What are the rules for being Christian? Scripture gives us hundreds of laws to follow, most of which we completely ignore. Of course, as Christians, the foundation of our faith is forgiveness found in Jesus. By the grace of God, we are forgiven when we sin and break God’s law.
But shouldn’t we be at least trying to follow the rules God lays out in the Bible? We still value some Scriptural commands (the 10 Commandments being at the top of the list), yet we ignore hundreds of other detailed instructions. Why?
This sermon on Cornelius explores one of the most important stories in the Bible. Acts 10-11 records a divine vision of inclusion given to Peter, telling him “What God has made clean, let no one call unclean.” God’s love revealed in Jesus fulfills the requirements of the Law.
Today’s Scripture readings are Revelation 21:1-6, Psalm 148, in addition to the majority of Acts 10-11, which is included in the sermon. Here’s the livestream from Living Hope and the sermon podcast from Christ the King.
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Grace to you and peace from God our Creator and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
A few weeks ago, I went with a group of Lighthouse youth to the Jewish synagogue in Mequon. Rabbi Moshe was very gracious in sharing a bit of the synagogue’s history and talking about what it means to be Jewish, how they worship, and the Jewish view of the world.
Many Jewish beliefs are similar to our Christian beliefs. We worship the same Creator; we value the Hebrew Scriptures as the first part of our Bible, inspired by God. And yet, of course, we’re Christians, not Jews. We start with the same Scripture, but we have some major differences.
The biggest disagreement is who Jesus was, whether he was God’s messiah, the savior. Christians say yes, Jesus is the Son of God, God in the flesh, come to dwell with us to redeem us. That’s obviously not the Jewish understanding.
And if you look at how we live, at the traditions we follow, the holidays we celebrate, we’re very different there too. Rabbi Moshe talked about the 613 laws found in the Torah, in the books of Moses, and how they try to follow the laws God has given them.
Leviticus 11 says, “You may eat any animals that has divided hoofs and is cleft-footed and chews the cud.” But you may not eat the pig—this is verses 7-8, “For even though it has divided hoofs and is cleft-footed, it does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean for you.” Anyone here like bacon?
We complete ignore the twelfth chapter of Leviticus: In almost nine years as a pastor, not once has a woman brought me two turtledoves for purification after childbirth.
How many of you right now are wearing clothes made of two kinds of fabric? Deuteronomy 22:11 – “You shall not wear clothes made of wool and linen woven together.”
Some of those laws sound ridiculous to us, but they’re given by God as identity markers to set apart God’s people, to keep them holy. As Rabbi Moshe said, Jewish people don’t expect the rest of us to follow the laws; they’re specifically part of Jewish identity, not a standard for Gentiles.
Following the law is a reminder that God has chosen you; you’re part of the chosen people. In the synagogue, they have two kitchens, one for foods with meat, and one for dairy, because there are verses about not boiling a kid in its mother’s milk.
But remember, Jesus was Jewish. We follow a Jewish savior, who obeyed God’s law. So the question for today, is why don’t we? Why do we Christians ignore all these instructions from God, especially since they’re in our Bible too?
Well, one answer is found in today’s reading from Acts.
Here’s the background: Jesus rises from the dead, appears to the disciples and commissions them to spread the good news, then he ascends to heaven. The Holy Spirit comes upon them at Pentecost, and the disciples start preaching.
Everything goes well for a few chapters, but then the religious leaders in Jerusalem begin persecuting the church. A guy named Stephen becomes the first martyr, and the church scatters.
Now remember, up to this point, all of Jesus’ followers are Jewish. This is a Jewish movement. They follow the law. Purification, no pork, all that. And most of them expect it to stay a Jewish movement. But with Jerusalem no longer safe, Philip goes to Samaria to preach, and the Samaritans listen.
Acts 8:14 – “Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.” The Samaritans aren’t Jewish, but they’re close. They’re sort of the distant relatives. But the circle is expanding.
Next, Philip encounters an Ethiopian eunuch. Even though he believes in God, as a eunuch, the law says he’s an outsider, yet the Holy Spirit tells Philip to baptize him. He’s included too.
Then right after last week’s story of Peter raising Tabitha from the dead, we get to chapter 10. And this is the story we’re focusing on today. We know this story is important, because the Bible includes it twice. Luke as the narrator says what happens in Acts 10, then we hear it again in chapter 11 as Peter tells the apostles in Jerusalem what happened.
I’ll summarize chapter 10. In the town of Caesarea, there’s a man named Cornelius, and he’s a Roman centurion. He’s in Israel, but he is not Jewish. But he kind of wants to be. Acts 10:2 – “He was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God.”
One afternoon as Cornelius is praying, he has a vision in which an angel of God tells him to send “for a certain Simon who is called Peter.” The angel even tells him what house Peter’s staying in. Meanwhile, the next day, as the messengers are on the way, (I’ll read this part):
Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while it was being prepared he fell into a trance. He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners.
In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air. [All those things the law says not to eat.] Then he heard a voice saying, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.”
The voice said to him again, a second time, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” This happened three times, and the thing was suddenly taken up to heaven. Now while Peter was greatly puzzled about what to make of the vision that he had seen, suddenly the men sent by Cornelius appeared.”
So Peter goes with the messengers, travels to Caesarea, and verse 27:
“And as he talked with him, he went in and found that many had assembled, and he said to them, “You yourselves know that it is improper for a Jew to associate with or to visit an outsider, but God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without objection. Now may I ask why you sent for me?”
Jewish law says Cornelius is an outsider, and Peter would become unclean just by going to his house, but the Holy Spirit says the good news is for him too.
Cornelius says he’s not exactly sure why he sent for him; he’s just doing what he’s told. And then Peter figures it out. Verse 34:
“Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every people anyone who fears him and practices righteousness is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all.”
Peter goes on to tell about Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, and then, just like at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit shows up. And verse 45:
The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God.
Then Peter said, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.”
Now, we hear that story and think, “Of course the Gentiles are included. The good news of Jesus is for everyone!” But this is a huge shift for members of the church. As God’s chosen people, they have this law from God, they know they’re set apart. God’s always worked through the people of Israel.
But now the Holy Spirit isn’t obeying the boundaries. God’s expanding the circle. And that’s confusing, maybe even threatening for the people on the inside. Listen to chapter 11.
Now the apostles and the brothers and sisters who were in Judea heard that the gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?”
Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision.”
And he explains the entire vision to them. Then in verse 16:
“‘I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?”
When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, ‘Then God has given even to the gentiles the repentance that leads to life.’”
The question I started with was about why we as Christians ignore so many of the rules in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament. And Peter’s vision doesn’t settle all of it. Cornelius’ conversion cracks the door open, and from there, more and more Gentiles become followers of Jesus. But it’s still controversial what rules they’re supposed to follow.
Paul in several of his letters debates the value of circumcision, because some people are going around saying that to be a Christian, you basically need to become Jewish first, meaning you need to get circumcised, you need to follow the law.
It turns out people are more attached to the idea of following the law, setting boundaries on who’s in and who’s out than God is.
Eventually, a few chapters later, in Acts 15, the apostles convene the first church conference where they debate what they should require of the Gentile converts, and after some debate, during which Peter talks again about his vision, they agree to write a letter to “the brothers and sisters of gentile origin” saying “it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials” and they talk about not eating food sacrificed to idols, eating blood, meat from strangled animals, and avoiding sexual immorality.
The beautiful promise we heard from Revelation 21 of God dwelling forever with God’s people, the promise of God wiping away every tear and giving us new life, that promise does not depend on how well we follow rules.
Salvation is a gift from God. The circle of God’s grace is big enough to include you, me, our neighbors, people from every tribe and people and language.
Jesus has died so we can live. Jesus has done the work for you. He’s fulfilled the law. You are set free from worrying about whether or not you’ve eaten the right foods or followed the right rituals.
So what rules are we supposed to follow? If God’s grace is enough to make all people clean, how do we decide what commandments still apply to us?
I didn’t include it in today’s service, but the assigned Gospel for today includes John 13:34, “[Jesus said,] I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”
The baseline is love. And not just for one another in the church; Jesus also said we’re to love our enemies.
Paul puts it like this in Romans 13:
“The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.”
Love your neighbors. Love your enemies. Love the people who seem different than you. Love the people who don’t love you back. Love because God loves you. Do not call profane—do not condemn—what God has made clean.
And of course, having clear purity laws to follow might be easier than living by a law of love. Love can get messy. We make mistakes; we don’t always know how best to love people. We’ll never be as good at loving as God is, but there’s grace for that.
If our motivation is love, we’re going in the right direction. And God can work with whatever we have to offer. Amen