"the Gentile Pentecost"

“The Gentile Pentecost”

Acts 10:1-11:4

Last week we celebrated Pentecost.

It was the Promised Day when God sent the Holy Spirit to come and reside in the hearts of believers.

It was the beginning of the Christian Church.

But, on the day of Pentecost the only people on whom the Spirit descended were Jewish.

The 3,000 people who joined the church that day were all Jews.

They believed Jesus Christ was the Jewish Messiah.

And so, they continued to consider themselves Jews, just Jews who believed that Christ was the Savior of the world.

They still followed the Jewish dietary laws and all the other customs and traditions they had always held dear, including circumcision.

Just because they had been filled with the Holy Spirit didn’t mean they suddenly understood everything about Jesus and God.

It was just the beginning of the journey…

…just like you and I are on the Christian journey and we learn more and more about God’s grace and love as we seek “To love God and our neighbor.”

It takes a lifetime does it not?

It takes following the leading of the Holy Spirit day by day by day by day.

The Jews who believed in Jesus on Pentecost started to be persecuted and eventually had to flee from Jerusalem.

Simon Peter traveled West to the city of Lydda where he healed a paralyzed man, and then to Joppa in the Mediterranean coast where he brought a female Christ follower named Tabitha back to life, and then Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

A tanner was a person who treated the skins of dead animals.

This would have made Simon the tanner unclean according to Jewish Law.

Peter’s decision to stay with him shows a willingness on Peter’s part to choose grace over the letter of the Law and helps prepare the way for his upcoming vision and mission to the Gentiles.

What do I mean by this?

Call it what you will, but the vision Peter has in Acts Chapter 10 of heaven opening and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners…

…containing all kinds of four-footed animals, as well was reptiles and birds…

…these dirty, unclean animals that Jewish Law prohibited any Jew from eating…

…and yet, the Lord tells Peter to “Get up. Kill and eat”…

…is a radical re-defining of what is understood in the Old Testament.

It’s almost as if God is changing God’s mind.

Or, more accurately, you could call it the Holy Spirit at work in the church.

The Holy Spirit that constantly surprises, inspires, and guides people toward the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Notice that Peter says to God, “Surely not, Lord!

I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

And the Lord spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

We are told that this happened three times.

Why three times?

Is it coincidence?

I don’t think so.

How many times did Peter deny Christ on the night of Jesus’ arrest?

Three times.

How many times did Jesus tell Peter that he has been restored, forgiven, given a new vocation when the Risen Lord meets him and the other disciples on the beach?

Three times.

“Peter feed my lambs.”

“Take care of my sheep.”

“Feed my sheep.”

Peter, broken and lost after having denied his Lord experienced immense grace from Jesus.

And now, this very same man will learn to extend immense grace to others.

He will see more of what God is about than anyone ever has.

You see, as a Jew, Peter was a product of his times and of his culture.

He had been indoctrinated with the belief that Gentiles were dogs.

And Gentiles were any persons who were NOT Jewish.

He had been raised with the prejudice that, when leaving Gentile territory, a faithful Jew must shake the dust from his feet.

A faithful Jew would not eat with a Gentile or have a Gentile over to their home.

A faithful Jew would not even eat with utensils made by Gentiles unless they were first cleaned.

The only way Gentiles could be accepted into Jewish life was if they first converted to Judaism otherwise they were unrepentant and unsaved.

That’s hard stuff to let go of.

And so, with this vision still haunting him, along with the words: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean” the Holy Spirit speaks to Peter telling him that three men are looking for him.

You see, at the same time Peter had been having his vision of the sheet coming down from heaven, a Gentile named Cornelius was having his own vision.

And his vision came in the form of an angel telling Cornelius to: “Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter…”