2nd May 2010 - "Breaking barriers down"

Colin Hull - All Saints´and St Michael´s
Acts 11:1-18

Emergency meetings 

Back in the 1980’s I heard this story from N.Ireland. There was an emergency meeting of the Elders of a Presbyterian church. The Youth Minister was hauled in to answer some charges; 

“We’ve heard rumours from some parents that you have been allowing Catholics into our youth club and they are none too pleased. What have you got to say for your self?”

 The minister replied 

“Yes you are right, I have and I think it is glorifying to our Lord Jesus Christ and helping our young people to have a better and peaceable future. I think it is what He would have done and wants us to do” 

The youth minister was of course right and it was steps of peace like that that has led to a better future for all in N.Ireland, now more free from violence. 

Here is another emergency church meeting this time a biblical one.. 

The guilty party is brought in 

“Peter, explain yourself – why were you meeting and eating with unclean people?

You know it is against our religion and customs to eat with those kind of people. We have to stick together as part of our religion against them. We don’t think Jesus would like it” 

This is what the story in Acts is all about. That is what the early church was thinking before they were challenged by experiences of Gentile conversion.Simon Peter had gone to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile, a non-Jew, someone considered to be outside of the kingdom, outside of God’s chosen people, outside of His covenant promises. How could he, a church leader, given a special place by Jesus, do such a thing? Visiting a heathen!

Eating with them! Perhaps he ate unclean food with them!

 Jesus and the Gentiles 

We look at this story from what we know happened later- that Gentiles became admitted to the church and later came to the dominant members, outnumbering the original Jewish followers. But first we must see the struggle and the controversy- as it first occurred. Simon was meeting with outsiders they thought had nothing to do with Jesus. Jesus had to open their eyes to the new possibilities that his movement was no longer to be restricted to Jewish people but had to be expanded to include people of every nation.

There are hints in the gospels that although Jesus thought his mission was mainly to his own people, even He came to realise there was a wider mission to come. He experienced great faith from the Centurion who came with a request for healing for his slave. He spoke to a Samaritan woman at a well. And when some Greeks come to see Him He says the Son has been glorified by this request. But the disciples had not fully take it in and had to be shaken up in their thinking. So Simon Peter was given a vision. He is then invited to the house of Cornelius and witnesses them receiving the Holy Spirit as he and his fellow apostles had. 

So the church leaders had to come to face a new reality. They were amazed to hear about the same manifestations of the Holy Spirit they had received were heard on the lips of Gentiles.The kingdom was not just for the insiders, the people they knew and liked. The boundaries of the church were going to be broken. There was no room for prejudices against people just because of their different religion and cultural origins. 

Terms and conditions

 It took a long time for the church to come to terms with the influx of the Gentiles into the church. There is evidence from both the Acts of the Apostles and Paul’s letters that the acceptance of the Gentles took a long time. 

At first some were saying-

“Yes you can join us but only if you keep our rules, our way of praying, our diet and ceremonial activities. You’ve got to be Jews first and then you can be a follower of Jesus”

 Paul and many others became convinced that such restrictions were not right. Surely faith in Jesus was the only requirement to receive the Holy Spirit and to come in. If the Gentiles then tried to live good lives under the influence of the Holy Spirit it was enough. Although this issue eventually became settled new issues of exclusion arose. It was not long before churches were dividing over what they though about Jesus and what he had done. There arose divisions over teaching and practices. Some common attitudes started to prevail;

 “If you don’t think about Jesus the way we think about Jesus then you can’t be one of us. You’ve got to believe as we do or you’re not a proper Christian” 

These types of divisions were perpetuated down the centuries and at its worst led to persecution of one set of Christians by another set of Christians. People were killed by sword or burned at the stake because of differences of faith and allegiance. Churches have raised barriers against people with different culture, worship and doctrine. They have excluded people who don’t fit into their mould of thinking and doing. 

The most recent expression of this has been over the debate on homosexuality. There are divisions over whether committed homosexual couples should be blessed in their relationship or whether it should still be seen as wrong because the bible appears to be against homosexual relationships. There is nothing wrong with a difference about what we think is right or wrong. There is nothing wrong with taking different ethical and moral stances and interpretations. But when churches start saying “because you believe in homosexual partnerships we are having nothing to do with you” – then such division and breaking of communion is exclusive and erecting barriers. 

Old tribal allegiances 

Perhaps a lot of this goes back to our ancient tribal past – on the plains of the Savannah where anthropologists believe humanity first evolved from more primitive apes. Experts in ape and monkey behaviour have observed that within family and clan groups the individuals are mainly kind to each other. There might be some fights for influence and dominance but they are limited. On the other hand they are very vicious to outsiders, competing for territory and food sources. Clan battles may end in deaths.

 In many ways Humanity has never grown up beyond that seemingly instinctive rivalry with those we consider outsiders, not belonging to our group. Even religious people may remain tribal, dedicated to their group but being judgemental about others on the outside. It’s time we grew up and Christ and showed we can overcome such tribal divisions.

 Racial barriers 

Tribal loyalties also extend to many areas of social division and racial differences. You will know that Gordon Brown got into trouble on Wednesday after talking to a lady about a local immigration issue. After talking to her he was caught complaining about her to a colleague in the car. In many places immigration has become an issue high on people’s list of priorities. Many feel worried about a lot of people who are strangers from other countries moving into their communities in competition jobs and homes. But others exploit these legitimate concerns in a more ugly way and see the problems as something to get at Them, the Strangers, the foreigners. It is hard to get unbiased information about what is really happening with migration numbers. 

I wonder if a lot of the immigration talk is out of proportion, magnifying a problem because of people’s instinctive fears of the “outsiders”. If we are not careful it becomes a matter of stereo-typing the outsiders with ugly and crude generalisations about them. It becomes hostility just because they are a mass of strangers who look and talk differently. All immigrant communities then become scapegoats for problems of housing and employment and crime. 

The character of the Others 

Over many years I have had the privilege to work alongside several people from Malaysia and the Far East, most of them Muslims. I currently work with two Polish ladies, one Sri Lankan, one Fin and several Italians. The Post Office near my place of work is owned and run by an Indian family who work long hours. All of them are charming people to work with and know. It also my greatest delight to be married to a wonderful lady who was not born in this country. I love foreign foods. There’s a nice Chinese Take-away (Mr Khan), and an Indian restaurant in Knebworth we frequently use. So I can confirm by experience what Martin Luther King said; People should be judged by the content of their character not by be the colour of their skin or their racial or cultural origins.

 Summary 

The Holy Spirit gave a challenge to Simon Peter to go beyond his normal boundaries, to recognise that maybe these strangers were blessed by God, as much as he was. He had to go beyond his national and religious identity to find the Other who God was calling to His kingdom and service. The Spirit will want to challenge any prejudices that we may have

Anyone or group we want to exclude, anyone or group we stay away from. For it is the challenge of the Spirit to see where God is in people and wants to build His Kingdom, even in people we don’t know and recognise as His. This is our calling; to break down the barriers that keep people apart and end our tribal tendencies. I end with a quote from Principles of the Third Order of the Society of St Francis. What it says of Franciscans is also a challenge to the whole church.

 We set out, in the name of Christ, to break down barriers between people and to seek equality for all. We accept as our second aim the spreading of a spirit of love and harmony among all people. We are pledged to fight against the ignorance, pride, and prejudice that breed injustice or partiality of any kind.

 Let’s be God’s bulldozers - breaking down those walls! 

Amen