First Presbyterian Church
A Foot at a Time
Sermon for May 6, 2007
by Pastor Susan Barnes

After the resurrection, the Jewish disciples of Jesus continued to spread the gospel. Jesus followed Jewish tradition, but interacted with gentiles also. What were the disciples supposed to do about the gentiles? For centuries, God's people kept themselves separate from gentiles; they lived indifferent places, they ate different food, and circumcised their children. They did this because they obeyed the laws of the torah, the first five books of the Bible. After hundreds of years of this tradition, the Jews who followed Jesus were faced with questions: “If gentiles wanted to follow Jesus, did they need to become Jews first? Did they have to give up their ways of cooking and eating? Did they have to be circumcised?” Our reading today answers the first question. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Acts 11:1-18.

1 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."

This ends our reading from the book of Acts. This was a question the church would continue to debate. Our church also debates hard questions today. When we are faced with dilemmas, it is good to take a step back and remember what it is all about.

Listen for the word of God as we read it together in Psalm 23.

1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;

3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff-- they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.

Our gospel lesson is from the middle of chapter 10 in John. In chapter 9, Jesus healed a man blind from birth. In chapter 10, Jesus talked to the Pharisees on the Sabbath, saying “I am to good shepherd. I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.” The Jewish authorities are divided as to whether or not Jesus was from God. Our reading takes place during Hannukah, the festival of dedication. So it's winter, and the people entering the temple grounds gather on the east side, because it offers the best protection from the weather. Jesus speaks about sheep again. Listen for the word of God as it is found in John 10:22-30.

22 At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem . It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon.

24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly."

25 Jesus answered, "I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; 26 but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand. 30 The Father and I are one."

This ends our reading from the gospel.

In the gospel reading, some of the Jewish authorities question Jesus; our bibles say “How long will you keep us in suspense” but literally it is “How long are you taking away our life, or our breath?” It's probably an expression that means “How long are you going to bother us?” Tell us plainly – are you the messiah or not?”

Why doesn't Jesus just answer their question plainly? They are the ones who know what they mean by messiah; it is a political and military title. But the salvation Jesus offers is much greater than politics or armies; it is eternal. His kingdom isn't political or military. What Jesus has done--healing, feeding, teaching, listening-- are all fulfilling God's will. His works testify to who he is: someone doing God's work. That is his plain answer.

Jesus tells the believers of his prayer that they may be one, even as he and God are one. “Jesus shares in God's work and power.” 1 He's not just a political liberator who will restore Israel ; his power is the power of God. “Becoming one means that no one can take that oneness away.” Paul said in Romans, “Neither death nor life nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”2

God's love and care are the topic in Psalm 23. One pastor wrote about Psalm 23, “I don't mind calling the Lord my Shepherd, but I've never been too flattered by being called one of his sheep. I had hoped to be the eagle of the Lord, or maybe the cunning tiger. Sheep aren't particularly smart. They scare easily, and have a knack for getting lost. Most of us don't look lost. We haven't fallen through society's cracks into homelessness and poverty. But [the psalmist] would say, ‘Oh no, it is you who have lost your way in a relationship that's offered more hurt than love, in a job that leaves you depleted and spent, or in the guilt of not being good enough, [strong] enough or smart enough for someone whose judgment cuts deep.'

Some of us have gotten lost in our battles against declining health. Others are lost in grief. And how many of us are just simply lost in our shame for things done and left undone? Trying so hard to find ourselves, we've even lost sight of who we are, who we were created to be.

The reason both the psalmist and Jesus spend so much time describing us as lost was not to judge us, but to help us find our salvation. Confessing that we are frightened and lost is the first step.” 3

And so I am comforted by the line “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death” or as our NRSV bibles have it, “ Even though I walk through the darkest valley.” In our scariest places, God is with us. But it is not always easy to feel the presence of God in those times when we've lost our way.

When we are confronted by an unfamiliar situation, it's hard to know what to do. I hate the feeling of not knowing what to do. A few summers ago, at the mission area youth conference, I did part of a ropes course where I had to walk across a log high in the air. I put on a harness, or rather, the young and fit ropes course instructors put a harness on me, and I climbed up a very tall pole with rungs that seemed further apart with every step. Once on the top of the log, I realized my hiking boots were not going to help me. Hiking boots aren't made to be flexible. The soles don't give and I was suddenly in front of a long round log. I had assumed the log would be flat on top; how could anyone walk across a curved in stiff boots? No one could. I couldn't. The instructor was there, yelling instructions, telling me I could do it. I didn't think it was physically possible; the laws of physics apply to mass, gravity, and momentum, and none of them were on my side. I knew my instructor was wrong, but I knew if I fell, the harness would catch me. So I went across a foot at a time, and much to my surprise, I made it.

That's what I thought of when I read our passage from Acts. Peter didn't want to hinder God, but everything he had been taught about his faith told him that eating unclean food were wrong. Peter had been raised a Jew; he followed the laws in the Torah. Eating kosher was a matter of holiness. If an insect on the unclean list falls into a container of water, not only is the water unclean, but the container is, and has to be broken so it will never be used again (Leviticus 11:34.)

God's people didn't eat meat of animals with a split hoof but don't chew cud, like a pig. They didn't mix milk products with meat. They did wash all utensils and vessels carefully. Infant boys were circumcised. But all these customs became a problem when gentiles wanted to join Jesus' disciples and follow the way. Circumcision seemed like mutilation to them; and they had grown up eating all sorts of foods. They believed in Jesus; they wanted to be baptized, but they didn't want to follow some of the Jewish laws.

Those of you who have had to change your diet for health reasons know how difficult it is to cook and eat in a new way. Or if you have lived in a different country, it's hard to find familiar foods, and harder to learn how to cook a food you've never eaten before. Sometimes the lack of cooking is a problem. I remember a pastor friend, John, who told me about his travels in Africa . On a walk one day, he was offered some cow's blood by his host. He was able to politely refuse. It's easy to make fun of people for what they think is good to eat that we do not. In some places, drinking cow's milk is only for children. Adults do not drink milk. Here, adults drink milk, but generally, most of us do not eat insects. There are plenty of people in the world who do. Insects are easy to get and a good source of protein.

Peter had a vision of clean and unclean animals coming from heaven. He said he'd never eaten anything unclean or profane. Peter didn't think he could do it. The heavenly voice said “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”

And so Peter took a leap of faith, trusted the instructions, and began associating with uncircumcised men, and eating unclean food, food that was disgusting to him. If the gentiles accepted the word of God, then he could accept the gentiles. I'm guessing he remembered Jesus' words and his works. He knew what was really important.

But it took him awhile; he argued with the Lord's voice three times. Don't you think he would have known better? But he didn't. And yet, when he told his story to the believers who had accused him, they believed him the first time.

I think they knew that Jesus was about God's work. They were familiar with what Jesus had done. Peter was too, and he figured it out eventually. Healing, feeding, and teaching testify to the work of God.

And so does praying. Once I was called upon to help a family with a sudden death. I was caught off guard and it hit me hard. I called a friend of mine who lives far away and asked her to pray with me. Normally, I don't like praying over the telephone. I need the immediacy of human touch. But her prayer was a simple one, asking for God's guidance and presence in this difficult time. That prayer sustained me so that I could minister to the family.

The Bible describes our relationship to God in a variety of ways: God's creation, God's children, God's grapevines, or lost coins. In times when we need comforting most, it is helpful to remember that we are the sheep of God's pasture. God is our shepherd who provides us with the way. We just have to go one foot at a time.

1New Interpreter's Bible, vol. IIX, p. 677.

2 Romans 8:38-39.

3 Barnes, Craig. “Sheep on the Run,” Christian Century, Feb 13-20, 2002, p. 17.