Preached · November 17, 2019
Text · Acts 10
Opening: Have You Ever Felt Left Out?
It's good to see you all. My name is Anthony Parrott. I'm one of the pastors here at Good News, and I get the privilege of preaching God's Word to you today. It's so great that you could be here — so great that we could be here together to experience God's presence.
I want to invite you to open up your Scriptures to the book of Acts chapter 10. We actually have a new box of Bibles on the way, because so many of these Bibles have been taken, which is my favorite thing ever. I love it.
We have been exploring the book of Acts and the history of the early church, and over the past few weeks we've been taking a look at the story of Peter, one of the original disciples of Jesus of Nazareth — how his life is being turned upside down by his belief that Jesus is King and nobody else is, and how he is going to join with God, join with Jesus, in his renewal of all things. The past couple of weeks we've talked about the story of Cornelius, and Peter's vision, and we're going to continue on in that today. But before we do, let me ask you a question.
Have you ever felt left out? It's one of my least favorite feelings — to feel like something cool is going on, something great is going on, and you're watching from the outside looking in. My wife Emily and I, years ago, were invited to some good friends' wedding. We go in — it's in this beautiful hall for the reception. The wedding's already happened; we're going to the reception with a group of friends. And it's one of those weddings where they have assigned seating — tables 1 through 25. And you assume, "We're pretty close friends with this couple; maybe we're going to be close to the head table." So we see our number, and it's number 25, and you think, "Well, maybe they did it back to front or something, I don't know." So we get our assignment, we go into the big room, and we see tables 1 through 24. And then, around the corner in a separate room, is table 25. And you're hearing things from the distance: "Hey, it's time to cut the cake!" And you're like, "Anybody bring binoculars? Looks good, looks good." "Hey, it's time for the first dance!" "Hope you have fun."
Have you ever felt left out? That is often the story we see in the Scriptures — of people who feel left out, who feel like they are on the outside, and then they are brought to the inside. Who feel like they're at table 25, and then they're invited to the head table.
So if you have your Bible, I invite you to turn to the book of Acts chapter 10, verses 17 through 23. Would you stand for the reading of God's word?
Acts 10:17-23
Now, while Peter was greatly puzzled about what to make of the vision that he had seen, suddenly the men sent by Cornelius appeared, asking for Simon's house, and were standing by the gate. They called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was staying there. And while Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Look, three men are searching for you. Now get up, go down, and go with them without hesitation, for I have sent them." So Peter went down to the men and said, "I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?" 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, to hear what you have to say." So Peter invited them in and gave them lodging.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You can be seated.
(Note that there are two Simons in this story: Simon the tanner, who owns the house, and Simon Peter, our main character.)
Let's pray together. Spirit, Son, and Father, we thank you for the gift of your Scripture, for the gift of the holy testimony of the saints who have gone before us. God, we thank you for your love shown in the New Testament church. Jesus, we thank you for your grace, God — that we may not just walk out these doors a little bit smarter, but in fact that we may look a little bit more like you, Jesus. So help us to listen well and to live well. We pray in the unity of the Spirit, in the name of Jesus, and God's children said: Amen.
Jewish and Gentile Relations
Now, in order for a lot of this to make sense and come together for us, we need to talk about Jewish and Gentile relations — two people groups: the Jews, and then basically everyone else who wasn't a Jew, the Gentiles.
The Jews, the nation of Israel, were the special, appointed, anointed group of God — God's holy creation, set aside in the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. In those five books we see the coming together of Israel and how God sets them aside to be a light to the nations. God tells their forefather Abraham, "I will bless you, and through you, you will bless all nations." But as time went on, the Israelites became more and more insular, enclosed, set apart — not in the way that God intended, about holiness, but set apart in that they would no longer talk about their God to other people. And they became less and less obedient to God, and therefore were conquered again and again — by the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, and eventually the Romans. And so we get to A.D. 40, the year this story is happening. And as these conquerings happened again and again, the Jews would create more and more barriers to being with a Gentile person.
There was a really popular book in first-century Judaism, the book of Jubilees, and it was popular with lots of religious folks. This is what it said about Gentiles: "Separate yourself from the Gentiles, and do not eat with them, and do not perform deeds like theirs. And do not become associates of theirs, because their deeds are defiled, and all of their ways are contaminated and despicable and abominable." Maybe you're a parent and you've told your child not to hang out with somebody else because their ways are contaminated, despicable, and abominable. I don't know. But it's pretty harsh language, and this was a very popular book; this is the way you would be raised — don't spend time with, don't even get close to, a Gentile person if you're a Jew, because they are despicable. The writings of the rabbis a century or so later, in the Mishnah, said this: "The dwelling places of Gentiles are unclean." You couldn't even go into their homes, their places — because "unclean" doesn't just mean they didn't vacuum enough or didn't dust before Thanksgiving. Unclean meant that if you went in there, you became unclean, and you became unable to go to the temple or to the synagogue, to hear the Torah, to hear God's word and offer sacrifices, to dine with the divine. If you went to a Gentile place, you were not allowed into the temple to worship. You became unclean. So hanging out with Gentiles was a big no-no.
Now, here's something that's going to be hard for us as twenty-first-century people to understand, but a first-century person got this, and it made perfect sense to them: who you ate with was just as important as who you slept with. Because who you slept with had implications for your reputation and for what you were known for — but who you ate with did the same thing. If you ate with unclean people, you became unclean. If you spent time with unclean people, you became unclean. If you hung out with the Gentiles, the people who were not set apart by God, then you were defiling yourself. So who you hung out with, who you ate with, was just as important — if not more important — than who you slept with.
The Vision
Now, let's get into the text. Verse 17 says, "Peter was greatly puzzled about what to make of the vision that he had seen." We talked about this last week — that Peter has this vision, and it's an out-of-body experience. The Greek word is ekstasis, to be out of your person. And so Peter is out of his person, seeing this vision. He sees this sheet come down from the heavens with a bunch of non-kosher, unclean food laid before him, and a voice that says, "Go, kill, and eat." And Peter says, "No, I'm a Jew, I've never eaten any unclean thing." And the voice says, "Go, kill, and eat." And Peter says, "No, I've never done it." And the voice says, a third time, "Go, kill, eat." And Peter says, "No, I've never done this before." And then the vision ends by God saying, "What I have declared clean, you shall not declare unclean."
Which is this funny motif in Peter's life, where Peter denies Jesus three times: "Do you know this man?" "No, I've never heard of him." "Do you know this man?" "No, I've never heard of him." "Do you know this man?" "No, I've never heard of him." And then Jesus, at the end of his time on earth, asks Peter, "Do you love me?" "Yes." "Do you love me?" "Yes." "Do you love me?" "Yes, Jesus." And so again, a vision three times. I'm sure Peter's like, "God, I get it. You don't have to do everything in threes with me. It's okay."
Who Is Cornelius?
But Peter has this vision, he's thinking about it, and then verse 17 continues: "Suddenly the men sent by Cornelius appear." Now, who's Cornelius? We talked about this two weeks ago — how Cornelius had a vision of an angel showing up to him and saying, "Go, call for Peter." Cornelius is a God-fearer, which means he's a Gentile. He has not become a Jew; he's not become circumcised. But he still goes to the synagogue to hear about Yahweh, to hear about the God of the Jews. So he's a God-fearer. But Cornelius is a centurion first and foremost, which means he's a Roman citizen who has spent the greater part of his life avoiding marriage, avoiding a family, and dedicating his life to furthering the purposes of the Roman Empire. A centurion is someone who oversees a century of men — a hundred men, a hundred Roman soldiers — and he oversees them in the town of Caesarea Maritima, coastal Caesarea, a town named after Caesar.
So Cornelius has this angel come to him and say, "Go seek out Peter." This is a little weird. Cornelius admires the God of the Jews, but he doesn't want to become a Jew. And the Jews are very protective of their ethnic identity, so they don't want to hang out with a Gentile — especially a Roman centurion. Roman centurions are the ones who helped conquer the Jews. These are the enemy. As a matter of fact, twenty-five years later, all of the Gentiles in Caesarea Maritima will massacre all of the Jews in Caesarea Maritima. It is a bad, bad relationship between Gentiles and Jews. And yet an angel goes to Cornelius and says, "Go, call for a man named Peter."
On the Roof
So in verse 18, Cornelius sends three men — one of his own soldiers and two of his servants — to go find Peter, about a day's walk. They show up to Simon the tanner's house, where Peter was staying. Now, Peter's up on the roof — not because he's hanging Christmas lights, but because everyone had a roof where you could hang out, spend time, bathe, do some prayer. It was pretty common to have this top-level terrace. And there was also a protective element: if your city came under siege, you could go to the top and have a protective vantage point, to see the enemy coming.
Quick aside: if you've ever heard the story of David and Bathsheba, and you hear about Bathsheba going up on the roof to bathe — Bathsheba's not doing anything wrong. Bathsheba is the one actually doing what she's supposed to do; David, the king, is the one who's built his house higher than anybody else's so that he could look down on all the other roofs. David is the one with the problem in that story. It doesn't have much to do with what we're talking about today, but it's a good thing to remember the next time you talk about David and Bathsheba.
So Peter's on the roof, Cornelius has sent three of his men, Peter sees these men coming, and the Spirit says, "Look, three men are searching for you." Verse 20: "Now get up, go down, go with them without hesitation, for I have sent them." And you have to assume the reason God says "go with them without hesitation" is because Peter has hesitation. Of course he does. He's a Jew. He sees three Roman soldiers — or a soldier and Cornelius's two servants — coming toward his house, and he's going to get a little bit nervous. That's a bad scene. Peter himself has already been in and out of jail. He knows what it's like to be taken into custody, and to see Gentiles, Roman citizens, Roman soldiers, coming to the place where he's staying — not a good scene. But the Spirit says, "Get up, go down, go with them, for I have sent them."
Now, verse 21: "Peter went down to the men and said, 'I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?'" Peter has to assume he's going to his doom. But they answer, "Cornelius the 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."
God Works Through People
Now, I love this part of the story, because an angel goes to Cornelius. And the angel is probably a better communicator than Peter — probably a better communicator than anyone on the face of the earth at that time, better than me or you. But God doesn't send the angel to tell the gospel to Cornelius. God sends the angel to say, "Go get Peter." Why? Because I believe that God does his best work not through angels, but through people, through presence, through relationship. The angel could have done the job, but that's not the way God chooses to work most of the time. God chooses to work through ordinary, normal, boring people like me and you. We don't have wings, we don't flutter around the throne of God, and yet God chooses us to do his work.
I know, and you know, that you all could leave here and go listen to a far more talented preacher on the radio, or television, or YouTube. And yet something unique and special happens when we gather together in each other's presence, hear God's word proclaimed, and experience it as a family, as one — and not in our scattered homes and workplaces. Something special happens when God uses people coming face to face.
Peter Invited Them In
So: the angel comes to Cornelius and says, "Call for Peter." Cornelius sends his men. Peter has a vision that disturbs his worldview — "What I have called clean, don't you dare call unclean, Peter." Peter sees these three men coming — Gentile, Roman, soldiers. They knock on his door. God says, "Go down." The men tell their story. And then verse 23: Peter invited them in and gave them lodging.
The Gentiles — the people whose house you do not go into, or they will make you unclean — Peter invited them in and gave them lodging. The Roman soldiers, the army, the people who have conquered and oppressed your people — Peter invited them in and gave them lodging. The Gentiles, that you don't eat with, don't sleep with, don't spend time with, don't hang out with — Peter invited them in and gave them lodging.
Good News: There's Room at the Table
Here's what I think is the good news of this passage: that there is room at the table of Jesus, even for you. Even for me. There is room at the table of Jesus for all of us. There is no sin that can kick us out of the table. There is no history or past that somehow burns our invite from the table. We are not at table 25, or 24. We are at table 1. We are at the head table, invited to dine with Jesus. And we see that the walls and the barriers and all the things that would have kept Cornelius out — God is breaking those barriers down. And so for you, whatever your story, whatever your history, whatever your past — you've got pain, you've got wounds, and maybe you've inflicted pain and wounds on someone else — and yet, there is room at the table of Jesus, even for you.
Implications: Who Do We Make Room For?
So what are the implications of a good news like that? We have some tough questions to ask and answer. Who do we need to make room at the table for? In our families, in our church, in our neighborhoods, in our town, in our country. Let me give you three examples of how these implications might work their way out.
About 10% of our population deals with some sort of substance abuse — drugs, alcohol, or otherwise. And we have to ask: are they welcome at our tables? Are people who are currently, daily, right now struggling with what they put into their bodies able to feel welcome in a place like this?
Another question: 80% of Americans attend a church made up of 80% of their own race. So if you're white, you probably go to a church made up of white people; if you're black, you probably go to a church made up of black people. Are people of a different race and culture welcome at our tables? This is a question we have to ask and answer.
Here's another one: there are 1.4 million displaced people in the world — displaced, meaning that because of famine, or war, or some sort of conflict or persecution, they have been forced to leave their home, their neighborhood, their town, their community, even their country. In October, we admitted precisely zero refugees into our country. Until 2017, the U.S. used to allow in more refugees than any other country in the world combined. And friends, I know this is going to shock you, but now we're second to Canada. Canada, guys. You really want to be second to Canada in something? Think about that. The majority of refugees in the world are Christian; they are being forced out of their homes or towns or nations because they're believers in Jesus. And even if they weren't — what does it say about our desire to evangelize, to tell the good news about Jesus to non-Christians, if we'd rather they just stay out of our country? Because I'll tell you what: we're not going to theirs. Zero refugees admitted to the U.S. in October. Are they welcome at our tables?
Author Henri Nouwen puts hospitality like this: "Hospitality means primarily the creation of a free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom, not disturbed by dividing lines." It's not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom, not disturbed by dividing lines.
When I look at the story of Jesus, it's about taking dividing lines and blowing them up. When I look at the story of Peter, it's about going past our prejudices, past all the narratives we were brought up in — "there's a them and there's an us; there's an in and there's an out" — and taking those narratives and saying, "They're not true anymore."
A Prayer for the Persecuted and Their Persecutors
So with all that in mind, I want to close today with a prayer that we're going to pray together. I want to invite the worship team to come forward and for all of us to stand. I want to pray a prayer for the persecuted — for our fellow believers who are being persecuted for their faith — and for our enemies. Over 250 countries are not hospitable. Over the course of a year, a little over 4,000 Christians were killed for their faith in those countries, and churches and Christian worship spaces were attacked or destroyed. And so I think we should stop for a moment, pray for our brothers and sisters, as well as pray for those who are causing such pain.
O God of all nations, the one God who is and was and always will be: in your providence you willed that your church be united to the suffering of your Son. Look with mercy on your servants who are persecuted for their faith in you. Grant them perseverance and courage to be worthy imitators of Christ. Bring your wisdom upon the leaders of nations, to work for peace among all peoples — especially our leaders, Donald, Mike, Mitch, and Nancy. May your Spirit open conversion for those who contradict your will, that we may live in harmony. And, as Jesus taught us, we pray for our enemies — those who would target, persecute, and even kill our Christian brothers and sisters. May your kindness lead them to repentance. May mercy triumph over judgment. And may we open our doors to them, even as the early church opened their doors to their persecutors. By the power of your Spirit, help us to reflect the love of Christ, which reveals your love. May both our brethren and our enemies know we are Christians by our love, and by the size of our tables. Amen.
This is a transcript of the sermon as preached, lightly edited for readability.
