We’re going to start off today by thinking about the word ‘INCLUSION.’ What does this word mean, what’s the concept of inclusion or being inclusive all about, how does it play out in the world around us…
There might be some different ideas out there about inclusion, how it works in society > we might hear about what everyone has a right to, everyone has a right to be safe, to have an education, to hold their own beliefs for example. We might hear about inclusion as an opposite to discrimination, people are free to express their beliefs and cultural values without being judged or persecuted for it. There might be pros and cons to inclusion, for example everyone getting a ‘fair go’ in Australian society no matter where we come from, or a ‘one size fits all’ approach not quite meeting the diverse needs of different people. Diversity is another word that comes in here, celebrating diversity, being aware of different needs of different people, a multicultural society like Australia working out how to do life together.
Lots of things we might associate with the word inclusion!
Why are we talking about this today? Because it leads us in to what’s going on in our first reading today from Acts, where Peter has a vision and preaches about just how far the word of God reaches >
So what goes on in this vision Peter has > he’s re-telling it here, he actually had this vision in the previous chapter of Acts, he’s re-telling it to the believers gathered there so they can understand the full picture of what he’s going to say.
In this vision Peter sees something like a large sheet being let down, carrying various four-footed animals in it, and he hears God say to kill and eat these animals. Why does God say this, what could this possibly mean?
The clue to the meaning of this vision is in what happens next: Peter says, no I won’t eat these because they are unclean, but God counters him, saying: ‘do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ And of course this all happened three times, just like Peter’s three denials and his three times saying ‘I love you Lord’ that we’ve already heard about in this series. So not only bad things come in threes for Peter, everything comes in threes! Maybe God has a sense of humour there.
So God says that he makes ‘impure things clean,’ he restores the purity of what was impure, and the example of the foods Jewish people would and would not eat is the metaphor used to get this point across.
Where is this all taking place? At the home of Gentiles, Gentiles being people who were not Jews. And what happens next at this home of Gentiles? This ‘household is going to be saved’ we hear, the Holy Spirit comes on this household just as the Holy Spirit did at Pentecost among the disciples. They receive the Holy Spirit, they receive new life, and Peter acknowledges ‘who was I to think I could stand in God’s way?’
At this there were ‘no further objections,’ the people recognized the good news of Jesus is not only for them but also for Gentiles. They were convinced, it made sense to them, the point hit home in Peter’s words.
So there are three main points to move through out of this today, three main points relating to how the Gospel is inclusive in a boundary-breaking, border-crossing, life-changing way >
- God’s words in verse 9: ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’
- Peter’s words in verse 17: ‘Who was I to think I could stand in God’s way?’
- The peoples’ words in verse 18: ‘So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.’
Three verses, three different voices, three significant statements, three ways God works. More threes, that’s just how it is with with Peter!
‘What God has made clean’
It is clean if God has said so! The key here is in the power of God’s word, not the strength of our traditions, opinions or arguments we might make, it’s all about the power of God’s word. I wonder how significant the impact of this vision was for food-based traditions, it might seem to be a big jump to make from Old Testament God saying ‘you must eat the Passover like this’ to ‘what God has made clean is clean’ – but in that we see how Jesus coming into the world changes things. Our sin is washed away, we are made clean, the law is fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus for us.
It’s almost a ‘don’t you dare’-type statement from God here! I have made it clean so it is clean, I am God and you are not! It cannot remain impure any longer, for I have made it clean God says. Just like our sinful ways, our flaws and weaknesses as human beings – God forgives our sin, and his strength is revealed in our flaws and our weaknesses, in our dependance on him and not on ourselves.
We also see here how God is the one who makes things clean, not us. In this vision God doesn’t say ‘do this in a certain way, following these steps.’ He says just do it. It is for you, receive it as I have given it to you. If I have done it, don’t worry it will be good enough for you (fatherly, parental God at work here > like preparing a meal for your child, ‘you will eat what I have made for you!’)
‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’
Who are we to judge?
Peter realizes here he needs to get out of God’s way! How could I think that, how could I do that he says. So he puts himself back under God’s word, he recognizes the mistake we all make in elevating our own interests, thoughts and desires above God’s word when our true place is under God’s word, under his mighty hand, safe and secure by his actions not ours.
It must have been a very convincing message here from Peter because we hear there are ‘no further objections’ from the people, their minds are now suddenly made up on this topic!
Some questions for you and me to think about here:
Do we think there are people who are not worthy of hearing the good news of Jesus?
Do you and me get in the way of God’s good work?
Do we think there are people God won’t or can’t reach?
Unfortunately – and we wouldn’t want to admit it – but we all think these things, we all act on these things whether we know it or not. The truth is we are not worthy of the good news of Jesus. We are constantly getting in the way of God’s good work. And we all make conscious or sub-conscious judgments about who God works through, whether we know it or not.
We easily slide into ‘us-and-them’ thinking, whether that’s in politics, in our cultural background, in categorizing people who are like us and people who are not – and it’s not news to any of us that ALL of this happens in church, the one place you would hope it doesn’t happen, but it does. If God treated us the way we treat other people, we wouldn’t have a chance would we.
‘Who was I to think I could stand in God’s way?’
This is ‘even for Gentiles…’
We might think of the old saying about the way God works > it’s not healthy people who need a doctor, it’s the sick people! Of course the truth is we’re all sick, we all need the healing Jesus brings, but what this saying gets at is that God’s love and the new life he gives are not only for you and me or a certain group of people.
It’s for people who haven’t heard about him yet, who don’t know him on the same level that we do, who might’ve heard the call before but are no longer listening. We all know people in that space, and it’s part of our walk as Christian people to reach out to people in need, people who don’t have or might be struggling with faith or in life in general, people who are in need of love and care! In the case of our text today some people have already heard the news, now more people need to hear it! It doesn’t stop there, God’s word is here to reach all people in all places.
In our church life it’s not about only preaching to the choir or to the converted, we’re called to seek out those who haven’t heard, who don’t know, who may have heard but have not answered the call. Those who are in need of a listening ear and a caring conversation. Those who are searching but haven’t found it yet. Those who – like all of us – are searching for belonging, for purpose, for meaning in their lives.
‘So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.’
So God does the cleaning, saving, restoring work, when we get ourselves out of the way we can see it happening!
And it’s not just for us, or for people like us > it’s for everyone! This is the inclusive, boundary-breaking, border-crossing, life-changing way the Gospel works.
So we come as we are, all people aere called to come as they are, and he won’t leave us that way. He will change our lives, he will continue to change our lives as we die to sin and live in him.
We can follow the example of Peter here, where he gets himself out of the way > he puts his trust and faith in God, not his own efforts or abilities, and we can see the impact of God’s word through him. Living under God’s word, in the hope and peace of the Gospel, hearing and following the purposeful and meaningful call to love others as he first loved us > exactly what we hear Jesus saying in our gospel reading today from John 13.
And how does that verse end? Love one another, and?
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’
That’s how we reach people, that’s how God reaches people through us. Let’s pray God would do and continue to do that work in us.
Lord we thank you for Peter and his humility, lead us also to get ourselves out of the way so we can see your work in the world. Thank you that your word reaches even as far as us, it reaches out to all people with a welcoming hand to be part of your family. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Tom Kitson 