Acts 11:1-18 | Psalm 148 | Revelation 21:1-6 | John 13:31-35
Acts 11:1-18
1 Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, 3 saying, ‘Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?’ 4 Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, 5 ‘I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. 6 As I looked at it closely, I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7 I also heard a voice saying to me, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” 8 But I replied, “By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.” 9 But a second time the voice answered from heaven, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” 10 This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. 11 At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. 12 The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, “Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; 14 he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.” 15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 17 If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?’ 18 When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, ‘Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.’
Introduction
I want to tell you two stories. We don’t normally tell you the title of my sermon as it is not our custom here—but this evening I will. I’m calling this sermon: Two Men from Joppa.
1. The Prophet From Joppa
The first story is one of my most favourite in the Old Testament. It is the story of Jonah, the reluctant prophet. It was the 8th century BCE, and he was living in the city of Joppa (which is Jaffa, the oldest part of modern-day Tel Aviv). There, God spoke and gave him a mission to go ‘call out’ against Nineveh. This put Jonah in something of a bind. You see, Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria—a powerful nation and one which had done much harm to God’s people, repeatedly invading and enslaving them.
Jonah responded by going… the other direction. He fled. Jonah would rather give up his job as God’s spokesman, and indeed his very relationship with God, than go take a chance that God might show mercy to the Assyrians. God should not, in Jonah’s mind, offer them salvation. And so, God, in his providence, sent a great storm and a great fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah finally repented. This is the familiar story of the first two chapters of the book.
But then, it continues. There’s another half. When chapter 3 begins, Jonah seems to have learned his lesson. He’s told, once again, to go ‘call out’ against Nineveh. This time, reluctantly, he goes and he preaches a sermon… exactly one sentence in length. But, revealing something about his heart, it was a merciless sermon. Here it is: “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” No carefully crafted rhetoric. No attempt at a reasoned discourse. No ‘repent and believe in God.’ No ‘God might show mercy.’ No mercy at all. Just a little hellfire and brimstone: “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”[1]
But then, God does something incredible. With this one-sentence sermon, God starts a full-on revival. The people of Nineveh—all of them—believed. They fasted. Even the king heard about it and proclaimed that everyone must repent and fast. They renounced their evil ways. For a time, they turned to God. And God showed them mercy.
But the story doesn’t even end there. There’s one more chapter. And here is how it all ends: Jonah is angry. He basically goes into the wilderness and throws a temper tantrum. He didn’t learn a thing about his prejudice or God’s infinite capacity for mercy. Instead, he tells God that he’d rather just die out there alone than face these Assyrians. It’s not a concern for safety. They’ve repented. It’s the bigotry of Jonah’s heart that causes him to go to the wilderness and die alone.
2. The Apostle From Joppa
Some 750-800 years later, we find ourselves in Jerusalem, in the middle of a new story. As our reading from the Acts of the Apostles recounts, Peter arrived there and is immediately confronted with criticism. That verb—to criticize—is an interesting verb. It means to make distinction or to separate oneself.[2] Peter has arrived. But the news arrived first—gentiles were starting to become Christians. And the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem were upset. Prejudice rose to the surface. They’re ready to separate from Peter over it. But he explained what happened, telling a detailed story.
Peter was residing in Joppa—just like Jonah many generations earlier—and he had a vision. He saw a sheet, animals of all varieties, and heard a command: “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.”[3] Peter protested, objecting that the animals were unacceptable for a Jew. But the voice insisted: ‘‘What God has made clean, you must not call unclean.’ Just then, the messengers arrived. A gentile named Cornelius had sent for him. And so, Peter went on the 60 km journey with them to Caesarea. As he arrived there at Cornelius’s house, he took a moment to remind everyone that it is unlawful for him, a Jew, to associate with these gentiles. It’s a striking moment, really. Peter was being challenged. He was having to get over the idea that, as a Christian, he could eat even unclean animals. And he was wrestling with this voice from God telling him to visit these gentiles.
There in the house, Peter began to speak to Cornelius. He told him the story of Jesus Christ: including about his death and resurrection. But, Peter’s sermon was cut short by the arrival of the Holy Spirit amongst these gentiles. Belief in Christ’s death and resurrection meant forgiveness of sins for all and the coming of the Holy Spirit.
3. The Reluctance of Both
But the way Luke tells this story, it brings into focus something that is, maybe, a little more difficult for us to consider. You see, it goes back to that phrase—making distinction. Peter is very clear—the Spirit told him not to make a distinction between the Jewish Christians and the gentile Christians. But, as we saw, the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem were ready to make a distinction between or separate themselves from Peter, just because he associated with gentiles. Peter’s story seems correct it. Sort of.
That Jerusalem council praised God that these gentiles were saved. But in that final sentence of our reading, there is a slight hint of reluctance. They said: “Then God has given even to the gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”[4] ‘Even to them.’ Not: ‘Praise God that the gentiles are repenting and coming to eternal life!’ But: ‘Apparently, God is willing to give mercy even to them.’ Now, you might think I’m making too much of a single word. Maybe. But if we keep reading, just a few chapters later, this Jerusalem council shows up again.[5] And what are they doing? They decide to make the gentile Christians keep certain Jewish laws. In particular, they impose a dietary law. Irony. It was specifically the dietary laws that God used to challenge Peter in his vision. Yet, the whole encounter betrays an attitude: ‘These other Christians—they have to be more like us if we are going to accept them.’
The biggest clue, however, comes in Paul’s letter to the Galatians.[6] There, Paul recounts a story about how Peter—who apparently had learned something and was in the habit of eating with the gentiles, then stopped eating with them for fear of the circumcision party. Paul had to confront him for this relapse into prejudice. It was a gospel issue.
Conclusion
And it is a gospel issue for us. That is, it is a central issue for us that gets at the very idea of the gospel. Now, my argument to you is nuanced. This isn’t about behaviour modification. Remember, Jonah did the right thing. He went to Nineveh and he proclaimed God’s message. Peter did the right thing. He went to Cornelius’s house and he preached the gospel to this gentile and his family. These two men from Joppa did the right thing. Yet, in both passages, the authors cast doubt on their attitudes, on their hearts. And this, brothers and sisters, is critical. We can be impartial in our actions toward anyone. We can abolish prejudice in our laws. Maybe even our societies. We can abolish prejudice in the way we operate our churches. And yet, we must also abolish prejudice in our hearts.
And this is the challenge for us this evening. We must consider our hearts. As many of you will know, there is a moment in our liturgy just before the distribution of communion, in which we affirm our commitment to unity. The celebrant says: “We break this bread to share in the body of Christ.” And the people respond: “Though we are many, we are one body, because we all share in one bread.”[7] We say it. But do we mean it?
Or do we look down on fellow Christians because we don’t like their culture? Do we segregate ourselves into tribes or factions because we don’t want to tolerate the expressions of faith of others? Do we, in the privacy of our own minds, make distinctions that God does not make? Do we, in our hearts, harbour fear and prejudice and condescension toward Christians of another style? May the gospel capture our hearts and bring us to repentance. And may our Lord, Jesus Christ, not make distinction, or separate himself from us.
Let me pray. Heavenly Father, with the grace of your Son, our Saviour, help us to bear with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace because there is one body and one Spirit… one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.[8] In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
[1] Jonah 3:4.
[2] Later, in the Epistle of James, for example, the wealthy believers in the church showing favouritism, making distinction or separating themselves from the poor believers. See James 2:4.
[3] Acts 11:7. Cf., Acts 10:13.
[4] Acts 11:18.
[5] Acts 15:1-35.
[6] Galatians 2:11-15.
[7] The Archbishop’s Council 2000, Common Worship (London: Church House Publishing, 2000), 179. This text is adapted from 1 Cor 10:17.
[8] Ephesians 4:2-6.