Acts 11:1-18; John 13:31-35
​Rev. Peter Faass

The book of Acts is a history of the early Church and offers some of the Bible’s most vivid stories. In Acts, Peter’s vision of a four-cornered sheet coming down from heaven (filled with “four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air”) is the among the most fascinating. We might wonder what overly spicy meal Peter dined on prior to his dream.

While we may view this story as a tad bizarre, within it is the Gospel’s essential core message: A heavenly voice tells Peter to eat what he sees on the sheet. The revelation is so profound for Peter that it causes a radical paradigm shift in the theology of the early Church proclaiming God’s love – a love that Jesus proclaimed through his words and actions during his earthly ministry.
 
Peter was at Simon the Tanner’s home in the city of Joppa, just south of modern day Tel Aviv, when he had his vision. “ ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat,’” the voice told Peter.  Peter calls the voice “Lord,” indicating that it is Jesus speaking.  
 
“But I replied, `By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' But a second time the voice answered from heaven, `What God has made clean, you must not call profane.'”
 
As we read about this exchange, remember that the early Church was comprised almost exclusively of Jews who recognized that Jesus as Messiah was a fulfillment to their Judaism.  These Jewish Christians observed the Law of Moses, which included kosher laws about food, and male circumcision, an outward symbol of the Abrahamic Covenant.  Early Church leaders felt that it was also necessary for Gentile converts to adhere to the Mosaic Law. The early Church essentially considered itself a Jewish sect. Keeping kosher law that was not a terribly difficult task. Sure, no more pork roast or cheeseburgers, but hey, the brisket and the noodle kugel were nice compensation.  But when it came to adult males being circumcised, that posed a significantly more challenging obstacle. 

We know this was a significant obstacle because of a group of people called God-fearers who are frequently mentioned in the Christian Testament. God-fearers were Gentiles who honored the monotheistic God of the Hebrews, attended synagogue services, and even financially supported Jewish life. Ultimately, they couldn’t bring themselves to fully convert to Judaism because of the circumcision requirement.
 
It is the home of the God-fearer and Roman Centurion named Cornelius that the Spirit compels Peter to go to after his vision of the critter-filled sheet. In Acts (chapter 10, verse 22), Cornelius is “an up-right and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation.” So while he was a Gentile and Roman solider, he was also seen as a mensch – a person of integrity and honor - in the Jewish community.
 
Peter goes to Cornelius’ house to baptize the Roman and have a meal with his family.  This is big news, as it doesn’t say Cornelius was also to be circumcised.  By dining with and baptizing Cornelius, Peter has violated the two major tenants of the early Jewish Christian church:

1. He eats with unclean Gentiles – those who do not adhere to the kosher laws.
2. He admits someone into the faith without the pre-requirement of circumcision.

Peter is roundly criticized for these behaviors by “the circumcised.”  These are the core members of the Church, who by their circumcision are Jews before being Christian.  Under fire, Peter uses his vision of the descending, critter-filled sheet to explain the circumcision-less baptism of Cornelius and to justify his table sharing with Gentiles.

Does baptism erase those distinctions between Jew and Gentile? Does it replace the adherence to the Law?  The answer is clearly no.
 
In the vision, God annuls those distinctions prior to baptism. Even though the Lord/Jesus told Peter to eat the food before him, Peter responded that he could not since the Law prohibited such cuisine. Based on God’s original creative authority and acts, God trumps tradition and Torah instruction: The voice reminds Peter that we cannot make profane or unclean what God has created clean. This refers to the Genesis Creation story where at the end of each day we are told, “And God saw that it was good.” Therefore, it was all good before the law and institutional religion made it bad.
 
Peter understands God’s disruption of his sleep and his biased thinking as the Spirit teaching him not to make distinctions “between us and them.” As he explains to those infuriated by his behaviors at Cornelius’ home, “The Spirit told me to go . . . and not to make a distinction between them and us.”
 
With this phrase, we understand this vision goes beyond dietary laws; it is about human relationships. In this vision, God is correcting our faulty theological anthropology; our pernicious human tendency of putting our “them and us” bias, behaviors, stereotypes, and rhetoric above God and His will for Creation.  
 
This is why this story contains the core message of the Gospel. It distills the message of Jesus in John’s Gospel “that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." 
 
As we sing in that wonderful hymn,  “In Christ there is no east or west, in him no north or south” there is also no more “them and us.”  In him there is just us, all together. We are children created in the image of a loving God and bound together into one body; the body of One God sent into the world so that we might live and live abundantly.
 
Of course there is reality. When it comes to our “them and us” bias, behaviors, stereotypes, and rhetoric today. I think Charles Dickens captures our era well:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”
 
We have made significant progress in our efforts to eradicate “them and us” in our society: an African-American president, marriage equality, women justices on the Supreme Court.   But we also find that with each step we take toward erasing those distinctions, the more others in opposition rise to resist and reinforce those distinctions. That is why it is the best and the worst of times. Evil is so bewildered and terrified by the message of the Gospel coming to fruition that it is fighting back with all it has in its power – and it’s pretty ugly stuff.
 
Witness the current controversy over transgendered access to public restrooms in North Carolina. Legislators who passed this pernicious law requiring people to use restrooms based on their birth gender are people who see the “thems” of the world as “unclean” based on perceived differences. It also signifies a belief in their own superiority. They are passionate that if the “us” and “them” get too close, live too close, or interact too much, they risk becoming contaminated and “unclean.” Their belief is constructed upon differentiating themselves from others, instead of upon who we are in God.
 
Witness a fear of “them” so insidious in segments of our society that Southwest Airlines saw fit to eject a man from a flight a few weeks ago because he was speaking Arabic!
 
These are only two examples in a society rife with them. Notice the tenor of our current political campaign and the racism, misogyny, Islamaphobia and homophobia oozing from many segments. Sisters and brothers, the Gospel calls us to a different standard.

An “us and them” mentality should haunt our human sensibilities if we want to experience and benefit from our common humanity. We need to always be on alert to check our biases and stereotypes.  God says it is imperative that we engage with others different from ourselves at a deeper level. This will not happen when “us” compels we keep our distance from “them.”
 
The only way we end making distinctions between “them” and “us” is by learning to recognize and admit our biases and their impact on human relationships. Racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, white privilege and other biased behaviors and thinking are not Godly; they are motivated by fear of the other – not love. God shows no favoritism for one human being other another.
 
Let us never forget: We are all good in God’s eyes despite the fact that laws and institutional religion have made so many of us in “thems” who are unclean, and therefore bad.
 
Hearing the Spirit’s voice, let us passionately “make no distinction between them and us” and recognize the goodness of every person from every family, language, race and nation. 
Amen. 

The Rev. Rachel G. Hackenberg

The Rev. Rachel G. Hackenberg is an author, speaker, and ordained minister. Her new book, "Sacred Pause: A Creative Retreat for the Word-weary Christian," invites readers to savor familiar words of faith and thereby meet The Word afresh. Click here to read more about Rav. Hackenberg's writings.
 
I invite you to pause for a moment and breathe deeply. Relax your shoulders. Wiggle your toes. Test (and check) the busyness that is rattling around your brain. Tune in for a moment to your spirit.
 
How is your spirit? How is your living of these days? What stress did you check at the door when you came to church this morning, or did you bring it with you? What joy (or what chore) waits for you after worship? How present are you in this space?
 
How would you characterize your soul’s well-being? I don’t mean “What is the state of your soul for the afterlife,” because I trust that God’s grace will meet us fully there. I mean, “What is the state of your spirit – your inward self – in the mornings when you first wake, in the midday when time moves slowly, through the nights when you settle down to rest?”
 
I ask because the scripture readings this morning all point toward a spiritual healthiness (rolling pastures, miraculous healing, soaring praises), a state of blessedness and satisfaction that is inconsistent with the state of the world, inconsistent with the daily news, inconsistent with the bitter and vitriolic relationships between nations and groups, inconsistent even with our personal lives and our daily routines. The scripture readings paint a rosy picture of life and faith that we (or at least I) don’t perfectly embody or experience. In that juxtaposition between scripture and daily life, in that contrast between green pastures and modern war zones, between the new life that is breathed into Tabitha and the exhaustion that prompts you to hit the snooze button most mornings, it’s worth asking within that space: How are you? How is your spirit navigating its way between the assurance of God’s comfort and the tensions that demand your energy each day?
 
Consider your spirit through the lens of each scripture reading:
 

• Do you find yourself able to rest in joy as though strolling the good & right paths of Psalm 23 with a cool brook bubbling nearby… or do you find yourself pacing those same paths, frustrated by the journey?
• Is your trust in God’s voice unquestioning like sheep that follow a shepherd … or do you join those who asked Jesus in John 10, “Why do you keep us in suspense? How long must we wait for your assurance?”
•  Do you have a gift for praising God without ceasing like the angels in Revelation 7 … or is your spirit struggling to sing, too choked up by the realities of pain and violence to loosen your voice in a song of praise?
•  Do your heart and life overflow with care for others? Are you a kindred spirit to Tabitha from Acts 9 whose selfless support of others was the demonstration of her faith … or are you weary from your own need, longing for rest and reprieve and renewal?

 
And if all of this morning’s scripture readings tell stories of spiritual satisfaction, let’s pause on Acts 9 for a moment to see that blessedness in greater detail. The story of Tabitha is filled with beautiful examples of all that we Christians say we value in the life of faith:

• The commitment of Tabitha to charity and good works.
• Her faithfulness as a disciple of Jesus.
• The tender love of the Christian community in Joppa who washed her with care after she died.
• The solidarity they showed for their dear friend by sending for Peter, asking for a miracle in the midst of a heart-breaking situation.

​This is how Christians should live, individually and collectively. This is what our faith should look like: good works that speak louder to the world than our words, care in community to hold and sustain a friend through the very shadows of death.
 
That said, maybe it reveals something about the state of my spirit that I read the story of Tabitha, of her faithful labor, of her resuscitation and I think, “Would you please just let this tired woman sleep? She has worked herself sick but still you panic when she lays down for even a moment’s rest.”
 
In my own context of working with ministers and churches – I’m tempted to wonder, “Why couldn’t they let Tabitha go? When she died, why didn’t someone else among that community of Christians step up to set the example of serving others? Did they think that no one else could possibly lead them as Tabitha did? Did no one else know how to make and mend clothing?”
  
Even if the Christians in Joppa had allowed Tabitha to rest in peace, Acts 9 would still be a story of strong community and life-renewing love. We have a complete set of readings that together tell a story of the kind of faith that lives with deep confidence and peaceful satisfaction … and I simply want to offer the possibility that this confidence and satisfaction may not be how you’re doing. At the very least, it may not be the complete picture of how you’re doing, because God’s comfort does not guarantee that we will never encounter strain or stress, hardship or heartbreak in this life. Our spirits – our everyday lives – are constantly navigating green pastures and the compost pile, the banquet table and the crowd of enemies, blissful praise and sorrowful blues, satisfaction and anxiety, confidence and severe doubt, busyness and fatigue, and life and death.
 
While we may not feel completely at peace or at ease in that navigation, what we know and cling to is that Christ meets us in both. And not just meets us in both, but actively invites us to see and engage both to:

• See clearly the world’s pain and to know the hope of healing;
• See death and to hold onto the possibilities of life;
• Experience a great ordeal and sing a song of thanksgiving;
• See honestly, for example, the violence of words in this current political season and to know how to listen for the Shepherd’s words of guidance;
• See the wars of nation and wealth and religion, and to know that it matters how you get up each day and show love to your neighbor who irritates you for leaving their trash cans on the street corner too long.

 
Christ invites us to root our spirits in an imagination that the world does not have. If your spirit is tired today, if your spirit is discouraged by the big picture of the world or by the daily minutiae in your own life, if your spirit is crying out to God for answers or weeping with pain that won’t ease, then it may seem that imagination is far off. But listen: The task of imagining something new is not your task. Your faith and your own inventiveness do not bear the burden of inspiring and generating something entirely new – that is God’s task. God’s imagination alone can look at death and see a way to new life, uproot evil and plant with a transformative blessing, hold a child’s cries, and create a day when there are no more tears.
 
God’s work is of holy imagination. Ours is the work of getting up and living into it.

• God has already imagined life – so we must live every breath of it. The world doesn’t need us to faint with exhaustion; it needs us to run with joy.
• God has already imagined love – we must live the fullest extent of it. The world doesn’t need our cynicism; it needs our hospitality.
• God has already imagined peace – we must extend it with every word, by every action. The world doesn’t need our biases; the world needs our self-examination and confession.
• God has already imagined goodness and mercy following you, surrounding you, undergirding you, dogging you – you must rest confidently within it and set aside the doubts that would try to tell you that you don’t deserve it. The world does not need your stress; it needs your compassion.

 
If there are days when you feel too weary to show compassion, let the community surround you and nourish you back to life.
 
If there are days when you can’t get up, know that Christ sits with you where you are.
 
When doubt and disbelief seem to consume you, let a friend hold your hand as a reminder that you can never be snatched away from God’s hand.
 
Should the shadows of death surround you, trust Jesus to plant soft green grasses beneath your feet.
 
In those seasons when you lose your voice and your joy and your song, believe that the angels carry on the chorus until you can join in again, singing:

“Salvation belongs to God alone! Yes – salvation and glory
and wisdom and honor and power and might
be to God forever and ever,
for in the shadow of God’s throne we are sheltered,
in the sight of God’s glory there is no more hunger or thirst,
by the Lamb who is the Shepherd, we are led step by step to living water
and God will wipe every tear from every eye.”
 
May God’s imagination not be lost on us, and may our spirits be comforted and confident in the knowledge of it. Amen.