Clean

Introduction

We have spent the past few weeks in Acts and today we continue that journey going further into the book of Acts. Today’s passage is about a conflict within the church that is stirred up because of a shift in the landscape so to speak. Peter has broken Jewish law by going into a Gentile’s home. Peter defends this action saying God initiated this event and he could not get in the way of God. God tells him to not call profane what he has deemed clean. Today we still have a little bit of that struggle when church looks so different than what we expect or think it should be.

Peter’s journey

Peter had traveled and spent a long time on the road. He had been preaching and performing miracles and following God’s leading to go where he was called to go. He finally was arriving back in Jerusalem but there is a controversy stirred up in the church because of what he has done.

Background on controversy

The church at Jerusalem which is made up of Jewish Christians was still following Jewish law. Jesus did not abolish it or tell them to stop following it so they still followed the law. We saw this when Peter and John went to the temple to worship. We saw this with the feeding program for the widows and orphans.

One of these laws was to not enter the home of a gentile or they would be considered defiled. Holy living required God’s people to be set apart from the rest of the world. God’s people were to set themselves apart from the world and not defile themselves when possible. Little things like touching a dead body or a dead animal would defile them. Things like eating certain animals like a pig would defile them. Things that they could avoid they should such as what they eat and in whose home they enter.

Peter’s actions appear contrary to all of this and it appears the leader of the Jewish Christian church of Jerusalem is ignoring or defying these practices. This did not sit well and with all of the struggles of the church, now there is a breakdown in their own leadership not following the teachings of holy living.

Dealing with our own controversy

In some ways, I think we can relate to both sides of this story. We can relate to the church of Jerusalem where a prominent leader has appeared to fallen off the wagon and is shirking the teachings they should be living by. How many preachers or prominent pastors have found themselves in controversy that breaks their credibility as leaders in the church? While I am sure you can think of some, you understand the feelings of frustration and likely feelings of being betrayed.

In other ways, we can relate to Peter’s side of the story. God’s will is above our will. God’s working in others will not be deterred by our words or actions. In some ways, it is like telling God, we don’t believe in helping those people or accepting those people as Christians because of the way they act or live or teach others to do.

Think of this today. Without raising hands, how many people feel the church should do only hymn songs or how many feel we should do contemporary songs? While this is something simple, this has split other churches in two. In fact, other churches that have a traditional and contemporary service find themselves in the situation where there are two churches in the same building. All of comes down to one side believing traditions should be followed and another side believing they should not be. I am happy to say we have not divided ourselves completely over this issue but have found a middle ground that honors both some traditions and includes room for new ideas and new ways to worship.

Finding God’s path forward is critical in these junctions. In some ways, we have the solution and should just press forward. In other situations, we don’t have the solution God wants so we plow forward into disaster. Further still, sometimes there are other paths that get taken that are chosen that we don’t like yet, it is God’s will and we must.

God’s solutions and God’s will above our own

Peter in his defense was quick to point out a few things. First, this was God’s doing and not his own idea. God gave Peter a vision to go with these people so his choice was to disobey God or go with these people.

Second, Peter shared the gospel news and the Holy Spirit fell upon them. Peter did not lay hands on them and ask them to receive the Holy Spirit. Again, this was all God’s doing. Was Peter going to deny what God was doing here? Definitely not but again, Peter makes the distinction, this is God doing this, not me.

Peter quickly points out to the fact that God is both the initiator and actor behind these events. There was nothing Peter was going to do or say to dissuade God from this work. Who was Peter to get in God’s way?

In some ways, we may experience this when things are changing or moving in a different direction. To Peter’s point, if this is God’s will, who are we to get in the way. As much as controversy, frustration, and sorrow that came from this pandemic, we were forced to do things in a way that we had not or could not seem to make work.

We did not have an online presence for people away on vacation, or at work, or home-bound. I was not crazy about trying to figure out how to put together something to make it work. Yet this was the start of a plan to modernize this church.

Today you are seeing that plan continuing to move forward by God’s will. Today when you look around you see probably what you would not have ever considered putting in this church, yet here we are today with technology inside this church improving our ability to worship inside this building and to connect us when we are not in the building.

God desires us to move forward to no longer settle on what is simply good enough but to strive for what is our best in worship.

Challenge today

I want you to consider where you may be struggling with change or something that you hold close to being sacred and necessary. Ask God in this moment what that might be and what God’s will is for this. Find out if you are striving against God or working with God. Together and collectively, this church belongs to God. We belong to God as the church. With the same response as Peter, let us not strive against God but instead recognize where God is at work, even in the difficult changes we see around us. When we join in God’s work rather than striving against it, like Peter, we will see the impossible happen. We will see plans unfold that we could never have conceived on our own.

Today as I have asked for the past couple of Sundays, we will spend a couple of minutes in silent prayer asking God, “Where am I striving against your will? Help me to recognize your will being done and join in your plans. Ask God to help you desire what God desires and follow God’s heart. Ask God’s help to listen clearly and the Holy Spirit to guide you in this prayer time.”