Acts 11:1-18
Do you remember a television show named, “Fear Factor”. It could have been on 9 or 10 years ago
when it was on. Now I didn’t watch
it regularly but I do remember that it’s content was pretty disgusting. Contestants would compete against one
another performing three stunts.
The first and the third stunts were usually some sort of extreme stunts
like bunji jumping or some other spectacular act that would take all the guts
that you could muster up. The
second stunt was more gruesome. The
one time I did watch it I watched the contestants gobble down the intestines of
a goat. It was pretty
unfathomable. The point of the
show was for contestants to face their fear so that they might win $50,000.
Today we will examine what it is to face our fears, whatever
they may be. Hear now the words of
God from the Acts of the Apostles, the 11th chapter, Contemporary
English Version….
The
apostles and the followers in Judea heard that Gentiles had accepted God’s
message. So when Peter came to
Jerusalem, some of the Jewish followers started arguing with him. They wanted
Gentile followers to be circumcised, and
they said, “You stayed in the homes of Gentiles, and you even ate with
them!”
Then
Peter told them exactly what had happened:
I
was in the town of Joppa and was praying when I fell sound asleep and had a
vision. I saw heaven open, and something like a huge sheet held by its four
corners came down to me. When I
looked in it, I saw animals, wild beasts, snakes, and birds. I heard a voice saying to me, “Peter,
get up! Kill these and eat them.”
But
I said, “Lord, I can’t do that! I’ve never taken a bite of anything that is
unclean and not fit to eat.”
The
voice from heaven spoke to me again, “When God says that something can be used
for food, don’t say it isn’t fit to eat.”
This happened three times before it was all taken back into heaven.
Suddenly
three men from Caesarea stood in front of the house where I was staying. The Holy Spirit told me to go with them
and not to worry. Then six of the Lord’s followers went with me to the home of
a man who told us that an angel
had appeared to him. The angel had ordered him to send to Joppa for someone
named Simon Peter. Then Peter
would tell him how he and everyone in his house could be saved.
After
I started speaking, the Holy Spirit was given to them, just as the Spirit had
been given to us at the beginning.
I remembered that the Lord had said, “John baptized with water, but you
will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
God gave those Gentiles the same gift that he gave us when we put our
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So how could I have gone against God?
When
they heard Peter say this, they stopped arguing and started praising God. They
said, “God has now let Gentiles turn to him, and he has given life to them!”
In first century Judaism there WAS a great fear of one who
was “clean” or ritually pure mixing with one who is “unclean”. We see that issue specifically
addressed and laid out in Halakah - Jewish law. There are certain foods that can be eaten and some that are
“tref” – unclean. They are not to be touched.
The other law that we see debated in detail in the New
Testament is that of circumcision.
The circumcised or the ritually pure ones did not have contact with, or
eat with, the uncircumcised; neither could they go into their homes. The laws regarding circumcision
produced lengthy discussions between the Jews, the God-fearers – who were
Gentiles that take on Jewish life but were not converts, and the Gentiles. Circumcision, God’s covenant with the
Jews - it was a big deal.
While it may seem trivial to us, concern for purity was a
concern for community solidarity, it was an identity marker as God’s covenanted
people. There was great fear that
their identity as Jews would somehow be obliterated. So they obeyed the laws of God as God’s chosen people.
Now we know that the believers of the early church were
certainly not reluctant to voice their differences of opinion. Peter is sorely criticized for entering
their home and eating with the ‘unclean’.
He’s in essence being ‘called on the carpet’ for breaking the rules. What he did was controversial. But for a healthy community controversy
needs to be voiced not avoided and conflict needs to be transformed.
So rather than come back at them with a rebuttal, he tells
them a story and we see that it changed their lives. Stories invite people to cross over chasms that might in
other ways be too wide to cross.
We know that Jesus told stories in the form of parables; it was a way to
make meaning and give understanding to difficult concepts or fears.
So following in his master’s ways he begins the telling of
this vision where God tells him to eat unclean foods. His fear is of eating unclean animals which would in turn
render him unclean. So his fear is
much larger that just eating meat, it was of breaking halakah, it was risking
isolation for himself from his community, it was a fear of being defiled as
well. But God persisted three times and while God didn’t dangle $50,000 over
Peter’s head, Peter finally got the point.
Peter’s vision asks him to refrain from judgement, that
there is no boundary to God’s love.
That the distinction barriers between clean and unclean will not stand
any longer. It is the enlarging of
God’s grace and love that the message of Peter’s vision is trying to say.
By the Holy Spirit’s influence Peter faced his fear and got
out of the way. He let go of his
fear and accepts the outcome of his vision, which is inclusion of the Gentiles
into the covenantal love of God. He
proclaims, “who was I that I could hinder God?” Peter, at the moment of realization figured out that he
could not manipulate, plead, hinder or stop God. God made an amendment to the law which now included us, the
Gentiles. When Peter stepped aside he saw there was a new vision, a new hope
for humanity.
We all have fear within us of some type. Often our fears will produce good
results and cautious living. When
my kids were little I was afraid that they would be run over in the street so I
taught them to look both ways for oncoming cars. It worked! They
are still alive, they are 31, 33, and 35 and they look before they cross the
street. It was the fear of continued
conflict and war that brought 50 countries together in 1945, which in turn gave
birth to the United Nations. Fear is
not always immobilizing. Sometimes
it’s good and helps us to look at situations rationally and make sound
decisions for safety.
But more often then not, fear is crippling, it’s stifling, or
it can be deadly. Whether we are
impeded by our own fears or fears produced by external factors, we are stunted
by these phobias. High places,
dark rooms, creepy crawly things, underneath the bed, the fear of growing old . And then there are deeper fears such as
the fear of failure, of ignorance, the fear of losing yourself, the fear of
losing someone else, or the fear of the unknown.
In it’s most severe form, fear can produce prejudice and
hatred and hatred as we know produces violence. If left unchecked it leads to all sorts of destructive acts:
bullying, self annihilation, war, murder.
This is abnormal fear and yet so quickly fear can escalate to this level
and we are seeing more and more of it.
We are in a time of discernment now, a time of
redevelopment. It is a time of the unknown. There are new initiatives being explored like the new
position of Director of Faith Formation, of becoming an Open and Affirming
church, and a new governance configuration for our church that will ease some
of the burdens of a structure that is cumbersome. And you might say – wait – this is too much – I am afraid
that I won’t even recognize my beloved OCC.
I can understand that it is this fear of the unknown that
could drive you to shut down and say no but you will be able to recognize OCC,
the same spirit of God that has been with us for over 200 years will continue
to be with us to guide us and sustain us.
If Peter had said no to his fears WE wouldn’t be here gathered as a
church community.
At this moment in time, with the larger church changing, God
is calling us into the future. The
future is always the unknown. Each
day that you get up you face the unknown.
Each time night you lie down you are facing the unknown. And yet we do it.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. talks about facing fear in his
book “Strength to Love”. He says
that we first have to honestly ask, why are we afraid? Facing fear, understanding fear can be
a very empowering act in and of itself.
He also says that fear can be mastered by courage. Even though there are things and
situations that might scare us we resolve to go forward anyway and not look
back. Fear is mastered through love
and faith. The first epistle of
John tells us, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear.”
Love in Christ is a perfect love, it is not necessary to
fear but to trust in the ineffable power of God. Peter overcame his fear through the vision and persistence
of God. He was able to traverse
the mountains and valleys of fear and enter into the meadows of hope. Through
his faith he was able to finally say, “who am I to hinder God???” Through his faith and courage we are
now part of the covenant of God.
Dr. King, at the end of his sermon, “Antidotes for Fear”
quotes a motto that, a generation ago flanked the walls of devout people, it
read:
“Fear knocked at the
door.
Faith answered.
There was no one
there.”
Face fear with faith.
Faith that God is doing a new thing with us and that God will not lead
us off in the wrong direction.
Remember that God is for us and not against us, loving us all and paving
the way into the future.
Amen.
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