“The most radical revolution”, part 3/3

 

Text: Acts 10.1-8, 34-48

People like us

     You gotta love Peter.  He’s such a relatable person.  Though it is often tempting to put biblical characters on a pedestal – and thus absolve ourselves of the need to try and imitate them – it remains the case that all the heroines/heroes of the Scriptures were very much human beings just like you and I.  They were all frail, conflicted, often unstable folks.  That’s why, I believe, we’ve been given their stories – to show us, not only that there are no excuses when it comes to following Jesus, but also to let us know that we – with all of our hang-ups – are in good company.

Excuses

     Luke’s story of Simon Peter begins in chapter 5 of his Gospel when Jesus calls Simon to abandon his fishing boat and follow him.  Simon responds, “Go away from me Lord!  I am a sinful man” (Lk. 5.8).  We can easily imagine Jesus thinking, “No kidding, tell me something I don’t know”.  The Bible is full of examples of people encountering God, only to draw back and start making excuses for their inadequacy the moment that God demands something of them.  Think of Moses at the burning bush: “I’m not a good speaker”.  Think of Isaiah in the Temple: “I’m a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips”.  Think of Jeremiah: “I’m too young”.  Back to Simon.  If being a sinner was enough to disqualify people from serving God, God would have to get on with his mission of salvation on his own.  However, God, in his humility and mercy, has chosen to accomplish his purposes through sinful, selfish and muddled people just like us.

Life in the Spirit

     I grew up in a church environment where people were encouraged to “pursue the presence of God”, and to have Spirit-experiences like the ones we read about in the book of Acts.  That’s all well and good.  However, I don’t recall hearing much about why the Holy Spirit empowers people and grants them these kinds of extraordinary experiences.  As we read the book of Acts, we discover that every time the Spirit “shows up”, it’s for a very specific purpose – the purpose of making the saving work of God go forward.  Those people who see visions, who are “filled with the Spirit”, are called upon to step out in faith into often uncomfortable and dangerous situations in order to proclaim the gospel and embody the love of God.  In the New Testament, the power of the Spirit is never granted to people as a private “spiritual treat”; rather, the Spirit is given to those who are willing to be conduits of his power and goodness so that the blessings of the Spirit can flow to others through them.  Of course, encountering the Holy Spirit is a lot like painting a house – you can’t spread it around without getting quite a bit on yourself.  Simon Peter would discover all this firsthand.

A disruptive wind

     The fact is, we need the Holy Spirit in order to move.  The biblical words for “spirit” also mean “wind, breath”.  Without the Spirit, we are “breathless”, we’re stuck – on the couch, or in the pews.  The “wind” of the Spirit pushes us forward and carries us along…often to places we would not have otherwise chosen to go.  The Spirit energizes us and sets us on the path to the unknown – which is precisely where God is always calling his people.  This is why we should think twice before “pursuing the presence of God”.  Don’t get me wrong, I am convinced that we should, that I should.  It remains the case that when God manages to get our attention, he will not simply pat us on the head and congratulate us.  God is on a mission, God is on the move, God has launched a revolution in his world, and he’s looking for accomplices.  As Simon and his brother Andrew plied their trade on the Lake of Galilee, they may have thought that they had things figured out – or that this was the best they could hope for, the best that life would offer them.  Fishing was good, honest work; they lived in the lake-side town of Capernaum; their families were there; every Sabbath, they would go to the synagogue; this was their world, this was what they knew.  And then Jesus showed up.

     That day on the beach, Jesus interrupted Simon’s life.  Jesus intruded into Simon’s existence.  Not only that, Jesus started making demands – “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people”.  Not only that, Jesus didn’t offer explanations or invite the brothers to talk about it over a cup of coffee.  Jesus uttered a simple command, whose meaning was very clear.  If Simon and Andrew decided to obey the call, there would be no turning back.  How often do we get the opportunity to completely change the direction of our lives, in an instant?

Journey into the unknown

     Simon decided to drop his nets and set out after Jesus.  Little did he know it at the time, but as he walked away from his boat, he was taking the first steps of a journey that would lead him far from his village and relatives, far from all that was familiar and safe, would lead him into places he would never have dreamed of going and doing things he would never have imagined himself capable of accomplishing.  Simon had a lot to learn.  As we read the Gospel, we discover that Simon had a tendency to speak more than he listened, or to speak impulsively without thinking.  Sometimes he was full of faith, and got things right – like when he confessed that Jesus was the Messiah (Lk. 9.20).  Other times, he was full of fear and got things drastically wrong – like when he denied even knowing who Jesus was (cf. Lk. 22.54-62).  The journey out of the tight confines of self-centeredness into the dizzying vastness of the purposes of God is a messy one.  But Jesus never gave up on Simon, just as God had never given up on his people.  God had always called his people to “come out of themselves”, to get over their preoccupation with their own interests.

A people on a mission

     This is what Jesus was doing when he called 12 disciples to follow him.  He was forming a group of people whose existence proclaimed a clear message – this is the “new Israel”, the new “sons of Jacob”.  The group of “the 12” was the vanguard of the renewed people of God who would accept to participate fully in God’s mission to “the ends of the earth” (cf. Ac. 1.8).  This is why, in Acts chapter 1, so much time is spent describing the process of selecting a replacement for Judas.  This had always been the plan – for Israel to be a nation that would live, not for herself, but for the other nations of the earth.  And within his people, God chose individuals to live for others, to live for his purposes.  Being a member of the people of God had never been a guarantee of safety or comfort.  Rather, being a member of the people of God was to be a representative of God in the world – which has always been a dangerous and uncomfortable thing – for those who embrace this identity.  Jesus was calling Simon to a larger vision – a larger vision of God and his purposes, a vision that would have room for those whom Simon would have probably considered to be “beyond hope”.  Perhaps this is why people often draw back after encountering God – the vision is simply overwhelming, it’s too much to take in.  It’s too demanding.  So we retreat to a space that is small enough for us to fill, something manageable, something less threatening.

The journey continues…

     In Acts chapter 1, the risen Jesus ascends to the right hand of God, leaving the apostles with the command to wait for the Spirit before embarking on their mission.  Would you have trusted this motley crew with the responsibility of being the agents of the kingdom of God in the world?  As the narrative of the book of Acts gets under way, we see Simon Peter take the lead of the community of believers in Jerusalem.  Peter is the one who, of course, does most of the public speaking.  He delivers speeches (sermons) to the crowds who gathering following miraculous events, he is the spokesman for the apostles when they are put on trial before the Sanhedrin.  Peter also visits other places in Judea and performs amazing deeds of power – he even raises a woman from death (Ac. 9.36-43).  Peter has come a long way from the shores of the Lake of Galilee.  And yet, his journey into the unknown is far from over.

Divine Comedy

     This brings us to chapter 10.  The more I read Luke’s work, the more I’m convinced that he has written a lot of his stuff with an intentionally humorous slant.  I find the humour in the fact that the narrative is not being “driven” by any of the human actors.  Rather, the human characters find themselves to be caught up in a drama which is not of their making.  I simply find it funny to read of how God acts among and through his human creatures.  How is the gospel going to be proclaimed to non-Jews, to Gentiles?  This is the story of the first pagan converts to Jesus.  This episode is so important that things get repeated; by the time you get through chapter 11, it has become a bit tedious.  But, since this event is so momentous, Luke thought that it would bear several re-tellings in the space of 2 chapters.

Two men at prayer

     The story begins with two very different men, both of whom are at prayer.  That’s a lesson in itself – even though prayer can often feel routine and unexciting, it is also a very good way to hear from God.  Are we available and attentive to what God wants to communicate to us?  Chapter 10 begins with a scene reminiscent of the opening scene of Luke’s Gospel, where we find the priest Zechariah at prayer in the Jerusalem Temple (cf. Lk. 1.5-20).  This time, the “devout, pious, righteous, God-fearing” man is a Roman soldier by the name of Cornelius, who is at prayer in his home in Caesarea, on the Mediterranean coast.  While “God-fearing Gentiles” – i.e. pagans who admired Judaism without becoming full-fledged converts – was a well-known category of people you could find at the local synagogue at the time, it still comes as a bit of a shock that we are being introduced to a God-fearing centurion, a representative of the Roman empire, someone responsible for using force to assure respect of the emperor’s wishes (cf. Lk. 7.1-10).

Clean & unclean

     As Cornelius is praying at the time of the incense offering (apparently a very good time for prayer), an angel appears to him – just like what had happened to Zechariah – and tells him that his prayers have been heard (cf. Lk. 1.13; Dn. 9.20-23).  The heavenly messenger then instructs the stunned soldier to send for a certain Simon who is called Peter (cf. Ac. 9.10-12), who can be found in the town of Joppa, a bit further down the coast.  Cornelius dispatches 3 men to fetch Peter, and while they are approaching Joppa, Peter – who is lodging in the home of Simon the Tanner – goes up onto the roof to pray.  While he’s praying, Peter gets hungry, and while the meal is being prepared, Peter “falls into a trance”; perhaps he simply dozed off and had a dream.  Being hungry, Peter dreams about food – to be more precise, about animals who are being lowered from heaven to earth in a kind of inverted parachute.  There’s only one problem, however; these are unclean animals, which the Law of Moses forbade members of the people of God from eating.  That being the case, the divine voice says – three times – “kill and eat”.  Three times – it’s always 3 times with Peter – he refuses to eat the unclean food.  While this part of the story may strike us as too strange to bother with, it’s actually crucial to understanding what’s going on.

     There were 3 Jewish customs that socially separated Jews from Gentiles – the kosher laws (food), circumcision and Sabath observance.  In the second century B.C., the Jews had endured an attempt by a pagan ruler to assimilate them to Hellenistic culture, and it had been precisely these 3 practices that had been targeted in this attempt to destroy Jewish identity.  People had died rather than betray their ancestral traditions.  So, for Peter, this was no laughing matter.  All that being the case, the voice from heaven says, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane” (Ac. 10.16; cf. Mk. 7.19).  This is hugely important – if Gentiles are to be integrated into the people of God, if the God of Abraham is now calling all the nations to unite under the lordship of the Messiah, then these 3 issues will need to be addressed.  Will Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus be able to share meals?  Which is to say, will they be able to belong to the same community and share a common life?

Walking by the Spirit

     The doorbell rings, and Peter “wakes up”.  The three men sent by Cornelius have arrived, and we are told that none other than the Holy Spirit informed Peter that He had sent these men and that Peter should accompany them without hesitation (10.19-20).  This is crucial – the Spirit is the One orchestrating this strange series of events.  The wind of the Spirit is blowing between Caesarea and Joppa, ready to “prompt” willing people to do the work of the kingdom of God.  Let’s not miss it – Peter is being sent to meet a man who prays to the same God that he does!  This is another lesson for us – just because people don’t come to church, that doesn’t mean they don’t pray; it doesn’t mean they don’t have faith.  Maybe they’re just waiting for an invitation, for a church-goer to befriend them…

     The men tell Peter how their master had been visited by an angel, spend the night in the home of the Tanner and the next day, Peter – along with some believers from Joppa – joins them for the return journey.  Peter arrives at Cornelius’ home to discover that his host has gathered his relatives and close friends.  The centurion recounts (for the 3^rd time: 10.30-33) the story of the angel and then Peter addresses the gathered group.  The fisherman from Galilee is a long way from his boat – he is in the atrium of the home of a Roman officer in the city of Caesarea, addressing a substantial audience of pagans with the good news of the Messiah of Israel and Lord of the world.

Expansion of the people of God

     As Peter is speaking, the Holy Spirit once again takes the initiative and “falls” upon all who heard “the word”; the family and friends of Cornelius begin to speak in other languages and to praise God (10.44-46).  This is a mini-Pentecost.  The Spirit is at work; the Spirit is the main character of this story.  The human beings simply have to obey what the Spirit tells them (which presupposes an openness and attentiveness to the voice and leading of the Spirit).  Once Peter saw the signs of the Spirit’s presence, he ordered everyone to be baptized in the name of Jesus (10.48).  And so, the first Gentiles are welcomed into the community of the Messiah, the people of God re-configured around Jesus.  The people of God has become international.  How did this come about?  Once again, through individuals responding positively to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  Through people who stepped outside of their comfort zone, in faith, trusting that God was up to something, and rejoicing that they had been given the opportunity to participate in the work of God.

Who will go?

     The Spirit is still at work.  Are we listening?  Are we sensitive to the heavenly wind?  Will we take the time to be still, to pray, to dare to say “Speak Lord, your servant is listening”?  Will we have the courage to obey what we hear?  Will we have the compassion to go to those that we usually avoid?  Towards those people who frighten or disgust us?  This is how the kingdom of God is established – one person at a time.  God is still on the move.  The Spirit is looking for women and men, old and young, who are willing to be accomplices in the revolution that began on Good Friday.  It is the most radical revolution the world has ever seen.  Will we seize our chance to be part of it?  Amen.