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It was two dreams - well, actually one vision and one trance - that brings Peter to the place where he gives the sermon we hear this morning as our Scripture lesson. In the house of a Roman centurion named Cornelius in the town of Caesarea, Peter has traveled not only geographically, but also spiritually and theologically. Let me explain. The author of the book of the Acts tells us that Cornelius is a member of the Roman army that kept guard over the Jewish people. He is also a man of prayer, who loves God and shares his resources with the poor. One afternoon, An angel appears and gives him a message: Look for a man named Peter living in Joppa, And so right away, Cornelius sends his servants to find this man named Peter. And just as the servants are heading into the city, Peter is up on the roof of his host Simon, praying. While he's waiting for something to be prepared to eat, He goes into a trance, receives a puzzling vision, and hears a heavenly voice- Not once but three times - telling him that what God has made clean, he must not call unclean. Peter's confused, unsure of what it all means when the men from Caesarea arrive at the place where he is staying in Joppa. The Spirit then reveals to him the meaning of the message: Go, Peter, to Cornelius' house. Go, Peter, even though you are Jewish and Cornelius, a Gentile, is considered unclean. Go, Peter, go and bear witness to the good news that you have seen and heard. Testify to all that God has done in Jesus Christ. And so Peter goes to the centurion's house, where he is greeted with joy and honor by Cornelius and by the family and friends who gathered to welcome him. Tell us, Cornelius says, tell us all that you have been commanded to say. The first words Peter speaks - the first words that he is given by the Spirit to speak - are ones that change and shape Christianity in a radical way. It's God's own truth, Peter says, And nothing could be plainer or clearer: God plays no favorites! It makes no difference who you are or where you're from. If you want God and are ready to do as God says, Then the door is open to you! The message that was given to Israel is now given to everyone, everywhere, For everyone is acceptable to God. Everyone is acceptable to God. Friends, up until this point, The earliest disciples have focused their attention on sharing the good news with those within the Jewish community. They began, perhaps just where we would begin, With those they knew the best, And the community of which Jesus himself was part of. But this encounter and exchange between Peter and Cornelius marks a pivot point in the divine story of salvation and grace. It's where things turn around - Divine love is extended beyond the covenantal community, And for Peter, for Cornelius, and for the entire Christian community, life is transformed because, as Peter preached, everyone is acceptable to God. Paul Tillich, One of the great theologians of the 20th century preached about acceptance in a sermon he gave over 40 years ago: "You are accepted. You are accepted, Accepted by that which is greater than you, And the name of which you do not know. Do not ask for the name now; Perhaps you will find it later. Do not try to do anything now; Perhaps later you will do much. Do not seek for anything; Do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted. If that happens to us, We experience grace." Imagine how Cornelius and his friends and family felt when they heard Peter that day! Imagine the grace they knew in that moment, or maybe in the days and weeks and years ahead, when this Jewish preacher and teacher stood before them and offered a word of welcome, of hope and love and peace. And can you imagine, friends, the grace we can know if and when we stop for a moment and remember that God shows no partiality and accepts us. God desires for us to know that the good news of Easter - Love overcoming all obstacles, Life triumphing over all deathly situations, Hope ultimately replacing all the world's despair - is really meant for you and for me, to change our hearts, our lives, and our church. Imagine, imagine the grace. Last year at this time, I was scouring magazines and books that described and ranked colleges across the country, searching for information about the schools that our oldest daughter Kathryn was interested in, looking to find just the perfect place for her to go. Some of you are in the midst of this right now; Others will remember what it was like, And still others have this task ahead of you. There's many college guides - US NEWS, the Princeton Review, Fiske's Guide, Peterson's, College Board, And they each contain many statistics: Number of students, majors, financial information, academic ranking. There was a new statistic I was introduced to called the acceptance rate. It's somewhat of a misnomer, because it doesn't tell you the number of students a college accepts, but rather the number of persons who accept the acceptance of their college. Those schools with high acceptance rates are considered selective and desirable, But in the end it really doesn't make any difference what a college's acceptance rate is. Because it is a happy thing, a joyous thing, a blessing, when the college that wants you is the college you want to attend, and you do. Friends: God has accepted us, And extends to an invitation to us, to enroll in the community of witnesses who will testify to the power of hope and healing, the life and life, and the peace and promise of Jesus Christ. It takes courage to say yes to God and become a witness. It takes courage to go to a strange place, to be called beyond your own understanding and convictions, to witness to the gospel. The courage to be a witness, according to Paul Tillich, comes from accepting the fact that God accepts us, even if in our heart of hearts we find ourselves unacceptable. Imagine how true this was for Peter, Who denied Jesus three times in his greatest hour of need. Yet Peter also met the risen Christ, Who called him friend and called him to go and preach the good news. Buoyed with the confidence and grace of the Risen Lord, Peter was able to go and share the good news in Caesarea and in myriad other places. With God's love and grace, We, too, are enabled and empowered to go forward into the world, to new places and to new people so that we might testify and witness, as Peter does, to the message of peace God preaches in Jesus. Friends, where are the places this Easter season where we are called to be a witness? Who are the people that need a word of acceptance - who feel left out our cast aside, who may be wondering if they are loved by God and remembered by those who call themselves God's people and Jesus' friends? Where will the Spirit invite us in the days and weeks ahead? Friends, make no mistake - there will be invitations and opportunities for us to go to new places. Because God and the gospel call us beyond where we are - theologically, spiritually, and sometimes geographically. We will receive an invitation - perhaps like Peter when we are napping or hungry and waiting for a meal. Or maybe while we're waiting in the line at the grocery store or the cafeteria or the drive thru at McDonalds, or even at church. For there is a place and there is a person who needs to know God's love - by a kind word or through a helping hand we offer. It might be a prayer that is our witness, or an invitation to join in a Sunday worship. I invite all of us this coming week to watch and listen to those invitations, and pray we are able to know the courage to be a witness for the sake of the gospel and for the sake of the world. Amen and alleluia. |