Have you ever been so hungry that you could literally eat a horse? Most times when we hear that term it usually refers to the amount of food that one feels like eating, not eating the actual horse. But what if you had a dream or vision about eating all kinds of weird stuff or things that you would never in your life think of eating even if it was the last thing to save you? Perhaps you would call that a nightmarish situation, right? Humans have eaten and do eat all kinds of unimaginable things depending on where they are and what are the cultural and traditional foods of that place.
Our text today features the Apostle Peter, who is probably still on top of the world so to speak, because he has dramatically shifted from being the denier of Jesus on the eve of the crucifixion to being the most prominent apostle of the early Christian movement. This is especially so after his rousing sermon on the day of Pentecost which led to over three thousand new converts to the new ‘Way’. In our text two important things happen concurrently which would mark the real shift in the focus of the early Christian movement from a revised Jewish movement still bound by the Old Testament laws to an inclusive movement for all believers in Jesus Christ. One of these things is Peter being on top of a roof in Joppa where he is so famished that he falls into a trance and has a vision about a man imploring him to eat animals that he would never ever consider eating because of them being religiously unclean according to the Jewish law. The second thing to happen is that three men from Caesarea who were sent by Cornelius, a centurion in the Roman Army, came to the same house asking for Peter to go with them to Caesarea. Although the events are outlined in the previous chapter, Peter is telling his experience in this text to some Jewish-Christians in Jerusalem who were extremely critical of the fact that he went and ate with some ‘uncircumcised people’ a code for non-Jews. At the heart of this incident involving Peter is the tussle between traditionalist Jews who felt that the evangelical outreach of the Apostles should be confined to the Jewish people and those Apostles who believed that God was giving them a message to evangelize all people whether circumcised and uncircumcised, Gentile or Jews. As we know from Paul’s missionary journeys, the movement eventually spread and had its largest following mainly among non-Jews. The rift between these two groups would become wider and irreparable by the end of the first century.
Let’s go back a bit to Peter on the roof of that house in Joppa. He is so hungry that he has fallen into a trance. A trance could be best described as a sort of outer body experience. You would think that any vision of something that could be eaten would be a welcome sight, especially with the invitation to get up and eat. However, it is obvious that even in trance, Peter was still deeply focused on being true to the religious obligations of his faith which meant that the animals he saw on that sheet were off limits for him and he would not break the religious law and partake of any of them. These were unclean animals and there were not much worse things to happen to a person than being contaminated by someone or something that was unclean. For a start, it meant that you would have to be isolated from family, your friends, and the public and it would take a few days to be declared by the priest that you are now clean after the one’s religious purification took place. It was simply an inconvenience that was not worth it for someone as devoted to the law as Peter was. While we are perhaps still thinking to ourselves what we would have done if we were in Peter’s position, the account moves on to introduce the men at the door of Simon the Tanner, the man at whose house Peter was staying. These men are non-Jews, and it now dawns on Peter who has come down to meet them, that the vision was not really about physical food. It was about people who needed God’s word. It was about people, and in this case a man named Cornelius who, though a Gentile, was God-fearing and whose work was pleasing to God and who God wanted to bring into the fold as a true believer in the good news of Jesus’ saving work on Calvary. It now becomes apparent that the real food here is not animals to be killed, cooked and eaten, but it is the sharing of God’s word with those who need to hear it and be brought into the Kingdom of God. This reminds me of the account in St. John 4 where after the conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, the disciples return and urge Jesus to eat. In response he told them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” (See St. John 4:34 NIV) Of course, Jesus was referring to God. Let us reflect on some points that can guide our own relationship with God from the word today.
- God can and does use unexpected people and things for his purpose.
We can imagine that the image of a sheet coming down from heaven is the last thing that Peter would have expected when he went on to that rooftop that day. He could never have imagined even that that vision was pointing to the direction in which his ministry or service to God should go. It is true when we hear it said that God is a God of surprises. We can never really predict how or when or even who God will use to conduct his purpose in the world. Perhaps the only clue is that it is usually the most unlikely situation and by human standards the most unworthy or unqualified person God uses to his glory on earth. The one thing that we must note that Peter and Cornelius had in common was their devotion to God. Cornelius was God-fearing and could even be called a righteous man though he was a Gentile and worst of all a Roman soldier, and Peter was clearly deeply committed to God and was one of those on whom the Spirit of God came on the day of Pentecost. It is not surprising then, that he was deep in prayer at the time when he fell into this trance. In this text, God is bringing two unlikely and contrasting characters together for his purpose in the world, the saintly Peter and the gentile and outcast Roman soldier Cornelius. God does “work in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform” *1 By bringing them together in this way, God is again showing us as he showed Peter then, that we cannot underestimate who or what God will use to conduct his purpose in the world.
- God is not bound by laws and traditions but seeks people of true faith to do his will.
It is easy to get caught up in the ‘right’ way of doing things or following the traditions of our culture or religion so much that we forget the value or purpose of what is to be done in the first place. Even in a trance Peter’s mind was focused on obeying the law. He was a true traditionalist. This is not to discredit the value and importance of following the legal requirements or traditional practices. What it does show us though is that we can miss vital messages or fail to discern God’s call because we are caught up in doing what is expected by our human traditions or religious practices. In this way too, we can also discredit or minimize the importance of others or the call of others who we think are not worthy or not qualified to be called into service by God. Peter could have easily refused to go to this Gentile’s house if he had insisted on maintaining the teachings he was brought up with which held that God only wanted to have a relationship with Jews.To truly do God’s will, one must be in a deeply connected relationship with God which makes it possible to see God at work even in the unexpected and unorthodox circumstances or among people who many others would regard as unworthy or unqualified. This is why Peter was able to go with those men to Cornelius’ house in Caesarea. If he had said, no way I am not going into the house of any uncircumcised or unclean person, think of the opportunity he would have missed to share God’s word and convert persons who were ready to receive with joy the word of God. How many of us have missed God’s call or prompting in our hearts to share a word with someone because we thought that person would not be receptive to the gospel or maybe the person might be hostile to any word from scripture. We must never forget that God is a God of surprises and God’s ways are not ours nor his thoughts like ours *2 and so where we do not see possibilities God may have already prepared the heart and just asks us as Christians to be obedient to his word even if we feel afraid or feel that it might be a waste of time. Let God be the judge of that. Not us.
- The God we worship and serve welcomes all people into a relationship with him irrespective of who they are.
At the end of it all this account is a reminder that we serve a God who is inclusive. Our God is ready with open arms like a loving parent to welcome all who seek him and commit to following him faithfully. In the end it is not God’s will to segregate and divide people but to bring people together as one herd under the one shepherd, Jesus himself. No longer does race nor culture nor gender nor economic status nor one’s nationality nor ethnic background nor political persuasion nor anything else that separates or distinguishes one person from another or one group of people from another make us different in God’s sight. No longer are we judged or valued based on what distinguishes us as human beings but on what joins us together, our common humanity and our common heritage as children of God. This is the essential message of the gospel as is so well articulated by the Apostle John himself when he said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (See St. John 3:16 NIV) The key phrase here is “whosoever believes”. In that statement alone we have the gospel mission for all Christians. We are to go and find whosoever, not any particular group or any special person or any particular nationality or race. In the end, this message in Acts chapter 11 is not about physical food but it is about food metaphorically as it challenges us as Christians to see the work that God has given us which is to evangelize and to reach those who are being lost as our food as Jesus referenced in his conversation with his disciples in St. John chapter 4. Our food or that which nourishes us must be the mission to invite and encourage other people to see the risen Lord Jesus as their Savior and Lord as well and therefore seek to know him as we already do. I have mentioned in previous messages that the challenge that we face today is that we live in a world where there are so many divisive issues and of course so many people who find and emphasise the things that distinguish us and divide us rather than the things that we have in common or the things that should bring us together as people. In fact, nearly everything we can think of is used as a reason to be divisive by many people now whether they are things that we can change or not and this is also the case with our christian walk as well. Many Christians focus on what distinguishes us as Christians rather than what is common to us all or what we can all agree on. In such a divisive world, we belittle and discriminate against those persons who are not like us or do not follow our ways or are simply different from us even when it is something that we have no control over such as the color of our skin or where we were born or the sex that we were born with. In Peter’s day, people who were not born Jews were discriminated against. Many were not recognised as Christians willingly in the early Church by those who still insisted that they had to be circumcised and practice some aspects of the Jewish faith. What are the ways in which we still discriminate against other people even though we are all Christians? In what ways do we knowingly or unknowingly contribute to or harbour attitudes that serve to divide rather than bring people together?
The challenge for us as we go into the world today is to remember that we do not serve a God that is limited or bound to human traditions and practices or laws and as such God can and does use any situation or person to carry out his purpose. We must also remember that what God desires most are people who are deeply rooted in faith who can discern his call to others even if they are not who we would expect God to seek out. Lastly, we must recognise that we serve God by bringing “whosoever” will to Christ. That “whosoever” as John puts it, is not limited to any particular person or group. All are God’s children and he seeks a re;ationship with all people. Our God is an inclusive God. Let us go into the world and be fed and nourished as we help others to know Jesus our risen saviour and Lord. May God give us the obedience, courage and strength to hear his Word and be faithful to Him. Amen.
*1 From the hymn ‘God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform’ by English hymn writer John Newton (1725-1807)
*2 From Isaiah 55:8 New International Version
*3 From St. John 3:16 New International Version
