Unfurling and Growing – Acts 11

A text – Acts 11:1-18

11 Now the apostles and the brothers and sisters who were in Judea heard that the gentiles had also accepted the word of God. ² So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, ³ saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” ⁴ Then 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. ⁶ As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. ⁷ I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ ⁸ But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But a second time the voice answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. ¹¹ At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. ¹² The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³ He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; ¹⁴ he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.’ ¹⁵ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶ And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” ¹⁸ When 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.”

A reflection:

The Book of The Acts of the Apostles, written by St. Luke, is a book that describes how the good news of Jesus and salvation spread across the world, bringing the original followers of Jesus in contact with more and more different people and cultures. It is a little movie of God’s vision unfurling, growing, and including more and more kinds of people.

We remember when Jesus was calling his disciples, they thought he was the longed-for Messiah who would overthrow Rome and lift up the land of Israel to the prominent place it deserved as the beloved, favored land of God. When Jesus preached in Samaria and healed the sick from non-Jewish places, those disciples were still not sure the Messiah should be doing those things. Surely the Jewish church leaders were sure Jesus SHOULDN’T be doing those things. Many things Jesus did went against what they had spent generations making sure good Jews did.

Now Jesus has ascended. Now Peter, upon whom Jesus built his church, is faced with a predicament. God comes to a gentile named Cornelius. God tells him to send for Peter. God does this. And to prepare Peter, God sends him a vision, too – of the animals Peter and his fellow Jews have been taught never to touch, let alone eat. Peter sticks to those rules three times in the vision. And then he gets it. God is assuring him that nothing and no one is unclean. Bring the good news to Cornelius. It’s not only OK. It is God’s vision and desire that the whole world know Jesus. And it is the apostles’ job to carry out the mission. Separateness and tribalism is not God’s future. Peter dares, and he brings some folks with him to witness it. While he is preaching (not afterward, mind you) the Holy Spirit comes upon Cornelius and his family and friends. It is Pentecost all over again in the midst of his sermon. Peter has put their attention on Jesus, and the Holy Spirit rushes in.

What do we learn here? As human believers we embody God’s vision and bring his Word to those we know. But it’s God’s Word and God’s vision. Not ours. God calls us to do what we are uniquely gifted to do, but not to create something of our own. We are God’s means of extending God’s Kingdom. If we do our part, God’s Word and mission unfurl and grow and include more and more. Not get smaller and less inclusive. Get surprisingly big. This is God, up to something.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for letting us be a part of spreading and unfurling and growing your mission. Help us to remember that you are prone to make things more inclusive and very surprising. Amen.