8. The Book of Acts
July 12th, 2009
Overcoming Prejudice
A few years ago I had the opportunity to travel to Italy on a Mission trip to work with some local missionaries and help them get their church developed. It was a great trip we got to go to Rome which I was really excited about. On our way back we had an 18 hour layover in Munich. So rather than laying around the airport we took a train into the city to find a place to eat diner. We didn’t really know our way around so we went into a German restaurant pub sort of deal. This place was awesome. It was all brick in side and the servers wore actual and I kid you not the stereotypical bar maid server uniforms we so often portray Germans wearing in movies. Our waitress came over and she was EVERYTHING you would image a German bar maid to be. She looked like an opera singer, he had blonde hair done in big tails, and a deep voice that makes mine sound like a mouse squeaking. She comes up to the table with her thick German accent and says: Ok what kind beer you have? We said we were not having any beer. She thought that was hilarious. Oh please, what kind beer? Again we said no beer. When she realized we were serious her face dropped and she was really confused. No beer? What you drink then? Now as soon as she walked away all the people I went with started talking. “What do you think her name is.” Some said Ulga and the others said Helga. I was really annoyed by this. I even stopped them and said: are you kidding me right now, we are in Germany and you guys are acting like racists. Come on that is so rude to guess stereotypical names for a German waitress. You guys should really deal with your prejudice. It didn’t make me popular but it did put an end to our American arrogance. So then the waitress comes back with our drinks and one of the guys asks her what her name is. She smiled and said, my name is Ulga. I didn’t talk for the rest of the trip. What are the odds of that? Here I was thinking we were displaying our ignorance and all they were doing is accurately guessing her name.
Now when we left that diner we headed back to toward the train there was a singing comedian on the street with a crowd of people watching. I don’t know how he knew but as we were passing by he recognized we were Americans. So he stopped his act and began to make jokes about us. We tried to ignore it and walk away which only seemed to escalate the volume and energy of his jokes. I remember we all had this uneasy feeling. We were in a foreign country and we were a minority. There was a certain sense of tension around us as we were not certain what would happen or how to respond to this comedian. We didn’t really get German humor so we just really were not sure if this guy was playfully joking for fun or if he was trying to make trouble. This was the only time in my life that I am aware of that I experienced the other side of prejudice. It was not enjoyable. There is something about being a minority and having people judge you and treat you differently because you are not like them that makes you feel less than human. There is just something about prejudice that makes you inferior. For most of us in this room you may never experience the other side of prejudice. Most of us will not likely be discriminated against because of our race or nationality. In fact the idea is so foreign to us that most of us never even really stop to think of it as an issue.
Racism and prejudice are complicated issues to which there are many facets. We like to think that at least in America it was something from the past and to some degree that is true. Racism is not nearly has prominent as it was 20 or 30 years ago but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. You know what one of the most racist countries in the world is? Israel. The racism that exists there goes beyond just the color of skin but to the nationality of the person. Putting aside all the fighting that goes on in the Middle East they have neighborhoods segregated based on nationality. That is racism. In Israel however racism is not melanin based it is ethnically based. We are going to look at Acts 10:9 but in order to understand what is going on we need to understand the prejudice that existed at this point. The law of God that set the Jews apart from every other nation had many laws about cleanliness. As a result the issue of something being considered clean or unclean was very important to the Jews. They would view certain foods and certain people as unclean and thus avoid association with them all together. The Jews took great pride in keeping themselves clean. Of course this gave them a very natural prejudice. The Jews had certain prejudice supported by the law against the Gentiles. That prejudice is what we are going to see in our text today.
One of the most common themes in the book of Acts is the inclusion of all people groups. It is wonderful news that the Gospel is spreading beyond the Jews to include the entire world but not everyone would be excited right away. The people of God were very exclusively Jewish to this point. Not long before this the dirty Samaritans were let in to the kingdom which would have been hard for some of the Jewish converts to Christianity to accept. At least with Samaritans however they are half Jewish. There is at least some good blood in them. With Gentiles there is nothing. Let’s look at the text:
Ac 10:9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. Ac 10:10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. Ac 10:11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. Ac 10:12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. Ac 10:13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” Ac 10:14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” Ac 10:15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” Ac 10:16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
This is one of the most important passages in the book of Acts and perhaps one of the most important events in history. This passage records the salvation of the gentiles and their inclusion into the kingdom of God. We do not have to become Jews to be saved. We don’t have to find salvation in their law. Now salvation comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ and the invitation is available to everyone everywhere. There is no difference. What God is saying here is that it is not the Jews were clean and the Gentiles were unclean. They were all unclean before God. They are all sinners. They had all fallen short. They were all unclean until they were washed by the blood of the Lamb of God. Jesus is the savior of them all. The Holy Spirit does not discriminate. God doesn’t love one group of people more than another so there is not place for separation no acceptable prejudice in which we can hold onto.
Peter had been holding onto this prejudice he had as a Jew. So here is Peter. He gets this vision from God three times where this sheet full of animals that were considered unclean Peter responds with a culturally appropriate ‘YUCK no thank you’. His understanding of what God was going to do had not yet matured. God gave Peter this vision and challenged his prejudices because Peter’s thoughts on gentiles were not the same as God’s thoughts and Peter’s feelings towards them were hindering the progression of the Gospel to all the world. Prejudice is a hindrance to the Gospel and it is inappropriate in the lives of Christians. Just look at how these events shaped Peter’s attitude in Cornelius house. In verse 34 we start to see the change:
Ac 10:34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism Ac 10:35 but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. Ac 10:36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.
Peter overcame his prejudice and opened the door allowing Gentiles into the kingdom of God. Here is an interesting question though: why did God use Peter? If Peter had prejudice why did God use him and not someone else? Peter isn’t even the Apostle to the Gentiles he is an Apostle to the Jews. So why doesn’t God send Paul? Why use Peter? We must not forget that Peter has something that Paul doesn’t. Paul was not a part of the church when it started. Paul was not involved in welcoming the Samaritans into the church. Peter was. So it makes sense that at least for the sake of continuity that Peter would be the guy to send. Additionally Peter is set up as one of the if not the key leader of the early church so it is appropriate to send him as a means of showing this new church is accepted by God. This is not to mention one very important thing about Peter. Peter holds the keys to the kingdom of God. We see back in Matthew 16 that Jesus gives Peter this authority to open or close doors to the kingdom:
Mt 16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Mt 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Peter holds the keys to the kingdom. He opened the door for the new Christian church in Acts 2. He opened the door for the Samaritans being brought into the kingdom in Acts 8. Now there is one final door for Peter, the man with the keys to the kingdom to unlock. That is the door for the gentiles. This is the third and final door that would open the Gospel to the entire world. In order to clearly establish His new kingdom God used two common agents: the first is Peter as the apostolic authority. The second was the Holy Spirit showing up and people speaking in tongues. Both of these were designed to show without any doubt that God approves of all nations in His kingdom. The means for entrance then is not nationality but faith. To those who have faith in God they are welcomed into His kingdom. No more separation it is time more unity. There is no place for prejudice in the church for we are all washed with the same blood, saved by the same Lamb, loved by the same God, and serve the same Lord.
If we are honest with ourselves we would have to admit that we each have our own prejudice. We have a way in which we view at least some of those around us as different. Some of the prejudice we have are so strongly rooted in our lives that they are difficult to let go of. You may not recognize it because your prejudice is not impacted by the color of a person’s skin but almost all of us somewhere in our lives have a problem with prejudice. When we judge someone because of how they dress we are a prejudice. When we look at the way they think or the way they talk or the way they act and we draw conclusion about them based on preexisting beliefs then we are prejudice. The problem that this will have is a certain unwillingness to take the Gospel to people in which you do not value. Oh, them, they just a bunch of red necks they don’t need the Gospel. That girl she is just a spoiled little daddy’s girl no reason to share the good news with her. When we begin to qualify who we will share the gospel with and the degree to which we will invest ourselves in their lives we are allowing our prejudice to interfere with God’s mission to save the world.
Prejudice is an obstacle to evangelism and it is always inappropriate in the life of a Christian. Whether that prejudice is based on clothing style, personal appearance, wealth, occupation, nationality, gender, age, or intelligence level does not matter. Prejudice goes against the plan of God to bring ALL people to a relationship with God. Until we have a common purpose we will have divisions and separations in the church. Until we have a common purpose we will have prejudice that we hold on to. God’s kingdom is about unity not division. It is important for us to look at our lives and see what prejudice we have been holding onto so we can learn to let them go. We must remove prejudice from our lives that we may be free to follow Christ wherever He leads without hindrance. For in Him there is neither male nor female, rich nor poor, slave nor free, there is neither Greek, nor Jew, neither black nor white. We are all children of God and there should be no division between us.
