreted. Peter tells the community how he was convicted by the Spirit. The community then confirms how the Spirit has ministered to Peter. They were silenced. After the silence, the community, the people proclaim, “Then God has given even to the gentiles the repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18, NRSVue). 

If we look at our own church, we must acknowledge that the very point of the Holy Spirit is to lead us and guide us in the world. Our Faith doesn’t stop at scriptures. We continue to hold onto Scripture as the Word of God. We know that all that is necessary for salvation is contained in scripture. Yet God knew that we would need someone to lead us, to guide us, to show us more. For the world didn’t stop after the Bible ends. We aren’t constantly adding chapters and books to the Bible. At the same time, the world around us is changing. The ways in which God is in relationship with us and with the world must change. For if God is a God of relationship and love, God must go to the people. The Spirit’s task is to challenge us, to stir us up, and to show us the way. That means, just like Peter, we must be open to new leadings of the Spirit. For when we do this, we are freed to love all of God’s children. We are freed to include those who the church has excluded in the past. We are empowered to say that which God has made clean, I must not call profane. 

As I reflect on this scripture, I’m reminded of the hymn, “He Lives.” The first verse says, “I serve a risen Savior, he’s in the world today; I know that he is living, whatever foes may say. I see his hand of mercy, I hear his voice of cheer, and just the time I need him, he’s always near.” It doesn’t say I serve a risen Savior; he’s only in the scripture. It says that Jesus is in the world today. The chorus says he walks with me and talks with me “along life’s narrow way.” Friends, Jesus continues to talk to us, to lead us, and to guide us in a changing world. Just as God has been in relationship with folks across the Biblical narrative, a God of love and mercy continues to be open to finding ways to be in relationship even here and now. 

I also think about the ending of the third verse of this hymn. “The hope of all who seek him, the help of all who find; None other is so loving, so good and kind.” Friends, if we serve a loving God, one who is the hope and help of the world, why are we any less loving? Our Gospel lesson reminds us of this. “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). Thus, our call is to lay aside our judgment. Our call is to be open to the work of the Holy Spirit as she leads and guides us in the world around us. For in recognizing the ways that God is at work, even if it isn’t the way we have always understood scripture, even if it isn’t the way we have always done things, reminds us that our call is not to stop until all are included in the life of the church, until all are welcome here. For the true freedom to love is realizing that all people, all of creation, are loved by God. Thus, we must love others and all of creation, just as God does. Who are we to hinder God? What God has made clean we cannot reject. If God loves us, God can share God’s love with others. No matter who you are, you are welcome here as beloved children of God.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.