Our God is a God of All People!

Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, “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. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ But a second time the voice answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. 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. 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; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.’ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. 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.’ 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?” 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.” (Acts 11:1-18 NRSV)

Happy Monday, dear Friend ! As we pray today, I ask prayers for my neighbor, Hector Cruz, who will be undergoing open-heart surgery later this morning. As you can imagine, this is a scary thing for him and his family, and I ask that we lift our voices so that God may bless the surgeons, nurses, all who will be working on him, for Hector so that he may have peace, and for his family so they may know God is with them. Pray for one another, pray for yourselves.

There are those Sundays when Nellie and I visit a church that I reluctantly sit in the pew or the seat thinking that we may be in someone's "seat." Most people are too polite to say anything, but if they happen to displace someone from "their" seat, they may not be as polite. Yes, we have been there. As a pastor I would say at some services, if someone has displaced you for today, thank God that someone wanted to be with us and worshiped with us. Next Sunday come a little earlier and you won't lose your place! Well, in this passage, it was pretty close to that feeling as we read that the Jewish believers that included the apostles and the believers in Judea, hear that Gentiles, or non-Jews, had accepted the good news about Jesus Christ. One would expect great rejoicing would have erupted in Jerusalem because of that news, but nope. The old hatred comes out. "How could you, a Jew, Peter, go to the uncircumcised and eat with them?" Peter then relates the entire experience of how God revealed to him the importance of bringing all people into the kingdom. In his vision, Peter saw a sheet filled with all kinds of animals usually considered unclean for the Jew to be declared clean by God. God makes clear to Peter that this includes people. Historically, the Jews had been taught to treat Gentiles as unclean and not worthy of any time or attention or interaction. And the short answer Peter says, "Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life."

That answer silenced the believers. They loved Jesus, but their words and attitudes betrayed their true nature of not being truly open to all people being in the kingdom of God. I can only imagine if Peter had come with about 40 of the new believers with him, and those 40 sat in someone's pew! The message for them and us is simple, but powerful; our God is the God of all people. Whoever comes to faith in Jesus becomes a brother or sister to all who believe and love Jesus.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, may Your family grow each day, and may we be a part of the growth process. Forgive us the times we have shown territorialism or favoritism to those we already know; we want to know all who come as new brothers and sisters, and to love them and welcome them into Your kingdom. Grant us grace and love. This we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Grant us the peace and power of Your Spirit to be those who bring new people in!

Blessings of Love,

Eradio Valverde