First Presbyterian Church
A Clean Sheet
Sermon for May 9, 2004
by Pastor Susan Barnes

Children's time:

We have to review Jonah's story today. God told Jonah to go preach to the Ninevites and Jonah didn't want to go, so he went to Joppa and sailed away on a ship. The ship was in a storm, the sailors found out it was Jonah's fault by running away from God, Jonah was thrown overboard, and was swallowed by a fish, and spent three days praying inside the big fish. Then the fish vomited him up and what did he decide to do? That's right, do what God said and go to Nineveh .

Let's go back a little, to what the fish did. Vomit Jonah up. Isn't that disgusting? I'm going to talk about what disgusts us in my sermon. So I need a list from you of the most disgusting stuff you can talk about. Food too disgusting to eat: broccoli headed their list; Disgusting chore: empty the trash, clean up after the dog. Now think of the disgusting things your mother or father has to do: changing diapers headed their list.

Our unison reading is found on page 582. Listen for the word of God as we read it together in Psalm 148.

1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host!
3 Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!
5 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.
6 He established them forever and ever; he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.
7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps,
8 fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command!
9 Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars!
10 Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds!
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth!
12 Young men and women alike, old and young together!
13 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven.
14 He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful, for the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the LORD!

The psalmist speaks of the whole earth praising God. Another person of faith, John of Patmos, wrote of his vision of God coming down to earth, and pitching a tent, or tabernacling (pitching a tent) on earth in the new city of Jerusalem . The new Jerusalem where all could enter, the holy city. Listen to the choir sing.

Anthem

Our new testament reading is about another vision. Kate and I will read the Acts text in the middle of my sermon, and I'll read the Luke text at the end. Don't panic that the sermon is only beginning when I read from Luke. I wanted to spend awhile introducing the verses from Acts because I think we can become too judgmental of the early Jews and Christians, asking why were they so close-minded and mean?

Here's the background to our text from Acts, written by Luke the writer of the third gospel. Luke reminds us of Jonah's story when he tells Peter's story. Peter has healed a widow in Joppa and he stayed there in Joppa with another Simon, a tanner.

Some of you will remember from last week that tanning hides was a religiously unclean job. I asked the children to give me their list to help us understand that what disgusts us isn't necessarily bad for us or harmful; we are just grossed out because what disgusts is is just plain unclean.

To a faithful Israelite, if food was unclean, it couldn't be eaten; if a metal container was unclean, it could sometimes be made clean by washing and waiting until the evening; if pottery became unclean, it would have to be smashed; if clothing were unclean, it had to be washed. If a piece of furniture or the wall of a house became unclean, it might have to be destroyed. To some of us, that seems ridiculous and wasteful. To help us understand the category of unclean, Kate and I will read some letters.

March 12, 1999
Dear Ann Landers: My husband is a wonderful man, 56 years old and highly intelligent. He had an ingrown toenail that was red and swollen and looked infected. I suggested he soak it in hot water and try to cut as much of the nail as he could.
Well, Ann, I caught him soaking his toe in my good crock pot. I went ballistic. He insisted that a little hot water and soap would clean the pot up just fine and I had no reason to fly off the handle. I threw the contaminated pot in the garbage. The next morning, I discovered he had put the pot back in the cupboard. I took it with me to the office and threw it out there.
Was I wrong, Ann, or am I married to a man with the brain of a flea?
-- Grossed Out in Stockton , Calif.

Dear Stockton : Sorry, dear, but you threw out a perfectly good piece of crockery that would have been OK after a thorough scouring.
It could be that after seeing your husband's infected foot in the pot, you could not bring yourself to cook in it, but actually, the problem was more in your head than in the pot. Should your husband get another ingrown toenail, ask him to use an aluminum pail instead of a cooking utensil.

July 15 1999
Dear Ann Landers: Have you taken leave of your senses? Where was your mind when you told "Grossed Out in Stockton , Calif. ," whose husband soaked his infected toe in her crock-pot, that she was wrong to have thrown it out? You said she should have scoured it and put it back where it belonged. Ann, she DID put it "where it belonged" -- in the garbage can. The picture in her mind of that guy soaking his ingrown toenail in her crock-pot would forever kill her appetite whenever she looked at it. I couldn't believe your dumb comment.
-- Philadelphia

Dear Philadelphia: You and a few thousand others. Keep reading for more:

From Garrett, Ind. : So, you think it's OK to cook in a crock-pot that has been used to soak an infected toe? Remind me never to eat at your house.

From West Palm Beach , Fla. : Tell the woman who complained about her husband soaking his infected toe in the crock-pot to stop kvetching. I'd trade places with her any day. My husband showers about once a month -- maybe -- … Some people don't know when they are well off.

From Chicago : I have never admitted this to anyone, so please don't print my name.
Several years ago, a friend gave me a kitten as a gift. The kitten was adorable, but I was unprepared to care for it. I had kitty litter but no litter box, so I took a glass casserole dish and put the litter in it for the cat to use.
The next day, I went out and bought a proper litter box. I could not bear to throw out a perfectly good casserole dish, so I washed it thoroughly and bleached it, but I never could bring myself to put food in it again. It's still sitting on top of my cabinet.

So, keep your own feelings about that casserole dish and crock-pot in mind when you hear how Peter acts when he's faced with unclean animals. Our reading from Acts is on page 130.

While Peter was in Joppa, a Roman centurion named Cornelius had a vision to send to Joppa for Simon Peter, who was staying with Simon the tanner. General Cornelius sent two servants and a soldier to get Peter. Peter himself had a vision that God showed him not to call anyone profane or unclean. He went with the three to Caesarea , even though it was unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a gentile. He told them about Jesus Christ, and baptized Cornelius and his household. This is where our scripture begins.

Listen for the word of God as it is found in Acts 11:1-18.

Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem , the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, "Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?" Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, "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. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, 'Get up, Peter; kill and eat.' But I replied, 'By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' But a second time the voice answered from heaven, 'What God has made clean, you must not call profane.' This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven.

At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea , arrived at the house where we were. 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. 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; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.' And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. 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.' 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?" 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."

This ends our reading from Acts.

I hope you can have sympathy for Peter, who initially protested God's words. And sympathy for the leaders of the Jewish church, worried that eating with unclean Gentiles will contaminate them as well. Their concern for purity isn't just a prejudice; they grew up learning this is how we show respect for ourselves as people of God.

The label ‘unclean' wasn't about dirt or germs. The purity system was about keeping certain things holy before God. Maintaining kosher food is a way of maintaining religious identity. God's holiness is manifested in everyday work, even in ordinary housekeeping. These traditions helped the Israelites maintain their culture and their history when they were in captivity in Babylon ; six hundred years later in Jesus' day, the Jews held onto these customs when Palestine was occupied by Rome . Some Jews today still keep all the kosher food laws.

The sheet filled with the unclean things comes down three times. The third book of the bible, Leviticus, has lists of what animals can't be eaten, including a camel, rock badger, rabbit, pig; and anything from the water without fins or scales; reptiles, and the general category of “what moves on all fours.”

Peter, also called Simon bar Jonah, did not obey the voice that said “Get up Peter, kill and eat.” He said, “I have never eaten anything unclean.” Peter heard the voice of God three times. Jonah spends three days in the fish. Peter refused to do what God told him. Jonah refused to do what God told him. Peter was supposed to go from Joppa to the gentiles. Jonah was supposed to go from Joppa to the gentiles. In both stories, God keeps after the disobedient person. Each time, God's persistence pays off.

In the end, Jonah listened to God and preached to the Ninevites, who repented. Peter recognizes what he has to do when he hears Cornelius' vision. He goes to Cornelius' house, eats his gentile food, and ends up baptizing the gentiles there. Peter understands that the Holy Spirit purifies everyone. Forgiveness and salvation come even to the gentiles.

The church had to continue to deal with the question “how do we witness to Christ's love and remember to keep ourselves holy?” Not all of us have the advantage of a vision from heaven with the voice of God telling us clearly what to do.

But we do have the stories about the early church, and we do have words of Jesus. Listen for the word of God as it is found in John 13:31-35.

When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 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.' I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Jesus said those words to the disciples, just after Judas left, and before he talks about Peter's betrayal. Jesus knew who he was speaking to; he knew what the disciples were like, and even so, asked them to love each other.

Peter found out later who “one another” is; it now includes the gentiles. Love one another as Jesus loved, even when the other is unclean, even when the other is different, even when the other is foreign, and even when the other is one of us.

How we work together as a church, how we speak of one another to those outside the church, demonstrates our devotion to Christ. All things work together to praise God.

But when we are willing to listen to God, and open ourselves to new ways to share Christ's love, our praise can deepen and broaden. Some of us can get it right away; those are our prophets. Some of us are like Peter, and after God tells us something three times and another person teaches us, we get it. Some of us are more like Jonah, and try to run away from God, and we have to hit the bottom of fish, then smack into the shore, and go thirsty in the desert before we are willing to hear God's word.

When we are complacent in our faith, it's easy to vilify other people for being unclean; it's easy not to see them as children of God. When we are grossed out by other cultures or religions, it's easy to judge them as bad and undeserving of our respect. And once we have judged them, it's even easier to treat them as less than human. The prophets have warned us about that.

Jesus Christ came for all humankind. When we are secure in our faith, confident that God loves us, we can dare to embrace the new thing God is doing in our midst. The Holy Spirit will help us. New ideas, new people, new ways of expressing God's ancient message of inclusion and growth don't threaten us. We are instead joyful and hopeful of the future, and ready to embrace what and who God sends us.