God's Inclusive Love

 

Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, ³⁵but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”  Acts 10:34-35

As Peter met with the centurion Cornelius (Acts 10) and saw the evidence of the Spirit’s work in his life he was compelled to proclaim that God shows no partiality among people.  This was a remarkable statement that was pivotal for the development of the Christian church.  Prior to this moment, the early Christians were all Jewish in background.  As faithful Jews they knew that God had formed a special relationship with them.  God had a chosen people, people who had a covenant with God that was not available to other groups. 

When Peter sees God’s work in Cornelius, he comes to understand that God shows no partiality—God has a deep desire to be in relationship with all people, everywhere.  The implications have had a profound and lasting effect and cannot be overestimated.  The successful missionary work among the Gentiles flowed from this understanding, and continues today as the Christian faith flourishes in all cultures, languages, and locations.  Peter, moved by the Spirit, saw that God’s love was inclusive not exclusive; God’s love was for all people not some people; that the boundaries of who is in and who is out are now obliterated.    

We see the inclusivity of God in Jesus’ ministry as he seeks out the lost, the marginalized, the forgotten, and the invisible.  Jesus spends time with sinners, prostitutes, and tax collectors.  He touches lepers, breaks purity laws, and heals on the Sabbath (cf. Matthew 9:9-13, Matthew 12:1-14, etc.The Letter v. Spirit of the law) all to share God’s love with those who have felt excluded. 

The inclusive love of God tells each of us that we matter to God and are loved just as we are.  This is good news for us and for the world, good news worth getting excited about as the Ethiopian Eunuch does in Acts 8:

As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” Acts 8:36-37

The eunuch was excluded from worship in the temple and was socially marginalized.  But when hearing of the story of Jesus and God’s amazing love and grace and being included in God’s kingdom, he is so excited and filled with joy that he cannot wait to be baptized.  The exuberance of being included changed his life forever.  May we too see that we are included in God’s love and that all people, everywhere are as well. May have the strength and courage to live our lives accordingly.

See also: The Promise of God: Inclusive or Exclusive

Peace Producing Faith

When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. ⁵⁵But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶“Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” Acts 5:54-56

Stephen was the first martyr of the church (other than Jesus) and as he stood before an angry mob with rocks in their hands, he was at peace.  Stephen had a vision of God in the midst of great personal danger and from the scripture we can only imagine that at that moment he had no fear or anxiety, but a profound sense of God’s presence and peace.  Stephen spoke God’s word to those who were gathered, he spoke prophetically and powerfully.  The crowd chose to respond with anger and hate, rather than to receive his words in faith.  But Stephen boldly proclaimed the word and gave complete trust that God would handle the rest.  How can we develop this kind of trust?  How can we have this deep and abiding sense of God’s presence which produces peace? I believe the story of Acts gives us clear picture of how this kind of faith journey develops.

As the apostles gathered and waited in Jerusalem for Jesus’ instructions, they had no idea what the future might entail.  After the promise of the power of the Spirit (1:8) is fulfilled in the Pentecost story (2:1-13), they began to proclaim the word as the Spirit gave them ability.  3,000 people responded and the church was formed, with the believers sharing all things in common and growing in faith, by the power of the Spirit (2:37-47).  Peter then heals a crippled man in the name of Jesus (3:1-11) and defends the proclamation of gospel before the religious leaders (chapter 3 and 4).  Conflict then embroils the early church as hypocrisy (5:1-11) and division (6:1-7) threaten to derail the unity of the nascent believers.  But the Spirit interceded and provided ways forward which allowed the conflicts to be resolved and for the church to continue to grow.  From this, the early church would have developed a profound sense of God’s work in their lives.  They would have witnessed miracles, deliverance from danger, lives transformed, and new leaders emerging.  The early church was filled with the presence and power of the Spirit and everyone would be aware and attentive to it.  From this emerged Stephen, who was chosen from the Hellenists to be a leader, who as a witness to the Spirit’s work and from the great storehouse of faith and trust goes forward to boldly proclaim the gospel.  Stephen was not extraordinary and did not develop his faith overnight, but over time the Spirit helped him discover his potential and embolden him to follow and serve.

And so it is with us.  We may not all be called to become martyrs of the faith.  But we all have a high and holy calling in our lives.  We are created in God’s image; created for a purpose; created for something bigger than ourselves.  In order to get there we must develop a deep and abiding faith in God.  We must allow the Spirit of God to lead us to places we would never go on our own.  We must trust that God’s presence will surround us even in the midst of great adversity and danger.  This kind of faith is transformational for our lives and the lives of those we touch.  May God gives the courage and strength to trust God and develop into the person we were created to be.

The Spirit Forms and Sustains Community

All who believed were together and had all things in common; ⁴⁵they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Acts 2:44-45

After the awe-inspiring experience of Pentecost, Peter preaches his first sermon and 3,000 people come to faith in Christ and are baptized (2:41), marking the beginning of the church.  The shared experience of the Spirit brought these newly baptized believed into a relationship of community.  They devoted themselves to the spiritual practices of learning, fellowship, worship, and prayer (2:42) and lived together, sharing all things and ensuring that all people were adequately cared for.  It was the Spirit of God which called this community into existence and the Spirit of God which inspired them to voluntarily give up their individual possessions and live a shared life with their brothers and sisters in faith. 

On our own, we human beings are selfish and have to be taught the value of sharing.  Even then we will share with others usually to the extent that they will share with us.  The story of the early church is much different.  Individuals sacrificed for the sake of the whole and for a broader witness to the community—the early Christians lived differently.  Today we might label such a group a cult or weird or suspicious, but this is the history of the church and for me proves the work of the Spirit.  It took divine a miracle of God for the community of faith to be established (Pentecost) and divine inspiration for it to be maintained (shared life).  The witness of the early church community is threatening to our way of life because it calls us to put the needs of our neighbor ahead of our own.  But it is a mistake to disregard our history because it shows the revelation of the heart of God: that we live in relationship with God and one another.

It also readily apparent that the early church’s sharing of community life was Spirit led by how briefly it lasted.  By chapter 5 of Acts, Ananias and Sapphira are holding money back from the community and lying about it (Acts 5:1-11) and in chapter 6 old factions re-emerge causing the most vulnerable to be neglected:

Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. Acts 6:1

In other words, it doesn’t take too long for the humanness of the church to appear.  The Spirit institutes the church but without regular renewal and intervention the church becomes less Spirit led and more human.  The challenge for the church today is not to seek out a replication of an Acts 2 church where we all share everything and have no individual property or wealth.  No, the challenge is to remain perpetually open to the leading of the Spirit and fully trusting that the Spirit will provide solutions when conflict does arise.  Let us pray for the Spirit to lead our lives and our church and may we have the faith and courage to trust the Spirit.

Empowered to Witness

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.  Acts 1:8

As Jesus prepared to leave the disciples and ascend into heaven, he first offers them a promise and a mission.  The mission or task that they are given is to be witnesses of what they had seen and experienced to the ends of the earth.  They are told to share the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection and tell the world of God’s amazing love and grace.  They are called to do this work, but are given the promise of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit will give them the power to be witnesses, the power to go all over the world and share the story of Jesus.  On their own, the apostles may not have the courage, strength or faith to go and tell, but the Spirit will give them what they need to accomplish this divine calling.

We too have a divine calling to be witnesses for Christ in the world.  While we may not have firsthand experience with Jesus’ death and resurrection, we do have experience with God that we can share.  Whether we are in the beginning of our faith journey or been walking with the Lord our whole life, God has been present in our lives—God is at work in us and if we have open eyes and hearts we begin to see the awesome ways God has always been there.  We can witness to our faith by sharing our blessings, telling of times of deliverance or instances when God helped us endure suffering and loss.  Too often we believe the lie that we have nothing to offer and nothing to say—but we do!  God has called us to bear witness to God’s work in our lives and promises to provide the Spirit to give us the power to speak.  In fact, God will often send people into our lives at just the right moment when our witness can be God’s word to them.  God will use us to bring light into the world if we will follow the nudge of the Spirit and trust God to give us the words to speak. 

The story of Pentecost illustrates God’s opportunistic empowerment perfectly:

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Acts 2:4

God promised the apostles that the Spirit would give them power to be witnesses and then at just the right moment (the festival of Pentecost) the promise of the Spirit is fulfilled in a miraculous and life-changing way.  The Jewish pilgrims from all languages and countries who gathered in Jerusalem were able to hear the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection in their native language (2:6) This was the beginning of the church as 3,000 people heard Peter’s sermon and became followers of the Way of Jesus.  But the miracle is also that the disciples believed that they could speak and the people would hear.  When they opened their mouths to share their witness expecting that God could and would do something powerful is a miracle of faith.  May we too believe that our witness might be life-changing; that our words might touch the lives of those who hear; that the Spirit might show up in our conversations and help others know the love, mercy, and grace of God.  May God give us the faith and courage to be witnesses and may those we meet receive God’s word and be blessed.

No Distinctions

As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:27-28

It is human to make distinctions between people.  We love to decide who's in and who's out, who counts and who doesn't.  Our country is founded on the principles of making distinctions between people.  First it was the Native Americans who were deemed to be less than deserving of their land.  Because they were considered less than fully human the early immigrants decided they could justify their genocidal agenda.  Then it was the highly lucrative slave trade.  Because Africans were subhuman they could be used as property and exploited in order to generate more profit for the burgeoning cotton market.  In fact many pastors and religious leaders used the bible to justify slavery. Women were oppressed and kept from voting, gays and lesbians are denied the right to marry and receive benefits, and the poor are constantly blamed and told they are undeserving.  This is a brief sketch at how we as a society have made distinctions and share in a national history that is deeply flawed and troubling. 
As individuals we too make distinctions about people who matter and people who don't.  But, as Paul reminds us, in Christ there are no distinctions.  In Christ these differences are not important.  Through Christ we share a deep connection to every person.  We are all children of God.  So what should this mean for how we live?  There are of course those who can bend these scriptures to imply that in the heavenly realm these distinctions will dissolve, even as they remain in place.  After all, Paul never condemned slavery.  But do not be misled.  God's saving grace has deep ramifications for eternal life and life here and now.  Because God makes no distinctions, we are called to see all people as children of God.  Because God loves all people, we are called to love all.  Until we confront our own sinful tendency to discriminate and make distinctions we cannot truly understand the deepness of God's love--it is truly a radical for all kind of love.  The kind of love that changes everything.

Living on Purpose

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, ⁵“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:4-5

We are all here for a reason, created by God for a purpose.  No one is here by accident; we all matter to God.  The call story of Jeremiah is powerful because it implies that God had created him to be a prophet, he was set apart prior to his birth for God's purposes.  I believe this is true for each of us.  The difficulty for many is that divine declarations such as this are rather uncommon.  Very rarely does God issue edicts from on high that are easily understood and followed.  Instead we each must discern God's call in our life.  We each must discover who God created us to be.  For some this journey takes a lifetime, while others know very early. 
The key to discovering our purpose is to truly believe that we are here for a reason, that our life has significance. A second step is to find our passion or gift.  God has created us just the way we are and for a reason.  We get into trouble when we compare ourselves to others or try to be something we are not.  God made you the way you are and not like someone else.  Finally, when we connect our gifts and passions to helping others we often find our purpose.  God made us who we are for a reason and that reason is to love and serve others.  When we employ our whole selves for the sake of others--in whatever form it may take--we are fulfilling our purpose. 
For Jeremiah this meant becoming a prophet who would speak God's word to God's people.  He would comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.  His words would not be popular but he would change hearts and lives.  So it is with us.  When we discover God's purpose for our life we are not guaranteed riches or comfort, an easy life or acclaim.  But we will discover who we are and find deep fulfillment.  We will be tested and go through hardship, but we will emerge as God's people.  May we become God's people, bringing forth light and life into a dark, troubled, and broken world.