Overcoming Prejudice

Announcements

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Fall Retreat

Not too late

No church this Thursday

Sitting in next week (Sunday)

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The Thursday after: Homecoming

Introduction

After spending all of September in the Psalms… we are back in the book of Acts (Acts 10)

We’ve seen the humble origins of the church begin to sprout and grow

And today we are looking at a pivotal moment in the story of the church

The gospel is brought to the gentiles

Up until this point—the gospel was only brought to:

Jerusalem — Judea — Samaria

And now we see it reaching people that were far from God in the Jewish eyes

And with the beautiful seeds of the gospel spreading to all people—we also see seeds of Satan

Wherever there is the beauty of diversity—there is prejudice and discrimination

God created us to be diverse and different

We see at the end of time that people of every tribe, tongue, and nation will come together praising God

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Revelation 22:2–3 CSB

The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations, and there will no longer be any curse.

And that in Heaven—we don’t just become one sterilized people—but we have culture

And throughout history—wherever cultures have clashed—there has been the temptation to be prideful in our own ways and culture—while looking down on or distancing ourselves from others who do things differently or look differently

And the same is true for the Church

Denominational divisions

That is why time and time again—the NT reminds us of our unity

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Galatians 3:27–28 CSB

27 For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. 28 There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.

But before we talk about this more… let’s read the story:

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Acts 10 CSB

1 There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment. 2 He was a devout man and feared God along with his whole household. He did many charitable deeds for the Jewish people and always prayed to God. 3 About three in the afternoon he distinctly saw in a vision an angel of God who came in and said to him, “Cornelius.” 4 Staring at him in awe, he said, “What is it, Lord?” The angel told him, “Your prayers and your acts of charity have ascended as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa and call for Simon, who is also named Peter. 6 He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” 7 When the angel who spoke to him had gone, he called two of his household servants and a devout soldier, who was one of those who attended him. 8 After explaining everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. 9 The next day, as they were traveling and nearing the city, Peter went up to pray on the roof about noon. 10 He became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing something, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and an object that resembled a large sheet coming down, being lowered by its four corners to the earth. 12 In it were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, and the birds of the sky. 13 A voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 “No, Lord!” Peter said. “For I have never eaten anything impure and ritually unclean.” 15 Again, a second time, the voice said to him, “What God has made clean, do not call impure.” 16 This happened three times, and suddenly the object was taken up into heaven. 17 While Peter was deeply perplexed about what the vision he had seen might mean, right away the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions to Simon’s house, stood at the gate. 18 They called out, asking if Simon, who was also named Peter, was lodging there. 19 While Peter was thinking about the vision, the Spirit told him, “Three men are here looking for you. 20 Get up, go downstairs, and go with them with no doubts at all, because I have sent them.” 21 Then Peter went down to the men and said, “Here I am, the one you’re looking for. What is the reason you’re here?” 22 They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who has a good reputation with the whole Jewish nation, was divinely directed by a holy angel to call you to his house and to hear a message from you.” 23 Peter then invited them in and gave them lodging. The next day he got up and set out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went with him. 24 The following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell at his feet, and worshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up and said, “Stand up. I myself am also a man.” 27 While talking with him, he went in and found a large gathering of people. 28 Peter said to them, “You know it’s forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner, but God has shown me that I must not call any person impure or unclean. 29 That’s why I came without any objection when I was sent for. So may I ask why you sent for me?” 30 Cornelius replied, “Four days ago at this hour, at three in the afternoon, I was praying in my house. Just then a man in dazzling clothing stood before me 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your acts of charity have been remembered in God’s sight. 32 Therefore send someone to Joppa and invite Simon here, who is also named Peter. He is lodging in Simon the tanner’s house by the sea.’ 33 So I immediately sent for you, and it was good of you to come. So now we are all in the presence of God to hear everything you have been commanded by the Lord.” 34 Peter began to speak: “Now I truly understand that God doesn’t show favoritism, 35 but in every nation the person who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 He sent the message to the Israelites, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. 37 You know the events that took place throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John preached: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how he went about doing good and healing all who were under the tyranny of the devil, because God was with him. 39 We ourselves are witnesses of everything he did in both the Judean country and in Jerusalem, and yet they killed him by hanging him on a tree. 40 God raised up this man on the third day and caused him to be seen, 41 not by all the people, but by us whom God appointed as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins.” 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and declaring the greatness of God. Then Peter responded, 47 “Can anyone withhold water and prevent these people from being baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 He commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.

Outline

Peter’s Prejudice

Our Prejudice

God’s Salvation is for Everyone

Peter’s Prejudice

In short:

Theres a good gentile man named Cornelius who God notices

He sends an Angel to him telling him to find Peter

Simultaneously, Peter is on the roof the house he is staying in, and has a vision

In it he sees a bunch of animals (clean and unclean)

And hears a voice telling him to get up—kill—and eat

For a Jewish man, who has kept law his whole life—this is crazy—so God speaks to him “What God has made clean, do not call unclean”

And he has this vision 3 times

After the vision, Peter is scratching his head over what it might mean when he hears a knock on the door

At the door were men from Cornelius that he had sent to find peter

The Spirit speaks to Peter to reassure him to go

And Peter leaves to visit Cornelius

Peter enters his house (which is forbidden by Jewish law)

And Peter asks why Cornelius sent for him

Cornelius responds that an angel came and told him to

Peter then preaches a sermon to everyone in the house

How God sent Jesus to die for the forgiveness of sin

And while he was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came down on everyone there and they began speaking in tongues

(like a pentecost 2)

Finally Peter baptized everyone there

It’s a beautiful story of how the first gentiles came to believe in Jesus

And we see that it was a complete work of God

It wasn’t Peter’s idea to bring the gospel to the gentiles

It wasn’t Cornelius’s idea to ask to receive Jesus

But God orchestrated everything

And for us—this might not seem like that crazy of a story—but this was earth shattering for Peter and the early disciples

And the repercussions of this story are seen throughout the rest of the NT

How does a sect of Judaism grow into what we know as Christianity today?

And to understand this, we have to understand the background of Peter’s encounter with Cornelius

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The Jewish people as a whole looked down on Gentiles

They were dirty and unclean

Eating unclean animals, impure, ungodly, idol worshipers

Fear of losing their Jewish roots

Jewish identity was founded in Holiness (being set apart from the nations)

They were oppressors

Israel had suffered greatly under the hand of gentile kingdoms (From Egypt to the Roman Empire)

For these reasons, it was inconceivable for some Jews to consider that God had a plan to include these gentiles in his plan to redeem Israel

They are the unfaithful idol worshipers

They are the oppressors and persecutors of God’s people

So like Peter says:

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Acts 10:28 CSB

28 Peter said to them, “You know it’s forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner, but God has shown me that I must not call any person impure or unclean.

They were to have no association with gentiles—but God is doing something new

And even Peter had his reservations in this story—he had his own prejudices—but after hearing from God—he chose to obey God, rather than living out his what he thought

This story is beautiful

And like I said, it’s world altering

It is why we are even here today

Christianity didn’t just stay a small jewish sect in Israel

But it launched into the whole world

Across continents and oceans to reach us here on the opposite side of the world

And each of us is called to continue this mission of God

But like Peter, we have our own prejudices that God wants to dismantle

Our Prejudice

We live in a different world than Peter did 2,000 years ago

But somethings remain the same

We live in a world riddled with prejudice

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Prejudice means an unfair opinion or feeling about a person or group formed without enough thought, knowledge, or reason

It means to ‘pre’ judge someone

Make a judgement about someone without even knowing them

Based on race, gender, how they look, level of education, age, how they talk, what they like, etc.

And in recent years—a lot of this has bubbled up to the top of everyones attention

Anyone have any examples?

Women that hate all men

“I’ll love your child less if you have a boy”

Immigration

Black People

Homeless = Lazy

Poor = Lazy

Drug epidemic

And the reality is, each of us have have bias towards some people and against others

If we deny it—we are only blind to it

Myself included

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Each of these people are made in God’s image

And God loves each of these people more than we can imagine

Imagine you’re in a room with all of these people

Who would you want to be friends with?

Who would you avoid?

Who do you feel uncomfortable around?

Because God does not make distinctions or choose favorites

The gospel is for all people of all nations and ages

We have to remind ourselves of Peter’s words

Acts 10:34–35 CSB

34 Peter began to speak: “Now I truly understand that God doesn’t show favoritism, 35 but in every nation the person who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

God loves every one of us as his own child and creation

Cornelius was an enemy of God’s people

A Roman centurion

But none of that matters before God

He was someone who was seeking to please God

And God loved him—wanted him to be saved

So who are the people that we think are beyond God’s saving plan?

Close friends that make fun of Christians

Someone who bullies you

A teacher or coach

Your mortal enemy since 4th grade

As Christians—we build bridges and break down barriers

Too many Christians in our world today do the opposite

Like the Jewish people they are afraid of associating with non-believers

But look at Jesus—He was dining with sinners and prostitutes

And I know this is a lot — but I want you all to think about this

What type of people am I afraid of?

What type of people am I uncomfortable around?

What type of people, I can’t stand?

God is trying to tear down these walls in our life

Even in me

That we might see people the way God does

And this goes deeper than being politically correct

We live in a world where prejudice has been exposed and in some sense, isn’t tolerated

But the way of the world is still about taking sides and hating the other

Left vs Right

Men vs Woman

Oppressor vs Oppressed

We need a deeper solution… otherwise we become just as bad as the people we hate

We see in this story of Peter and Cornelius that:

God’s Salvation is for Everyone

And all of this to say…

We are all on an equal playing field

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Galatians 3:27–28 CSB

27 For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. 28 There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.

The jewish people thought that because God had chosen them—he didn’t love anyone else

But in Jesus—his plan was to bring salvation to all the nations

We tend to think in an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mindset

But we are no better than them

People far from God

Sinners

And we are no worse than them

Saints

Spiritual leaders

We really can’t comprehend God’s great love for each of us

He does not show favoritism

Conclusion

And when we sit with this truth… it truly is life changing

God loves you

Theres nothing you can do to make him love you more

Theres nothing you can do to make him love you less

His love for you is perfect and unchanging

AND God loves every human with the same love and calls us to do the same

So theres two directions to this love—vertical and horizontal

Vertical (SLIDE)

Can we sit and rest by believing that God actually loves us

We don’t deserve it—we don’t earn it

It doesn’t matter how much you do for him

It doesn’t matter how well you represent him

Of course he wants you to do these things

But they don’t change his love for you

Sit with this

It destroys both pride and guilt

Horizontal (SLIDE)

We are called to love others—because God loves them

Think of your worst enemy—God loves them

He is committed to their best interests

God’s love for all is what brought him to the cross

He loved his enemies

His heart broke for the people that put him to death

“forgive them for they know no what they do”

We can only grow in our capacity to love others if we grow in our capacity to be loved by God

Hurt people hurt people

Forgiven people forgive people

So as we get ready for this next week, my prayer, is that you sit with these truths

That you begin to know the great love God has for you

And that it would be the fuel for you to love others

Let’s pray

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Small Group Questions

Icebreaker: What is something about our society that bothers you?

1. Who are people that you find difficult to love? 

2. What makes it difficult for you to receive God’s love?

3. What makes it difficult for you to extend God’s love to others?