Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the First Reading, Acts 11:1-18. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- It may be difficult for us to identify with the position taken by the “circumcision party” over against St. Peter. They wanted to exclude certain people from the church. However, we should take note that Peter himself at first agreed with them, and had to be encouraged three times by the Holy Spirit to “make no distinctions.”
- We are pretty much agreed that the kingdom of God should be available to all people, and if asked, would affirm that the Gospel should be preached and proclaimed to everyone. However, it is also true that we are infected with the common sinful human nature which likes to “makes distinctions,” and that means that we tend to be uncomfortable with some people, unaccepting of others, and even unwilling to share time, space, or relationship with some people.
- Of course, we all feel justified in this – that there are legitimate reasons as to why we should avoid some people. Perhaps there are good reasons not to associate with some people – if they are incorrigibly committed to some evil and are headed toward disaster. Certainly we cannot join them in their evil.
- However, we should also acknowledge that there are some “people” that we hope others will “evangelize” and assimilate into their congregations, simply because we don’t feel comfortable “associating” with “them” – and this is downright despicable and deplorable! After all, the Scripture is clear that “there is no distinction: all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” – and this includes each and every one of us! And there is nothing worse than human sin – the evil that brings disaster upon us! Likewise, the Scripture is clear that Jesus is “the blood atonement for our sins, and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” So within the church, every Christian, everyone who truly understands the nature of God’s grace and mercy, also understands that “CHRIST’S BLESSINGS ARE FOR ALL” – that “God wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
- So we must understand and grasp that:
I. God’s Blessings In Christ Are Provided And Meant Even For The Unclean – As Peter And The Early Church Leaders Were Taught To Acknowledge
Text: “But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ This happened three times. . . . And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction.”
Statement: Did you hear what God said to Peter? “What God has made clean, do not call common . . . make no distinction.” So, just what has God made clean? Is Jesus not “the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world”? Is it not true that He is the “blood atonement . . . for the sins of the whole world.” Is it not true that in Christ “God was reconciling the whole world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them”? So, who are we to call others “unclean” and “common,” and refuse to have anything to do with them?
Application: Now, differences among human beings just in America have increased quite a bit over the past few decades. Regardless of how we feel about this, it is a fact, and reality. It began, I suppose, with “hippies.” But now we have numerous groups of people who have really “different” appearances, lingoes, interests, and viewpoints. There are different hairstyles, clothing styles, tattoos, piercings, etc. – in addition to ethnic and cultural differences. And our natural reaction – or so it seems, our guttural reaction, is to draw back from these people as if they are not “human,” or not part of God’s love, mercy, and redemption. As if they are too “ugly,” too “wrong,” or too weird for God to love, and for God to will their salvation.
If we were to see things as they really are – and we can do this by looking within ourselves – we would see that it is not what is on the outside that makes a person “ugly, wrong, weird, and wicked,” but what is on the inside. Didn’t Jesus Himself say, “It is not what goes into a man that defiles him, but what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” [Matt. 15:18,19] The fact of the matter is this – that no matter how ugly, how hideous, how wretched and disgusting we think another’s outward appearance to be, we are far uglier and reprehensible on the inside!
So what must Jesus think when He sees us making these hypocritical judgments and wickedly excluding others from our love, compassion, and our “fellowship”? We should repent of all of this wretched “proper” and “civilized” thinking which conflicts with the clear Word of God, and we must rearrange our “sensibilities” – for God is love, and His blessings are provided for all people!
Transition: And we should rejoice that His grace, mercy, forgiveness and salvation are intended for all people – for this is the only reason that any of us are included in His kingdom! And these are the blessings that God intends for all, for as we see in our text:
II. God’s Full Blessing Includes Salvation And New Life In Christ
Text: “’He will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave the same gift to them as He gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way? . . . They glorified God, saying, ‘Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.’”
Statement: If we were to hear a person with wildly dyed hair, numerous body piercings, and tattooed face speaking of the glory of Christ’s forgiveness and mercy, we might be so repelled by his external appearance that we couldn’t even hear his confession – that he is the same really as we are, a wretched sinner redeemed by the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and brought to faith, life, and salvation by the Holy Spirit of God Who resides also in us! This would be tragic and lamentable, and it would be our own fault, caused by our own hypocrisy and shallowness, to forfeit this fellowship in the joy of God’s salvation with another Christian!
Application: Perhaps you think I’m exaggerating the dynamics in our text, but I assure you I am not! The Jews of this time considered all Gentiles to be barely above animals – unworthy of God’s love, contaminating of true godliness just to be in their presence, and certainly “unredeemable.” Their disgust toward Gentiles was equal to our loathing of some of the people we recoil from today. Yet it was to these very people that salvation, repentance and faith in Christ, and the Holy Spirit was granted! And these people were to be received and fully embraced in the life of the church.
Just so, all people today – regardless of our “gut reactions” to them, to their appearance, are to be “evangelized” and invited into the life of the church today. We are to “make no distinctions.”
Transition: And in view of this,
III. We Must Take Care Not To Impede The Work Of The Spirit And The Growth Of Christ’s Kingdom – But Rather To Extend The Gospel To All People And Invite Them Into Our Fellowship
Text: “If then God gave the same gift to them as He gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way? . . . They glorified God, saying, ‘Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Statement: Did you catch their joy, glorifying God for fellow believers, regardless of their personal feelings toward these people? Joy, that God would grant “repentance that leads to life” to other human beings, regardless of who or what they might be?
Application: This is the joy of the kingdom – and other things, like our personal preferences and tastes should not diminish or destroy this joy! And certainly if we “exclude” or “repel” others, anyone else, from the fellowship that we have in Christ, we are in fact excluding ourselves from the joy of God’s salvation!
Conclusion: It is hard for us these days – to reject the immorality and idolatrous ignorance that is all around us, and yet to continue having genuine love, care, and compassion for all people. It is hard for us when certain external appearances have strong association with immorality, unbelief, and other objectionable behaviors and values.
Be sure, however, that God has already let down the great sheet to instruct us and free us in our love, assuring us that we are not to “call unclean or common” what Christ Himself has made clean. “CHRIST’S BLESSINGS ARE FOR ALL” – let us remain quite clear and certain about that, that we not hypocritically, superficially, and unlovingly make false distinctions! Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.