It used to be that to find out who or what was ‘in’ or ‘out’ you consulted the society section of the local newspaper, or Look magazine, or a well-known celebrity reporter for the latest on whatever was deemed the latest ‘in’ and ‘out.’ Now we have the Internet to help us determine what is ‘in’ and what is ‘out.’ What is ‘cool’ and what is ‘not cool.’ What is ‘healthy’ and what is not ‘healthy.’
This is proven in a recent e-mail that I received from someone who ‘forwarded’ it to me. (I have edited it for time and content.)
I want to thank all of you who have taken the time and trouble to send me your chain letters over the past two years. Thank you for making me feel safe, secure, blessed, and wealthy.
Because of your concern... I no longer can drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains. I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put "Under God" on their cans
I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer. I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.
I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a stupid number for which I will get the phone bill from ‘you know where’ with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore, and Uzbekistan. Thanks to you, I have learned that God only answers my prayers if I forward an email to 7 of my friends and make a wish within 5 minutes.
I no longer have any savings at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail forwarding program.
I will now return the favor. If you don’t send this e-mail to at least 1200 people in the next 60 seconds, the fleas of a thousand camels will infest your armpits. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of a friend dad’s uncle’s neighbor’s cousin, and he’s a lawyer.
One of the newest TV credit card commercials features a young woman who, from childhood, has a strong sense of fashion. The opening scene features her in grade school lamenting the wearing of white by a classmate after Labor Day.
The concluding scene features her as a mom of twins in a shoe store buying another pair of shoes. Another customer notices the twins and complements them. The mom thinks that she is complementing her new shoes and says something to the effect of ‘Thank you! I have two more pairs in two other colors!’
Now, some of you maybe thinking by this point, Pastor are you okay? Have you had your two cups of coffee this morning? Did you and Susan have a fight this morning? Did Notre Dame lose again?
My point is this: There is no lack of things to be opposed to. There is no lack of things to consider ‘in’ or ‘out.’ Be it fashion, politics, or even religion, there are always lists of things that we deem acceptable and unacceptable. And the entire 10th chapter of Acts is an important illustration of this point. But what happens when God says otherwise?
This chapter highlights a key, very key turning point in the spread of the Christian faith and a very important barrier to faith that we still deal with today because it deals with our very human and flawed tendency to say this is ‘in’ and this is ‘out.’
Up to this point, the Christian faith is spreading in largely Jewish circles. As we recall in chapter 2 Pentecost takes place in Jerusalem and not Athens or Alexandria or Rome. It also takes place during a key Jewish festival.
So in the chapters that follow, we read of conversations and debates that take place within a limited segment of the population. Then we come to chapters 6 and 7 and Stephen whose death causes Christian believers to scatter to the surrounding areas. Then we read of Philip who first presents the gospel to Samaritans (one of those groups considered by some to be ‘out’ and not ‘in’) and then is sent by the Holy Spirit to a man of another color, an Ethiopian, who is trying to make sense of it all.
What is happening is what God intended to happen, and will not permit to be inhibited in any way shape or form; the spread of the Good News of salvation to all people, not a select group of people.
Then a man named Cornelius enters our story. He is not Jewish he is Roman. We also note that Luke writes he was a captain in the Italian Regiment that means that he was likely from Italy. But, we also read that he was a ‘devout man who feared the God of Israel, as did his entire household.’ What does Luke mean when he says that Cornelius is a ‘devout man?’
I Howard Marshall comments that Cornelius ‘was not a proselyte, i.e. a Gentile who had fully accepted the Jewish religion by undergoing circumcision, but merely a ‘God- fearer, who were regarded as still pagans by the Jews in Palestine.’ He goes on to say that, the early church in Jerusalem shared the attitude of other Jews to such God-fearers, but it is clear that Luke himself recognized the value of this step on the way from paganism to Christian conversion.’
The important thing to note in this passage is that Cornelius has an interest in the things of God and God knows this! So, he comes to Cornelius in a vision and directs Cornelius to have Peter come to his home. Now from the text we do not know if Cornelius had ever heard of Peter and the evidence suggests that he probably had not. But because Cornelius is open to God, God is ‘closing the gap’ to Cornelius and will do so through Peter!
There are people ‘out’ there who are seeking God. Our God, the God of the Bible. They are interested in knowing and experiencing God more. They are like the Ethiopian official that Philip was sent to. They are in our classrooms; break rooms, neighborhoods, and even churches. But, there are barriers, spiritual and otherwise, that keep them from moving closer to God.
In Cornelius’ case, we could say that it was his ethnic background and his work as a Roman soldier. They were sources of intimidation (and even hate) to others, including followers of Jesus. They were the enemy, ‘those people.’ They could have made, in the minds of many people, Cornelius a great candidate for the ‘least likely to become a follower of Jesus.’
Let’s think about this for a moment:
Take a piece of paper or use the back of your bulletin and write down your answer to this question:
Who, in your opinion, is the least likely person you know to become a follower of God (or return to the Lord)? Why?
Now, how do you know that for sure? Did they tell you? Or is that what you think?
If God sees what is taking place in our hearts, don’t you think that He knows what is taking place in these ‘other’s’ hearts? Of course He does! And when God sees the interest and desire for Him in hearts such as Cornelius’ He will and does move heaven and earth to ‘close the gap.’
Now the challenge comes when He calls on us as part of that gap closing effort. We have fear – of ridicule, of rejection, of failure, of success – when God calls us to go to people (through words and/or kind actions) and help them come to the Lord.
We also have issues. ‘Uh, Lord, he/she is out of my league. They are (fill in the blank with your best excuse here).’
‘Lord, their language is awful. They smell. They don’t care what I have to say.’
So, God has trouble closing the gap. ‘But, there are others who can do it better than I can! There’s the preacher! (That’s what we pay him to do!) There’s the Sunday School teacher, she knows the Bible! (So?)
No, God wants you and me to take the lead in closing the gap. And this is where we find Peter.
Peter is God’s person for the job of helping Cornelius truly come to the Lord!
But Peter has issues. The issues are cultural issues, not moral issues. The issues have to with things that no longer matter because the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has made them irrelevant.
The Lord has to work on Peter as Cornelius’ messengers make their way to him. God has chosen Peter (just review the instructions to Cornelius to get Peter) to help Cornelius truly come to Him. But Peter has issues and these issues are barriers in Peter’s mind.
The issue is a cultural issue – abstaining from eating certain foods. Peter says in verse 14, ‘Never, Lord…I have never in all my life eaten anything forbidden by our Jewish laws.’
We need to remember that when the ancient Jewish laws were given out (that we read in the book of Leviticus, among others) they forbade the eating of certain animals. Why?
Well scholars have debated this issue for many, many years. But, one important view is that those animals were forbidden because other groups of people used them in pagan worship rituals.
Such dietary restrictions are still used today by many people. One that I grew up with had to do with abstinence from alcohol and tobacco. I still think abstinence from these two substances is a good idea.
Now it seems that God is contradicting Himself at this point by going back on His earlier restrictions, doesn’t it? Why does He tell Peter to kill and eat?
Well, let’s look at Mark 15:37 and 38. ‘Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.’
In my Bible, these verses are cross-referenced to Hebrews 10:19 and 20 which says this, ‘And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter Heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. This is the new, life-giving way that Christ has opened up for us through the sacred curtain, by means of his death for us.’
We need to understand and remember that when the Temple curtain was ripped in two, it opened up the Most Holy Place and has been interpreted as ending of the old agreement or covenant and the start of the new agreement or covenant. The consequence being that sacrifices and use of the priest to offer those sacrifices was no longer needed and that, as we read in the Hebrews passage, we can enter the Most Holy Place, once reserved for the Priest and have direct access to God.
So the entire Old Covenant, including the food prohibitions, is no longer in force is it? This brings us back to Peter and the barrier that must be overcome if Cornelius is to experience the saving grace of God.
The Lord has to work with him in terms of an attitude adjustment because if he fails to understand that what God now says is acceptable in terms of food, how is he going to accept the truth that salvation is now for the Gentiles as well?
There were tremendous implications in this situation for the spread of the Christian faith and one has to do with us. We are Gentiles! Cornelius is one of us! And if Peter would have refused to obey the Spirit…what then?
Well, Peter does respond in obedience to the Spirit and Cornelius and his family come to the Lord and become a part of the Christian Church. And they go on, I am sure; to share the faith and help others come to the Lord.
Last week, I asked you some questions that I want to ask you again this morning as it relates to being ready and available to help others come to faith in Christ. (overhead)
Who might God have me come along side, listen to, and direct to Jesus?
Am I ready for that command?
Will I obey the Spirit’s voice?
What are your barriers that would keep you from answering yes to these questions? We all have them but the first step in growing in this area of our life is to admit to them and identify them. Then we take them to the Lord and let Him help us let go of them and change our thinking and attitudes.
The call to witness in our Jerusalems, Judeas, Samarias, and ends of the earth, is the call to be willing to go to people from all backgrounds with the gospel. To do that, we need to deal with those barriers in our lives that keep us from being open to go and share. Let’s be open to the Holy Spirit on this issue this morning so that we will be willing to go and help others ‘come’ to the Lord and Savior of all of us. Amen.
Marshall’s comments are from his commentary, Acts of The Apostles, pages 183 and 184. © 1980, Eerdmans Publishing Company.
powerpoint overheads are available for this sermon. Please e-mail me at pastorjim46755@yahoo.com and ask for slides for sermon 102305
