Acts 11:1-18

Acts 11:1–18 NIV

1 The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.” 4 Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. 6 I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. 7 Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’ 8 “I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 “The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ 10 This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again. 11 “Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. 12 The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. 14 He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’ 15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?” 18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

Take a few minutes to recall the arc of Peter’s story with Jesus. How would you characterize him when with Jesus? What would be some of the most important moments of his life? At the time he visits Cornelius, would he have been a good spiritual leader? Why (not)?

You can’t help but notice the differences in the moods between the end of and the beginning of . Peter goes to the house of Cornelius, we won’t get too far into it here, I invite you to watch that sermon on our youtube channel, but he’s received with joy. Cornelius had been looking for him, praying for someone to show him the true God. And Peter shows up as a result of divine, miraculous intervention. The Holy Spirit interrupts his sermon to work a miracle that proves that God is at work among “outsiders”, too. Then Peter goes back to Jerusalem, the central hub of Jesus-followers of the day and is called out to answer for his actions!

Look, again, at what happens. First, notice, that Peter’s work was not secretive. For him to go into the house of a centurion, to baptize a whole family of “outsiders” was scandalous for people rooted in the Old Testament way of thinking. God did not call the Jewish people to be a missionary society. They were, instead, called to be separated from the people around them. They were called to look strange and to stand apart. God did that to make sure that the family into which he would send his Son, would be in the best position to receive him. The fact that this is even brought up among the Jews in Judea is proof that it’s a big deal! See, there were some who were upset that Peter had gone “into the house of uncircumcised men” but more than that, “and ate with them!” How could he! How could Peter associate so closely with those kinds of people? That he ate with them?! By the way, this tells you how seriously that culture took joining together in eating a meal. What implications do you think that might have as Jesus calls us to join the table with him at the Lord’s Supper? You only join those with whom you are united.

Acts 11:1–3 NIV

1 The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

But Peter doesn’t hide it! The creative mission was known to everyone in Judea. This made the church newsletter, was posted on facebook and shared by the whole group. Peter doesn’t shy away from it, he doesn’t hide it, he doesn’t dodge it. And because of that, he is opposed. Not everyone opposes him, though. Just a small group, the circumcised believers. Literally, the believers of circumcision. Now, this issue becomes a flash point for the early Jesus followers and is going to come back up again later in Acts, so it’s worth us spending some time here.

I’m guessing that the idea of a “circumcised believer” doesn’t sound all that odd to you. After all, Jewish males were required to be circumcised by Mose’s law. Many male believers today, both ethnically Jewish and otherwise, are circumcised. So, why does this stand out enough for Dr. Luke, the author, to make note? Because, this seems to be the early reference to a group who would later demand that, before a person become a Jesus-follower, they had to at least be circumcised. They had to follow that part of the OT law, at least. This contingent of the early Jesus movement were a small, but vocal minority. A minority focused on the outward forms. Their objection was not necessarily that the gospel had come to outsiders. Their objection was that one of them had had to eat with those outsiders. See, this isn’t the first time that an outsider had heard the Gospel. Philip had spoken to the African from Ethiopia. Had sent them him on the way to church plant in his home country. But there were no objections then. The believers of the circumcision did not call out Philip. But here, “You went into the house of the uncircumcised men and ate with them.” If they wanted to believe, that was their business. But they didn’t want the name and integrity of a Jew sullied in the process.

Give an example of a modern day circumcision believer: someone who is more interested in external conformity than missional creativity.

How would you handle that if you were Peter? God had just opened up a vast mission field, you had seen the Holy Spirit work miraculously and clearly, you knew that your trip to Caesurae was a game changer - it would actually be the open door that would change the world. And you come home to be challenged by a few people who are more interested in external conformity and safety than in divine creativity and risk taking. Peter handles it with such patience and transparency. He starts at the beginning and tells the whole story. He allows them to experience the epiphany, the journey that had brought him around. He recognized that he didn’t walk into Cornelius’ house without some diving intervention, why should he expect the rest of the Jesus movement to know what he knows or to be changed the way he was changed.

Share with your group a time when you were criticized. How did you handle it?

This is not how I have responded to criticism in the past. Peter’s patience and grace feel more like an exotic animal that I see through the window at the zoo than something familiar, that I’ve lived with in my own house. No, far more familiar to me are feelings of exasperation, of frustration, of impatience. “Why don’t you get it!” Or “Get on board or get off the ship!” I have taken criticism as attacks against me and have responded in a way that protects my image, my reputation. And there’s the heart of the problem. When I’m jealous of my name, when I do all I can to make sure I’m not cast in a bad light, when I fight tooth and nail to make sure that Ben Workentine commands respect and admiration, then I have sinned. I have worshiped myself, not my maker. My reputation has been the most important thing in my mind. God describes the one who is worthy of God in .

Psalm 69:7–9 NIV

7 For I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face. 8 I am a foreigner to my own family, a stranger to my own mother’s children; 9 for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

That’s not me! But, and it may not surprise you, it is someone. Not someone sitting in these chairs/pews. Verse 9 is directly quoted in . And it’s talking about God’s own Son, Jesus.

John 2:17 NIV

17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

I mean, think about Jesus. The one who was born in a stable, who lived his early years in quiet submission to his parents, who was tempted by the devil himself. His enemies accused him of falsely claiming to be God, of just wanting power for himself. They went so far as to drag him to court, falsely accuse him and demanded the execution chamber. They beat him, spit on him, ridiculed him, they bullied and harassed him. And he remained silent. His suffering at the hands of injustice were met with patience and grace. Because the Zeal of God’s house, his family, you, consumed him.

He had two choices: 1) He could live and you would go to hell, separated from him because you have worshipped yourself, or 2) he could die and your punishment would never come home to roost for you. He was the only one who could make the decision and he chose you. He chose to die for proud, defensive, arrogant people. He chose to be shamed himself rather than I suffer eternal shame. He was estranged from his own family that you and I might have him as our family. And this is the truly unique thing of Jesus. If you are visiting with us today, if you are uncertain about who Jesus is, or maybe you are even hostile to the idea that a man from 2000 years ago would be relevant for your life today, look again at these verse in . If these words are true, if they are true of Jesus, then you are faced today with a conundrum about Jesus. Put your faith in him. Trust that he has pulled you from the pit of guilt, of shame, of pride and that he has eternal life laid out for you today.

Peter knew that better than most. See, this is the guy who boasted that he would never abandon Jesus only to loudly decries any knowledge of Jesus hours later. This was the guy who fled in despair and hung his head after seeing Jesus. This is the guy who looked into his risen Savior’s eyes as he asked him, “Do you love me” one too many times for comfort. That man now stands before the inquisition of his peers with unflinching patience, compassion, and resilience. Because his Savior had stood silent before a kangaroo court, Peter could give an account of what God had lead him to see and to do with Cornelius and his family.

You may not be called to bring the good news of Jesus into a field that will change the course of history like Peter was. But you are called into a field to bring the good news of Jesus. Do it creatively. Do it boldly. Do it convinced that the Holy Spirit goes with you and works through you. But, when the questions come, when the criticism comes, meet it with patience and grace. The Spirit of God works through that too so that the Jesus movement will have no further objections and praise God.