Quote from Forum Archives on March 31, 2003, 1:39 pm

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

DARING TO DREAM AGAIN #6/9
THE GOSPEL FOR ALL
March 30, 2003

Text: Acts 10:1-48

It is rather amazing that this topic of the Spiritual Adventure,
confronting ungodly prejudices, comes at just this point in the history
of our nation and world. Everyone has prejudices, and not all prejudices
are bad or evil. Christians should, for instance, carry a great deal of
prejudice against satan and his purposes. There is nothing wrong with
such a prejudice.

Because of the particular history of prejudice in American racial
relations, we tend to have specific images and thoughts that come to mind
whenever the topic of prejudice is mentioned. In fact, issues of
prejudice have been around in this old world for a long time. They stem
from all kinds of sources, not just race.

The basic difference between Peter and Cornelius found in Acts 10 is
representative of the religious environment that existed in that time. In
spite of the earthshaking events surrounding the resurrection of Jesus
and the beginning of the Christian church in Jerusalem, there remained a
significant point of distinction between two groups of people: the Jews
and everyone else. The “everyone else” category was known as Gentiles.
Before Jesus, Gentiles wanting to worship and serve God had to convert to
Judaism. This was no easy task. They were subjected to a rigorous series
of rites and studies that they needed to complete. They were thoroughly
tested in order to prove their sincerity and their adherence to the
appropriate Jewish traditions of worship. This was not all bad, but it
did contribute toward the environment of legalisms that was prevalent in
Jesus’ day.

In The Life and Times of Jesus, Alfred Edersheim helps us understand the
scenario described in Acts 10: “To put the general feeling in the words
of Tacitus, the Jews kept close together, and were ever most liberal to
one another; but they were filled with bitter hatred of all others. They
would neither eat nor sleep with strangers; and the first thing which
they taught their proselytes was to despise the gods, to renounce their
own country, and to rend the bonds which had bound them to parents,
children or kindred. . . . To begin with, every Gentile child, so soon as
born, was to be regarded as unclean. Those [Gentiles] who actually
worshipped mountains, hills, bushes, etc., idolaters, should be cut down
with the sword. But as it was impossible to exterminate heathenism,
Rabbinical legislation kept certain definite objects in view, which may
be summarized: to prevent Jews from being inadvertently led into
idolatry, to avoid all participation in idolatry, not to do anything
which might aid the heathen in their worship; and, beyond all this, not
to give pleasure, or even help, to heathens. The latter involved a most
dangerous principle, capable of almost indefinite application by
fanaticism.” (quoted from “Historical Background,” Pastor’s Manual,
Daring to Dream Again, Wheaton: Mainstay Ministries, 2003, p. B205)

We should be seeing the picture. A large gulf of difference existed
between Peter and Cornelius. Evidently, the Christian church in
Jerusalem, the one resulting from the Pentecost ministries, was either
predominately Jewish. If there were any Gentile members, they must have
either been previous converts to Judaism or were willing to convert to
Judaism. At any rate, from these Scriptures, the Jerusalem church was
rather homogeneous.

This was not God’s intent. He had quite a different strategy in mind, and
He prepared Peter for it. He gave Peter a vision about the animals
lowered from heaven and the command to “kill and eat.” The prospective
food included some animals that were forbidden by the Jewish law because
of the Scriptural instructions concerning what were clean and unclean
animals. These Scriptures are found primarily throughout the first five
Old Testament books such as Deuteronomy and Leviticus. God’s people were
told that some animals were clean, and therefore all right to kill and
eat. Other animals were unclean, and therefore not to be eaten or used in
sacrifice to God. Peter’s response to God in his vision is
understandable: “Surely not, Lord!… I have never eaten anything impure or
unclean.” In truth, it sounds like there might have been some critters -
the “reptiles of the earth” - on that sheet that I would want to pass up
for my Sunday dinner, too. Fried chicken is fine; broiled iguana just
doesn’t do it for me.

A quick comment about this vision. Some try to use this to justify that a
mistake was made in the Old Testament Scriptures, either by the authors
or by God. As I said, the Old Testament defines animals as either clean
or unclean. In Acts 10, God seems to rescind this distinction. “Do not
call anything impure that God has made clean.” In fact, I do not think
that any mistake has been made, nor was any previous requirement
rescinded. First, we should note that God is declaring His power to make
anything clean. If He wants to make an unclean animal clean, He certainly
has the latitude to do so. It does not negate or render inaccurate His
prior commands. Second, the purpose of this vision is not to overturn His
previous commands. It is to show Peter the lack of vision that the human
elements in the Christian church were already displaying. The vision is
for a specific purpose: to prepare Peter for the visitation he is about
to experience. This is the application of the vision, which has nothing
to do with negating the dietary laws of the Jews.

So Peter is wondering about the meaning of this vision when he begins to
have what we call in our day a “serendipitous,” or “ah-hah!”, moment. The
light bulb begins to burn as the Spirit tells him to go with the three
men who are looking for him. Of course, he winds up at Cornelius’s home.

Cornelius represents almost everything that was detestable to the
respectable Jew in that day. He was a Gentile. He served in a Roman
garrison, so he was part of the hated occupying forces. This is just the
type of person that the devout Jew would try to have nothing to do with.
One of Peter’s comments to his visitors is revealing, “You are well aware
that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit
him.” Of course, this is where God’s vision to Peter comes in. It was not
up to Peter to predetermine who was acceptable to God and who was not.
Peter did not know it yet, but Cornelius was an honest man devoutly
seeking God. God responded to Cornelius’s prayers.

When he learned of the instructions Cornelius had received to send for
him, Peter recognized the hand and the message of God in all of it. He
recognized what it means that the Gospel is for all. “I now realize how
true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every
nation who fear him and do what is right.” Through testimony and then
belief, Peter baptized Cornelius and his household.

Looking back from our vantage point, we might miss the big deal that this
was then. We know that God’s Word teaches that salvation is available to
anyone who believes. We have seen or witnessed evangelism services where
anyone who is convicted by the Spirit can immediately enter God’s
Kingdom. We know through teaching and experience that anyone can confess
Jesus Christ as Lord and be saved. Until this moment, Peter didn’t know
this. What Peter did was a risk because it was still scandalous to just
about all of his friends. They didn’t know yet that the Gospel is for
all.

But it is true, isn’t it? Still, we sometimes have difficulty accepting
that ourselves. Oh, not in the same way that Peter might have had before
his experience, but we sometimes forget that God is capable of convicting
and saving anyone He wants. It’s not up to us to decide who it is or is
not going to be.

Being somewhat the amateur historian, I know that after the bombing of
Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war with Japan, internment camps were
set up in the United States for those of Japanese descent. Part of that
was for security purposes; after all, there was some spying that went on
prior to the attack that was shut down as a result of rounding them up.
Unfortunately, though, historians note that a big reason for the
internment was due to prejudice and envy over some of their success. I
believe that when we look back, the treatment forced upon this group of
people, the majority of them Americans, was unjust.

Fortunately, we can learn and grow from past mistakes. We are faced once
more with threats from other nations. There are people who live here -
indeed, many have been born here - who have the features and the heritage
of our enemy. Yet, we have not been busy rounding up everyone of
Middle-Eastern descent. In all honesty, I can say that I have not heard
anyone speaking derogatorily of such people, and I am glad of it. I am
glad of it because it indicates to me that we have not lost our desire to
be compassionate witnesses for God. There are enough cruel people in the
world, we know that. Christians need not be a part of the cruelty. We
know that, but we need to remember to practice it.

In spite of all of the horror and terror that the war we are now in
brings to our own military men and women as well as to the poor typical
Iraqi civilian, I thank God we can still remember to be compassionate.
There was a photo taken last week, which has been much talked about, of
an American Marine or soldier running back to friendly lines with a
wounded Iraqi child in his arms. In spite of the personal danger it place
him in, this American felt enough compassion toward this injured child to
bring him out of harm’s way into safety. Not every soldier in every
nation demonstrates such compassion or cares for the life of another. I
am glad to see that we still do.

This is a different setting and application than Peter faced, but the
lesson remains similar. We cannot be witnesses for Christ if we fail to
overcome ungodly prejudices. Imagine the men, women, and children
throughout the history of the Christian Church who would have been
spiritually lost if Peter had refused to overcome his prejudice against
the Gentiles. Imagine what a terrible testimony the Christian church
would face if we tried to be exclusive about who received the Gospel and
who didn’t. Actually, there are times in the history of the Christian
Church and, believe me, they are low points. But thank God that He has
always overcome our human limitations and foolishness. Let us be certain
to echo Peter words in Acts 10:34, “I now realize how true it is that God
does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him
and do what is right.”

Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN

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