Week of April 25th
God’s Mission of Inclusion
Sermon Noodles
The scripture text is Peter’s vision in Acts 10:9-23:
9 About noon the next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat; and while it was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners. 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 Then he heard a voice saying, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.” 15 The voice said to him again, a second time, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” 16 This happened three times, and the thing was suddenly taken up to heaven.
17 Now while Peter was greatly puzzled about what to make of the vision that he had seen, suddenly the men sent by Cornelius appeared. They were asking for Simon’s house and were standing by the gate. 18 They called out to ask whether Simon, who was called Peter, was staying there. 19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Look, three[a] men are searching for you. 20 Now get up, go down, and go with them without hesitation; for I have sent them.” 21 So Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for your coming?” 22 They answered, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.” 23 So Peter invited them in and gave them lodging.
The vision challenged the Apostle Peter’s notion of holiness. Not only challenged, overturned. Obliterated. Notice the passage: Peter has a vision of a sheet descending from heaven, full of all manner of unclean things and the voice “Kill and eat” that went against everything he was taught to be true.
In the Book of Leviticus is several chapters known as “the holiness code.” The code was a detailed account for the nation of Israel about how to behave: what was holy and what was not holy; what was clean and what was unclean; what was okay to do and not okay to do.
The holiness code contained instructions for all manner of things in life including food, diseases, sex, festivals, speech, priestly conduct, sacrifices, and cleanliness. The reason why Jewish people stay away from eating pork is because it says so in Leviticus; from eating raw meat with blood in it and how to observe the Sabbath. The holiness code defined what was acceptable to God and how to approach God for over a thousand years.
So when the sheet from heaven full of unclean things descends upon Peter and he is told to kill and eat it goes against everything he was taught about how to be holy. And he says he will not eat it. Three times this happens! Three times God says, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”
God is reprogramming Peter’s brain about what holiness is all about. No longer is holiness defined by exclusion, but defined by inclusion. In the gospel God is bringing everything together under Christ. No one and nothing is excluded. What we miss many times as Christians is the trajectory of God’s grace and God’s mission of inclusion. Our tendency is to put up boundaries—to limit the participation of women for example. Our gay marriage as another example. It is very interesting in talking about gay marriage, rarely does anyone quote Galatians 3:28 "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
Notice:
In Christ there is no Jew nor Gentile—no racial distinction
In Christ there is no slave nor free—no economic or social class distinction
In Christ there is no male or female-no gender distinction.
Jesus lived this out and called our attention to God’s mission of inclusion over in his great sermon called the Sermon on the Mount. Over and over again, “You have heard it said but I say unto you,” he said it so many times that by the end of the sermon people were saying “we haven’t heard any preaching like this. He preaches with such authority.”
Jesus was reinterpreting the law along the lines of God’s mission of inclusion.
You have heard it said love your neighbor and hate your enemy but I tell you love your enemies. You have heard it said do not commit adultery. But according to Jesus, adultery isn’t the main problem, it is the desire that comes through the eyes called lust. So you have to radically change the way you look at things. Jesus does this over and over again, he reinterprets the law along God’s mission of inclusion. He includes women, he includes people of different race—in fact, Jesus always uses people of a different race as an example of faith—the Good Samaritan, the syro-phoenician woman, the Roman Centurion . . . . Transcend and Include.
Jesus fulfills the law and gives us a new center—a relationship with Christ.
The boundary of the holiness code has been replaced. Holiness is no longer defined by exclusion, but by inclusion. Holiness is no longer defined by a rule book, but a relationship. Holiness now becomes “wholeness” where Christ is the center. And God’s mission includes bringing all things into the center under the head of Christ. (Ephesians chapter 1)
So what do we do? We welcome all. We welcome the stranger, we welcome people different from us. We can practice hospitality. That is what Peter did. Notice after the vision where everything he thought was true God turned upside down, notice what happened. Three men appear sent by the dreaded Gentile Cornelius, who is not only not Jewish, he is a commander in the occupying army, and Peter welcomed them into his home and even invited them in to stay the night.
Devotional Guide
Read Acts 10:9-23. Now read Leviticus 11:4-7, 13-19, 29-30. After reading the verses in Leviticus, how do you think Peter felt when he heard the voice ordering him to “Kill and eat”?
Why do you suppose “this happened three times”? (Acts 10:16)
What would the new principle given to Peter in Acts 10:15 mean to him? How does it fit with the story of Cornelius?
Is there any group of people in our society we might apply this principle to in God’s mission of including all people?
Bonus question: Read the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, paying close attention to how Jesus reinterprets Old Testament law. As Jesus challenges the notion of “holiness” as excluding things and redefines holiness as including things and people, how does this challenge our thinking and behavior toward other people who are different?