2023-06-06
Brooke Strong
SERMON June 4, 2023 A Voice in the Vision, Acts 11: 1-18 Rev. Betsy Wooster
Today’s text from the book of Acts reflects the world of ancient Judaism in the nascent days of Christianity. Today’s story begins with some of the apostles and friends of Peter criticizing him for going to meet with Gentiles, people “outside of the Law,” as you’ll hear in the text. This is the same Peter we talked about a few weeks ago on the beach, when Jesus was asking Peter how much Peter loved him. Peter and the other disciples were now the voice and movement of the good news of Jesus among their wider community in Israel. In this instance, his friends were quite upset that Peter had wondered off to spend time with those “outside the law.”
A reading from the book of Acts, Chapter 11:1-18
Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. 2So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the believers who were under the law criticized him, 3saying, ‘Why did you go to those who were outside the law and eat with them?’ 4Then 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.
6As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7I also heard a voice saying to me, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” 8But I replied, “By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.” 9But a second time the voice answered from heaven, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” 10This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven.
11At that very moment three people, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. 12The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six friends also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. 13He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, “Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; 14he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.” 15And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. 16And I remembered the word of the Lord, who had said, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 17If then God gave to them the same gift as to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?’ 18When 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.’ (End of scripture reading.)
Let us pray. Dear God, we listen for your voice in a world of noise. Be with us now, in this time of worship, and open us to your spirit as we lift our hearts to you. May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of all our hearts, be pleasing to you, our strength and our redeemer, Amen.
As the story tell us, Peter had a dream that forced him to make a choice. Peter’s choice is a model for listening to the Still Speaking God, and it transformed him. It led Peter to have an entirely new experience of God when he went to Joppa, Gentile territory on the Mediterranean coast was a very long day’s walk from the hub of Jerusalem. He shared a meal in the home of Gentiles. Peter describes this dream he had in which he and God are having an argument of sorts. He talks about this sheet coming down from heaven that has all these animals in it that Mosaic law prohibited Peter from eating.
Adherence to biblical dietary laws was an important element of rabbinic Judaism. The Torah prohibits eating various types of meat, seafood, and crawling creatures. But even more important than this were the very strict rules against consuming food offered to idols, a religious practice of the Gentiles. Idols were not the one true God. Eating such food was profane, impure, and definitely not holy. In the time that the early church was forming, those of the Hebrew faith who became followers of Jesus continued to follow the laws of Torah. The laws of Torah structured their existence. They understood Torah’s dietary norms as binding. This prohibition of food offered to idols was so strong that some would embrace martyrdom rather than consume such meat.
And yet, Peter had a dream. A dream in which God commanded him not once, not twice, but three times to kill and eat these beasts seen in his vision. Animals that were absolutely forbidden by Peter’s moral and religious code. You want me to do what?? Why would I eat with them? (hand gesture) With Gentiles??? No, he says to God, no. Nothing unclean has ever entered my mouth. Sharing meals figured prominently in the life of Hebrew communities. Even if they could get past the idea of sharing a meal with a Gentile, the Gentile practice of sacrificing their food to Idols went against the very core of monotheism.
There was only one true God, the God that delivered the Hebrew people from bondage and they were bound to this God. Any sacrifice to another God was unspeakable. And yet, Peter had a dream, and in it, God told Peter that God had made all things clean.
God had set boundaries around eating at table with unclean foods - boundaries that were not to be crossed, until in this vision, God told Peter to cross them. At the moment Peter’s dream ends, the men sent by Cornelius were at his door. “Come with us,” they said to Peter, “for Cornelius has had a vision from God, and he sent us to bring you to him.” Cornelius, The Roman Centurion, was a Gentile. But, Peter goes with them because God has said GO. Peter goes knowing it is unlawful, and even tells Cornelius so when he reaches him. Cornelius and his household are eager to hear what Peter has to say. The spirit of God moves upon them and they want to be baptized. Peter, despite all the rules against it, baptizes them.
And Peter goes one step further. He stays on with them for several days. Several days means several meals. Meals where sumptuous platters of roasted meats were placed in front of Peter, meats that in the very eating of them was a sacrifice to Gentile gods. Platters full of food being passed around a table where Peter was the only follower of Torah present.
Peter stayed on with these new followers of Jesus for several days and broke bread with them. It must have been very hard for Peter to sit at table with these people. Very hard and very disorienting.
But Peter had a dream. Peter ate with the “other.” Peter reached out beyond himself, beyond the rules and mores of his community. And, Peter had to make a decision to do so. In his dream, he listened when God was speaking something new. Did sitting down to eat with these people mean that Peter took on their religious views? No. It meant that he chose to sit at table with them. He was moved by God to be in community with them.
We at Federated Church can find ourselves in the actions of Peter. We appreciate our interfaith relationships in the wider community. We seek to work with people from different churches and different religions in the common cause for justice. Peter is a model for us. Peter is our model, except when he is not.
Peter leaves the Gentiles in Joppa and goes back to his fellow followers of Jesus in Jerusalem. They criticized him specifically for his inclusiveness: “Why did you eat with them?” Peter just listens to them and then tells them about his dream. Hmmm... engaging in dialogue with another Christian with whom I vehemently disagree on the core message of the gospel.
How quickly I can pivot from identifying with Peter for his embrace of difference and diversity to keeping my distance from his embrace of his fellow Christians who accuse him of idolatry.
It is hard to talk with fellow Christians who hold very different understandings of the gospel message than we do, so different that it can sometimes feel like we don’t share the same religion.
I wonder how comfortable I am with Peter being my model now?
I may be like Peter in my desire to be open and welcoming to all people no matter their faith tradition, but this business of listening to other Christians who are different from me, that’s much harder.
There are people I wouldn’t want to sit down at table with. Put me at a Thanksgiving table with them and God help us all!
The decisions I would have to make to get through that meal… Here’s what a mild version of this might look like.
Let’s say that I’m hosting Thanksgiving - the platters of stuffing and gravy and mashed potatoes, maybe some version of a congealed jello salad and among other things, the annual green bean casserole.... and the pièce de résistance… I enter the dining room with the big, beautiful roasted turkey and place it in the center of the table as everyone begins to ooh and ah.
All kinds of extended family sit around this feast, all about to close our eyes as one and give thanks for one another and for the blessings of family. But as I close my eyes, I am sitting there thinking about a relative sitting across from me. you know the one…the one where there is a chasm between our world views, and especially between our understandings of Christianity.
So now I’m not even praying at this point. I’m already starting to play out in my mind saying “please don’t sit at my table and say that,” as I imagine him saying something bigoted or cringeworthy. I hold my breath and repeat in my head: “don’t engage, don’t engage, don’t engage.
“Let it go,” I think as I choke down my first spoonful of stuffing and gravy. Ahhh yes, the perfect Thanksgiving, where I have just given thanks for my extended family.
Peter is my model, except when he is not.
I don’t know if I can follow Peter to sit down and talk with people who are as convinced that I’m wrong as I am convinced that they’re wrong. Maybe you know people like that? Who work with you? Who live in your neighborhood? Your friends? Your family?
Argument and conflict with people within our own tradition is a problem, but it is not a new problem. We have a story from two thousand years ago that tells us so! We have a story from the nascent days of Jesus followers that highlights conflict. It is not a new problem and the solutions do not need to be novel either.
The Mishnah, the earliest document of Rabbinic Judaism from the 3rd century, is a learning manual of sorts about how to get along with your family when it comes to arguing about issues of ultimacy. I preached on this topic of the Mishna a year ago, in a different scriptural context, and I think it is essential for understanding who God calls us to be.
In the Mishnah, which records much of the two-thousand years of Rabbbinic history, there is an approach to dealing with conflict known in English as Makhloket L’shem Shamayim, which translates in English to “Argument for the Sake of Heaven,”.
So, there’s a solution to my problem and it has a name!
The concept behind argument for the sake of heaven is the need to disagree because something valuable is at stake. It’s not talking about just any kind of conflict.
It is not for questions like how many consecutive terms Council members should be allowed to serve (well, it might be). Argument for the sake of heaven is for issues of ultimacy.
Argument for the sake of heaven is also a model that suggests that religious debate, even if fierce, can be playful and generous. The point is not to convince the other side, the point is to preserve relationships.
Argument for the sake of heaven has a few basic rules:
1. Debate the issues without attacking people
2. A motivation for their disagreements is not about winning, but about debate for its own sake.
3. Both parties agree to listen to the other side. Uh oh.
4. Both sides agree that each equally come to their viewpoint honestly.
Peter did not sit down with Cornelius because he thought Gentile religious views were valid, he sat at table with them to engage in relationship building. But, Peter also sits down with his fellow angry, critical Jesus followers, not because he thought their argument was valid, but to preserve relationships. Arguments for the sake of heaven are the kind that endure because humans are never able to know everything – imagine that.
The Mishnah decidedly does NOT say that either party will be convinced that the other is right, nor is that the point. The point, is to embrace this practice of approaching conflict without needing to win.
The problem of religious conflict is not new. The solution to conflict does not need to be new either. So, how do we do it? Who do we decide to share a meal with? We follow the model of Peter.
Maybe Peter has a co-worker who says that the Bible is inerrant, and only men can be ministers, and Peter says “It’s clear that your faith is important to you. I have seen God’s Spirit at work in a different way. Let’s talk about it over coffee.
Maybe Peter has a relative at the summer cook-out who defends bakers who refuse to make wedding cakes for LGBTQ couples, and Peter says to them “Let me tell you about the ways that I have seen God’s Spirit in my friends and in my family, and in their marriages. “
Maybe Peter sees protesters on a street corner waving God’s name on placards with ugly words to exclude some group of people, and Peter says Hello fellow siblings in Christ! I love Jesus, too! I see the love of God in the people you are protesting. Let’s grab dinner sometime and talk.
Peter ate with the Gentiles.
Peter talked and argued with his Christian critics.
Peter crossed boundaries to stay in relationship with others, witnessing to the power and love of God.
Peter had a choice. His first choice was to pay attention to the vision he was given, to take it seriously. Sometimes our transformation is a choice, especially the effort to live out that choice. It’s easier to be transformed in a moment of clarity, in a moment of wonder or in moments when we experience something that we could never have imagined or believed possible. Think of Moses and the burning bush story that we heard two weeks ago. Remarkable experiences change us, especially as they occur, and in the moments or days that follow them. Actual transformation comes when we move forward in our lives emboldened to take our new knowledge or awareness and put it into action.
It turns out that this story, which seemingly began sounding like the heart of the story was Peter’s encounter in Joppa, is also a compelling story about Peter finding himself explaining his transformation to his disapproving friends. Explaining it in a way that kept them in friendship. A way that revealed the many things that God can do.
The people in Joppa heard the message of Jesus and were changed by it. That was their choice. They could have gone the other way and told Peter they had no time for him. But something made them listen, and in their listening, they were transformed.
Jesus’ friends back home also had a choice to make. When they questioned Jesus’ behavior they gave him time to explain his side of the story. Through listening to Peter’s story quietly as he went through all the details of the vision and what happened afterward, they were transformed.
God’s Spirit is at work among people who gather for a meal around a table. God preserves them in community even when they have differences. And in relationship, people are transformed….around a table.
Gathering around a table to share food is central to our Christian faith.
Here is the table.
Here is the community.
Here is God at work.
AMEN.