God Does Not Show Favouritism

Introduction

The story of Peter and Cornelius in Acts 10 is a turning point for the early church. Through a strange vision of clean and unclean animals, God shows Peter that he does not show favouritism — and Cornelius the centurion, a Roman outsider, becomes proof that the good news of Jesus is for people of every nation.

The legendary comedian Groucho Marx famously once said that he would never join any club that would have him as a member. And it’s a superb line, but it sort of speaks also to that desire that we have to be part of something exclusive. Exclusive from school, from the playground, we play these games about who’s in and who’s out. And we all know that you can’t just let anybody join. And yet, of course, that is exactly what the early church was called to be. And it was truly revolutionary.

Now, we live in a world which is changing in so much, in so many ways, so rapidly. And there is this kind of real challenge about how we proclaim the good news of Jesus to each new generation and culture. How we discern that which is timeless truth and that which is changeable. What is a priceless heirloom and what is old baggage. And the early church really struggled with this. But they succeeded in adapting to the diversity of cultures. And as a result, Christianity became the first truly global faith. It was able to take root in different cultures across the world. And this rather strange story in Acts 10 is a turning point in that process. It’s really important. It is, first and foremost, a story of, well, a frankly awesome figure: a Roman centurion. And I’m sure you know what a Roman centurion looks like. But in case you’re not sure, this is a fourth-century text which describes them. The centurion is chosen for their size and strength and dexterity, for their skill with the use of a sword and shield. They are to be vigilant, temperate, active and disciplined. Really, they are to be disciplined. They are to be amazing. Probably rather intimidating. A soldier, a commander of men, and a Roman. But of course, he is also part of a hated, oppressive regime.

But he’s clearly also thoughtful and independent-minded as a person. He’s someone questioning, someone dissatisfied with the sort of religious pluralism of his own culture. And he is seeking the truth. He has a deep respect for the Jewish faith, and he worships God in the kind of slightly limited fashion that is available to him as a gentile. So he prays, he makes offerings, and he gives alms to the poor. But a little bit like the Ethiopian eunuch that we met last week, he will always be ultimately excluded. He’s always on the edges. But then one day, this striking man has an unexpected vision. An angel appears to him, and then in verse 4: Cornelius, your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. There is that lovely promise, you know, in the words of Jesus. And he says: if you seek, you will find. If you knock, the door will be opened to you. If you ask, it will be given to you. And God is faithful to that promise. And he was faithful to the seeking of this Roman officer who humbly seeks God. God hears his prayers.

There’s an interesting detail in it as well, actually. Did you hear the phrase, memorial offering? Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.

And God had always promised that the purpose of his people Israel was to be a light to the nations, a blessing to all people. And they, like everybody else really, had become kind of exclusive. But God hadn’t forgotten his promises and his purposes. And the prayers of this faithful Roman centurion sort of went up, and they were able to rise to heaven as a reminder to God of his promises. So may that be an encouragement to us in our prayers. Though it may seem a long time in coming, God is faithful. He never goes back on his word. Never be afraid to remind God of his promises.

So that’s Cornelius. And now it is Peter’s turn. So Peter is staying in Joppa, which is just on the coast, just south of modern-day Tel Aviv. And he is up on the roof, praying. And I don’t know if you have ever had this experience — he finds that he’s very hungry while he’s praying, because he clearly is a bit distracted. And then he falls into a trance. He must have been very hungry indeed. And then he has a really bizarre vision, actually. So he sees the heavens open, and something like a large tablecloth, filled with animals and reptiles and birds, coming down out of heaven. And then he hears a voice which says: Get up, Peter. Kill and eat. And Peter is horrified by this. Did you see his response? Verse 14: Surely not, Lord, Peter replied. I’ve never eaten anything impure or unclean. And a voice replies: Do not call anything impure that God has made clean. So remember that Judaism, like all sorts of traditional religions, had these very kind of clear rules about what was acceptable to eat and what wasn’t — these kind of food laws. And they’re partly about hygiene and health, but they’re also about being distinctive, about being a sort of pure and holy people. But there is a line there which is of enormous significance. Verse 14, it says: Do not call anything impure that God has made clean. And can you see that there is a suggestion there that something has changed? Something in the way that God relates to the world, or perhaps in the way that the people of God relate to the world. There is no longer these categories of clean and unclean, pure and impure. What’s changed? Well, the obvious answer, of course, is that what’s changed is Jesus, and that his death and his resurrection are this process of beginning to make all things new. The price of sin has been paid, and so we are made holy not by what we eat, but by what Jesus has done for us.

And actually, it turns out that this isn’t really about food at all. When Peter finally understands what’s going on here, when he finally grasps it — and it is hard for him — later on, in verse 34, he says this: I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism, but accepts people from every nation who fear him and do what is right. Because of Jesus, all of us can be accepted before God. All of us can be holy, no matter who we are, by faith in him, in what he has done for us, in his death upon the cross. We can be holy. And God does not show favouritism, and so it’s essential that we don’t either. Anyone, regardless of who they are, where they come from, can be part of the family of God. We have this tendency to want to be with people who are just like us, but the church has always been called to be a little glimpse of eternity, made up of people of every nation, tribe, and language. But this is really hard for Peter to grasp. He’s been used to feeling special and exclusive his whole life. And so, in verse 16, the vision happened three times. He couldn’t grasp it if it just happened once. He’s a traditional man. He loves his nation and his history and his culture. And in fact, I don’t know if you know, but there’s a moment later on, which is described in the book of Galatians, where Peter is persuaded to backtrack on this principle and he starts separating himself again. He starts sort of only eating with Jewish people and not with Gentiles, and he has to be confronted by Paul. It’s really hard for Peter to change his view of the world.

But the world is not any longer something that we need to be afraid of, something that we need to keep at a distance. Instead, because of Jesus, it is something which is being transformed. It is a place where God is at work. And you and I are called to be agents of that transformation. We are called to go into all the world, to be salt and light, to be that which brings life. Now, that is not saying that anything goes. Did you note the very clear emphasis on Cornelius’ morality? And often in church, in our hurry to throw out what we consider to be baggage, we’ve ended up throwing out essential things as well. Now, Peter’s really very clear: God accepts people from every nation who fear him and do what is right. But it is an essential change of perspective. It is a milestone moment in the book of Acts, because this is about allowing faith to take root in unexpected people and places, and to grow up in a way that doesn’t look exactly like it does to us. I don’t know if you know, but the Roman military was one of the main ways in which Christianity was communicated in the ancient world. And there’s a very strong possibility that the first Christian to come to the United Kingdom, where I’m from, was a Roman soldier.

And that’s exactly the process by which the gospel took root. The gospel was able to sort of be distinct in distinct places and communities. When you read your New Testament, it’s really striking the extent to which all of those different churches, they’re sort of distinct from each other. They have their own flavour and their own culture. One of the great strengths of Christianity has been its ability to sort of adapt to different cultures and environments and places. And good mission in this world will plant indigenous, grassroots churches, which bring something of the culture that they’re part of into it. So this is Acts 10, and it is a really significant moment in the life of the early church, sort of preparing the church for that which was to come, which was this spread of the gospel across the ancient world. But I think it’s also a call on us to inhabit this world in a way which is unafraid to sort of boldly live out our faith in the midst of our culture, confident that God is at work in these places. When we encounter people, God has gone before us. We no longer have this really strong sense of the sacred and the profane, because everything is being made sacred because of what Christ is doing by his Holy Spirit. God does not call us to be a holy huddle, some safe retreat from the world, but he calls us to be ambassadors of a better kingdom, of a richer life, of God at work. God is bringing life out of death. He is making all things new. And he sends us to go and reflect that into our world. And so may we go, empowered by the Holy Spirit, unafraid, excited to see what God is doing as we meet him in his world where he is making all things new. Amen.

Let’s just be still together, shall we?