Loving God, just as you broke down the barriers between Jews and Gentiles, so you also broke down the barriers that separated us from you and from others.  Help us to continue to break down the walls that divide, and to see each person as you do, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    Over the years my brother has sent me a number of different gifts in order to remind me of where I have come from.  Both of us grew up watching the Toronto Maple Leafs and cheering for them, and my brother still favours #21 because of Borje Salming.  And so, he has sent me various items of clothing and household items bearing the Maple Leafs logo.

    Among these items are some socks that are just the right thickness for inside my skates.  On one of the summer hockey teams that I played for, one of the other players said very quietly to me one day, “I like your socks.”  She then told me that she grew up near Toronto, too.  It was almost as if both of us knew not to say any of this too loudly, for here, we are most definitely outsiders.  While in the greater scheme of things, which hockey team you might cheer for is a relatively small thing, this little exchange between us illustrates - at least to some degree - what it is like to feel like an outsider.

    At the same time, I’m aware that many of you have some far more serious experiences of being treated as if you are somehow “other” or “lesser” than other people.  A number of people shared experiences this past week of times when either they or somebody else were treated as outsiders.  Some were treated as outsiders because they were German.  Some were told not to date or to marry a certain person because they were (and you can fill in the blank here) Jewish, or Ukrainian, or Roman Catholic. Some were treated as outsiders because they are divorced.

    In each case, certain types of people were identified as not quite acceptable - as different from us - as them and not us.  While it may have changed somewhat over the years as to who we deem to be not quite acceptable, unfortunately it still happens in many different ways, shapes and forms - even within the church.  In fact, every time we make a comment that paints a whole group of people all with the same brush, we are perpetuating the us and them kind of mentality.

    Aboriginal people – they’re all the same, right?  And white people? - they all act the same!  Muslims are all secretly terrorists, and Germans all have some sort of Nazi background, and gay people are out to promote their “lifestyle”, and how many other groups are there where we can tell that they’re just not like us at all?

    It was kind of like this for Cornelius, who we heard about today.  Even though he was a deeply faithful man who prayed all the time and gave generously to the poor, he had two big strikes against him in the eyes of anybody who was Jewish (like Peter).  First of all, he was a centurion in the Roman army – the occupying force that controlled first century Palestine.  As far as the Jewish people were concerned, the Romans were the enemy.  The second strike against him is that he was a Gentile.  While most of us probably don’t talk much about Gentiles today, to a Jewish person, Gentiles are all those people in the world who are not Jewish.

    The other thing that we need to know in order to make sense of this story about Peter and Cornelius is that Jews were taught not to associate with Gentiles – not to eat with them, or enter their houses, and definitely not to marry them.  And so for Peter, it is a huge step for him to invite some Gentiles to come in and eat with him and stay for the night.  And it is just as big when Peter actually goes with them and enters Cornelius’ house.

    You may have noticed, though, that God goes to great lengths in order to let Peter know that it is okay to do these things.  Peter’s vision on the rooftop happens not once, but three times - and Peter is still puzzled about what it means when the people sent by Cornelius show up at the gate and ask for him.  However, he soon realizes that the vision wasn’t so much about food as it was about people.  “What God has made clean, you must not call profane” (Acts 10:15).

    Then, once Peter has gone with the men in order to speak to Cornelius and his friends and family, God acts once again to show that this is, indeed, what God wants.  While Peter is there, and is telling them about Jesus, the Holy Spirit is poured out on all of them who are there listening.  In fact, while Peter is still speaking, the Holy Spirit is poured out, and they start speaking in other languages and praising God.  Peter knows right then and there to baptize them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

    This whole encounter between Peter and Cornelius actually becomes a foundational event in the life of the early church, and the story gets repeated several times in order to try and convince other believers that Gentiles really are welcomed by God.  While it does take some time to get past their old prejudices, eventually they, too, come to see that the forgiveness and salvation that Jesus brings are for all people.

    The challenge for us, still today, is to see each person that we meet as a beloved child of God.  We are challenged to get rid of our assumptions that some are in and some are out, and to get rid of our “us and them” ways of thinking.  We are challenged to recognize how amazing it is that God has welcomed each one of us into his family through Jesus Christ.  We are challenged not only to recognize God’s gracious welcome to us, but to pass on that welcome to others.

    Later in the New Testament, Paul writes that God no longer distinguishes between Jews and Greeks.  There is no longer any place for some being slaves and some free.  There is no longer one place for male and one for female - for all “are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).  There is no person who is more saved than another, and there is no person who is more valued than another.  Thanks be to God for this wonderful gift.  Amen.

Easter 3 (NL 1)                            Acts 10:1-17, 34-35
April 19, 2015
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2015 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved