Loving God, you broke down barriers by the power of your Spirit and helped those who worshiped you to see beyond what they had been taught.  May Jesus continue to transform our hearts and minds, helping us to see as you see; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            Cornelius would have been referred to by Jewish people as a “God-fearer.”  He is described as devout.  He worships God.  He gives generously to the poor, and he prays constantly (Acts 10:1-2).  However, he is a Gentile – not Jewish – and so in spite of his faithfulness in worshiping God, observant Jews would still have kept their distance from him.

         Peter, and probably all of the other disciples, had been taught to keep themselves separate and holy. They were not to eat with Gentiles or to enter their homes.  And, as we heard in today’s reading, they were not to eat any foods that were considered to be unclean.  This is not unclean in the sense of “you didn’t wash it properly,” but ritually unclean. If they wanted to remain holy and be a part of God’s people, they were not to eat the animals that had been forbidden and they were not to share a meal with Gentiles.  And so, without this vision that Peter has on the rooftop, it is highly unlikely that he would have welcomed Gentile visitors or gone with them to stay and eat in a Gentile household.

         The thing is that once Jesus has come on the scene, things change.  As far as food goes, Jesus had already declared all foods to be clean (Mk. 7:19).  However, it is obvious that Peter had not yet changed his mind on this.  And so God gives him the vision of the sheet that is full of all sorts of different creatures.  And the voice comes from heaven: “What God has made clean, you must not call profane” (Acts 10:15).  As it turns out, the voice is not just referring to food.  People, too, are not to be considered unclean or profane.

         The thing is that, as it turns out, Jesus came for everybody.  However, as you may recall, this was a tough sell to many people who absolutely hated the Gentiles.  In fact, whenever Jesus mentioned occasions when God had reached out to Gentiles, people got so angry that they wanted to kill him.  And so, God acted in an unprecedented way in order to convince Jesus’ followers that the good news about Jesus was for the Gentiles as well.

         God sent an angel to Cornelius and a vision to Peter.  And then, while Peter is still speaking to Cornelius and his relatives and friends, God gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit before they have even been baptized. It is only after all this that Peter and his companions are willing to concede that Jesus really is for everybody. “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” (Acts 10:47).  Of course not.  And so some of the first Gentiles are added to the body of Christ.

         Once Jesus had come on the scene, things changed.  Barriers were broken down.  The unclean were made clean.  Doors were opened – not only to give us access to God, but in order to include those people who had always been on the outside looking in.  The God whom Peter and the other disciples had always worshiped turned out to be far more inclusive than they had ever imagined, and it all started with Jesus.

         For those of us who hear the Scriptures today, we might ask ourselves whether we identify more with the insiders or the outsiders.  Are we like the ones who are already part of God’s people and keep ourselves separate from those who are different?  Or, are we like the ones who are on the outside looking in, no matter what we do? My guess would be that most of us are probably more like the insiders when it comes to the church.  Yet, there may well be people here today who feel more like they are on the outside looking in.

         If I had been a little more on the ball these past few weeks, we might have added a line to our sign out front.  It might have said “All are welcome.  Even turkeys.”  However, the turkeys seem to have disappeared, so it’s a little late for that. As far as welcoming goes, though, consider these scenarios:

         There is a poster on the bulletin board right now advertising a session on welcoming ex-offenders into congregations.  This is potentially a touchy subject, as some prisoners might pretend to have had a conversion.  However, what about those who really have had a change of heart and want to turn their life around? Should they be excluded from being part of a faith community?

         We also had a young man join us during our Lenten series this year who might be described by some as “mentally slow.”  He has searched for years for a church that would welcome him and include him, but it has been a very difficult search.  Many people just don’t want to make the effort to include somebody who has a different sort of mental capacity.

         And what other barriers are there that keep people on the outside looking in?  Shyness?  Mental health issues?  Gender identity?  Homelessness? Sexual orientation?  Grief or illness?  Whatever those barriers might be, Jesus is all about breaking them down.

         When Peter was speaking to Cornelius and his friends and relatives, he spoke about “peace by Jesus Christ,” who is Lord of all.  He told them about the one who “went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”  He told them of Jesus’ death and resurrection and how God had appointed him “as judge of the living and the dead.” And he told them that “everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:36-43).

         This same Jesus came for us and for all, and once he did, things changed.  May the Holy Spirit continue to grant us the eyes to see and the ears to hear, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Easter 3 (NL 1)                                             Acts 10:1-17, 34-48

May 5, 2019

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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