TEXT: Acts 11:1-18

Acts 11:1-181 Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God.2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him,3 saying, "Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?"4 Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying,5 "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me.6 As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air.7 I also heard a voice saying to me, 'Get up, Peter; kill and eat.'8 But I replied, 'By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.'9 But a second time the voice answered from heaven, 'What God has made clean, you must not call profane.'10 This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven.11 At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were.12 The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house.13 He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, 'Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter;14 he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.'15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning.16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'17 If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?"18 When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, "Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life."John 13:31-3531 When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.33 Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.'34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

"A CHURCH ONLY A MOTHER COULD LOVE"

TEXT: Acts 11:1-18

Perhaps the greatest trials of growing up, relate to the development of a healthy understanding of self. There are many factors which play significant roles in the development of our particular personalities such as genetic make-up, environmental influences, socialization and personal choices. The way that others perceive us and give expression to their perceptions play an extremely important role, especially when we are in those vulnerable, formative stages of personality development. Always being picked last to play on a team when we are not athletically inclined, being called the "teacher's pet" when we are exceptionally bright, being a "dork" when our social graces are not the greatest, you know the routine.

Beginning in the fifth grade I became a member of the Burlington Rotary Boys Choir. By the 8th grade, we had choir robes modeled after the Vienna Boys Choir-scarlet red gowns with a lacy white over shirt of some kind. We sounded wonderful, but I was extremely worried about my identity as a male. At one concert, after all of us had had our cheeks rouged up and lipstick applied by some of the fellows good looking older sisters, I had a solo. I was to come from the top of the risers to the front of the group, sing my part, and then return. I can't remember what I was to sing. I do remember that I never found a single right note, and then as I returned to my place in humiliation, the rouged cheeks glowing redder than I could have dreamed possible, I tripped on the hem of my "skirt." Off stage I heard in a stage whisper one of the adult chaperones comment to another, "Only a mother could love a boy like him."

"Only a mother could love a boy like him." Devastating news.

Somewhere along the way I came to recognize that the difference in "God established boundaries" and human ones is most often one of perspective. People, and the institutions that we create, establish boundaries to exclude certain behaviors, attitudes and people from one's sphere of influence; or to contain/restrain some group within prescribed parameters. God, on the other hand, establishes boundaries to include, or incorporate, behaviors, attitudes and peoples into the sphere of the accepted.

Boundaries were very real to those first followers of Jesus as well. The religious tradition out of which they came was an "exclusive" one to say the least. Which was precisely the dilemma which Peter faced with the spread of the gospel to the gentiles, and precisely the dilemma which the vision God gave him, backed up by the opportunity to see for himself, set out to solve.

The Jewish community of faith was not the only culture which maintained boundaries of exclusiveness. They were true of most religions of the day, as was the case with Cornelius. He honestly could not comprehend how the God of the Israelites could include rather than exclude him. "Gods" were understood to be the gods of a particular region or people group.

The boundaries which they maintained defined their self-understanding-they marked them as belonging to a particular religious heritage and to a particular God. Those boundaries were not boundaries to be challenged by individuals for they were understood to have been boundaries defined by God.

And then comes this vision. And it must be an important one because it is repeated twice-first as descriptive narrative and then in this passage as personal testimony, and then, as if that is not enough, the whole community of apostles and religious leaders affirm the interpretation of the vision.

One of the earliest lessons which I learned as a student here was that if a prof said something, repeated it again, and included it in her review of material covered, then you could count on it being included on the final exam in some way, shape or form. The compilers of our scriptures seem to follow a similar didactical methodology. Important, really important, transitions in faith and application get a telling and a re-telling. Think for a moment about:
Creation
giving of the Law
establishment of Israel as a nation
return from exile
Gospel narratives
and now this

It is a lesson that many have been slow to incorporate into their understanding of faith. Christianity in almost every culture has reflected a parachocial exclusivity rather than a gospel inclusivity. Perhaps that is one reason why neo-calvinism has experienced such a resurgence in evangelical Christian circles over the last few years. In narrowly defining God's election it provides a theological underpinning for exclusivity-for an appearance of biblical piety which often masks a parachocial meanness.

The Southern Baptist Convention is just one of several groups which uses arguments of exclusivity, such as pre-vision Peter would have used, to argue that women have no right to serve as pastors and that their proper place is one of subservience to their husbands at home. Its the same argument used to deny Christian fellowship to gays and lesbians, and to churches which would embrace Christian gays and lesbians as brothers and sisters in the faith.

I am thankful that some people, like Peter, have seen God's vision and heard God's prophecy from Joel repeated in the second chapter of Acts, and re-iterated by Paul in Galatians, that what God has made clean is clean and those whom God has made equal are equal and those whom God has called to preach are to preach.

Racism was a hot button issue when I was a college student at Wake. I will always remember sitting on the main quad with Omega Wilson waiting our removal from the campus with the administration in fear that a race riot was about to erupt. The campus was surrounded by police to contain the riot which never occurred. Racial reconciliation is a hot topic in our country today, and well it should be. Our nation has given lip service to equality for decades, but like the characters in Orwell's Animal Farm we have practiced that some are more equal than others. I am currently working with the National Conference on Community and Justice to develop a retreat for religious leaders in NYC across racial, ethnic and religious lines which will address on our lingering, latent racism.

I am glad that this church from its inception has recognized that God moved that barrier a long time before Southern Baptists, as well as many other Christians, ever got around to admitting that our racism was/is an offense to God. We have taken pride in the fact that we are a multi-cultural congregation, and rightly so. Over the past few years we have become moe intentional about reflecting cultural diversity in leadership, style and content.

The official position of what has been our denomination is that women are still unequal to men. Some churches and pastors have recognized that that boundary was not of God, but for them to take a stand has come with a price. Just three years ago, one church in Kentucky was been dis-fellowshipped from its association because the wife of the church's pastor is an ordained minister. Sounds extreme, but not so rare.

Already we receive into our membership and welcome into places of leadership, persons without regard to their sexual orientation. I commend churches which are willing to do so. For us to do so is again counter to the official policy of our denomination, and in fact, more than anything else could cause us to be dis-fellowshipped from that body, the state convention and the local association if anyone wanted to challenge our practice of inclusion. To date we have chosen to be silent, to not make an issue, and perhaps that has been the wise course of action to take. Yet, friends, the boundary remains fixed within our corner of Christendom. For us to remain silent is to condemn our friends by our silence.

And if we are to be inclusive, if we are to encourage chastity, monogamy and faithfulness in relationships for all persons, then we are going to have to face, openly face, how we will bless the love which some of our gay and lesbian friends come to know. Either that or condemn them to a life of secrecy and shame.

Well, I have gotten far afield this morning-have gone to meddling and maybe gotten myself into a bit of hot water with more than a few of you. But I confess to seeking to wrestle with the text. Peter wanted to maintain the purity of the levitical law as it had been handed to him through the ages by very devout and extremely pious people. But God threw it out the window.

My mother and father threw out for me the boundaries of racism and sexism. Christian brothers and sisters who are gay or lesbian have helped me see that boundaries of homophobia were my boundaries, my church traditions boundaries, my cultural boundaries. Oh, they had biblical roots for sure. But so did the boundaries that Peter was seeking to maintain. When the last congregation I pastored led me to face my Cornelius' and their household in the person of some gay friends, then I had to say, "See, blame it on God, they have the same spirit as that which we received at our baptism."

"So then, David, what are the boundaries to be considered?" Well, the boundaries which I would hold before us as worthy of our observation are at least these: Love, Grace and Mercy or Forgiveness. The old song goes, "There is a wideness to God's mercy." Paul prayed that the church would come to comprehend the height, the breadth, the width, and the depth of God's love.

Friends, there is a new heaven and a new earth coming. It's boundaries will not be established by humans, regardless of how pious they may be. Its a city whose boundaries are established by God and which are measured by the marvelous grace of God. The Spirit of God will have been poured out upon them-both those whom we might have called clean and those whom we might have shunned as unclean. But it is God who makes clean or unclean. It is God who sets the boundaries of Grace and not us. With Peter, we must be willing to stand accused before the pious brethren and testify to the vision which God has given and to the working of the Spirit which we have witness. With Peter we must be ready to affirm "What God has made clean, we must not call profane." If then God "gave them the same gift that God gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who are we that we could hinder God?"