It can be difficult to hear different perspectives, especially ones that challenge what we so deeply hold to be true. We don’t always know how to reconcile the reality that some people’s experiences are different from our own. There may be small disagreements about the “correct” way to do something, that we can live with, for example, I apparently cannot load a dishwasher the right way! But, when bigger ideas and values get pushed against, our response is often even stronger; this is certainly a common experience when people challenge or judge our long-held religious beliefs. This is not a phenomenon that exists only in our current era, but it is literally the central focus of all of Jesus’ arguments with the religious authorities of his time, as he did things differently than them, and led to Martin Luther’s criticism of the Roman Catholic Church for not living out it’s professed faith in the way he felt exemplified the Gospel!
So, we shouldn’t be surprised by the conversation that Peter has with the other believers in today’s reading from Acts. There are lot of things to be surprised by, especially the interesting vision that Peter has of the animals being lowered on a sheet (Acts 11:5-6), but we should not be surprised that the others questioned what Peter was doing when he went to the Gentiles. In a region that was already feeling tensions between the Roman citizens and the Jewish people, many of whom wanted the Romans to leave already, how could Peter possibly go to Caesarea, a prominent Roman city, to talk to people about faith and salvation?!
The discussion amongst Peter and the believers, as well as the Psalm, highlight for us the ways in which God is expanding our human understanding of what God can do and who God is for. I love the imagery of the Psalm because it encourages us to think about the ways that the sun, moon, and stars, the trees, the rocks, and precipitation all praise God (Psalm 148)! This requires us to view praise as something more than the hymns we sing and the thanks we give. That’s not to say that those things aren’t included, but if we think of praise in this more expansive way, it allows us to think of praise as something that comes from us through the ways that we are living. When we get to live into our authentic selves, and when we orient ourselves to God and the rest of the world. When we trust that God already dwells among us and we seek to witness to the ways that is true, our living becomes a testament to that, an act of praise.
Jesus picks up on this theme when talking to the disciples in today’s Gospel today, as they are nearing the end of the Last Supper and Jesus is about to tell Peter that he is going to betray him (John 13: 31-35). After washing their feet, Jesus gathers his disciples and gives them an updated version of the commandment to love; “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (John 13: 34). This isn’t just a commandment to love, but challenges them to love others the way Christ loved them. Again, it challenges them, and us, to see all people as someone for whom Christ was willing to die. That is no small commandment!
To dive into the Greek for a second, there are many different words for love in Greek, just as today there are many different contexts in which we use the word love. We do not love our spouse in the same way that we love our favorite TV show or when we get a parking spot when it feels seemingly impossible. The word used today is ἀγαπάω (agapaó), or as we more commonly refer to it, agape. This type of love is different from the words used to describe the love between family members or even romantic love, and its primary emphasis is on the well-being and care for the person for whom we are expressing love. This isn’t familial but is a love that extends beyond family lines. Given everything else we know about Jesus’ teachings, it makes sense that he is describing love in this way. And, how if we love one another in this way, by caring for those created and loved by God, our love becomes a form of praise to God.
Peter is hearing this message that Christ tells his disciples, and today’s story from Acts shows how he was taking that to heart. He is challenged by this voice from heaven pushing him to do something that goes against one of the big tenets of his faith, the distinction between what food is considered clean vs. unclean, therefore noting what is acceptable to eat. The animals that appear to him in this vision are all ones that have been considered unacceptable to consume. When he pushes back in this vision, he hears the response: ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane’ (Acts 11: 9b). The rest of the story tells us that this isn’t just about food, but challenges the believers to think differently about what God is doing in the world and who gets to participate in that.
One of my favorite quotes from Peter comes in his conversation with the believers, when they ask how he could minister to Gentiles, and he recalls how these Gentiles too received the Holy Spirit. As he tells this story he says, “…who was I that I could hinder God?” (Acts 11:17b). “Who was I that I could hinder God?” What a profound question! And one that we as Christians need to continue to ask ourselves today. Who are we to hinder God?
Who are we to hinder God? I probably don’t need to tell you that there are so many ways in which we as humans try to hinder God and the work God is doing in our world. When we want God to only be on our side, to agree with everything we say and do. When we begin to place conditions on the love that God has for us and the world, and the love of Christ that we are supposed to sharing with others becomes a tool for hatred and shame. When the images and language we use to talk about God support systems that actively harm and disenfranchise groups of people. When we are so focused on the new heaven and the new earth described in our Revelation reading (Revelation 21: 1-6) that we forget that God already dwells among us and that we are called to enter into the spaces of pain, fear, and despair. When we forget that we are also not supposed to be intentionally causing more pain and harm to God’s Beloved people and world because this one doesn’t seem to matter as much as the next.
Who are we to hinder God? When we have heard stories about not declaring unclean what God has called clean, not calling unworthy that which God says is beloved too. When we hear hymns like the Psalm that declares the praise of God coming from so many more places and things than we can even imagine or would consider being able to praise God. When we hear the commandment to love one another as Christ has loved us. We are invited into this expansive, beautiful love of God, yet it seems like as humans we are trying to fight or constrain it at every turn. Jesus tells the disciples today, ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another’ (John 13: 35). So, who are we to hinder God, when this is example of discipleship we are being invited into.
To some, living out this love of Christ will seem offensive, as we challenge their understandings of who God is and how we do not need to change to receive God’s love. We are challenging the heart of their religious beliefs, so it is natural that they would have some pushbacks. But, God never tells us we need to change before we can become disciples, God simply loves us and we are changed as a response, then sent out into the world to continue to love it in the way Christ taught us. A love that extends beyond boundaries and societal expectations because the well-being of the entirety of creation lies at its core. So, who are we to hinder God?
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Sunday May 11th, 2025 Worship