Dodie Gadient, a schoolteacher for thirteen years, decided to travel across America and see the sights she had taught about. Traveling alone in a truck with a camper in tow, she launched out. One afternoon, rounding a curve on 1-5 near Sacramento in rush hour traffic, a water pump blew on her truck.
She was tired, exasperated, scared, and alone. In spite of the traffic jam she caused, no one seemed interested in helping. Leaning up against the trailer, she prayed, “Please God, send me an angel, preferably one with mechanical experience.” Within four minutes, a huge Harley drove up, ridden by an enormous man sporting long black hair, a beard, and tattoos.
With an incredible air of confidence, he jumped off and without even glancing at Dodie, went to work on the truck. Within another few minutes, he flagged down a larger truck, attached a tow chain to the frame of the disabled Chevy and whisked the whole 56-foot rig off the freeway onto a side street, where he calmly continued to work on the water pump. The intimidated schoolteacher was too dumbfounded to talk, especially when she read the words on the back of his leather jacket: “Hell's Angels —California.”
As he finished the task, she finally got up the courage to say, “Thanks so much,” and carry on a brief conversation. Noticing her surprise at the whole ordeal, he looked her straight in the eye and mumbled, “Don't judge a book by its cover. You may not know who you're talking to.” (1) With that, he smiled, closed the hood of the truck, and straddled his Harley. With a wave, he was gone as fast as he had appeared.
My first response on reading this story was that when people pray for an angel they should be more specific. Then I thought about a story that comes from the Scriptures. Cornelius was an officer of the Roman government, with the command of one hundred soldiers. The scripture, in Acts, states that he was a “God-Fearing” man, although he was not yet a believer in Christ.
He sincerely and fervently sought God and God's ways, but Cornelius had some unanswered questions. This is when the Disciple Peter enters the story. We must remember that Peter, although a Christian, was one who still practiced the Jewish tradition. He had accepted Jesus as the Christ, but after being raised in the Jewish tradition, much of his perspective was still Jewish-oriented.
In fact, it is entirely possible that Peter saw the Christian religion as a religion reserved for the Jews, since they were the chosen people of God. You do not tend to forget a tradition such as Judaism so quickly. Peter had been on a journey, and Acts tells us that he came to rest at the house of one called Simon the Tanner. About lunchtime, Peter went to the top of the house to pray, where he fell into a trance.
As we read this story, remember that the Jewish people had very strict dietary guidelines. Peter saw the heavens open, and something like a large sheet descended from the heavens that contained all kinds of animals, reptiles, and birds. A voice from the heavens said to Peter, “Get up, kill and eat.”
Peter responded in shock and disbelief. He shouted, “I cannot eat anything which is unclean!” The voice came to Peter again, “What God has created, do not call unclean.” This happened three times and then the vision ended. Peter probably wondered what this mysterious vision was all about. About this time, the Scriptures tells us that three men representing Cornelius approached the Tanner's house and requested to see Peter.
The representatives told Peter about their leader. Remember, at this point, Cornelius had not been introduced to Christ. He was a Gentile (a non-Jew) but was searching for the truth. The men wanted Peter to journey with them to meet their leader, Cornelius, who was a man of prayer and righteousness, God-fearing, and respected by many of the Jewish people.
Just as God prepared Peter by sending him a vision, he prepares us for situations. We may wonder what all this preparation is all about, and then the AHA moment comes. It begins to fit together. How often we miss the benefits of God's preparation, either because we are impatient or because we allow our own will to get in the way.
Peter, as of yet, has not had the AHA experience, but it was about to fit together. Because Peter was willing to listen to God's voice and act patiently, a new era was about to be ushered in for the Christian faith. The next morning, Peter and the men journeyed to Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them. He had gathered his family and friends for the occasion, and as they greeted, Peter began to feel uncomfortable.
Jews were not supposed to associate with gentiles. Then the AHA moment comes. He remembers the vision. “How can I call anything that God creates unclean...? It is not just about dietary laws.... it is about people,” Peter probably thought to himself.
The supposed unclean animals represent the gentiles, and suddenly God is no longer the God of the Jew. How difficult and humbling that reality must have been for Peter, and, yet, how tremendous it was that the disciple was open to this truth. Now comes the most opportune time for Peter to share the Gospel with his newfound friend and equal, which he does.
He forgets the religious barrier and begins to tell Cornelius about Jesus, his baptism, his healing ministry, his crucifixion, and his resurrection. And as the Gospel is being presented, the Holy Spirit pours out onto the gentiles, and they began praising God and speaking in unknown languages.
Peter now fully realized the meaning of the vision. God does not have favorites. Even the gentiles could be baptized Christians. And Peter remained with them for some days. This was the beginning of the witnessing of Christ to all people and not exclusively to the Jews. This was literally a new era in Christian History.
Later, Saul, a persecutor of the Christians, would become the Apostle Paul, who carried the Gospel to the entire gentile nation. What a story! Acts 10:34 says, “Then Peter began to speak, ‘I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism, but accepts people from every nation who fear God and do what is right.’”
Luke penned this statement some two thousand years ago around 70 A.D. Yet despite God’s declaration for equality, it was not until 1918 that women had the right to vote, and it was 1964 before any kind of Civil Rights legislation was passed. How is this? Evidently, we are slow to learn.
A few years ago there was a story on the news about an African-American man who had served in World War II and has just now been awarded a Medal of Honor. How sad it has taken so long. There are no excuses for the way we sometimes treat people that may be different than we are. We all have our gentiles, don't we?
Don't we all select our own group and consider ourselves the chosen? Imagine with me for a moment the flack that Peter probably received for baptizing this Roman foreigner. Do you suppose other Jewish-Christians welcomed this? Many of them may have thought that Peter had a lot of explaining to do. What courage it must have taken to stand up for God and do what was right, not necessarily what was popular.
Chuck Swindoll, in his book, Simple Faith, writes about the consequences of confronting prejudice. He writes about “William Wilberforce, who stood virtually alone in England as he tried to block slave trading and set slaves free. He demonstrated true Christianity, but do you know what his enemies did in return? They slandered him; they spread every kind of false rumor about him; they said he was a brutal husband, which he was not; and some passed the word that he was secretly married to another women— another falsehood. He did what was right, but he paid dearly.
Abraham Lincoln also took up the torch against slavery during his years as our sixteenth president. The result? He became the object of hatred in the South. Some of the stories of the treatment he received from his fellow Americans are beyond comprehension. It was prejudice that ultimately killed him.
When Martin Luther King, Jr. began to promote his vision for nonviolent equality, many prejudiced people subjected him to incredible injustices. After King's assassination, Dr. Benjamin Mays listed some of the persecution King endured. His home had been bombed. He lived each day for years under constant death threats. He was publicly accused of being a Communist. He was falsely slandered as being insincere. He was stabbed by a member of his own race. He was jailed more than twenty times. In fact, King wrote most of his sermons from a jail cell. Yet, he was quoted as saying, “Love is the force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.” (2)
So, I would ask you, “Who are our gentiles?” It is a universal question. Not only have African-Americans suffered the stings of prejudice, but at various times in our history, so have Hispanics, Asians, Italians, and Jews. And who can forget our Native American friends? In fact, in any nation, anyone who is different is in danger of confronting animosity.
Why can't we learn what Peter learned in his vision—that God's love is extended to all people? Tony Campolo, in his video series Carpe Diem, tells of a pastor friend who lives in Manhattan. Every morning the pastor would have breakfast at this little downtown diner. And every morning, he would see the same crowd who also started their day at the diner.
One day, the pastor walked into the diner and introduced himself to the crowd, hoping for a friendlier atmosphere in the place. It worked. It worked for everyone but the owner. All he would reveal of himself was his name, Harry. A few weeks passed, and as all the regular customers became friends, Tony's friend pressured Harry to reveal a little more about himself.
So Harry reluctantly announced that his real name was Hazim, and he was from Baghdad, Iraq. Now, this was when Saddam Hussein was a real threat to world security, and he had missiles trained on places in Israel. A majority of the Patrons were Jewish and tensions between Arabs and Jews were running high. All the customers in the diner froze as Harry announced his national origin.
The next morning, as the pastor was getting ready, he heard a report that the United States had begun bombing Baghdad, Iraq. The pastor dropped what he was doing and ran to the subway, hoping to reach the diner before Harry opened that morning. He wanted to reassure the man of his friendship and love. As the pastor rounded the corner, he saw the whole regular morning crowd also lining the sidewalk, waiting for Harry.
When Harry arrived, all the customers surrounded him with words of encouragement. Then the pastor prayed over all of them. (3)
Who are our gentiles? Is there anyone we view with suspicion because they are somewhat different from us? Remember, call nothing that is created by God unclean.
Sources Consulted:
1. From the Newsletter, OUR AMERICA.
2. SIMPLE FAITH, Charles Swindoll.
3. From the Video Series CARPE DIEM, Session #2, Seize the Moment- With Passion, by Dr. Anthony Campolo. Word Publishing, 1994.
