The Spirit Among the Gentiles

Prayer

Let there be light in our minds, O Lord, sent through the reading and the hearing of your Word. In its rich treasures may we discover guidance for living Spirit guided lives today and all the days of our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sermon

So, we have been working our way through the book of Acts, and we have been looking at how the Holy Spirit went to work among the early church – and how that work continues to this day. Last Sunday our church community – in attending to God’s word as given to us in Acts 10:24-48 – heard of how the Holy Spirit brought Peter to Cornelius’ house, and in that event, the gospel was proclaimed and offered to a gentile who was also a Roman Centurion. And just a few weeks ago we heard how, in Acts 8:26-40, the Holy Spirit led Philip to proclaim the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch.

In all of this, we have been seeing the Holy Spirit slowly stretching this early Christian community out of its comfort zones. Slowly, the Holy Spirit is breaking new ground before their eyes as they behold God expanding his kingdom in unexpected – and for them – oftentimes uncomfortable ways.

And so today we come to this text in Acts 11:1-18, and we see that this sense of discomfort within the Christian community begins to break out in forthrightly expressed unrest by some in the church in Jerusalem.

Now, when we look at this passage in most Bibles it is given a heading such as “Peter Explains His Actions” or, more mildly “Peter Reports to the Church in Jerusalem.” However, neither of these really captures what is happening in what we just read, and I must admit that I am tempted to make up my own heading which would read… “and… Peter gets into trouble!” {laugh}

All kidding aside though, that is literally what happens here! In fact, I should probably note, not only does Peter get into trouble, but it is the Holy Spirit that gets him in trouble! And boy, would that the Holy Spirit gets all of us into such trouble!

And why is that? Well, let’s look at this text together. How does it open? It begins: “The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard” (1:1). And what did they hear: “that the Gentiles also had received the word of God” (1:1). Now that is not a very offensive thing, is it? No. In fact, this was the very thing that Jesus had told them to do. So, we read in Luke’s Gospel ch. 24, v. 47Jesus telling them “that repentance and the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations.” And this is also repeated at the end of Matthew’s gospel. So, the proclamation of the gospel to the Gentiles is not the source of the strife in today’s reading.

And that is made abundantly clear in the charge that is laid before Peter in today’s reading. What was offensive was what happened after the Gentiles received the gospel and believed in Jesus Christ. So, today’s reading continues on in vv. 2-3, “the circumcised believers criticized him and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them!” Here we come to the source of scandal… here we discover what all the commotion was about: Peter went into a house owned by uncircumcised men and ate with them.

The issue is not that Peter preached Christ to the Gentiles – this was expected. But what did cause a stir is that he entered a house that was considered unclean and ate and held fellowship with people who were considered unclean – all due to the fact that these Gentiles were not circumcised. That is, these “circumcised believers” considered the gentile’s ritually unclean, and so, considered unworthy of table fellowship – at least until they submitted to the Jewish law and were circumcised.

But this should strike us to the heart, shouldn’t it!? Here we are, not long after Jesus’ ascension into heaven, and some in the Church had already forgotten that this was the very thing that our Lord himself was willing to do! For instance, look at Mt. 8:5-13. There a gentile soldier approaches Jesus and asks him to heal his servant. What is Jesus’ reply? In v. 7, Jesus asks: “Shall I come and heal him.” Jesus offers to come into this “unclean” man’s house! Though this ends up not happening, because this centurion insists that he is not worthy of having Jesus enter is house, our Lord was himself willing to do so! And then, only four verses later, Jesus offers the following teaching: “I say to you that many will come from the east and the west [that is, gentiles from abroad], and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” (v. 11). And here we see that table fellowship is expressly taught as being an inevitable consequence of the Kingdom that Jesus has come to establish.

Yet, in today’s passage we see the old ways putting up a fight; don’t we! Exclusivism won’t easily give up the ghost.

But that is not the only point in this passage. No, this is not just about throwing wide open the doors for all to be welcomed to table fellowship. At its deepest sense, today’s passage reveals a constant tendency among God’s people, through the ages. And that is to hold at arm’s length the transformational and regenerating working of the Holy Spirit. All is well and good when the Holy Spirit is at work in ways that we would expect. So, it was for these “circumcised believers” who “criticize Peter.” As long as God the Holy Spirit worked in magnificent ways, but didn’t push them out of their comfort zone, then all was well.

However, that is not what happened, and it is not what Peter gave recognition to… was it? No!

But before we are too hard on these circumcised Jewish Christians, we should remember why this was such a hard thing for them to let go. R. K. Harrison, in an article found in the Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, points out that:

When Greek paganism threatened to culturally and religiously overwhelm Judaism some two centuries before Christ was born, circumcision took on heightened meaning and a distinctive indication of Jewish fidelity to the Covenant.[1]

Moreover, we find in the Old Testament prohibitions against eating food offered to idols. For us this may seem odd. “It is just food!” We might exclaim. Yet we need to remember that oftentimes, the meat offered during worship was often eaten directly afterwards or during a meal that was part of the worship service. As such it is no wonder that people would be concerned that eating with a gentile would lead not only to defilement, but also apostacy to pagan religion.

So, we find in Num., ch 25 recorded the cautionary tale of the time “When Israel lived in Shittim.” We are told that during that time, “The people of that land invited the Israelites to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.” As such, it is no surprise that Jewish Christians, remembering such events would react to hearing that Peter ate with gentiles!

But that is not what happened, is it!? No, Peter does not worship pagan Gods, instead, he offered to a gentile and his family and friends the Good News about Jesus Christ. And what happens? We find in Acts 10:44 recorded the fact that “While Peter was still in the middle of saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.” Thus, giving indisputable proof that these pagans were chosen by God to be his adopted people, just like the Jewish people! And so, Peter continues in Acts 10:47: “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

In light of this, it seems important to note that what seems to be at the heart of the“uncircumcision party’s” anxieties is a real and historically grounded concern, and yet, it is ultimately unfounded. It is, to name it bluntly, a concern based on fear. And that is one of the things that the Holy Spirit casts out! Isn’t it? This is why John in his first epistle, writes in ch. 4, vv. 12-13 that “God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us.” And this is importantly followed just a few verses later by the affirmation that: “Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear” (v. 18).

I hope you caught that! Yes, part of the Holy Spirit’s work is to perfect love within us, and part of that perfection of love is the casting out of every fear. But also notice something else in that chapter of John’s epistle! This love is not only directed to God, but also towards our neighbor. This is why John earlier in v. 11writes “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” Such, love it is true, begins within the household of God, but it can never rest there! No… in fact this Spirit grounded love inevitably reaches outward into the world, sharing – in love – the gospel of God’s love given expression in his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the kingdom he has come to establish. It is, in short, a missionary love that we are all called to participate in.

This is why, in v. 12 of today’s reading, Peter recalls before his accusers that “the Spirit told me to go with them [that is to the uncircumcised gentiles], making no distinction.” And so he did… he went among them, sharing the good news… and they by God’s grace accepted it, and were baptized.

And so, as Peter recounts all of this before the “circumcision party” all of this becomes clear to them. They come to see that they have no need to be concerned in this case. These gentiles in no way were a cause for scandal – for, as Peter states: “God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 17).

But I would also call our attention to another aspect of today’s passage that we can easily pass over in considering the Holy Spirit’s pushing the church to fearlessly share the gospel with those among whom these Christians were afraid to go. And what is it that I would call our attention to? Namely, that this free offer of the gospel, once accepted by the believer through the inward working of the Holy Spirit, brings about a particular working within the soul. As the final verse in today’s reading reads: “They glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life” (v. 18).

I would point out two things that happen here. First, we see that among those who were initially suspicious about what Peter had done, there is a softening of heart, which leads to them glorifying God. They rejoiced in what God had done, recognizing that they were wrong, and having done so, turned to give glory to God for expanding their imagination for who would be their brothers and sisters in Christ, beyond what they had previously imagined possible. And not only expanding their imagination, but also that God by his grace had made this a reality.

But also, we are given insight into what happened amongst the Gentiles. That is, as these Jewish Christians proclaim: to them “God granted repentance that leads to life.” Notice what is said there. Not only that they are accepted, but that God’s grace has so powerfully worked in their lives that they have repented and turned away from their sins and have begun living in a different way, the way “that leads to life.”

David Peterson, an Anglican pastor and biblical scholar, commenting on what Luke is seeking to help us understand here, notes in his commentary on Acts that:

…turning to Christ involved a radical reorientation of allegiance and devotion, which is what is meant in this case by repentance that leads to life…. Not simply repentance of particular sins, but a rejection of everything that hinders the reception of salvation through faith in Christ is meant.[2]

That is what is central to this passage. Namely, that wherever God has gone to work, we must not – and indeed – cannot oppose. But equally important is what gives evidence to God’s work, and that is what we can expect to see among those whom God is at work… namely “repentance that leads to life.”

Yes, God swings wide open the door of salvation to many whom we may not expect to find in his kingdom. As Jesus is recorded saying in Matt. 21:31 to some Pharisees who sought to entrap him: “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.” But what is the path that Jesus lays before all people as the way to enter that kingdom? We find it laid out for us, just a few chapters earlier in Matthew’s gospel, in 18:3, he says: “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” And this is what God had done among the new Gentile believers whom Peter was sent to. And in seeing this proof laid before them, the “circumcision party” who had initially criticized Peter, “fell silent” for they saw the indisputable working of God’s grace, and had to admit that God was expanding those who were to be called his children beyond what they were able to imagine!

Conclusion

So what does all of this mean for us today?

Well, I would argue that we – along with all Christians through the ages – are challenged in today’s Scripture to always be ready to be surprised by just how expansive God’s expression of grace is. As Martin Marty, a church historian, writes: “out of incidents [such as that found in Acts] the good news came to be universalized, so that the many of us who are not Jews “will be saved. …And the rest is history!”[3]So we see in this passage, as pastor theologian R. Kent Hughes writes, that:

God brings change and enlargement through men and women who have a vision—through those who see themselves and others as God sees them and act accordingly. … [And] when such ambassadors of Christ [share] their vision, the horizons of those around them are widened.[4][5]

So, we too have the duty of hearing and heading God’s word to us… a word which sets before us and challenges us with a vision. A vision not of a church turned in upon itself and caring only for those who fit our own cultural and ethnic scene, but of a church comprised of those gathered in from every corner of the world (as Jesus exhorts his disciples at the end of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke). In today’s Scripture I would say that we are called to remember the work God continues to do in our world, drawing people to him from “every tribe, nation, people, and tongue” (as the book of Revelation 7:9 puts it) and that God is inviting us to share the good news with them. This is all the more important, since as Dr. Russell Moore warns us in his most recent article in Christianity Today: “[American] Christianity… is in some circles being replaced by a kind of blood-and-soil “Christianity”… with obligation not to the Lord or a church… but to a particular brand of white political and cultural identity.”[6]

But alongside this, we are also called to remember that this gospel we are called to share has a content! It is not simply an invitation to come in and be left unchanged! No! God’s grace never leaves us unchanged. We should expect that where God’s grace is at work in a person’s life there will be change; that is: repentance, and growth towards greater holiness, by the Holy Spirit’s work upon our hearts. As biblical scholar D. A. Carson notes (and please note that I am heavily paraphrasing here):

Paul, in his epistles… instead of insisting that Christians live up to the expectations of our tribe tells us that we must live up to the expectations of the church’s Lord. …in Paul’s vision, to be a Christian, to confess Jesus as Lord, meant to adopt a world view in which we are bound to please the Lord Jesus Christ… and we do so by living in accordance with God’s free grace in our lives, by which God enables us to lead holy lives, as he forms us into the likeness of Jesus Christ.”[7]

Yes, God does not leave us unchanged, and that my friends is good news which we should be excited to share with everyone we meet! As Paul says in his letter to the Romans 16:17: “But thanks be to God that you who were slaves of sin have now become obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were committed.” That is, all of us were at one time wallowing in our brokenness… but now, God’s grace has broken forth into our hearts and is transforming us, pouring upon us – as John says in his Gospel (1:16)– “grace upon grace.” …that is grace which is more than adequate to heal and restore us to deep relationship with our Lord.

And we have the privilege of offering the good news of that free grace of God to all whom we encounter. To announce before the world that the brokenness, hopelessness, despair, and suffering that people everywhere are experiencing – either because of sin or being sinned against – has been defeated in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. And that God is at work re-creating each of us into a person “after the image of his Son,” as Paul so beautifully puts it in Rom. 8:29. So a gathering of church leaders in the 17th century, in the Netherlands, called Christians to remember that “the promise of the Gospel… ought to be declared and offered to all nations, and to every person promiscuously and without distinction.”

So, brothers and sisters, let us not weary of or shy away from always bearing witness before the whole world, before every person, the good news that God’s grace is for them, that he is inviting them to table fellowship with his people, and that his grace is life transformative.

God’s grace never leaves us as we are… and it is always calling us deeper into relationship with him, and into the awesome joy of holiness. And as God transforms us and others we find that rich fellowship alongside people we would never have imagined calling our brothers and sisters becomes a reality. That is what God’s kingdom looks like as the Holy Spirit breaks forth into this world. And that is what we are both privileged and challenged to see beginning to happen in today’s reading from Acts when we see the Spirit breaking forth in the lives of the Gentiles. So let us too learn from today’s passage to rejoice when God does exactly that!

Let us Pray

Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit upon us! We pray before you with hearts humbled by the inexhaustible extent of your love, mercy, and grace. We ask you to pour upon each of us here today, an overabundance of fervor to share the Good News with all we meet, to know and trust that you have those whom are yours from among all the peoples of this world. Let us be faithful in sharing this Good News with all, even those who we may not expect to be called by you.

O Spirit of God, come upon us and give us power to work for Christ; power to preach the Gospel, power to tell the story of the Cross. We ask it all in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

[1]Cf. R. K. Harrison, “Circumcision,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, p. 99. [2] David G. Peterson, The Acts of the Apostles, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009), 349. [3] Van Harn, Roger E., ed. The Lectionary Commentary Theological Exegesis for Sunday’s Texts: The First Readings, the Old Testament And Acts. Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 2005, p. 576. [4] R. Kent Hughes, Acts: The Church Afire, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1996), 154. [5] R. Kent Hughes, Acts: The Church Afire, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1996), 154. [6] https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/august-web-only/russell-moore-white-evangelicals-bible-belt-south-church.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=article [7]A Call to Spiritual Reformation (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1992), 106-107.