Fifth Sunday of Easter

Richard Davenport May 15, 2022 - Fifth Sunday of Easter Acts 11:1-18 Acts 10 is one of my favorite passages. It's in Acts 10 that Peter receives the vision that he's now referencing in Acts 11. It's not my favorite for any major theological reason, but more for the wonder of it all. I mean, picture it. You're a Jew, living two thousand years ago, living a good and righteous life, following the law, when suddenly you get a vision from God himself announcing, "What's that, God? I think I heard you but I'm not really sure. Oh, there it is again! Really, God? I mean, I hear what you're saying but I'm not sure I believe it. Wait, there it is a third time, do you really mean it? You must really mean it. Oh I can't wait...Bacon!!!" I can imagine the delicious aroma of frying bacon in every apostles' household after hearing the news. The world will never be the same again. Now, while it's true that Christians can eat pork and thus life as a Christian is qualitatively better than that of a Muslim or a Jew, that is far from the only distinction and there's much more at stake than what sort of meat one is permitted to eat, no matter how delicious. Back in Acts 10, we hear about a devout Roman centurion named Cornelius who lived in the big Roman city of Caesarea, who had been praying and making offerings to God for some time. We don't know what he was praying for, but God sent him a vision that he should send messengers to Peter for him to come and share the Gospel with him and his household. The centurion was a wealthy man and had a large household and number of friends and others who very much wanted to meet Peter. Before the messenger reaches Peter, he has the vision as he describes it. A sheet with all manner of animals comes down from heaven and God directs him to eat. Peter tells God, "Nope! I've never eaten an unclean thing in my life." You might wonder at this point why Peter thinks telling God "No" is a good idea. He has a bad habit of contradicting God and suffering the consequences. Nevertheless, God does this a total of three times and Peter seems to realize there's a deeper meaning here. At the surface, the food issue is still important. The foods the Jews, or the Israelites as they were known before the exile, ate, the clothes they wore, their work schedule, their festivals, and all of that had a purpose. They were going to look different than everyone else. These laws weren't given because they were better and they weren't better people just because they had the laws. In fact, God chose them precisely because they were some of the lowest of the low. At the heart of it, the food isn't really the problem. The problem is their belief in their own superiority. They may have come from humble beginnings, but that was then. This is now. Now they are God's chosen. Now they are inherently better than everyone else because they have the Law, at least when they don't forget it. They have the temple, at least when they aren't being such crass idolaters that God sends someone to level the place and haul off the people. They definitely have the righteous and holiness that comes from being God's people. No one else can claim to come close. The problem was that they, as always, took God's good gift and twisted it. God did select them out of all the people and nations of the earth. He did make them his own. He did give them a fertile land to dwell and grow in. All of this and more was given to this group of people. They were special. They were different. Unfortunately, they took "special" and turned into "better." They weren't just special and distinct. They were better. And, if they were better, then they had no need to go mucking around with all of those other people who weren't like them. That meant, basically everyone else. It's even more unfortunate, because their special status really meant they had special responsibilities. They were supposed to proclaim God's Word to everyone else. They were supposed to live as examples of godly humility and righteousness. In cutting themselves off, they ignored the needs of everyone around them. In thinking themselves special, or even better than everyone else, they actually made themselves worse and turned out just like everyone else. The parallels to current events are hard to miss. Racism is one of the major issues running through our country these days. It doesn't really matter what color your skin is, you'll hear about it. You'll hear people's opinions on what should be done, which group is better, and so forth. None of it is new. Racism has been around in this country since the very beginning and will continue to be there when this country goes the way of the Roman Empire. It's sad that racism still with us, but it's unsurprising. We are always on the lookout for ways we can feel better about ourselves and that usually comes through comparing ourselves to other people. I look around and find something I like, it could be anything, the type of music I like, the country I live in, the political views I have, the clothes I wear, the club I'm a member of, whatever it is that suits me right now. Then I look around and find other people that fall into that same category, same country, same clothes, same music, whatever it is. Those are now, "my people." Everyone else is just everyone else. But, because we live in a great country or we listen to great music, we wear stylish clothes, we're members of the swankiest club, that makes us special. And, well, you don't do any of those things, so we must be better. The Jews didn't sully themselves by eating delicious pork like all of the heathens around them, I don't sully myself by listening to your trashy music. I have discriminating tastes. I prefer the culture and aesthetic of my music and don't need to listen to noise that isn't even up to the standards of what my 5yr old can do. In short, I'm better. Our country is fixated on the artificial divisions we've created based on skin color, but we mustn't get so focused on that problem that we forget that we create these sorts of divisions all over the place. If you're making a division that God does not make in the Bible, chances are you're doing it wrong. As St. Paul discusses the differences between Jews and Gentiles in Romans 3 he says, "for there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." In God's estimation, the only question put to you is, "Did you follow the Law perfectly?" If the answer is, "No." There is nothing else to say. Being better than someone else, even 10x, 100x, 1000x better than someone else gets you nothing. If you are not perfect then you are a sinner and deserving of eternal death. Any distinction you have made between yourself and someone else, whether based on skin color, music, club membership, or anything else, means nothing and earns you nothing. The Jews were special because they were singled out for a special job. Though they had this special job, they were still sinners and would still be condemned if they did not repent and receive the gift of eternal life God was offering them. We don't get any sense that Peter had any particular malice toward Gentiles, but he was known to give into peer pressure on occasion. Not only that, those with him are still holding on to the idea that all of this Jesus and salvation stuff is for them alone. God disagrees. If all have sinned, if there is truly no one better than another, then all need salvation. Whether you eat bacon like a Gentile, or whether you nobly abstain from it like a Jew, the end is the same. "Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life." True indeed. Actually it was always true, but now these individuals have seen the truth with their own eyes. We who create divisions in our own lives, we who think of ourselves as not just special, but as better than others, are treated no differently by God than anyone else. And so, out of his endless compassion and mercy, our God gives us the way to life and that way is found through repentance. We find life when we come before him and admit we are not any better, in fact we are probably worse. We do not deserve the least bit of mercy. God presents us with his gift of baptism and it is through baptism we all look the same. We don't look like Jews or Gentiles. We don't look black or white. No division is seen because to him we all look like Jesus. We are all one in Christ. There is no need for any of us to look down on anyone else, for in Christ we are all raised up to his level and made to be like him. The response of the Jews there with Peter is the proper and natural one. They glorified God that he saw fit to have mercy on more people. This is who God chooses to be, a God who voluntarily withholds judgment in order that he might have mercy. Thanks be to God that he chose to overlook my pride and my sense of superiority to hear my repentance and grant me forgiveness. Thanks be to God that he gave me his Spirit that I would even be able to put aside my pride and come before him in humility. Thanks be to God that gave me the washing of renewal through baptism that I might take on the righteousness of the Son of God, and, through him, find life eternal.