CLICK HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF FREE BLOGGER TEMPLATES »

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Peter’s Vision Of World Mission
Acts 10:9-33 Shp Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF
Key verse 10:15 4/5/09
“The voice spoke to him a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’”
In this passage Peter was visiting Simon the tanner. One day while waiting for lunch, he was praying on the roof and he fell into a kind of trance, and dreamed about a large sheet full of unclean animals, the kind he had been trained from his youth never to eat. When a voice from heaven said, "Get up Peter. Kill and eat," he objected. God wanted his Christian church to expand beyond confines of the Jewish community to the entire world. In order to do this God wanted to prepare Peter. In this passage God rebuked him for his fixed ideas and wanted to rid his heart of all prejudices in order to use him greatly in his world salvation plan. Through this passage may we learn to obey the word of God, and not just our own ideas and feelings. May God help us to obey his spirit so that we can be used in his world wide redemptive plan.
Part l: Peter’s Vision From God

Where was Peter at this time? Look at verse 9, “About noon the following day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went on the roof to pray.”
And also look at 5 & 6, “5Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea." At this time the church enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened and encouraged in the Holy Spirit. It grew in the numbers, living in the fear of the Lord. During this time of peace, the believers did not become complacent. They went on mission journeys. Peter was on such a journey, going around to the different churches in order to encourage the believers. It is like Dr John Jun who is making such a journey now. He is currently in Germany and will visit Paris France to encourage co-workers there. After Easter he is off to Quatar to encourage our Middle East Missionaries. Peter must have been like this. One this one journey Peter came to Joppa. There he raised a disciple there, whose name was Tabitha. It was a miracle…an amazing work of God. A great work of God happened in Joppa. Many became believers. Peter stayed in Joppa for a while, in the home of a tanner, named Simon. He must have carried out many Bible studies and Bible conferences with the new believers. One day while waiting for lunch, he was praying on the roof. He must have been exhausted and so he fell into a kind of trance, and slipped off into REM sleep. What did he see in his trance? Look at verses He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of unclean animals, like pigs, horses, vultures, lizards, the kind he had been trained from his youth never to eat. To this Jewish man, it was revolting, like a nightmare. It was like us having a dream of a sheet of opposums and spiders and eels being shown before us.

What is significant about these unclean animals? In the Old Testament the Jews were commanded by God to consider certain foods “clean” and other foods “unclean” . These laws can be found in Leviticus 11. Mostly the animals with unsplit hooves were unclean, like the rabbit. Animals that did not chew the cud were unclean. Like the pig. Fish that did not have scales, like the cat fish. Birds that eat only dead things and are scavengers. These food laws were give to the Israelites by God for mostly health reasons. Many of the animals that were unclean were prone to parasites. Many of the small animals that crawled on the ground were required to maintain the food chain. A pious Jew was not allowed to eat these animals or even touch them. The unclean animals also had a spiritual meaning. The Apostolic Fathers, the disciples raises up by the apostles, wrote about this. Animals without a split hoof were like people were not completely separate from the world. Animals that did not chew their cud, were like people who didn’t meditate on the word of God and accept it deeply in their hearts. Animals needed both a split hoof and chew their cud. Only having one trait was not enough. That is like saying a person who was separate from the world but does not meditate deeply on God’s word, and a person who mediated on God’s word and was not separate from the world, both were like the unclean animals. Fish that are bottom feeders may be like a person that is ingesting all kinds of worldly things into their hearts and souls. What can a person who is a vulture be like? A lawsuit lawyer? So you can see that there were lots of health benefits, environmental benefits and spiritual lessons to be learned from these Levitical Laws. For over 1400 years, the Jews had tried to obey these laws. For generations, the Jews obeyed God’s word not to eat “unclean” foods, even at the cost of their lives.

Over the course of time, the Jews began to apply the principles of these laws to others areas of life. These laws became part of their religious practice, many are found in the found in the Jewish books of the Law, the Midrish and the Talmud. After a while they applied these laws to even their relationships with the non-Jewish world. They felt that the Gentiles, anyone who was not a Jew, was unclean. This principle was practiced by not entering into a Gentiles’ house. The Gentiles were not allowed into the inner courts of the temple or they would be stoned to death. Some pious Jews may not have even wanted to talk to Gentiles or even touched a Gentile. Today we might see something like this in India, in the class structure of the Hindu religion, where the “untouchable” class may may not even get water or drink from some water sources. Peter was bound by 1300 years of Jewish custom and tradition. It was deeply rooted in his psyche.
But God was about to root it out of him, so that a new tree, the tree of world mission can grow in his heart. Look at verse 13. Then a voice said to Peter, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” At first glance, God’s command to Peter, a sincere Jew, sounded strange. After considering the history of Israel we know that God’s command to Peter was unreasonable and impossible to obey. Therefore, what God commanded Peter to do, that is to eat “unclean” foods, was a shock to this Christian-Jew. Peter resisted in verse 14. 14"Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean." We can understand him. What if God told you to eat roast dog or roast cat or a tarantulla? How would you respond?
God challenged Peter’s fixed ideas. Let’s read verse 15, ““The voice spoke to him a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’” And verse 16, “This happened three times and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.” Peter had some reluctance. He had a hard time letting go of his fixed ideas. This is shown by God’s revealing of the vision three times. But eventual Peter’s reluctance broke down and he submitted to God’s command with full obedience. (16)

What was God getting at? Of course, God’s objective was far more than simply challenging Peter’s eating habits and trying to expand his menu choices. At the heart of God’s command, to “kill and eat”, was God’s challenge to Peter to go beyond his narrow mind and comfortable Jewish environment and engage in the greatest challenge of his life. God wanted him to serve God’s world mission plan, to go beyond the scope of evangelizing just the Jews and to embrace all the people of the world, even the Gentiles, under the banner of the gospel. It was a challenge to Peter to abandon his old ways, his fixed ideas, is traditions, his cultural norms and his very nature as a Jew and then to begin a new way of life. The challenge was to tear down all the barriers of culture Peter was accustomed to and to become a brother and father to all people of the world, especially to Gentiles whom the Jews considered “unclean” and were thus shunned thus far. Of course, as a Christian, Peter didn’t despise the unclean Gentiles. But surprisingly Peter never deeply cared for their spiritual welfare or for their salvation either. Nor did Peter deeply accept Jesus’ world mission command from the heart. For example, when Paul was visiting and eating with church leaders, Peter and other Jewish/Christian leaders sat at separate tables, not wanting to eat with Gentile believers.

“Get up, Peter. Kill and eat!” was God’s voice to change, a challenge to be rid of all remnants of pride and self-righteousness lingering from his Jewish heritage. Without such necessary change, Peter could never embrace God’s world salvation plan, fully from his heart. Of course, Peter was useful in as far as the conversion of the Jews was concerned. But God loves the world. He loves all sinners, Jews and none Jews. For this reason he sent his One and Only Son Jesus to shed his blood for the forgiveness of all people, not only certain people, but all people of all nations.. Peter thought that the Christian-Jews were a little better than the godless Gentiles. But God’s voice challenged him to accept the truth that all men are equal before God, and the blood of Jesus is the common ground for salvation for all. Peter had to believe, then, that the Savior who shed his blood to save Peter in grace and mercy is the Savior who shed his blood to save Cornelius in grace and mercy. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:23) and therefore, all are welcome to participate in the redeeming grace of the Risen Savior. No doubt, God challenged Peter to change his way of thinking, his plans for church and ministry, his future life direction, and all, to include Gentiles. No doubt also, Peter needed to change. He was already a believer, and a very strong and influential one at that. But even the great Peter needed conversion to world mission. It wasn’t easy! But Peter decided to put aside his own ideas and to obey Jesus’ world mission command to “…go and make disciples of all nations…” (Mt 28:19)
God wanted Peter to be practically changed. Like I said, he was born again to world mission. But would all that he learned in his heart, translate to his practical life? That is the question. God was giving Peter a chance to put what he learned into practice.. Look at verses 17-22, “ 17While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon's house was and stopped at the gate. 18They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there. 19While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Simon, three[a] men are looking for you. 20So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them." 21Peter went down and said to the men, "I'm the one you're looking for. Why have you come?" 22The men replied, "We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to have you come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say." While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius, found Simon's house. While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit told him to go downstairs to meet them and go with them without hesitation. There were great changes going on in Peter’s heart. How could he go anywhere with Gentiles? How could he let Gentiles into his home? But we can see that all that God revealed to him in his heart was translated to his practical life. Look at verse 23, “Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.” He proved his repentance by his deeds.
His repentance went deeper than that. Peter agreed to go to Cornelius home. There was a large gathering of people, mostly all Gentiles. Peter entered into that house. Peter revealed the the truth that God had revealed to him personally. He said to them, "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean" (28). Again Peter said in verses 34-35, "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right." At this point Peter realized that God is not only the God of the Jews but also the God of the Gentiles. A great change had taken place in his heart. He could now be used greatly by God to be his instrument of world mission.
The reality is that sinful human beings seem to be a bundle of prejudices. These prejudices keep us from accepting people whom God wants to save with the gospel. We have lots of cultural spiritual prejudices that hinder us from being used by God. We may hold onto our prejudices and reject others. Sure, we may concede that those people can be Christians, but I don't want to talk to them. Or I don’t want to co-work with that church. But the truth of the matter is that God wants us to reach out to all people of all nations. The university community is full of people of diverse cultures and races and religious backgrounds. But can we welcome them in our hearts? Or do we see them as unclean? May God help us open our hearts to accept them as fellow human beings whom God loves. May God help us to share the gospel with them with respect and love. May God help us root out racial prejudice, national prejudice, even religious prejudices. May God help us accept others as human beings for whom Christ died so that we can preach the gospel effectively.
In this passage we learn that God accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. God wants to give them the good news of forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ, no matter who they are. God’s servants must know God’s heart. God’s servants must accept people of every nation as their brothers and share the gospel with genuine respect and the love of God. This is possible only by the help of God who can change our hearts and make us instruments of world mission.