“Getting Out of God’s Way”
Acts 11:1-18
September 23, 2007
What happens when God thoroughly and completely messes up the paradigm? When God acts in a way utterly differently than you expected Him to act?
According to Wikipedia (and if it’s in Wikipedia, then it must be true), “Angst is the German word for fear or anxiety. It is used in English to describe an intense feeling of emotional strife.” Angst is the word, perhaps, a sense of “what do we do now?” Edvard Munch graphically captured this sentiment with his painting entitled “The Scream”. Of course, in our contemporary society, we don’t think of Edvard Munch; we think of MacCauley Culkin. But nonetheless, the sense of angst is profound, particularly when we are thrown for an unexpected loop. News of the conversion of these Gentiles in Caesarea reached Jerusalem prior to Peter’s arrival, and it caused widespread angst among the leadership of the early church. We can feel for them; this represented such an incredible shift to their way of thinking that we could hardly have expected them to greet the development with open arms! This against the backdrop of the fact that some of the Hellenistic Jews—remember, these were the Greek-speaking Jews who’d not been raised in Jerusalem, but rather moved there—some of these had adopted fairly liberal attitudes toward the popular interpretation of Jewish law. This didn’t set well with the Jewish authorities, and led to not only the martyrdom of Stephen, but a widespread persecution of the Hellenistic Christians that led to a dispersal of most of them from Jerusalem (remember, though, that we said that this was part of God’s plan as well!).
Now, if Peter were advocating the acceptance of Gentiles, uncircumcised and apart from converting to Judaism, straight into the church, then whatever goodwill might have remained between the Jewish religious leaders and the followers of Christ was bound to dissipate. And so his homecoming wasn’t the joyous occasion it might have been!
I. Peter’s Criticism - :1-3
God’s Word to the Gentiles
He was confronted by the Jewish believers, or at least many of them (“the circumcision party”) with the charge that he’d essentially punted the entire Jewish character of Christian faith in order to win Gentile converts. The issue they raise was not that of Gentiles coming to faith in Christ; rather, it was Peter going into the home of a Gentile and indiscriminately sharing a meal with them. This, as you might remember, represented a real breach in conduct; for a Jew, taking food with a Gentile implied a casual indifference to issues of cleanness and uncleanness in a ceremonial/religious sense. It’s not an off-the-wall charge; it was in keeping with their understanding of God’s design for holy living. They undoubtedly saw themselves as being concerned for maintaining the appropriate standards of holiness, and there is nothing wrong, per se, with that idea.
And yet, what was undeniable was that God’s Word had gone to the Gentiles, just as they were, without their having come through the doorway of Judaism first. This presented a real dilemma, one that needed some explaining, and thus we read
II. Peter’s Defense - :4-16
God’s Work among the Gentiles
His defense? God did it! It was pretty much that simple! Peter had been presented with, in the words of F.F. Bruce, a “divine fait accompli”. Yes, it was revolutionary for Peter to go into a Gentile home; yes, it was revolutionary for Peter to eat with Gentiles; yes, it was revolutionary to baptize an uncircumcised Gentile, but to not do so would have been to get in God’s way, and that’s not something he wanted to do!
He had six witnesses to confirm the truth of everything that he was saying. William Barclay finds this number significant, because “in Egyptian law, which the Jews would know very well, seven witnesses were necessary completely to prove a case”, while in Roman law, which they would also be well-acquainted with, seven seals were necessary to authenticate an important document like a will.” Peter isn’t making this up. Peter recounts how
God
• Gave Peter a vision which showed him that eating animals was not in itself to any longer be considered an unclean thing.
This wasn’t something Peter merely dreamed up, and it wasn’t something that he was looking for. It certainly didn’t equal “wishful thinking” on Peter’s part; he had no particular notion, apparently, that Gentiles would be accepted so easily into this newly-inaugurated church. In fact, he protested when God said, “dinner is served.” No, this was a God-thing in its origin.
• Sent three Gentile men from Caesarea, who arrived at the precise moment that the vision was wrapping up.
God’s timing was impeccable; just when Peter was wondering, “what in the world is the meaning of this”, three men appeared at the door of Simon the tanner. It was a God-thing…
• Told Peter to go with the men immediately.
Peter wouldn’t have been naturally inclined to go on an unplanned journey with three strangers—but God told him to. Again, sounding like a broken record, it was a God-thing.
• Gave a vision through an angel to Cornelius, of which Peter learned when he got to Cornelius’ home.
This vision from God preceded Peter’s, but Peter reports the fact that this was communicated firsthand to Peter by Cornelius when he arrived at his living room. God had prepared the whole thing by first granting to the God-fearer Cornelius a vision to send for Peter in the first place.
• Brought the Holy Spirit directly to the Gentiles as Peter explained the gospel to them.
This could be called the “Gentile Pentecost”, as the Holy Spirit came on these Gentiles in an unexpected way, and caused them to speak in tongues, just as had transpired at Pentecost. This had to be a God-thing, because Peter hadn’t yet issued an altar call, and yet the Spirit came on these Gentiles in a way that Peter couldn’t have predicted.
• Reminded Peter of the words of Christ, Who said, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
This was God explaining exactly what was taking place right before Peter’s very eyes. God did all of these things in order to drive home very clearly this message: the gospel of Jesus Christ is good news for all the world.
We live in an age in which our Christianity has become so terribly “me-centered” or “man-centered”. In other words, instead of thinking first about God and His glory, we are instructed/encouraged to think first about the benefits that we reap from having a relationship with God, how serving God will benefit us instead of how it will bring Him the glory that He deserves. Go to the website of one prominent pastor, and his exhortation is “Discover the Champion in You.” No, “I know that nothing good dwells in me...For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” That’s what Paul wrote in Romans 7. I have sin in me, not a “champion”; that’s why I need Jesus!
Another pastor’s website announces, “You are the Prophet of your Own Life”. I don’t even know what that means! But the point is that the focus of so many today is on me, me, me, instead of on God. No, He’s writing the story of His glory, and amazingly, He graciously brings us in on the action, writes us into the script, allows us to play bit parts in the drama of His eternal plan. God loves me, but His plan doesn’t center around me as though He wants me to narcissistically believe that “it’s all about me”. At Red Oak, whatever else we get wrong, we have to get this right: God must be exalted, because it is all about Him.
Peter’s defense was simple: this was God’s work among the Gentiles, not something that I cooked up or accomplished in my own wisdom and might. And these 6 guys will witness to that!
III. Peter’s Conclusion - :17
God’s Way with the Gospel
“If God did it, how could I oppose God?” The very same thing that had happened to the Jews in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost had now happened to these Gentiles, and if so, who in the world would Peter be to say, “no, Lord, You can’t do that!” Had Peter finally learned the lesson that telling God what He could and couldn’t do was a dead-end street? Was God finally teaching headstrong Peter that he needed to humble himself before the Almighty, to accept once and for all the fact that God’s ways are not our ways, His thoughts not our thoughts, His plans higher than ours as high as the heavens are above the earth?
Let us hold our beliefs about God and His ways with a level of humility, shall we? I used to teach my folks in Mercer something I want to teach you guys. It’s a liberating thing, though it’s hard for some of us to get a grip on. Ready? “Hey, I just might be wrong!” Now, I believe that the Bible is God’s perfect, inspired Word, and He’s given us some things that are pretty clear therein. The deity of Jesus Christ isn’t up for debate. The fact that His blood cleanses us of all sin isn’t either, nor is His bodily resurrection, nor His return nor eternal reign. He alone is Lord, and that’s not an article on the table for consideration, for if Jesus isn’t Lord of all, He’s not Lord at all. But when it comes to some of those things that have divided Christians through the centuries, I’m going to hang onto those things with as much humility as I can. I know what I think about the gift of tongues for today, about the role of women in the church, about the chronology of end-times events, about the mode, meaning, and importance of baptism, about church government, and the like. But well-meaning, committed Christ-followers differ from me in these relatively minor areas and many more, and I figure that I’ll know God’s mind perfectly when I get to Heaven, but until then, I’m going to have the humility to say, “hey, I just might be wrong!”
Peter finally learned that lesson; he and the early church had no clue that non-Jews could come right into the church without becoming Jews first—but when God’s way became clear, rather than fight it or stubbornly insist that he knew better than God, Peter changed his thinking.
IV. Peter’s Vindication - :18
God’s Worship by the Jews
“Silent” – what does one say to this? But the Bible also says that they “praised God”. Likely, he shut the mouths of the accusers, without convincing them (at least entirely), while those more disposed to the openness of God in this matter were filled with praise. There are always “early adopters” of any idea, and these were the ones praising God.
This didn’t settle every problem; we know that there lay on the horizon for the fledgling church certain issues regarding this same subject, the admittance of the Gentiles into the church. But it did create a sea change in one respect: Gentiles would be part of the great plan of God’s kingdom. And though God had acted in a way that shocked and awed the Jerusalem church, they learned to praise Him for it—as should we!
Table Talk
How might we “get in God’s way”? What things do people do that constitute failing to cooperate with God’s plan?
• By trying to keep God in the box of our expectations
• By delaying obedience when God has shown us to obey
• By ignoring the welfare of our brothers and sisters in Christ
• By sacrificing the best on the altar of the good
