So Important We Have To Say It Again

May 15, 2022

Hope Lutheran Church

Rev. Mary Erickson

Acts 11:1-18; John 13:31-35

So Important We Have to Say It Again

Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I was a psychology major in college. In one of my classes, we did exercises in active listening. One of the things we learned was what it means if someone tells you something a second time. If they repeat something, it means this piece of information is very important. They want to make sure that you heard it and grasp what they’re saying. They’re not sure that you got it completely the first time and so they’re telling you again. And they might even tell you a third time if it’s really, really important!

In our reading today from the book of Acts, the writer Luke is telling us something for the second time. This story about Peter and the vision on the roof and the Gentile visitors: it all happened in real time back in Chapter 10. And now in Chapter 11, we’re hearing it all over again. And not just a short, summarized version, we’re getting all the details.

The believers in Jerusalem are questioning Peter about why he would eat with Gentiles. And Peter explains it to them “step by step.” We hear the story all over again, step by step.

- Peter falls into a trance and experiences a vision

- He sees a sheet lowered from heaven. It’s filled with all sorts of unkosher, unclean animals.

- A voice from heaven commands him to eat; Peter is aghast at the suggestion. He never eats anything unclean

- The voice pronounces: What God has made clean, you must not call profane.

- This dream repeats three times; then the sheet returns to heaven

- And then three men appear at the front door of the house. The Spirit tells Peter he must go with them. “Don’t make a distinction between them and us,” the voice says. Peter obeys.

- He makes the journey to Caesarea and enters the Gentile house of Cornelius. He shares the good news of Jesus; and the entire household comes to faith.

- And then, the gifts of the Spirit fall upon these new believers. They express the same outpouring of spiritual gifts as the Jewish believers. There is no distinction in the Spirit’s gifts.

Peter repeats the entire experience this second time. And now I’ve just repeated it for a third time – it’s that important! This moment is a watershed event in the life of the early church.

It’s hard for us to grasp the significance of what happened and its implications. Jewish Christian, Gentile Christian, what does it matter? Aren’t we just all Christians? For us now, yes. But not then!

To appreciate this, we need to understand the foundational role of the Jewish holiness code. These commands and practices are what set the Jews apart from all others as the chosen people of God. The chief sign is the one they received in the days of their ancestor, Abraham. Circumcision marked Abraham, and it had marked every generation of Jews ever since.

The rest of the holiness code directed Jews in the daily actions in their life. It included what to eat and what not to eat. It instructed them which foods could be combined and which couldn’t. Dairy and meat were not to be mixed. The holiness laws instructed them what fibers to wear, how to keep cooking utensils clean.

Making close contact with unclean things or touching unclean people rendered you unclean, too. A woman had to separate herself while she had her monthly period and after childbirth. Touching a dead person also made you unclean. And eating with a Gentile, eating Gentile food which was improperly prepared, this made you unclean.

Christianity was born among Jewish people. Jesus was a Jew; all of his disciples and immediate followers were Jewish. So Christianity originated within the context and the culture of Judaism.

The original church in Christianity was “Mother Jerusalem.” So when Peter eats with Gentiles, he has to answer to Mother Jerusalem.

The question about the Gentiles was THE chief dilemma facing the early church. To the original Jewish Christians, Gentiles were considered extremely unclean. Their patterns of behavior rendered them utterly unclean.

So, if Gentiles converted to Christianity, what did this mean? Did they have to adopt Jewish ways? Or was it possible for them to be a Christian and still maintain their unclean way of life? To Mother Jerusalem, the answer was a straight up No.

It was a visceral thing for them. To the devout Jew, the Gentile lifestyle, their behaviors were utterly wrong. If they were to become Christians, then they would first have to give up their Gentile ways and live according to Jewish Law.