The Fifth Sunday of Easter
ACTS 11:1-18: Chapters 10 and 11 in Acts talk about the same event, so we have to look briefly at chapter 10 in order to deal properly with chapter 11.
In chapter 10, Simon Peter is called to the house of Cornelius. He was a centurion in the Italian Cohort. A centurion usually commanded one hundred men; there were regularly 59 centuria in each legion. The Italian Cohort is probably the Cohort II Italia Civium Romanum, which was a corps composed of freedmen from Italy and is known to have been stationed in Syria by A.D. 69. The fact that Cornelius' household was also at Caesarea suggests that he may have retired and settled there. Cornelius is described as "a devout man who feared God, who gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God." Most likely Cornelius was what scholars today call a "God-fearer." This was a title given to a special group of devout Gentiles who respected the religion of Judaism but did not become proselytes to the Jews. They did not become proselytes because they did not want to be circumcised, and they did not accept the food laws of Judaism. But they were attracted to Judaism because of its worship of one God and its high ethical standards. So a man like Cornelius, Roman citizen though he was, would have worshiped in the synagogues of Caesarea, studied the law, and followed its precepts in his personal life.
Chapter 10 goes on to tell of two conversions that take place. One was the conversion of Cornelius to the Christian faith. The other was the conversion of Peter from a Jew who would have nothing to do with Gentiles who did not eat kosher food to a Christian who accepted a God-fearer like Peter as a brother in Christ.
Peter's conversion comes first in the story. About noon of a particular day Peter went up to the roof to pray. Peter was hungry, and he had a sudden vision of the heavens opening and a large sheet coming down. In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds. A voice said, "Kill and eat." Peter objected. I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean." The voice said, "What God has made clean, you must not call profane." The vision occurred three times, and the thing was suddenly taken into heaven.
Peter puzzled over what to make of this. As he did, men sent from Cornelius appeared at the house of Simon the tanner, where Peter was staying. The spirit said to Peter, "Three men are searching for you. Go down and speak to them." They told Peter that Cornelius wanted to speak to him, and Peter went with them to the house of Cornelius.
When Peter arrived in Caesarea, Cornelius told him of his own vision, that he was commanded to invite Peter to speak to him. Peter told Cornelius of Jesus Christ, his ministry, life, death, and how God raised him from the dead. He said that everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins. As Peter was speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all the group. The "brothers" who had come with Peter from Joppa were astounded that the Holy Spirit was poured out even upon Gentiles. Peter asked, "Can anyone withhold baptism from people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" He ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Chapter 10 ends at this point: with the conversion of both Cornelius and Peter.
Chapter 11 opens with a controversy over this event. "The apostles and brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of the Lord." The "brothers" called Peter to Jerusalem so that they could examine what Peter had done.
We need to look closely at those who were involved in the controversy. One group was called "apostles." This was the group to which Paul would soon attach himself. They were not bothered in the least by the event. They considered themselves "The Sent Ones" who would go to the synagogues beyond Judea and preach the name of Jesus Christ to both the Jews and the God-fearers who were attached to these synagogues. But the "brothers" were bothered by what Peter had done. They were led by James, the Brother of Jesus, and they were Jews who had been circumcised, who still worshiped in the temple and who observed the great feasts of Judaism, and who still kept the food laws of Judaism. They believed that Jesus had come to fulfill the Torah and not to abolish it by such things as Peter had done with Cornelius. So they challenged Peter. "Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?"
Peter explained his vision to them and how the Spirit had told him to go to Cornelius and not make any distinction between them and us. Peter explained also how the six brothers with him in Joppa accompanied him to Caesarea and went into the house with him. He said that while he was speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon these Gentiles just as it had fallen upon the Jews at Pentecost. Peter recalled that John the Baptist had said that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit. Had that happened in Cornelius' house in Caesarea? Who was I, asked Peter, to hinder God?
When the apostles and brothers heard this, they were silenced. They praised God: "God has given to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life!"
But the issue of "Gentile inclusion" was not ended with this event. The church would re-visit it time after time. Meeting in council in Jerusalem (Acts 15), the church would make a decision that they thought all could live with, only to have this decision quickly challenged by Gentile people in Corinth. "What does the Spirit hold for us? . . . What has God decided on this issue?" This is the question that has held the church's attention for that day until this.
PSALM 148: I can see it in my mind: a cosmic choir director standing somewhere in the heavens where he or she can be seen by all God's universe. He is directing them in praise of the Lord. She raises her baton and points to the heights of heaven:
Praise God, all his angels, Praise God, all his host!
Praise God, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!
He points to the sun and the moon and the stars:
Praise God, sun and moon, Praise God, all you shining stars!
She turns to the earth and invites the elements of chaos to sing God's praise:
Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea monsters and all the deeps, fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind that moves at God's command! Praise the Lord!
He invites God's ordered creation to join in:
Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars!
Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds!
Praise the Lord!
She points the baton at kings and rulers:
Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers
Young men and women alike, old and young together. Praise the Lord!
Then, for no known reason, God pushes Israel into the center of the stage of history, and the spotlight of God's love focuses on this people of God's own choosing:
Praise for all God's faithful people, the people of Israel who are close to him.
The baton circles the heavens and the earth, all creation. The director raps for attention. "All together now! Let us sing it out," he calls, "Sopranos, altos, tenors, bass. Let me hear you. Sing with all your hearts":
Let us praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven! Praise the Lord!
Francis of Assisi had it right. Using Psalm 148 as his model, he composed his "Canticle of the Sun." Brother Sun, brother wind, brother fire, praise the Lord. Sister moon, sister earth, sister of the flowing waters, praise the Lord. The African-American spiritual has it right: "He's got the whole world in his hands, he's got the sun and the rain, the moon and the stars, the little bitty baby, you and me, brother, you and me, sister. He's got the whole world in his hands!" The Christian church has it right, too. The name of Jesus is exalted: "At the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth" (Phil 2:10 NRSV). Only praise can capture the mood of the psalm. Praise alone can capture the mood we feel at Christmas as once more we welcome Jesus Christ into our world and into our lives.
REVELATION 21:1-6: This is the climactic vision in the Book of Revelation: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
A new heaven. The paganism of the time had thousands of gods. But all the gods had one thing in common: they didn't care at all about people. They were so busy carrying on among themselves that they didn't want people to bother them. And some of these gods were so downright mean that they went out of their way to hurt people. This was the old heaven with its thousands of gods.
The result of it was that people didn't care about other people, either. Archaeologists recently uncovered a letter sent from a Roman officer at the front to his wife back home. She was about to have his first child, and he was sending instructions about what to do with it. "If it is a boy," he wrote, "raise it. If it is a girl, take it out on the hillside and leave it there to die." Can you believe it! That's how uncaring the people of the age were, even toward their own children. That was the old heaven - full of uncaring gods. That was the old earth - full of uncaring people.
But the new heaven is presided over by a God who cares. This God sent Jesus Christ into the world, and Christ loved the poor and Christ cared for the sick and Christ fed the hungry and Christ stood beside the prisoner and he demanded that the oppressed be freed. Did any other God do this for his people? Of course not. Did any Stoic philosopher and Epicurean preacher do this for his people? Of course not. Only Jesus Christ did this. Only the God of Jesus Christ did this for the likes of you and me.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them. The promise made long ago in the prophecy of Jeremiah is about to be fulfilled. God will dwell with us. God will be with us. We shall be God's people. And what does this caring God do, this new heaven? He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.
Oh, if ever there have been tears in your eyes, know that God in Christ will wipe them away. If you have ever been pained by the death of those you love, know that God in Christ stands beside us to hear our mourning and bear our crying. This is the new heaven that surrounds us, that has descended upon us. God himself will be with us, to share our sorrows and to bear our sins.
But the new heaven must be accompanied by a new earth. The God of the caring heavens wants his earth peopled with caring people. We have to care enough to wipe away tears. We have to care enough to bear with mourning and crying, with pain and death. Like Christ we are to love the poor and care for the sick and feed the hungry and stand beside the prisoner and demand that the oppressed be freed. A new heaven -- a new earth -- John's vision. Is it also ours?
JOHN 13:31-35: Remember that in John's Gospel the word "glorified" is a code word for "crucified." God dwelt in "Glory," said the Old Testament, that shining light that indicated God's presence. But in John's Gospel "glory" takes on a new meaning. God is present in the cross of Jesus Christ. It is Christ on the cross who offers forgiveness to enemies, reconciliation to families, victory over sin and death. When Jesus says, "Now the Son of Humankind is glorified," he means that he is about to be put on the cross. "God is glorified in him" means that on the cross the full character of God is experienced: God's love, God's forgiveness, God's victory over all evil that attacks humankind. To put it in a phrase: "The glory of God is the cross of Jesus Christ."
Jesus then adds a summary statement about his ministry: "Little children, I am with you only a little longer. . . . Where I am going, you cannot come." He is going to the cross. The cross will put the crown on all that he has done and said.
Jesus leaves them then with a commandment. It is a conscious revision of the commandment that Jesus gave in the other gospels. No longer does he say, "Love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself." Now he says,"A new commandment I give you, that you love one another." The commandment was new, not because of what it said but because of the person who gave it. Everything Jesus said, everything Jesus did is the definition of the love spoken here. The language of this section is simplicity itself. Following this Teacher and Master is complex indeed.