"God Said I Could Be Here"

Acts 10:1–29 ESV

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. 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.”

          We’re continuing to follow Peter’s ministry this morning. As we’ve gone through the first 9 chapters, Luke has shown us where the apostles preached and ministered to the gospel around the eastern coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. Last time, we heard Peter healed Aeneas, the paralytic from Lydda, and he resurrected Dorcas, the woman known for her service in Joppa. Chapter 9 ended by telling us Peter stayed in Joppa with a tanner named Simon.  Today’s passage continues north up the coastline to Caesarea. Back in chapter 8, this is where Philip ended up after healing the Ethiopian eunuch and doing some preaching. This is where we’ve been, but today and in the weeks to come our focus takes a new direction as we look at who the gospel went to.

           Brothers and sisters in Christ, when you were growing up or maybe you experience it now either as a parent or as a child or young person, did your parents ever tell you not to go somewhere or that you were not to be with certain people? Maybe Baldwin or wherever you grew up was extremely safe and made up of only good, upstanding, law-abiding citizens, and you didn’t have to worry about anything, but I remember hearing it. 

I had a lot of freedom as a kid riding my bike, but there were certain boundaries and paths that I was supposed to stay on. If I ever wasn’t home on time and my parents had to go looking, they wanted to know where to look. There were also certain neighborhoods that I was told not to go near.  Whether it was the known or assumed actions and lifestyles of different people in our community, whether related to gangs or drugs or things of that nature, I was to stay away. 

I know that my parents weren’t trying to be mean or irrational or prejudiced. They wanted to keep me and my siblings safe when they weren’t around. That’s why we weren’t supposed to ride through certain parts of town. As a parent now, I want to do the same. I know I can’t protect my children or those who are vulnerable from every evil, but we do what we can.

Keeping ourselves away from other people when there’s a legitimate threat from them against us can seem like rather clear and simple sense. Perhaps personal safety is a top priority for some of us, and we will do everything in our power to not put ourselves or our families in any type of harm’s way. Maybe some of us arm ourselves regularly, hoping to disarm or take out any threatening people, if a necessary situation ever arose around us.

Intentionally separating or dividing ourselves from other people tends to go beyond just criminal dangers, though. Maybe it’s a grudge or a broken relationship, maybe it’s different political views or ways of doing daily life—division and separation also make their way into the church. Pushing people away or distancing ourselves from one another, building walls, both literally and metaphorically, can happen all too easily amid congregations, denominations, and individual Christians. Sometimes it’s because of differences in theology or interpretations of Scripture or calling something a sin, which there’s something to. But often divisions arise out of preferences or unsubstantiated rumors or an unwillingness to work through hardships or offences.   

We need to be clear, as much as what we might think is the interesting part of this passage, the animals on the sheet and the idea of eating whatever he wants, this passage is not about food, at least, not first and foremost. Verse 17, “While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision…” The meaning of what he had watched and heard three times did not come straightforwardly to him. Scripture isn’t hinting that Peter doesn’t pick up on things very fast. No, God was revealing something to him in this vision not about or eating, but about people and relationships. We’re splitting up the two sentences of verse 28 as we go through our sermon. So, first, Peter told Cornelius and his family and friends, “‘You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him…’”

Let’s think about 4 different labels that we find in Scripture up to this point.  We have the terms “Israelites” and “ethnic Jews.” These were the children and descendants of the man named Israel, or Jacob. We’re not just talking about those who lived in the territory that we associate with Israel; they could live anywhere. Most people we meet in the Bible fit this. Then we have “Gentiles.”  At its broadest, that term means people from any other nation whose ethnicity was not Jewish.  It’s also used in Scripture for those who weren’t living in a godly manner and didn’t believe in God; we might say a pagan lifestyle. To complicate things, a Gentile could convert to religious Judaism, and thus be labeled a Jew. They would believe in the God of the Jews, and take up Jewish practices and laws. Those converts were known as “proselytes.” The fourth category is that of God-fearing Gentiles. These were people who were not ethnically Jews and who had not or would not convert to and practice Judaism, but they believed in the one true God.

Verse 2 told us that “[Cornelius] and all his family were devout and God-fearing.” They fit into this last category. When Peter showed up at his house, he reminded them that it was illegal, it was against the law, for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. Why was that? Assumedly it goes back to God’s law for the Israelites, put into place back when they were entering the Promised Land. They were not to enter relationships or alliances with their foreign neighbors, with Gentiles, because they would lead them astray from God. Now, there were likely Gentiles that Jesus and the apostles had encountered throughout their ministries, who may have been present for teachings or healings, but for Peter to go and intentionally stay with all these Gentiles—this was different.

There were perhaps things going on inside of him, nerves and thoughts, “Am I really supposed to be here?” The fact that he had to have this vision shows us that his Jewish identity still held a grip on him. He had spent a few years around Jesus, he’s been ministering since Jesus’ ascension, and yet apparently, he was still keeping careful separation between himself and people of other ethnicities who had not believed in Jesus as part of Judaism. Maybe he had respected to a degree those who were under this label of “God-fearing Gentiles,” glad that they had at least come that far, but he wouldn’t intentionally join with them. He hadn’t wanted to do anything that would make him impure or unclean, or, in his mind, unholy before God. According to his Jewish mindset, that’s what really mingling with non-Jews would do to him.

There are many things that I and we could name this morning that divide us, that separate us, that we might identify as the reason why we’re worshiping here and not at another church this morning or why there’s some distance between us and other Christians—there are many things. Some of them are more significant than others; some of them have more standing than others. But we must absolutely know and believe that race and ethnicity, one’s skin color and country or homeland or place of origin are not cause for disunity in the body of Christ. 

When we look at what’s going on here in Acts 10, we identify Peter as a Jew who believed in God and Cornelius was a Gentile who believed in God, but they lived in close proximity to each other. If we, us, can go back a few generations, maybe this kind of feels like the Dutch and Norwegian settlements of our area. Sure, there’s cultural differences, but we don’t look all that different and we come from a similar part of the world. “We can be neighbors; we likely have enough in common. Peter and Cornelius couldn’t have been that different.”

Yet hear the second half of verse 28, “But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.” If we let Peter’s words sit for a moment, isn’t there a bit of a sting to them? This crowd who had so welcomed him could now say, “So, that’s what you think or at least thought of us? Why’d Cornelius want us to come and hear from this guy?” God was working on Peter, though, and he was working in the lives of this family and their friends. All of them needed to know they could believe and live together, all in God’s family! Any identity attached to lineages, ancestries, coming from different parts of the world, and we might add particular sets of religious practices, were not to be more important than the identity which came from faith in Christ.  

If that was the case then among close neighbors, it certainly continues to be the truth and model for us today. The one true God, who sent his Son to save his people from their sins and through whom all things are created—he uniquely created people to look differently; he scattered humankind across the face of the globe in all different places; he put different languages in our mouths and minds. God has done all those things. We can’t praise God for making us and for making every baby in their mothers’ womb fearfully and wonderfully, and then go and deny or block off all fellowship from those who are created a bit different from us. God has given faith, in the lives of the elect from every nation, and the bond of faith, the unity of the gospel, must come before every other piece of our created identity when it comes to relationships with one another.

Peter was essentially telling these people that the reason why he was there and why he now found it personally acceptable to be with them is that God said he could he there. He was wrong, but God had made it clear to him. The worship of God, faith in God, the redemption that comes through him, did not and does not necessitate being Jewish to any degree. That didn’t mean that believers in Jesus who were Jewish and practicing Judaism were bad. No. But Peter needed to understand that just as God had given himself for him, so God had done the same for these believers. The eternal nature of God and the steadfastness of his promises is so much greater than that which we as humans might pick to divide ourselves from one another.

That brings us to our final point then: “I can be here, and you can be here”. As a model for Christian life in fellowship together, in what it means to be the church and for congregations, this goes two ways us. God gives us, people of whatever our own culture is, the prodding that we can associate with and love and consider ourselves one with people of other cultures and ethnicities in the body of believers.  God also tells those of other cultures that they are welcome to cross barriers as well, and we are to be open and welcoming to them. 

We can be honest—going both ways—significant cultural and ethnic differences may come with challenges, with some learning, some struggle and confusion, for all involved. We also must keep in mind that we all have different preferences, different things we really like and want in whatever particular congregation that we’re a part of. We likely think our preferences would be better for more people than just ourselves. We think certain things should be part of every worship service, only or predominantly certain songs or genres of music and instruments should be used, certain programs should be held. We have our own cultural things that we value and feel most comfortable with and uplifted by. 

 That’s not inherently bad, it’s not even something we can necessarily totally avoid. But for those who will keep faith in God and love for neighbor as the most important pieces, there should be the ability to have a fruitful relationship and be disciples in ministry together. Being willing to recognize certain things are part of our preference and acknowledging that our faith is to be lived out in more than just our time in church on Sundays, gives way for us to see that our identity in Christ and as a member of his family have a higher priority. It’s that identity and belonging that should make us feel welcome in any group of believers, whether our preferences are present or absent. If we travel, if join with others, it’s not guaranteed to be most comfortable and enjoyable to our senses, but we should be welcomed in the Lord. 

Brothers and sisters, whether we have great diversity in the congregation we’re a part of or if that’s something we’re working towards, may we never turn anyone away because of what they look like, where they come, or how they speak. May our church mirror and be a welcoming glimpse of who heaven will include—all God’s children from every nation. Amen.