They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love

May 15, 2022
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

Acts 11:1-18; John 13:31-35[1]

What religion were Jesus and his first followers? The answer is, of course, Jewish. So, let’s look at this vision Peter has when he is praying in Joppa. What he is being shown are animals that Jews cannot eat. According to the laws of Moses recorded in Leviticus, certain animals such as pigs, rabbits, and shellfish are unclean, unacceptable for a Jew to eat. So, what is this vision from heaven? Are the rules suddenly being changed? It seems that way. But if you remember any of the other stories of visions people have in the bible, things are not always exactly what they seem.

You see, the vision is linked with what happened next. Peter’s vision ends and at that very moment three men arrive from Caesarea. They are Gentiles, non-Jews, and the Spirit tells Peter “not to make a distinction between them and us.”[2] Up to this point, only Jews could become Christians. Part of the reason for this is that in order to understand who Jesus is you have to know something about Judaism.

It’s the same reason that our Christian bibles have not only the New Testament stories about Jesus but the Old Testament also. What we know as the Old Testament is the Jewish bible. It helps us understand Jesus when we understand where he came from, what his culture was like, how the Jewish people understood God, and what their idea of Messiah was. At least, that’s what Peter and those around him thought. There are prerequisites to being Christian. Peter’s vision, and its accompanying interaction with a group of Gentiles, suggests that maybe you don’t have to have all the keys before you walk through the door.

This was a breakthrough moment for Peter and the other disciples. It was a realization that the gospel, the salvation of people through Jesus Christ, was not meant just for one small group of people. God’s grace and love were not limited to Jews only. “The Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning.”[3] Yes, the rules are changing. “And they praised God, saying, ‘Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.’”[4] God has big plans, bigger than you can imagine, and who are we that we could hinder God?

The differences between us don’t matter to God. You’ve heard it said: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”[5] The rules that are designed to keep us apart have been broken by this God who loves all people. God is bigger than one group or another. There is no longer Catholic or Protestant, there is no longer Presbyterian or Methodist, there is no longer Congregational or Evangelical. God is bigger than any denomination. God is the Creator of the entire universe and all that is within it. God’s love is not limited to this people or that; God’s love is for all people, no exceptions.

This is what it means to be Christian; it is about something much bigger than any of us. We are members of St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois. But we are also members of the United Church of Christ in the United States of America. And, most importantly, we are Christians, along with all the members of all the other churches all around the world. We are all members of the family of God.

There are some things you should know about this family. You see, people can tell when you’re part of this family. There is a way of life, a way of being in the world that is evidence of your membership in this family. It is the way of love.

Let me ask you, what do you do when you love something? Me, I love chocolate. When there is chocolate in the room, my attention gets drawn to it. I spend time thinking about it. I like to tell other people about it, and I can get really enthusiastic about it. Dude, I had this really dark chocolate from Ghirardelli and it was unbelievable! You have to try it! I sometimes stash chocolate around the house so I can find it later and savor a moment with my chocolate. I’ve gone out of my way to get chocolate. I really love chocolate.

So, what happens when you love someone? Your heart races, your mind gets all fuzzy. You spend a lot of time thinking about the one you love. You want to make them happy. You work hard to please them, and you want them to notice how much you care. You miss one another when you’re apart, and you can’t wait to be together again. As love grows deeper, you communicate better, you share your joys and your sorrows, you talk about your deepest fears and your most precious hopes for the future. You become partners through life, dancing to the same inner rhythm. People can tell when you love someone.

“Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”[6] Jesus’ disciples were good friends. You’d have to be to work so closely and so hard and at such risk for three years. They cared about each other, not in a romantic sense, but like siblings or best friends. But Jesus is pushing them toward something more. “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.”[7] This is not a suggestion. This is not “Hey, can’t we all just get along?” This is a commandment, and it is bigger than all of them.

The earliest Christian communities functioned like large families. “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.”[8] They loved and cared for one another, for all the believers, but it was more than that. The love that they had extended to their neighbors, the people around them in their communities, even those whom others considered outcast. Their love extended across traditional dividing lines of religion and culture too; remember the Jew/Gentile thing? But it was more than that.

People could tell they were Christians by their love. The love just spilled out of them. Their love for the things in the world around them, their love for the people around them, their obvious love for God expressed in prayer, praise, and song. They were bursting with love, and they never stopped. Their love flowed into others, who passed that love along to their children, and grandchildren, and so on. That love flowed into the people who founded the church in this place, into your ancestors, and it flows now into you. It is the Holy Spirit. It is the love of God that seeks to flow through every heart. Just as my love of chocolate is hard to hide, just as people can tell when you love someone, God’s Holy Spirit of love overflows the Christian heart. Look around. Can you tell you’re surrounded by Christians?  Amen.

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[1] The scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

[2] Acts 11:12.

[3] Acts 11:15.

[4] Acts 11:18.

[5] Galatians 3:28.

[6] John 13:34.

[7] John 13:34.

[8] Acts 2:44-45.

At the Beautiful Gate

April 18, 2021
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

Acts 3:1-19; Luke 24:36b-48[1]

Astonishing. Surprising. Certainly unexpected. The lame man who always lay begging at the Beautiful Gate has been healed. There he was walking and leaping and praising God. How has this happened? Who did this? “While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s Portico, utterly astonished.”[2] These two?

As the word spread, they gathered around Peter and John. What were they looking for? An explanation of what had happened? A powerful being with healing power? Healing for themselves, perhaps? Maybe just to see what all the fuss was about. For whatever reason, they came, lured by the spectacle, the surprising healing, the happening. And what did they find? Peter, giving a sermon.

Yes, here is a miracle, Peter seems to say. The health of this man has been restored. But you seem to think that we are the ones who did this. “Why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?”[3]

People are hungry for miracle-workers. We have a hunger for powerful people, those who seem to have tapped into the healing power of the universe, who might heal us, or give us power. We gather to see the faith healer in the revival tent or the miracle worker on TV who zaps the feeble woman with the power of JEE-ZUS and up she leaps. We flock to the self-help guru, the doctor with the miracle diet, the speaker who tells of the secret power of positive thinking. We believe that they have the answers, the magic touch, the wisdom or technique that will fix what is broken in our lives.

You’ve got it all wrong, declares Peter. It wasn’t John or me, it wasn’t our power or piety. The healing came from “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors [who] has glorified his servant Jesus.”[4] God is the healer. The name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the pathway. We are but faithful servants. We are no more powerful than any of you. “The faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.”

We know a bit more about Peter that his audience did that day in the portico. We know that this was one of the closest friends of Jesus, the rock on which the church would be built. We also know that Peter denied Jesus three times the night before the crucifixion. Peter knew all about rejection. Peter also knew the power of rulers to oppress, how the Romans handled threats to their power. Peter knew that the Empire of Rome allowed for no king but Caesar, and demanded worship of Caesar as divine.

As modern readers of this text, we could easily misunderstand the challenge that Peter offers to his fellow Jews. Christians through the centuries have forgotten that the Jesus movement was originally a Jewish movement, and have used these words by Peter, and other writings in the New Testament, as justification for the persecution and murder of Jews. Far too many have read the words “you handed over,” “you rejected,” “you killed,” as invectives justifying anti-Semitism. Far too many have forgotten that Peter and all the other disciples, and Jesus himself, were Jews. Far too few put themselves in the place of those who listened to Peter that day.

Peter was not preaching God’s vengeance, or a decree of God’s punishment. The people of Israel worshiped, and worship still, the same God worshiped by Christians. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God of Jesus, Mary, and Peter. The God of life, the power of Creation, is the God that Jesus embodied, the incarnation of the God of life among us. For Peter, and for us, the message is forgiveness, healing, salvation from sin and new life. For us, we must remember that the God who loves us never stopped loving the Jewish people, and that we are called along our path as they are called along theirs.

When we return to the Beautiful Gate, what we find is one who has been healed. Rather than look for who to blame for this healing, or ask how this could be done, might we instead celebrate that salvation has come, life has been restored, and the God of life lives among us? What Peter begins to teach them is that ours is a resurrection God, the living God who brings life, healing, and salvation to an Easter world. In an Easter world, the healing, forgiving, and loving power of God is everywhere, as pervasive as sunshine and rain.

When we see signs of God’s work in the world, when health is restored, relationships mended, the hungry are fed, and the poor hear good news, we may be astonished. We should celebrate and be glad that the living God is among us, that the Author of Life continues to breathe life into the world.

We should also recognize that we are called to do more than celebrate. “Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out.”[5] Peter’s sermon calls us to see not only the shiny world of happy people, but the reality of a world where healing, forgiveness, and love are sorely needed. Peter’s call to repentance is a call to recognize that there is still healing to be done, that our connection to God wears out and needs mending from time to time. Peter’s reminder that Christ was crucified is a challenge to not repeat the terrible past, but turn and return to God. Let us renew our faith in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, receive strength, healing, and forgiveness, and be witnesses to a beautiful God in a beautiful world.  Amen.

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[1] The scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

[2] Acts 3:11.

[3] Acts 3:12.

[4] Acts 3:13.

[5] Acts 3:19.