Sermon

Acts 11:1-18

Law and Gospel

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Acts 11:1-18

Law and Gospel

By Pastor Daniel W. Brettell

I suspect that most of you here today are law abiding citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and of the United States of America; in fact I’m sure that I could rightfully assume that ALL of you are law abiding citizens of Pennsylvania and the United States. OR ARE YOU?!

Did you know that in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania:

• It’s against the law for a housewife to hide dirt under a rug.

• It’s against the law to sleep outside on top of a refrigerator.

Wouldn’t you just love to know how those laws came about?

Pennsylvania is not unique. Before you go on vacation you might want to be aware of these laws:

• In Alaska, it’s illegal to give a moose beer to drink. I wonder if Sara Palin knows about that one.

• In Nevada, it’s illegal to drive a camel on a highway. There are some other things that I won’t go into that are legal in Nevada, but not camel driving.

• In New York, the penalty for jumping off the Empire State Building is death. (pause) Okay, I’m not even going to comment on that one.

Now, I’m sure most of you have never broken those laws,but have you ever frowned at a police officer? Illegal in New Jersey.

• Are you guilty of singing in the shower? Illegal in Pennsylvania.

• Have you ever driven past a team of horses? Illegal in Pennsylvania; when you see the horses approaching, you must, under the law, stop and cover your car with a blanket or a tarp so as to not scare the horses. Driving in Lancaster County must be a real hoot with that one.

But the laws we’re talking about here are all secular laws; laws that have been developed throughout the years to address specific situations that were perceived to be of grievous—or not so grievous—concern to most people. The problem arises when laws become archaic and are not removed from the books.

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But what about laws that are Biblical in nature? Usually when we think about Biblical laws, we turn naturally to the Ten Commandments—Mosaic Laws that if you think about them are perhaps the most perfect laws ever developed. They cover everything—everything from respect for God and respect for parents to respect for neighbors. They are so perfect that these laws are called Commandments, and if everyone were to live by them and by their spirit, we would absolutely be living in a utopian society.

But you know what they say about laws; if having ten laws is good then having a hundred laws is probably better.

The Jewish scriptures—what Christians refer to as the Old Testament—delineate far more than those laws first inscribed on the stone tablets by God. In fact, if one really works at it and carefully analyzes the Pentateuch—the first five books of the Bible—Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy —one will find that the laws of Judaism number in excess of 600. In fact, in the third century A.D. the Rabbi Simlai determined that there were 613 laws divided into two parts; 248 of them being positive commandments—things that we need to do—and 365 of them being negative commandments—things that we should not do.

Today’s first lesson deals with a specific aspect of Jewish law—that of dietary restrictions. Under Jewish law it was required that one eat only meats from animals that had been ritually slaughtered under direction of a specially trained Rabbi—and then only the meat of ritually slaughtered beef, sheep, goats, and deer. One could also eat chicken, turkey, quail, geese, salmon, tuna, carp, herring, and cod. But regardless, meat could not be eaten if came contact with any dairy product—so anyone here who likes a good cheeseburger and milkshake; you’re outta luck; that’s on the forbidden list. You also could not eat crabs, lobster, clams, or swordfish.

In today’s first lesson, Peter—in a dream—sees this banquet on a sheet being lowered from heaven, and he’s told to eat. The problem is, all the food on the sheet comes from animals that are on the forbidden list. So Peter says, “No thank you. Can’t touch the stuff.  Never have; never will—it’s all unclean.”

But then he hears a voice, and the voice says, “What God has made clean, you must not profane.”

Now, if we stop there—at that point in the lesson—we might be tempted to think that it’s all about doing away with dietary laws; that God is telling us that it’s okay to eat any foods, because they all part of God’s creation and as such, they are clean and proper for us. We might make that assumption—and it’s a fair assumption. But we wouldn’t be going far enough with this lesson. We have to read on to get the full understanding; to get the understanding that is truly applicable to us, today, now, in the 21st century.

You see, the rest of this lesson in Acts is about accepting those who are different from us. In the lesson, Peter is approached by three men—three “others”—men who are not the same as Peter—men whom we understand to be gentiles—men, who under Jewish Law, Peter could have no contact with or he, Peter, would be considered unclean.  In the beginning of the Lesson, Peter is criticized for eating with those who are uncircumcised—this is code for Gentiles. Peter is being criticized for eating with Gentiles—he is breaking the Law.

But listen to how to how Peter describes what has happened to those Gentiles—those “others.”

“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them,
even as on us at the beginning.
I remembered the word of the Lord,
how he said, ‘John indeed baptized in water,
but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit.’
If then God gave to them the same gift as us,
when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ,
who was I, that I could withstand God?” (Acts 11:15-17).

That’s the question that we need to ask ourselves. “If… God gave to them the same gift as us, when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could withstand God?”

That’s an incredibly important question that we need to answer both as individuals and as a group of Christians. You see, my brothers and sisters, there will always be others—those who are not like us—or those whom we believe, because of statements or laws found in various parts of the Old and New Testament—those who are not worthy or are not permitted to be a part of us or are not permitted to lead us.

Let me give you an example—one that many of us had to deal with within our lifetimes—one that is still being used against “others” by some denominations.  There’s a verse in First Corinthians that was trotted out with a great deal of regularity in the Lutheran Church back in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  The verse is from 1 Corinthians 14:34 and it says,

“Let your wives keep silent in the assemblies,
for it has not been permitted for them to speak;
but let them be in subjection, as the law also says.”

This verse was used regularly by those who opposed the ordination of women. Opponents in other denominations continue to use this verse to argue against the ordination of women.  They cite this verse and they say, “See this is what Paul had to say about ordaining women. It’s against Biblical Law.”

But I say to you, “Are we that people? Do we live in the first century, when it was uncommon and unheard of for women to be educated?” No, we live in the 21st century. We are not that people. We are not that people who would adhere to many of the Biblical Laws of that time. We are not that people because of one very major difference. We are not people of the Law. We are people of the Gospel. And the Gospel is for all people, not just those whom we select; rather it is for all those selected by God. The people of the time when Paul wrote Corinthians were still struggling for their identity as Christians. They were still struggling with the question of whether a Gentile had to first become a Jew before becoming a Christian; meaning that some—notably those who were in the Jerusalem Church—believed that men must first be circumcised—become Jewish—before they could become Christian.

Are we that people? No. We have resolved the issue that is raised in today’s lesson in Acts. We should know and understand that God gives others—all—the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. So who are we that we could hinder God? We are not people of the Law. We are people of the Gospel. We are taught that we are to love one another just as Jesus first loved us. That says to me that we are to welcome all others who have been blessed by the Spirit to love and serve God in whatever way they have been called to serve.

Let us pray.

May the peace of Christ which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in the joy of our resurrected Lord and Savior who died for our sins and lives so that we might live. Amen.

Scripture quotations from the World English Bible

Copyright 2010, Daniel W. Brettell.  Used by permission.