October 24

Acts 11: 1-18

Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, 3 saying, "Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?" 4 Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, 5 "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. 6 As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7 I also heard a voice saying to me, 'Get up, Peter; kill and eat.' 8 But I replied, 'By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' 9 But a second time the voice answered from heaven, 'What God has made clean, you must not call profane.' 10 This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. 11 At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. 12 The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house. 13 He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, 'Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; 14 he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.' 15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' 17 If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?" 18 When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, "Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life."

The fact that Gentiles are baptized is not an uncontroversial reality in the church. The church is in many ways just an extension of the synagogue in these early days. Welcoming Gentile believers into the church will affect this relationship with the synagogue. This is reported as an easy decision, but it had ramifications.

Peter is questioned for having table fellowship with uncircumcised men. His response is his vision and the fact that God was at work among them. The question of welcome is not about the church’s welcome, it is about God’s welcome. God is obviously giving gifts to the uncircumcised. So if the gift of faith is given to them how could Peter prevent baptism?

The church was the minority community at the time it was written. The perspective of the church changes when it becomes the dominate religion. Our questions are more often directed at telling who is in the dominate church and who is outside. Since the reformation it has been a regular activity of separating from other Christians who are not like us. Note that this is not a factor in the Acts story. The question is do they have the gift of faith. If the answer is yes, then who are we to hinder God?

Reflection questions:
1. What are the requirements for us to engage in table fellowship?
2. Is confessing Jesus as Lord sufficient for our welcome into our church?
3. Are we open to those who have been outside the church being welcomed simply by their confession of faith?