I give you a new commandment love one another; you must love one another just as I have loved you. (John 13:34 New Jerusalem Bible)
Today’s scriptural readings take us on a journey, which for the disciples, was the true meaning of their mission in life. You see, the dream of Simon Peter is a continuation of the commandment that Jesus gives the disciples in John chapter 13.
In fact, one might say it is a kind of a reminder by Jesus as to what Simon Peter’s role in life is, and how God is not just the God of the Hebrews, but the God of all people.
Jesus tells the disciples to love one another. To translate this into a modern sense, we are to treat each other with respect and consider each other as equals, for we are all of sacred worth in the eyes of God.
God gives Simon Peter this same message later on in the dream, no longer should the message of God’s grace and mercy be kept for just the Jewish people. Moreover, through the imagery of all the animals clean and unclean God reveals that all people of all nations are to receive God’s love and mercy.
In Acts 11, Simon Peter is actually retelling the events of his dream, because the apostles and other Jewish believers felt that Simon Peter was being scandalous in preaching to the Gentiles. He actually has to justify to them about the spreading of the Gospel.
Do we as Christians do this to other Christians? Have you ever heard someone, maybe even yourself say. “Why is so and so talking to that person?” “They are not our kind of people, I’m not going to talk to them”
Why did the original eleven, plus Bartholomew, find it so hard to reach outside the Jewish community? For one, the Gentile community was strangers to them. For most of their lives, they had been taught not to associate with the Gentiles. They were still of the mind set that Jesus was their Messiah, not the whole world’s. Lastly, they probably feared how the rest of the Jewish community would feel about the matter.
This is a normal human reaction, “What will others think?” The fact is, Jesus is not concerned about that. His commandment for us is to “Love one another”. More over in order to love one another fully we need to share the news that God loves us and will free us from the bondage of our sins.
You see, if the ultimate form of love was the sacrifice that Jesus made for us by taking all the sins of the world on to His shoulders, then the ultimate act of love on our part, comes in bringing the love of God to others and making sure they know about the gift of mercy and grace He has for them.
In other words every time a person makes the decision not share the Gospel with another person that person is committing a very selfish act not only toward the intended person, but to the Lord Our God Himself.
This was the point that God had made to Simon Peter. All people are of sacred worth. All people need God and are to be given the chance to accept the gift of Salvation.
On the flipside, this does not mean we have been given a blank check. Once we have accepted Christ into our lives, and have received the forgiveness for our past transgression, we are still accountable. The belief that some how what had been previously an unacceptable practice is now acceptable is false.
Jesus made it very clear in Matthew 5:17-19
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”(Matthew 5:17-19 NIV)
It is unfortunate that people try to make the claim that Peter’s vision applied to human behavior and practices as well as the ethnic heritage of the people. Let me reiterate all people are of sacred worth and God’s creation. However, our behaviors are our own and are not to be considered, “sacred”.
For us as United Methodists, we have made it our mission as church to open our doors to all comers. For John Wesley that was the poor of England, especially those that worked in the factories and coal mines.
In modern times, we open our doors to all who are hurting, oppressed, and feel they are on the outside looking in. In the Iowa Annual Conference we reach those people through missions such as Bidwell Riverside in Des Moines, or Shesler Hall in Sioux City. We also reach them through our Damascus Road Prison Ministries at both Rockwell City and Mitchellville. Moreover, it is through our local mission of opening our doors to all comers in our own communities that the greatest impact of Peter’s revelation in Acts chapter 10 and 11 are realized.
Furthermore it is in our local mission to our community as a whole, that Jesus’ commandment “love one another; you must love one another just as I have loved you” can be face to face. It can become both a face to face experience with God for you and the person with whom you are showing love too.
One local mission that is in the Early community is the food pantry. Food items as well as monetary gifts are given to this mission and as a result, families, who may otherwise have to go without food because they literally cannot buy any, can feed their families a decent meal and put their children to bed with full stomachs.
Another mission that we have within the Nemaha and Early UMC is the prayer shawl ministry. You of course know what this is and the people who receive those shawls feel so blessed and loved as a result.
These are ways that we reach out to those within our congregations and our communities. When we do this, we are letting people know that regardless of where they came from or where they may be going, they matter and they are of sacred worth to God.
We should never be afraid to step out on faith and share the love of God with another person. We, in fact, should always be looking for the opportunity to do just that. I realize that this may be difficult for some people to do. Sometimes people do not always know how to express love to others, especially those who may be different than them. But, I believe that if we genuinely love others as God has instructed us to do and share with them what we know from our hearts, in time, it will get easier and easier to do this.
When our Savior Jesus Christ went to that cross, he did so for everyone. One of the most well known verses in the bible, John 3:16 states it very clearly, “for God so loved the world, that he gave his only son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life”.
It did not say for God so loved just me, or just you…..it said the world. Everyone. Which in essence means that everyone needs to know how much they mean to God. Once we have received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, that becomes our mission. We have an obligation to love others and to bring the good news of Jesus to others. Like the first disciples, this is our commandment.
I encourage you this week to reach out in some way and express God’s love to another person. Pray about it and ask the Lord to lead you in how to do this and more importantly, what He wants you to do. If God places it upon your heart to give to a ministry, to start a ministry, to invite someone to church or to share the good news of Jesus with another person, I urge you friends to not be afraid of it. Go where God leads you. Place yourself in the palm of His hand and trust Him. If you are in the hands of the Lord, then you need not be afraid of anything because no matter what path you may be on in life, you can always be sure of where you are standing.
May God bless your life this week and may you pass that blessing on to others. Amen.
