Acts 11:1-18 – Peter’s report to the church at Jerusalem on why he ate with the uncircumcised. His vision.
Psalm 148 – Praise the Lord mountains and hills, cattle and bugs, men and women, young and old.
Revelation 21:1-6 – New heaven. New Earth. New Jerusalem. Wipe tears from every eye. Death will be no more.
John 13:31-35 – Little children, I am with you only a little longer. I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’
Peter’s Dilemma
Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, in Acts 1:8 Jesus said that the disciples would receive the power of the Holy Spirt in order to witness, in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. This sets up the structure of Acts. The rest of Acts follows this outward motion of mission, from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. The movement of the gospel, ever outward, is not without complications, as Peter discovers.
Peter was raised by observant parents. He knew what the Bible said about what God wanted people to eat and not eat. He was raised right.
As and adult he was also a follower of a rabbi named Jesus, who had called him to be his witness to the ends of the earth. How does one witness among people who don’t have the same laws and customs? How does one even eat? This is a missionary’s dilemma. What part of my way of being in the world is gospel, and what is just cultural? What is essential and what is inessential?
In the midst of this an interesting thing happens. Gentiles, non-Jews, were being attracted to the way of Jesus. They had even been prayed over and received the Holy Spirit, as evidenced by speaking in tongues. How does a good religious person understand this? God excepts and even blesses with the Holy Spirit pagans who don’t observe the law? What does this mean? Is there room for disciples of Jesus who follow the law, and disciples of Jesus who do not? What should Peter do? He should not eat this food. In fact, he should not even be eating with people who are eating this food.
The answer to Peter’s dilemma comes in the form of a dream, as answers so often do. A sheet is let down with many of the foods considered “toevah,” which means “unclean,” but often has been mistranslated “an abomination.” Leviticus has rules given to priests about what Jews were and were not to eat and do, in order to separate themselves from the cultures around them. It was a matter of ethnic contamination. These cultures worshipped other gods, ate insects and shellfish, and practiced male temple prostitution, among other things. Things that were “toevah” were not inherently evil, but rather ritually unclean. Crippled people were considered unclean, and therefore could not enter the Temple.
These unclean foods get let down on a sheet in Peter’s vision/dream/trance/prayer. When we are struggling with something very difficult, it often works its way deep into our unconscious. God commands Peter to eat these unclean things. Peter tells God that he has never let something unclean touch his lips. The guilt must be overwhelming. Peter is then told not to call unclean what God has made clean. This happens three times, Then the sheet is pulled up and three men arrive from Caesarea.
Caesarea
I’ve been to Caesarea. There is a magnificent ancient amphitheater there. Fantastic aqueducts are preserved from the Roman era. Please forgive me a little detour here into Caesarea, because it is mentioned here and it is in my heart.
Our guide in Caesarea was Machal, (Michael). He said he was a Palestinian Israeli Christian. He spoke Aramaic, Arabic, Hebrew, French and English.
“Many Israelis blame Bush for Hamas,” he says to me. I smile politely and keep my mouth shut. “Bush insisted on democratic elections. It is proven here, the more fundamentalist you are, the more you get elected. So we have Hamas and Ariel Sharon.” He sighs. I sigh. I’m not gonna take the bait.
Israel is so big in my mind and theology, it’s shocking how small it is geographically. You can see Tel Aviv from Hwy 6 as we approach Caesarea. The country is only 11 miles across here.
The red soil and the sand make this great soil for growing citrus, avocado, strawberries and figs, the oldest tree mentioned in the Bible (Adam and Eve). Almost every tree I see is a fruit tree. The Arabs in Israel believe planting trees that don’t bear fruit is a waste of water and energy – bad stewardship. They also cite Jesus cursing the fig tree. “Any tree that doesn’t bear fruit should be cut down.” There you have it. The word of the Lord.
We stopped at a rest stop that had phenomenal croissants and latte. Then we passed through Benjamin, where there was McDonalds and Ace Hardware.
Israel denies having any nuclear power plants. Guide Machal: “If we have them or not: its none of your business.” Given that the US supports Israel to the tune of $7 million a day, I kind of think it is.
Caesarea is an ancient city, that became a Roman city around 60 B.C. They renamed it after Caesar Augustus. Herod built it up in in 30 B.C. He built it as a harbor, and in the Roman style, which required 4 things:
1. Theater
2. Hippodrome
3. Palace
4. Temple of Caesar
Guide: ‘In the first century Christians began ‘invading’ Caesarea. Bishop Eusebius was here. He wanted to find the original cross. Tradition holds it was found in September of 326 in Jerusalem.
Caesarea actually has two hippodromes. The theater has peaceful performances, no bloodshed. The palace had a huge swimming pool with fresh water. To do this, a 9-mile aquaduct had to be built since there is no fresh water in Caesarea.
Later, Paul was brought to this theater when he was tried by Felix (Roman governor) and Agrippa (Jewish king). Paul was then jailed, probably in the jail under the palace. See Acts 25-26.
They unearthed a marker here that has both Tiberius’ and Pontius Pilate’s names on it, cross-referencing them historically, and providing archaeological evidence for the existence of Pontius Pilate, to support the literary evidence in the Gospels.
Today, a villa in the modern part of Caesarea goes for $20M.
“The first Jewish settlement started In Caesarea after World War II,” Machal says. “They came and drove out the Muslims. The mosque is no longer a mosque. At one point it was a night club.”
After this Caesarea was built, another Caesarea was built: Caesarea of Philip (Caesarea Philippi), where Jesus (Luke 8) said, “Who do you say that I am?” and Peter made his confession.
No distinctions
Thank you for letting me take that little historical detour. The three men show up from the port city of Caesarea. This means they are most certainly Gentiles. The Spirit tells Peter to go with these guys, and not to make distinctions. In other words, don’t keep yourself separate from them for the sake of not polluting yourself with their influence. Don’t consider yourself superior to them. Do not employ prejudice.
It seems odd to me that Peter would have to learn this lesson from the Spirit, when he had already learned the lesson from Jesus, who got in no small amount of hot water for hanging out with the riffraff (Luke 15:1-3). The riffraff that Jesus hung out with, however, were Jewish riffraff. “I have been sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” So I suppose this missionary work led Peter into a new level of inclusivity.
As Peter begins to tell these Caesareans about Jesus, the Spirit falls on them just as it had up on the disciples at Pentecost. Peter’s conclusion is stunning: If God gave the gift of the Spirit freely to these Gentiles in the same way that he had given it to the apostles, then who was he to pass judgment on them? This is similar to the conclusion that we drew in 1970 when we began ordaining women. It was very clear that the Spirit had given gifts for Word and Sacrament ministry to these women. Who were we to stand in the way?
When Peter went back to Jerusalem, he had to explain what he was doing to his colleagues. They were overjoyed at the conversion of the Gentiles, but could not understand why it was that Peter could eat with uncircumcised people. This is the rub. How do you bring about conversion if your piety does not allow you to hang out with those you would convert? And once you hang out with them, and encounter their humanity, and come to understand them and their situation better, you find yourself converted in some ways.
Missionaries our are either very broad-minded people, or they learned to be so in the process. You cannot allow the law to trump the work of the Spirit. Missionaries in Africa have to explain to us why Christians have multiple wives. If a Muslim with several wives converts to Christianity, should he divorce them? The divorced wives will then be shamed and without a means of living? What happens to their children? In the final analysis, compassion overrides the law. This is central to Christianity.
Peter has to explain to his colleagues why he is disobeying Scripture. “God told me so.” “The Spirit is doing the new thing.” “I had this vision…” Indeed, Jesus had to explain the same thing to the Pharisees. “Why do your disciples eat with hands unwashed?” “Why are your disciples plucking heads of grain on the Sabbath?” “Why are you healing the sick on the Sabbath?” Jesus responds, “The sabbath was made for humans, not humans for the Sabbath.” A religion of the Spirit is ultimately inconsistent with a religion that requires strict adherence to the letter of the law. They cannot coexist. This is Paul’s realization in Galatians and Romans. Strict adherence to the law leaves no room for the Spirit.
By Luke’s account in Acts, the conversation goes well and everyone understands. He is, after all the first Pope. They should just listen. Paul’s account in Galatians 2 would cause us to question the rosy account in Luke/Acts. I don’t have space here to go into it, but it’s worth a quick read. Apparently Peter does fine at first, but when James shows up, along with his posse, Peter separates himself from the uncircumcised. Paul finds this two-faced and hypocritical. Again, this is Paul’s issue: living by the law ultimately leads to pride and hypocrisy which draw us away from God. The law is simply impotent to help us. When confronted with the dilemma between law and grace, always err on the side of grace. This is a principle on which I have based my life and ministry for the last 30 years, for better or for worse. God help me. Here I stand. I can do no other.
As you do mission work in your context, how has getting to know your community shaped your understanding of the gospel? How have you come to love them and adapt your proclamation to that community?
Yours in Christ,
Michael Rinehart, Bishop
