Several
years ago, I was given a book to read by a fellow classmate of mine while I was
in seminary. I don’t remember what the
title of the book was, what it was about, or who wrote it, but there is one
fact that still sticks in my mind about that book. You see, this particular book had a duplicate
chapter in it. Let me explain really
quickly what I mean by this. This book
had a chapter that was almost an exact copy of the previous chapter. The only difference between the two chapters
was that the second one began with the statement, “I feel that the information
that we discussed in the previous chapter is so vital to our understanding of
this subject matter that we need to make sure that we really have a firm grasp
before moving on. With that being the
case, the following is a reprint of the previous chapter.” And then it went on to be the exact same text
that I had just finish reading.
Now
there are two things about that book that as I think about it now really leaves
me puzzled. One, why didn’t the author
just say at the end of the first chapter to reread it before moving on? It seems like that would have been a much
cheaper and more economical use of paper.
And two, obviously the reading of the same material twice wasn’t that
impactful upon me in terms of the subject matter because I have spent all week
trying to think of anything about that book besides the fact that it had a
duplicate chapter without any luck whatsoever.
You
may be asking why I’m talking about a book with repetitious material as a means
of introducing our text for today. Well,
if you were here last Sunday or if you have been reading along with us in Acts,
then a good portion of the first half of our text for today should seem pretty
familiar. In fact, some of it is almost
a verbatim copy of Peter’s vision and the following interaction with Cornelius
and some other Gentiles that we saw last Sunday. If you recall, we looked at Peter and his ministry
amongst this group, and we saw that the Holy Spirit descended upon them. We noted that this was something that took
many of the Jews back since they thought that the gift of the Holy Spirit and
the indwelling of him was something only reserved for those who were among
national Israel.
Well, word got
around about this event and when Peter finally made it back to Jerusalem, there
were those who were among the Jews who were skeptical to say the least. Peter was, as we’re told, criticized upon
arriving back in Jerusalem. “You
went to uncircumcised men and ate with them” people would say to him in
a demeaning tone. They couldn’t believe
that Peter would violate their custom of not interacting with these
people. It was as if they were asking Peter,
“How could you?” But Peter tells them,
“Brothers, it’s not like that. You see,
I received this vision from God and in my lack of understanding God even spoke
out to me. God told me that nothing that
He has made is common. And this didn’t
happen just once, but three times. And
as soon as the third was finished, these three men showed up form Caesarea
wanting me to go with them. And the Holy
Spirit was telling me and pushing me to go with them and to remember the words
that God had just revealed to me and to not let their differences from myself
become a roadblock for myself or them.”
Peter also goes on to say, “And these six brothers also accompanied me,
and we entered the man’s house.”
In other words, Peter was saying, “Don’t just take my word for it, but
ask those guys as well. They’ll tell you
that everything that I am saying to you is the truth. They were right there with me.” Now, we also know how serious the Jews took
the accounts of witnesses. In this day
of no forensic evidence, the strongest case you could have for convincing
someone that something either did or didn’t happen was the testimony of
multiple, accountable witnesses.
The men could
indeed confirm what Peter was saying.
They had seen Peter go to Cornelius.
They had heard the conversations there.
They had seen Peter preach to the Gentiles. They had seen the Holy Spirit fall upon the
Gentiles with their own eyes. And after
haring all of this, the men who were gathered there in Jerusalem “fell
silent. And they glorified God, saying,
‘Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.’”
So, there’s
this very quick and seemingly very abrupt shift in thinking. And it’s really kind of confusing when we
first read over it. Think about this for
a second. Ever since Abraham (really
even before that), God has had his chosen people, the Hebrews. We see all throughout the Old Testament from
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (who is renamed Israel) and on through Moses and David,
God has had His chosen people and they have been the nation of Israel. Now, after several thousand years (1500 being
the smallest estimate), the Jews just give up on all that and say, “Ok, those
outside of national Israel are included too.”
Now, we know from accounts later on in Acts as well as Paul’s epistles
(most notably Galatians), that this isn’t exactly the case. However, our text doesn’t seem to (at least
on the surface) address this new expansion of God’s indwelling of the Holy
Spirit to include people outside of national Israel.
Then, towards
the end of our text, there is something that seems so subtle to us if we just
quickly read through Scripture, but it’s actually a turning point in the
Christian faith. In fact, it’s the
beginning of Christianity (at least in terms of the title Christianity). “And in Antioch the disciples were first
called Christians.” You see,
this is the first time in all of Scripture that the term Christian is used to
describe the followers of Jesus. From
this point forward, it’s not about Jew, Gentile, people of the Way or any other
title. That is, as far as God is
concerned. Sure, as I mentioned earlier,
men will continue to divide themselves amongst different groups, but that’s
from an earthly perspective. We will see
Jew/Gentile distinctions and faith/work distinctions throughout the rest of
Scripture just as we see divisions today.
Today we see a Protestant/Catholic distinction. We see distinctions amongst Protestants in
the form of Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, etc. Why, we even see further distinctions between
these groups. Our own Presbyterian
church is divided amongst EPC, PCA, OPC, PC(USA), ARP, etc. Now, these divisions are there for a reason
and I’m not trying to criticize this distinctions and I hope that’s not what
you take from this examination. I point
out these distinctions to say that they are inventions of mankind, but that
they don’t exist as far as the gospel is concerned. As far as the gospel is concerned, there
isn’t a different gospel for different groups (or at least there shouldn’t be).
When we observe
the Lord’s Supper, you may or may not have noticed that I give an invitation to
the table before reciting the words of the institute. And in that invitation, I remind each and
every one of us that the sacrifice that we are remembering is not one just for
a particular group of believers, but for all Christians. I don’t think that Jesus died just to save
the Presbyterians. That’s not what
predestination means. Despite what you
may have heard, I view my Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Episcopalian,
Pentecostal brothers; you name it; I view them as just as much a part of the
Church as I am. We are all
Christians. Yes, our understanding and
our belief in how all of this works together may differ, but it should never be
something that limits us in terms of our communion with one another. I can’t wait to get to heaven and be part of
the Church there. Not because I can’t
wait to show all my other Christian friends how right I was in my Presbyterian
understanding and interpretation, but to live simply as a Christian, and that
being as far as it goes.
You see,
throughout Scripture, when a seismic change takes place, there is usually some
type of new name associated with it.
Some examples are Abram to Abraham, Jacob to Israel, and Saul to
Paul. Well, there’s a seismic shift that
occurred within our text. That seismic
shift is the move, the change from Israel as God’s people to Christians (of the
Church) as God’s people. You see, this
isn’t some new system, it’s simply a change.
John Calvin writes of this expansion of God’s people that “Jerusalem was
the first fountain from which Christianity did flow.” In other words, Israel was the Church, but
now the Church is made up of all those who profess Jesus Christ as their Lord
and Savior and have been baptized in His name.
Now, the Church become God’s people, the Church has become Israel.
Now, real
quick, what does this mean for us? Well,
as we continue with the book of Acts and our look at the establishment of the
early church, as we continue with this theme in which I’ve tried to challenge
all of us to step outside of ourselves for the sake of the gospel, this text
means a great deal to us. It means that
all of the dividing lines are gone. We
know from the past few Sundays (as well as really every other text in
Scripture) that we need to take the gospel out into the world to those who
haven’t heard it. Well, this text frees
us from the confines of denominational boundaries and lets us know that
regardless of religious differences, the only thing that really matters is who
you worship. In other words, it’s not
how you worship or govern but who you worship and are governed by; God the
Father Almighty. Those areas of comfort
(or probably more likely areas of discomfort) that I’ve spoken of the past few
Sundays are things that we blame for becoming roadblocks or dead ends in our
evangelism. Don’t allow any type of
religious difference to become a roadblock in your evangelism. Everyone is in need of the gospel. All of those who adhere to the words of John
14:6 (I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me)
are called Christians. It’s not about an
individual church congregation or denomination, but about the entirety of the
kingdom. Don’t go out in search of the
growth of your own personal kingdom, for your own little comfort zone, but the
growth of God’s kingdom all across the earth.
Because no matter how many ways we may want to think about this or look
at it, everyone who professes Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior is known by
the name Christian above all other names.
And it’s not about which earthly understanding and interpretation is
right and which one is wrong, but it’s about the One True God. Go in search of all people regardless of
where they may be, and go bearing the name Christian above all else. Glory be to God; in the name of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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