This
Sunday, April 28th, is Confirmation Sunday at my home church, Christ United Methodist. Confirmation is a special Sunday set aside to
welcome our young middle-schoolers into full membership in our church. These middle-schoolers have been studying and
preparing for nine months in order to be confirmed as new church members. This Sunday is their big day in the church.
In reflecting on what to
say to these young middle-schoolers, I decided to invite them to join with me
and other church members in envisioning a new future for the Church in
general—and Christ United Methodist in particular. To focus our thoughts this Sunday, I’ve
decided to remind everyone about a story concerning how the Apostle Peter came
to a new and broader vision for the early church.
The story takes place
after Pentecost, during the early development of the Christian church, as Peter
and other Christians began to spread out from Jerusalem, sharing the Gospel of
Jesus Christ. At this early point in the
development of the Church, all “Christians” were devout Jewish Christians. Christianity itself was little more than a
spiritual renewal movement within Judaism.
Peter
was a devout Jew, meaning that he had chosen a life defined by study of Jewish
scriptures and a morality of rigorous adherence to Jewish laws, including
maintaining ritual cleanliness.
Maintaining ritual purity involved only eating certain prescribed foods,
prepared in the prescribed manner; it also entailed avoiding social contact
with Gentile—that is, non-Jewish—persons.
By
contrast, Cornelius was a Gentile.
Cornelius was an officer in the Roman Army. Yet, Cornelius was also a very devout man, in
his own way. Luke, the writer of Acts,
describes him as “a devout man who loved God with all his household; he gave
offerings generously to the people and prayed constantly to God” (Acts
10:2).
One
day, God spoke to Cornelius through a vision or dream. In the dream, an angel tells Cornelius, “Your
prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa for a certain Simon who
is called Peter.” Cornelius was eager to
obey God and to learn from Peter, so he sent three men to find Peter. Whereas Cornelius was very excited to have
Peter visit him, Peter had a problem with meeting and teaching Cornelius. As a devout Jew, Peter was religiously
prohibited from visiting in the homes of Gentile—or, having any social contact
with Cornelius. To do so would make Peter
ritually unclean.
Nonetheless,
God had a special message for Peter. The
next day Peter, who had been fasting, went up on the roof of the house while
others prepared some food for him to eat.
As he waited on the roof, Peter fell into a trance and had a vision. In his dream, Peter saw a large sheet being
lowered to him. In the sheet were all
types of different animals. Then, a
voice said to Peter, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat” (Acts 10:13). Unfortunately, when Peter looked at the
animals in the sheet, he saw that they were prohibited for food under the Jewish
purity laws.
Since
Peter tried very hard to maintain ritual purity by only eating the prescribed
foods, he replied, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is
profane or unclean” (Acts 10:14). But,
then, God made a startling comment:
“What God has made clean, you must not call profane” (Acts 10:15). This scenario played out three separate
times.
Peter
was completely perplexed by his dream.
And, he was still trying to figure out what it all meant when the men
sent by Cornelius arrived at his house.
Then, God spoke to Peter through the Holy Spirit and said, “Look, three
men are searching for you. Now get up,
go down, and go with them without hesitation; for I have sent them” (Acts
10:19-20).
So,
Peter invited the emissaries sent by Cornelius to come into his house and stay
with him. The next day Peter, along with
some of his friends who were Jewish-Christians, went with the Gentile men and
returned to Cornelius and entered his home.
Just to be clear here:
Ø
Peter talked with the Gentile messengers, even
though that was prohibited by his moral code, a code that he believed was given
by God.
Ø
Not only did Peter talk with the Gentile men, he
invited them into his home and ate with them, once again violating the Jewish
law.
Ø
Finally, Peter went to Cornelius’ house, once
again violating the Jewish law.
When he met Cornelius,
Peter said, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every
nation anyone who loves God and does what is right is acceptable to God” (Acts
10:34-35). Then, Peter began to tell
Cornelius, along with all of Cornelius’ family and friends, about the life,
ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
When Peter finished
speaking, he—along with his Jewish-Christian friends who had come with him to
Cornelius’ house—were astounded to see that all of their Gentile listeners were
filled with the Holy Spirit and wanted to become Christians. Peter asked, “‘Can anyone withhold the water
for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we
have?’ So, Peter ordered them to be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 10:47-48).
Peter’s decision,
confirmed by his Jewish-Christian friends, proved to be a transformational
turning point in the development of Christianity. Before his vision, Peter had a narrow,
restricted view of the Church and the scope of its ministry. At this point, Christianity was merely a
spiritual renewal movement within Judaism—as noted above. However, God’s vision for the Church was much
larger and broader in scope.
Although Jews have been
God’s Chosen People, Peter came to see that God’s love was not restricted just
to one religious group. Instead, God—through
Jesus Christ—reaches out in love to every single person. God seeks to be in a divine relationship with
all of us, regardless of age, race, nationality, sexual orientation, or
anything else that differentiates us. Peter’s
vision helped him gain a broader perspective of what God intended for the Church
to be. Later, Peter shared his vision
and experience with the Apostles and other Christian leaders (see Acts 11:1-18). Eventually, Peter’s vision— along with the experiences
of the Apostle Paul and others—helped the early Church to broaden its vision and
respond faithfully to God’s call.
In my sermon on this
Confirmation Sunday, I will suggest that Peter’s story provides important
insights for the contemporary Church, as we seek to envision a new future that
is faithful to God. I will challenge our
new confirmands share their hopes and dreams for the future of our faith
community, Christ United Methodist Church.
I want everyone, including our newest members to share their visions for
the future of their church.
Come, join us this Sunday,
April 28th, at Christ United Methodist Church, as we explore how this rich
story of Peter and Cornelius can inform our faith even today. As part of my proclamation this Sunday, I will
share my vision for the future of Christ United Methodist Church, as a way to
stimulate the visioning of everyone—both new and old members. I will organize my vision based upon the four
pillars of Christian life, which we have embraced at Christ United Methodist:
1. Seek
God
2. Act
Inclusively
3. Serve
Others
4. Do
Justice
Christ UMC is located at 4530 “A”
Street. We have three worship services
on Sunday mornings at 8:30, 9:45, and 11:00.
The 8:30 and 11:00 services feature a traditional worship format and the
services are held in our Sanctuary. “The
Gathering” at 9:45 is held in our Family Life Center (gym), and it is more
informal and interactive. Our special
confirmation will be par t of the 11 am service.
Come, join us. Everyone is welcome and accepted because God
loves us all.
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