Common Difference

Easter 5C

Acts 11:1-18

May 19, 2019

St. Matthias

           I think our first lesson this morning is one of the most interesting stories in the Bible.  We tend to think and want the folks in the Bible – at least the good guys – to be really good.  Of course, we want the bad guys to be really bad.  But in this story – it doesn’t really work that way.  The Apostle Peter is in the holy city of Jerusalem.  He came from the city of Joppa which is on the Mediterranean Coast of Israel just South of Tel Aviv.  The early Christians in Jerusalem knew that there were now Gentiles who had heard how Jesus had come preaching the Good News of the Kingdom of God and how He had been crucified and 3 days later rose again.  These Gentiles now believed.

           And this was a big deal.  You see the early Christians in Jerusalem still thought of themselves as Jews.  Most were probably born and raised in Jerusalem.  They went to the temple to worship.  They followed the commandments and kept the Sabbath.  AND the thing we need to understand about Judaism in the 1^st century is that - it is very much like Judaism today.  Just like Christianity – there were lots of different groups and sects.  In Christianity, we all know that there are Baptists, Roman Catholics, Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians and a whole bunch more. 

The same was and is true for Judaism.  In Jerusalem, there are all kinds of Jews.  And you can tell a lot from how they are dressed.  Reformed Jews dress just like you and me.  If you are a Conservative Jew – and that is the actual name of one of the main branches of Judaism, not a political label – the men wear Yarmulkes all the time.  Otherwise, they look and act just like we do.  Then there are the Orthodox Jewish groups.  Some follow Modern Orthodoxy and others are Ultra-Orthodox or Haredi Jews.  There are men who wear long black coats and black hats.  Some wear gold coats and others will wear a black and gray striped coat on weekdays.  The women dress in black and they always cover their head.  There are many different branches of Haredi Judaism based on which of the major Rabbis they follow, and I do believe that we saw them all during the time we were in Jerusalem. 

And THIS is important to understand because the early followers of Christ – before and after the resurrection – saw themselves – not as a totally new religion – but as a new branch of Judaism.  They were still very much Jews who believed that Jesus Christ was the Messiah.  And so, when they heard that Peter had broken Jewish law and had eaten with the Gentiles – this was a big deal because it violated any number of the commandments.  Gentiles were anyone who was not Jewish.  And worse – these Gentiles were Romans in the city of Caesarea which was basically the Las Vegas of Israel in Jesus’s day.  This was the city where Herod the Great built a magnificent palace.  It makes the White House look small.  We visited the ruins of the 1st-century city and I was even part of a team who competed in the arena where they held the chariot races.  No good Jew ever went to Caesarea.

           But Peter did go and eat with the Gentiles and even ate food that Jews weren’t supposed to eat.  He told the Christians in Jerusalem about a vision he saw while he was praying.  Visions were thought to be ways that God directly spoke to someone.  Peter’s sees a sheet lowered by its 4 corners which represented the 4 corners of the earth and on it were all kinds of animals.  And the voice of God commands Peter to eat - which would have been a terrible violation of Jewish law - but God said basically to Peter “IT’S OK!”  And Peter goes to Caesarea and preaches the word of God and the people believe.  Even the Gentiles believed.

           Too often in our world today I think we give all of our attention to what makes us different.  This is what I saw in Jerusalem and this is what I see too often in Alabama and the United States.  A hat makes you different or whether or not you have curls on the side of your head and even how those curls are curled.  Are you Baptist or Presbyterian or Roman Catholic?  Do you wear a Yarmulke every day or just on Sunday?  Do we celebrate communion every week or just once a year?  Everywhere we went in Jerusalem and all throughout Israel there were SIGNS and BORDERS and WALLS that separated us from other people.  Around Bethlehem, there is a border wall that stands 12 to 15 feet high.  It is made of large steel sections with guard towers and a checkpoint.  Our Jewish guide was not supposed to go with us into Bethlehem – the City of David – the City of Love where Christ was born in a manager – because our guide was Jewish, and Bethlehem is controlled by the Palestinians.  In the River Jordan where Jesus was baptized, and the voice of God was heard – there is a rope that cuts right through the middle separating Israel from Jordan and guards with machine guns standing on the other side warning us to stay on our side.  There is too much in this world that separates us. 

           Yet we all proclaim that we believe in ONE GOD.  Whether we are Christian, Hebrew, or Islamic.  Whether we are Baptist, Methodist, Roman Catholic, or Episcopalian.  We believe in One God.  So why do we divide and separate ourselves from one another calling this group or that group – this person or that person - unclean.  I would have enjoyed talking with one of the Haredi rabbis who look different from me and spoke differently and even believed differently – I would have loved to just sit down and talk about all that we believe together.  I bet we have found that we have much more in common than what separates us.  We each believe in God – we want Peace – we need Love.  That’s Good News.  In each person you see this week – think how much we are all the same. You won’t need to go to Caesarea or Jerusalem.  God is here and loves us just as much as God loves the Jews and the Gentiles, the Baptists and the Episcopalians, the Palestinians and the Israelis, the sinners and the Saints.  AMEN.