Readings
Acts 11:1-18
Psalm 148
Revelation 21:1-6
John 13:31-35
“He drew a circle that shut me out-
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle and took him In!”
This poem by the early 20th century poet laureate of Oregon, Edwin Markham, captures the essential quality of today’s reading from Acts.
In it, we hear that word of the conversion of gentiles reached the community of Christians in Judea and more specifically Jerusalem, and to put it simply, they were scandalized. How could it be that Peter would eat with those outside the faith of Israel, the faith of Jesus himself? How could it be that genuine outsiders, who by Jewish custom were unclean, would be drawn into the community of faith?
Peter responds to their concerns by sharing a mystical vision he had. One in which all sorts of unclean animals are made available to him to eat. The voice from Heaven tells him “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” And no sooner than did this vision conclude, Peter is called by the Spirit to go with three men from Caesarea. They ultimately enter the house of another man who also shares a vision. Namely, that an angel appeared to him and told him to send for Peter to come so that his whole household would be saved. Then, while Peter is giving his testimony to the man and his household he saw the Holy Spirit descend on them like it did on the apostles at the feast of Pentecost.
In the end both Peter and the church in Jerusalem come to understand that the gift of salvation from God through Jesus isn’t just for Jews who follow Jesus, but for anyone who chooses to follow in his way.
It seems to be human nature to want to belong. To be a part of a group. To have a sense of identity. In and of itself there’s nothing wrong with that. Belonging can bring us a great sense of comfort. But belonging can also have its shadow side. Haven’t we all felt the sting of not belonging. Of being on the outside looking in? How often have we experienced, either directly or indirectly, what happens when a group is exclusive, or worse, exclusionary?
Sometimes we begin to allow our belonging to be not so much about the community that we have formed but rather about the community we exclude. We take our sense of specialness and use it as a means of defining ourselves in distinction or opposition to others.
We Episcopalians are no strangers to such behavior. In our history we have prided ourselves on our superior pedigree as a church descended from the Church of England. We have snobbishly pointed out the propriety and or superiority of our worship in comparison to our Christian brothers and sisters. We have at times seen ourselves as social superiors. And we have even, both in the past and present, confused our theology with the politics and political affiliations of our day (at different points in our history we have been called either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party at prayer). Our church continues to struggle with racism, classism, sexism and prejudices of varying stripes and degrees.
And why is that? Well more often than not it’s because we feel threatened. We’re afraid of losing the community that’s familiar and brings comfort. We are afraid that if things change too greatly we may well find ourselves no longer inside looking out, but outside looking in. We’re afraid that change means loss, or destruction, or even death.
It’s this mindset that Peter confronts in the early Church. The earliest followers of Jesus were practitioners of the Jewish faith. Jesus himself was a devout Jew. There was much about their Jewishness that brought them comfort and a sense of belonging. There was much about Jesus that equally brought them a sense of meaning, purpose, and comfort. It wasn’t a big stretch for them to carry their cultural assumptions into the community in which they now found themselves.
Bringing gentiles into this community upset that “apple cart.” If Gentiles could be Christians then what did that mean? Did that mean that everything they were doing was up for grabs? Would their sense of belonging diminish? If this were the case, then what did it mean to be a follower in the way of Jesus? Would things change so much that they no longer felt like they belonged?
But the arc of scripture makes it clear that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Which means that the heart of our community is made secure in that love. Being a member of the church isn’t primarily about our aesthetic preferences for music or language. It isn’t about the building we meet in or the prayer book we use. Being a member of the Body of Christ isn’t even about us all agreeing on what we believe.
No, being a part of the Christian community is about our love for one another and God’s love for us. It’s being open to those who come to our doors and thresholds and welcoming them with the love that we ourselves have found in this community. That’s as much true for those who don’t look and act like us as it is for those who do. Just as the early Church had to come to recognize that the love of God extended not only to faithful Jews but also to Gentiles, we too are being called to recognize that the boundaries of our community are much larger than we may have ever imagined.
Who is God calling us to reach out to? Who have we always presumed would not fit here, but may in fact be waiting for just what we have to offer? What might it look like to set aside our fears of loss and embrace the vision of who God is calling us to be?
I believe that God is calling us, like Peter, to respond to the needs of the larger community in which we find ourselves. We’re being called to stretch our minds and imaginations and listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We’re being called to imagine a Christ Church that doesn’t yet exist, but might exist if we are prepared to have the faith of Peter.
Many will say that we live in a world and a society that no longer values what we have to offer. That the world is hostile to the message and the community that we offer. But how different is that from the world in which Peter and the early Church found themselves? Our call isn’t to figure out who won’t fit in, but to open wide ourselves to those who are still seeking. Our task isn’t to draw the circle tighter, but to open it up and let the transforming love of God do its work.
They drew a circle that shut us out-
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and we had the wit to win:
We drew a circle and took them in!