Lord of Love Lutheran Church ELCA – Omaha, NE

Paula Lawhead
Acts 11:1-18
July 15, 2007

As a devout Jew, Peter understood well the meaning of clean and unclean.  He had lived his whole life concerned with the law detailing which animals are acceptable for food and which are not even to be touched.  Imagine his surprise when Peter, confronted with a vision of unclean animals was commanded to kill and eat them.  Of course, Peter adamantly refuses to do such a thing despite each time being told by the Lord – do not declare unclean what I have made clean.  Do not declare unclean…What is it to be unclean?

 Unclean is more than just not having bathed in a while.  Unclean in this context is understood better as “not a part of”.  Unclean means it has nothing to do with us – it is of no value.  Something that is unclean is not something just to be ignored, but something to be avoided because unclean also means it is contaminating.  Unclean is that which is not chosen or set apart by God.

 As a devout Jew, Peter understood well the meaning of being chosen.  He knew what it is to be included and understood that others were excluded.  He is a Jew; one of God’s chosen people.  It was with he and his friends that Jesus spent His time and to them that Jesus entrusted His ministry, it was Peter and his friends upon whom the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost.  If anyone was “in”, it was Peter.  And for centuries it was clear that the Jews were the chosen people of God.  The Gentiles did not belong.

 What is it to be unclean?  The gentiles were not set apart, they were not given a land, they were completely other.  They just didn’t belong in matters of religious faith – God had not included them to this point.  So, imagine again Peter’s surprise when 3 Gentile servants ask him to come with them to preach his message to their master and his household.  But this time Peter does not refuse – he goes with them without hesitation – remembering the new word from the Lord; do not declare unclean what I have made clean. 

 God initiated the events that led up to Peter’s acceptance of these gentile believers.  Peter was not ready to have an accepting relationship with gentiles and God had to prepare him for the work he needed to do. First, with the vision where Peter sees a sheet lowered from heaven that holds unclean animals.  A voice tells Peter to, “Get up, kill and eat.”  As a committed Jew, Peter would have nothing to do with eating anything that was prohibited by Jewish law.  He saw the vision as a test and replies that he would not eat anything that was considered unclean by the law. 

 But Peter’s vision is not a test. It is not about food at all.  It is about his relationship with the gentile people whom God is going to call into the church.  It is the gentiles that Peter will need to acknowledge as brothers and sisters and not as “profane” or “unclean.”  

 The only power in the universe that can truly change the deeply ingrained prejudices that interfere with inclusion is the power of God’s Holy Spirit.  And even that will not be fully worked out in this world – the truth is that we cannot work out any visible unity.  That is done only in Christ. 

 God prepared Peter for his work with the gentile church and God is even now preparing your heart and mine for our work with all those who are yet to be invited into the family of faith. As people who are unclean, this is the very crux of what Christ has done for us.  He came not to call the righteous, but sinners.  In Christ alone you are declared clean. 

 So, here we see the first preaching to the Gentiles.  What was for thousands of years an exclusive faith is now being opened to all.  It is no longer exclusive, but inclusive.  Jews and Gentiles alike are no longer unclean, but clean in Christ.  This was a new reality for Peter and his Jewish friends – but as they kept finding out, Jesus does a new thing and no one can exclude those made clean by God.

 You all know what it means and how it feels to be included or excluded from something “exclusive”.  We’ve all experienced “us and them” moments in our lives. Most of us here today categorize our lives into “those like us” and “those not like us” distinctions.  With those like us we find security, comfort, shared vision, shared morality, shared standard of living, people who understand where we are in life.  But categorizing as such also finds insecurity when we are outside of our “comfort zone”, we fear those people who are not like us, we are impatient, misunderstanding, judging.  We distance ourselves from those whom we do not understand.  We make judgments about our neighbors.  We classify whole countries and groups of people and neighborhoods as unclean and fear contamination when we come in contact with them. What is it to be unclean?  It is to be feared and judged.  It is to be misunderstood and kept apart.

 But a brand new thing happens when Jesus Christ comes with good news about the kingdom of God. The kingdom is for everyone – even those who have been deemed unacceptable. When Paul, the zealous Jew, defender of the Jewish faith and persecutor of Christians, took the good news to the gentiles, he said all the barriers that divide people had been done away with in Christ. He declares in Gal 3:28  “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

 The inclusive nature of the gospel message was not an easy thing for the early church to believe.  It was just unbelievable that God would do this.  Even though Jesus had given the commission to his disciples to go into Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth – the earliest disciples could not quite come to terms with unclean gentiles sitting down to eat with them.  It’s not easy for you today, either, to embrace this inclusive faith.  In fact, it’s simply unbelievable to hear God’s great message of inclusivity through the work of Jesus Christ.  You want to put criteria and standards upon those who are included in Christ.  We want everyone to “belong” in such a way that there is a conformity that keeps us comfortable. 

 What is it to be unclean?  It is to reject and disbelieve the work that God has done in Christ.  It is to set yourself aside as clean rather than hear that you are included in the same group as the drunkards and pornography addicted and faithless sinners with whom you try to keep your distance.

 In today’s text Simon Peter is criticized by his fellow Jews in the church. “Why did you go to unclean men and eat with them?”  That sounds familiar doesn’t it?  It was not that long ago that the Pharisees were critical of Jesus’ tendency for breaking bread with the wrong people.  Matthew 9 – ” And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” [Matthew 9:10-11]  Luke 15 – Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” [Luke 15:1]

 The source for the unity and openness of our church is given in this man Jesus, sent from God, who eats with tax collectors and sinners.  The table is open. You are all one before him.  No expectations are laid out.  You are welcomed at the table and free to dine with him.  Jesus opens the table to the unclean.  Why then the disunity of our cultures and our church?  The reason is exactly the same: because Jesus Christ eats with tax collectors and sinners.  (That’s you and me, by the way)   Let me say that again – The disunity and exclusivity within our church is due to the fact that we are those tax collectors and sinners.  And the inclusivity of our church is that Jesus Christ welcomes us as we are to the table.

 Now, God not only prepared Peter’s heart to take the good news to people he would normally have avoided – he prepared the hearts of those who would be the recipients of his ministry.  Barriers are erected on a two way street.  It is not only my prejudice toward you that destroys the possibility of relationship between us — it is also your prejudice toward me.  If faith in Jesus Christ comes to this unbelieving world, to the unclean like you and me, it comes to ears open and prepared by the Spirit of God to hear what God is doing in the world.  And this new thing God is doing is bringing Jesus Christ to you – to your unclean ears – making you new.

 Now hear the words God has prepared for you in this Scripture.  God prepared the heart of Peter. God prepared Peter to receive the unclean.  God prepared him to eat with them and prepared his mouth to speak new life to them.  God has also prepared the hearts of the gentiles. When the word of God comes to those who are outside family of faith, the word of God transforms unclean, unbelieving gentiles into the people of God.  And Peter could not deny it. “Who was I that I could hinder God?” he asked.   And this is a question you can ask yourself today.  God not only prepared the heart of Peter, but prepares also the hearts of unfaithful, unbelieving, unclean masses of you and me.

 So, what is it to be clean?  It is hearing the good news of Jesus Christ which leads to life. Not life as we know it, limited by the labels of clean and unclean.  Really, no one is clean, yet no one is excluded from the table to feast with Christ.  Not even you!  No matter who you are, where you have been, or what you have done, the same God who does this new thing among you gives life to you.  This good news is not a question of deserving or conforming to certain cultural ideals.  This good news is about the man Jesus Christ and His death and His resurrection done for you so that you may have new life and hear that faith in Him is by nature inclusive. 

 So now you who are unclean have been brought into the light of the love of God, not so that you can be gods of your own kingdom where you can decide who’s in and who’s out in the name of God, but instead so God names each one of you – instead of calling you unclean he calls you Bill and Jenny and Tom.  You are His included children and what are you now free to do?  You’re free to go out and tell people all about what God has done for you so others might hear about their inclusion – because inclusion does not come in your name, it does not come in your judgment – it only comes in the name of Jesus Christ.  And that finally is the best word alone – it is the most freeing, most inclusive word of all because it is not hinged on anything that you are or are not.  So in the name of Jesus Christ you are clean. 

 Go in peace and enjoy the open table with Him.

 Paula Lawhead
Seminarian