Acts 10:1-17, 34-35 - April 23, 2023

The book of Acts is the ongoing story of Jesus working through his followers. Acts tells us of the first Christians - the startup community of faith.

And as we pick up the story here in chapter 10, many of you may be thinking, “what in the world does that mean?” All the hallmarks of a difficult Bible story are present: crazy names/words like Cornelius, Cohort, and Joppa; there are confusing storylines about Italian guards and slaves and praying on rooftops; and there is that weird, unrelatable vision of angels and a blanket full of meat. 

What in the world does that mean? 

So, let’s break it down a little bit. 

We meet a man named Cornelius, “a centurion of the Italian Cohort.” On the one hand, he is an outsider, a foreigner, a general in the invading force that had come to rule and oppress those in Jerusalem and surrounding areas. So, it could easily be assumed that he is a bad guy. Yet, the following sentence calls that into question: “he was a devout man who feared God with all his household.” The angel told Cornelius to bring Peter back to his house, and Cornelius listened. 

So, we have Cornelius, who from the point of view of a “good” Israelite is bad, but he trusts in God.

Then we have Peter, with whom I think we are pretty familiar. He has a vision of this blanket full of all types of animals and reptiles and birds. Three times the voice instructs Peter to kill and eat. And Peter refuses the instruction three times, for he has “never eaten anything that is unclean or profane” (v. 13). Peter is as puzzled as any of us would be at this strange vision.

After both these visions, the men Cornelius sent found Peter and invited him over to Cornelius’ home. To fill in a bit of the story we skip over: Peter is hesitant at this invitation. It is not lawful for Peter to be in Cornelius’ house. It is a Jew/Gentile thing as well as being a Roman Officer/Being-Occupied-by-the-Romans thing.

And yet, Peter goes. Peter enters, sits down with Cornelius and his family, and talks about God with them. The end of our passage today is where Peter starts talking with Cornelius and his family: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him” (v. 34-35).

Peter understands something very important here. The vision he had about “unclean” animals being lowered from heaven wasn’t so much about food but about people. We can no longer call people “unclean” or “unwelcome” or “unworthy” because God has already made them clean. And even though Peter says “no” three times, it’s God who wins in the end. 

Hopefully, that clears up some things for you about this story.
Maybe the question about “what in the world this means” has been answered.

Jesus’ resurrection starts something new - something where all people are welcomed in God’s family. Those who want to hear and know about God are more than welcome! Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord is a brother or sister in Christ!

A quick story:

At Atonement Lutheran Church in Wyomissing, PA, the congregation where I served previously, we had a woman who would often attend our services named Joan. Normally I would be hesitant to use someone’s name in the sermon because that would be the one Sunday they decided to take a trip down to Myrtle Beach and check in on their old pastor. Well, I’m not worried that Joan will show up today, because Joan didn’t have a car. In fact, I don’t think she had a house. She was almost always wearing a wide-brimmed hat and sweatpants. 

During worship, she would sit through the hymns while everyone else stood. She would stand through the prayers while everyone else was sitting or kneeling. Sometimes, her hands would actually rise up above her head while singing or reading from the Bible. *GASP* I KNOW! In a Lutheran church, no less! But no one ever told her to stop. No one ever told her she wasn’t welcome. In fact, quite the opposite. Most people knew her name, many spoke to her when she showed up. 

Because all people are welcome in God’s family, right? She wanted to hear and know more about God so she was welcome! She calls upon the name of the Lord and is a sister in Christ.

I’d like to think that if Joan did show up here, there’d be much the same reaction. Maybe a little shock at first that someone has her hands up in the air, but generally warm. Jesus makes us a welcoming community, open to anyone. Jesus showed no partiality and neither should we.  

An elementary lesson. Simple. 

Now, you may be thinking, “Wait, that’s it? Peter envisions pigs in a blanket and that means welcome everyone? Is that all you got for us, pastor?”
Well, yeah.
And, no.

See, it is an elementary lesson but it is often those elementary ones we continually need to be reminded of and work on. Just because it’s easy, doesn’t mean we should forget it or not adapt, grow, and change.

I do think we are good at welcoming. The generosity stories we passed out at the beginning of our Forward Together capital campaign reiterated the welcome people feel when they come here. People stay, people get involved, people who have all types of backgrounds and lifestyles - and some of y’all even have funny accents. We welcome homeless for a meal, we welcome narcotics anonymous for support meetings, we welcome the Scouts and preschool and many groups here at St. Philip. And, as I said earlier, if a “Joan” showed up, I think we’d be pretty good at welcoming. 

But some of what welcome means is that we need to change, too. There are always areas we can improve. Welcome looks like making room for someone, even when it doesn’t fit our agenda. 

That’s sometimes as simple as finding a way for someone to serve - even if they didn’t sign up ahead of time for a specific spot. Sometimes it means dealing with a little bit of noise from a kid rather than banishing them down the hall. And almost all the time, it means realizing other people are not you. They may need other support, other space, other options.

A big piece of the sanctuary renovation that will be coming is to enhance our welcome. Not only welcome more in worship, welcome more by adding space for fellowship, but welcoming to the communion rail. Welcoming wheelchairs. Welcoming walkers and canes and bad knees. We want our physical space to be as welcoming as our face-to-face welcome is. That’s the part that means we need to change, too. If welcome is a big part of who we are, we should make that true in as many ways as possible.  

Which takes me back to Acts 10. 
Who is it that was changed by Jesus’ new community in the story? 
Who is changed by his encounter with the Spirit, his vision? It’s not Cornelius, the outsider new guy. It’s Peter: the one who was the longtime faithful one, the one who thought he’d be doing the welcoming and changing of others. Yet, he’s the one God opened up to the new things God was up to.  

How is God opening us up to those who are already among us? And those who aren’t?

Because that is what God has shown us - a welcome for all. God has made it so we all are one family, one in our baptism, one in our faith, one in our hope. All are welcome. And Jesus tells us to pass along the story to everyone, to share the story of Christ crucified and risen with all those here and those not yet here. And for us to effectively do that will take a family. Being a family will take us all. And it will change us all.

And I think changing us is what God had in mind the whole time.