Fifth Sunday of Easter, Cycle C
Acts 11:1-18

Pastor Gayle M. Pope

Does God Change the Rules?

“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good …”

In creation, God spoke and brought order out of nothingness. God created an orderly universe that sustains life as we know it. The universe is governed by laws of physics and chemistry and biology and mathematics. Things are made to work in a certain way and that orderliness suits us.

God also brought order to our relationships by giving us the ten commandments – moral law to govern our priorities and show us how to get along. Expanding on the basic commandments, God gave a whole host of laws to the Jews, to set them apart as a holy people, preserve their society and keep them healthy and whole. Over time, the Jews added to those rules and ordinances, all with intention of staying pure and worthy.

Laws and rules and commandments are clearly good for us. We need them. Our survival depends on them. On the other hand, human beings can go overboard on rules so they no longer serve a good purpose. And sometimes, as circumstances change, rules need to be changed or broken in order for God’s good purposes to prevail.

Take, for example, a situation where a child is in an intersection playing. He doesn’t belong there. He is breaking the rules. It is dangerous. Someone needs to go out and get the child right now. A car is coming. The signal says, “Don’t Walk” but if you don’t walk out there and get the child right now, he will be run over. Clearly, this is a time to break the rules.

Other times, though, it’s not so clear when to change the rules or when to keep them – when to apply them strictly or when to let them slide.

Take immigration laws. They seem not to be working at all, but as a nation, we’re not sure how to fix them. We’re afraid of what might happen.

As a church, we have rules, based on Scripture, that govern the behavior of ordained leaders. Many in the church think it’s time to change some of these rules relating to same-sex relationships. Many others are appalled at that notion and think it will lead to the downfall of the denomination.

Another rule we have in the church governs who is authorized to preside at Holy Communion – to speak the words that make the body and blood of Christ present in, with and under bread and wine. Should our licensed lay ministers be authorized to do this? Some are all for it, others reluctant or even opposed. In our Synod, it’s up to the Bishop, and he HAS authorized it so that the Sacrament can be available to congregations where it would not otherwise be.

We also have customs, traditions and rites that are so long-standing they seem to be governed by “rules” which often times are just our own standard operating procedures. The font goes here, the cross goes here, the flag goes here, the pulpit belongs here. There are reasons for doing things the way we do – good reasons, even. It helps people get along, respect boundaries and subordinate the will and desires of the one to that of the group. It also helps us stay focused on our purposes, rather than on incidentals.

So, all this is to say that rules and laws and order exist for good reason and serve a good purpose. BUT then we have this reading from Acts this morning which clearly shows that, sometimes, God DOES change the rules – or at least God changes our understanding of how they are to be applied.

In this reading, Peter is being challenged by other apostles for going to “uncircumcised” men and eating with them. The apostles were Jews who understood that Jesus was the Messiah sent by God in fulfillment of God’s promises to the Jews. Their understanding led them to conclude that, in order to receive salvation from a Jewish Messiah, Gentiles must first, in effect, become Jews.

But God had revealed otherwise to Peter through a vision and the experience he had with the household of Cornelius, a God-fearing Gentile. It says in our reading that Peter began to explain it to them, “step by step.” He very carefully went over everything with his fellow believers. He respected their reservations and understood their concerns because he had the same ones. But his mind had been changed and once he had told his story, the minds of his brothers changed as well, because of Peter’s testimony.

It’s important for us to pay attention to all the steps that went into Peter’s change of mind mind because this will give us guidance for how WE apply rules and standards to our own practice of faith today. So let’s review Peter’s step-by-step explanation.

The first thing Peter says is that he was praying. Peter received a vision when he was praying – when his heart was turned to the Lord. After he got this vision, he was visited by some men who asked him to go with them. In retrospect he realized that the timing of the visit right after the vision was important. But in the moment, he said that the “Spirit” told him to go with them and not to make a distinction between them. In other words, don’t be concerned about them being Gentiles. So the second thing was that Peter sensed a movement of the Spirit and he responded.

Then it says, that, when he went, “six brothers” went with him. Peter did not go it alone. He brought other believers with him who would also be able to observe what transpired and bear witness.

Once he got to the home of Cornelius, Peter could see that Cornelius’ story matched up with his. Cornelius was also tuned into the Lord’s voice. But then came the biggest surprise. Peter saw with his own eyes how the Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius and his household the same way it had fallen upon the apostles at the beginning, and immediately Peter connected this with a Word that Jesus had spoken, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Peter saw that God gave these new believers the same gift God had given Peter and the apostles and he concluded, “Who was I to hinder God?” The response of the believers in Joppa was to immediately interpret the whole thing in light of God’s overriding purposes: “God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”

This is a story about how the early church came to a new understanding about how God was at work in their world and what it took to be a part of God’s kingdom. They had to reject something they believed wholeheartedly about the rules by which God operated. They had to learn that God’s plan was different from what they thought.

How did this happen? First, Peter was in prayer. Second, he listened to the Spirit. Third, he saw signs from other sources that confirmed the truth of his experience. Fourth, he involved other believers. Fifth, he tested his observations against the words of Jesus. Sixth, he placed his own will in subordination to God’s will and,finally, he could see that the new understanding lined up with God’s overall purposes, namely, “repentance that leads to new life” in the Spirit.

These are good steps for us to keep in mind as we think about our own mission and ministry here in Nauvoo and, especially, as we consider changing our worship service. We need to ask ourselves these questions:

1. Are we in prayer?

2. Are we open to the promptings of the Spirit

3. Are we seeing signs of affirmation in what God is doing around us?

4. Are we testing our actions and decisions against the God’s word in the Scriptures -- for example, the words of Jesus we heard in today’s gospel that, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

5. Are we listening to one another and acting in unity as much as possible?

6. Are we holding up God’s will and purposes as more important than our own?

7. And, finally, is God using our actions to bring people to the repentance that leads to new life?

Those are some strong and challenging criteria to keep in mind but, if we desire to do God’s will and ask for his help, we can count on God answering our prayer and blessing our mission. Amen.