Sermon – Acts 11:1-18 – A Matter of Circumcision

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – Acts 11:1-18 – A Matter of Circumcision
Beaver Dam and Pitts Creek Presbyterian Churches
May 2, 2010

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Good Morning and welcome to Beaver Dam church. Today is the fifth Sunday of Easter. And we have spent five weeks looking at the reaction of Jesus’ disciples following his resurrection. Our purpose is to see if there is any evidence in scripture indicating if the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead was an historical fact or an elaborate hoax. We started with a test suggested by the first century rabbi, Gamaliel that if the disciples of Jesus showed transformation in their lives and if this transformation succeeded in establishing the church then this would be evidence that God was with them and their account of the resurrection of Jesus Christ must be true. We saw the transformation in the lives of both Peter and Paul and the tremendous growth of the early church and concluded that the resurrection must have been the cause. Last week we applied a test suggested by Jesus that if what he was saying about resurrection was true then his followers would be able to do extraordinary things like heal the lame and raise the dead to new life. And once we saw this happening we knew that the resurrection of Jesus must be real. Today we will be applying yet another test. This one suggested by John the Baptist and affirmed by Jesus and a church council in Jerusalem. If this test is passed successfully then I think we can be assured that the resurrection of Jesus from the dead really happened. So let get to this, but first please pray with me.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Acts 11:1-18 NIV Acts 11:1 The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them."

4 Peter began and explained everything to them precisely as it had happened: 5 "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. 6 I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7 Then I heard a voice telling me, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.' 8 "I replied, 'Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' 9 "The voice spoke from heaven a second time, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.' 10 This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.

11 "Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. 12 The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man's house. 13 He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, 'Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. 14 He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.' 15 "As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' 17 So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?"

18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life."

Cornelius was an officer of the Roman Legions. He was commanding a hundred men serving as an occupying force in Judea. They were stationed in Caesarea on the Mediterranean Sea. But they could march anywhere in region whenever the empire needed force to impose its will.

Cornelius was open to thinking in new ways. He had wandered into a synagogue in Caesarea one day and began having conversations with the rabbi. As he learned more and more about the Lord, God of Israel, he became a believer. As you heard earlier today non-Jews, those who are not descendants of Abraham and have not been circumcised, are not part of the covenant that God had established with his people. So Cornelius could never become a Jew, rather he became what was called a God-Fearer. And Cornelius began a life of obedience engaging in prayer and caring for the poor. One day, while praying, Cornelius saw a vision. An angel of God appeared and told Cornelius to summon Peter from Joppa. And Cornelius, being obedient to God, did just that.

Peter had just returned from witnessing the raising of Tabitha from the dead by the risen Jesus Christ. He entered into a period of prayer and fasting to try to discerned what all this meant. While praying he saw a vision of a sheet coming down from the sky with all kinds of birds and reptiles that he had always been taught never to eat. When God told him to kill and eat these things Peter’s stomach turned. How could he eat these unclean things? This challenged Peter’s identity as a Jew, as one who did not eat things like this. But God used this as an occasion to teach Peter something he needed to know. He told Peter that since everything was created by God, nothing was to be considered unclean. God then told Peter to go to Cornelius, the God-Fearer. And Peter, being obedient to God, did just that.

Peter arrived at Cornelius’ home. Cornelius was eagerly waiting for Peter to come. He wanted to know why God had asked him to summon Peter. He assumed that there was something that God was going say to him through Peter. So he greeted Peter warmly and their conversation began.

Peter explained his vision and how God had told him that everything had been created by God and therefore nothing was unclean. This was really good news for Cornelius. As an uncircumcised gentile he had always felt unclean. But now he knew that he was clean and would be accepted as a child of God. While Peter was proclaiming this good news the Holy Spirit came upon Cornelius. He began speaking in tongues. And Peter knew that it was time to baptize Cornelius and his family into the family of God as disciples of Jesus Christ.

The reaction to all of this in Jerusalem was harsh. They called Peter back to Jerusalem for a talk. They showed him in scripture where it said that only the children of Abraham who had be circumcised could be in the family of God. How could he do such a terrible thing as to baptize an uncircumcised Gentile?

But Peter reminded them of the words of John the Baptist who said: "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Luke 3:16). So it is Jesus Christ who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And if we see people being baptized with the Holy Spirit then we must conclude that it is being done by Jesus who must be alive. Therefore the baptism of the Holy Spirit of Cornelius proves the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. This argument persuaded the church leaders in Jerusalem who allowed uncircumcised gentiles into the church paving the way for Paul’s evangelism effort which established gentile churches all over the Mediterranean region.

This idea, that all people are created by God and must be welcomed around this table, is as difficult for us as it was for the first century church in Jerusalem. It was hard for them to accept the uncircumcised into their fellowship. And it is hard for us to accept the poor, Blacks, Hispanics, undocumented workers, homosexuals, and others whom we consider may unclean into our fellowship. If we take Peter’s vision seriously, and believe that everyone is created in the image of God, then don’t we have to invite the unclean of Pocomoke into our church to hear the proclamation of the good news and receive from Jesus the baptism of the Holy Spirit? I think the answer from today’s scripture is yes to all of these questions. And the promise of today’s scripture is that if we accept into Beaver Dam church what others call unclean we will be richly blessed with a growing church.

As we gather around this table today remember that this is the Lord’s Table. And all who are created by God are welcome to join us around it. You have heard the proclamation of the good news that we are all accepted into the family of God. So this is a joyful feast of the whole family coming together in the presence of Jesus Christ to break bread and drink wine. Everyone is welcome. Amen.

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