In his new book, Cast of Characters Lost and Found, Max Lucado writes:
Tourists travel to Molokai—a ruby on the pearl necklace of the Hawaiian Islands—for its quiet charm, gently breezes, and soft surf. But Father Damien came for a different reason. He came to help people die. He came to Molokai because leprosy came here first. No one knows exactly how the disease reached Hawaii. The first documented case was dated around 1840. But while no one can trace the source of the disease, no one can deny its results: disfigurement, decay, and panic. The government responded by depositing the diseased on a triangular thrust of land called Kalaupapa. Surrounded on three sides by water and on the fourth by the highest seawall in the world, it was a natural prison. Hard to get to…Harder still to get away from.
There the lepers lived a discarded existence in shanties with minimal food. Ships would draw close to shore, and sailors would dump supplies into the water, hoping the crates would float toward land. Society sent the lepers a clear message: you aren’t valuable anymore. But Father Damien’s message was different. He’d already served in the islands for a decade when, in 1873, at the age of thirty-three, he wrote his provincial and offered, “I want to sacrifice myself for the poor lepers.” He immersed himself in their world, dressing sores, hugging children, burying the dead. His choir members sang through rags and congregants received communion with stumped hands. Because they mattered to God, they mattered to him. Years after he began his work among them he came to the pulpit and referred to his congregation not as “my brothers and sisters” but “we lepers.” He became one of them. Literally.
Somewhere along the way, through a touch of kindness or in the sharing of a communion wafer, the disease passed from member to priest. Damien became a leper…and on April 15, 1889, four days shy of good Friday, he died.
Of course—in the decades since, scientists have learned to treat leprosy—or what as we now call it, “Hansen’s Disease.” Scientists have discovered how the disease is transmitted and how to prevent that from happening. So we don’t quarantine people with leprosy in places like Molokai anymore. But in spite of this GOOD news—the BAD news is we are still plagued with a mental malady that leads us to practice the same basic “quarantine them” attitude toward other people. I mean, we still tend to pigeon-hole others. In our minds we classify people based on their race or their appearance or their gender or whatever. I’m saying there is a real sense in which mankind still struggles with a disease far more devastating than leprosy. And in case you haven’t guessed already, I’m referring to an attitudinal ailment called prejudice. I bring this all up because our text for this morning tells us of a time when God healed a man named Peter who had this illness.
To help you get the setting in your mind—Peter’s healing happened after the resurrection and after Pentecost…in the early days of the church when the big fisherman had begun an itinerant ministry among the dispersed Christians of Judea. As part of this ministry God used Peter to heal a cripple named Aeneas…and also to go to Joppa and raise a devout woman named Dorcas from the dead. These miracles gave Peter opportunities to share the Gospel. Acts 9:42 says that all this, “…became known all over Joppa—and many believed in the Lord.” Then in chapter 10 we see symptoms of Peter’s prejudice surface…and remember, as I said…many of us still suffer from the same kind of thing to this day. In fact, to make sure we’re on the same sheet of music let’s stop at this point so I can try and define this attitudinal ailment as simply as I can. Basically prejudice in any of its many forms is a preconceived judgement. It’s the act of classifying people in one way or another and then generalizing our thoughts about them—and actions toward them—accordingly. The sad truth is even today almost all people suffer from some form of prejudice. To show you what I mean, let’s do a little self-diagnosis right now so you can see if you are infected yourself.
Think of this as sort of a “pulpit WEBMD!” Here we go:
- What images come in your mind when you think of blacks or whites or Hispanics or Asians? Do you lump them together in ANY way?
- Do you categorize people by their clothes or tattoos or the cosmetics they wear or don’t wear?
- How do you feel about the poor—or the rich?
- Here’s a touchy one. Do you lump people together because of their political party? DO you ever think ALL republicans are like this or that ALL democrats are such and such?
- Do you make assumptions about people who’s kids are home-schooled or about people who send their little ones to public school…or private school?
- How do you tend to feel about people who have failed morally in life? Do you make assumptions about their FUTURE behavior based on their PAST actions?
- Do you pigeon-hole people who are divorced or who’ve been in psychiatric hospitals?
- Do you make assumptions about Christians based on their denominational affiliation?
Perhaps you are like some believers who think their particular denominational acronym is the only one that will be in Heaven. I’m reminded of a girl that Harry Emerson Fosdick once described. She was VERY proud of her own protestant denomination. In fact, when she was told that Jesus was a Jew she lashed out, “Well, Jesus may have been a Jew but God is a Baptist!” This girl was a Christian so she is now in Heaven and I wonder how she’s felt about all the Methodists, Catholics, Presbyterians and Episcopalians she has met there? I wonder how ashamed she was to discover that all denominational acronyms are dropped at the pearly gates?
Well, I hope these questions help you to see that all of us embrace some form of prejudice from time to time…and that’s sad—because prejudice blinds us to the truth. It’s like being in a smoke-filled room—in that it makes it hard for us to see through all the negative preconceptions we’ve had all our lives about certain “types” of people. And Christians should never embrace this sick way of thinking. We should know better. As the late Chuck Colson put it, “Certainly evil is to be expected in a fallen world. What is not expected is for a holy people to accept it.” So—as we study Peter’s experience—I want us to look to Scriptural truth as a way of helping us confront and correct our own prejudices. Let’s begin by trying to understand how Peter became prejudiced in the first place. Like all forms of pre-judging—Peter’s was something he was TAUGHT. He learned to prejudge non-jews from his parents and peers. You see, the Jews of his day believed that anything other than a Jew—or anything touched by anyone other than a Jew—was unclean. It was much like the game of “cooties” that we used to play at recess as children—but this was no game. From childhood Peter had been taught to DESPISE anything Gentile. Alfred Edersheim does a good job at describing the extent of the “inbred” prejudice that Jews like Peter held against Gentiles. Listen to what he says:
Every Gentile child, as soon as it was born was to be regarded as unclean…The Mishnah goes fo far as to forbid aid to a Gentile mother in the hour of her need or nourishment for her baby, in order not to bring up another child of idolatry. It was not considered safe to leave cattle in their charge, to allow their women to nurse Jewish infants or their physicians to attend the sick, or to walk in their company. They and theirs were defiled; their houses unclean, as containing idols or things dedicated to them; their very contact was polluted by idolatry; milk drawn by a heathen, if a Jew had not been present to watch it, was unclean. Bread and oil prepared by them, unlawful. Their wine was wholly forbidden…the mere touch of a heathen, polluted a whole cask; even to put one’s nose to heathen wine was strictly prohibited.
So understand—this prejudice was so strong that most Jews would have absolutely nothing to do with Gentiles. They would not be guests in Gentile homes or invite Gentiles into their homes. Dirt from a Gentile country was considered defiled, so a Jew would shake it off his sandals before entering the borders of Israel. Cooking utensils purchased from a Gentile had to be purified before being used. Jews of this day even had huge pools called, “Mikvehs” that were designated for washing Gentile furniture—tables and chairs—before Jews could “safely” use it. In short, Gentiles were considered completely unclean and their presence defiling.
Peter was of course a Christian—but he still THOUGHT like a Jew, so he believed God could not save a Gentile—AS a Gentile. First that person had to “clean” himself up by becoming a Jew—only then God would save him. You may be thinking, “Well pastor, what about those Gentiles in the Old Testament that God used? What about Rahab from Jericho or Ruth from Moab?” And…if you’re thinking that, you’re pretty sharp because both of these Gentiles became heroes of Judaism—BUT ONLY AFTER EMBRACING THE JEWISH FAITH! Do you remember Ruth’s bold affirmation to her mother-in-law? “Your people shall be my people and your God my God.” In other words, Ruth became a Jew—and so did Rahab.
To fully comprehend what happens in our text, we must be sure and understand that this hatred of Gentiles was DEEPLY ingrained in Peter and the other Jewish believers. And the fact is prejudice is always a very powerful thing. I mean, once you are taught to embrace this way of thinking it is very difficult to stop—it’s HARD to stop being prejudiced.
I remember an episode from the old classic STAR TREK series where Kirk and Spock encountered a race of people who had been embroiled in a racial war for centuries. One race on this planet were white on the right side of their bodies and black on the left. The other race was black on the right side and white on their left. They had a representative from both races on board the Enterprise…and in spite of everything Kirk and Spock said and did these two continued to hate each other. When the Enterprise returned them to their planet they found nothing but dead people and bombed out cities. Prejudice had led these two races to fight literally to the death. I still think this was one of Star Trek’s finer hours because whether they intended to or not the episode accurately described the sin of racism and its effects. The writers reminded us that it is always easier to START hating—than it is to STOP… and Peter learned this in his situation with the Gentiles here in Acts 10.
But let’s be honest…we all struggle in this way. Perhaps it is because we are fallen creatures who are bent toward sinful behavior—but prejudicial thinking in any form is very difficult to correct. In fact, just like healing Aeneas and raising Dorcas from the dead…to rid ourselves of prejudicial thinking and acting requires the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit of God. And—the good news is that God loves to heal this kind of illness. In fact, we can see that His Spirit was already working on Peter. I say this because in Acts chapter 9 we can see some progress in Peter’s thinking. You see, while in Joppa, Peter was the houseguest of a TANNER named Simon. This was progress indeed because tanners were considered “unclean” by Jewish rabbis since their line of work forced them to work with dead animals. I mean, Simon the Tanner would have been shunned at the local synagogue. He would have to live at least 50 cubits outside of town. Rabbinical law said that if a betrothed woman discovered that her fiancé was involved in tanning, she could break the engagement. But since Simon was a believer, Peter accepted him. So—God was already moving Peter in the right direction, even though he still had a long way to go…before he would be completely healed of his prejudicial attitudes.
Okay…in Acts 9:32 Dr. Luke’s account takes us from Joppa, where Peter was staying, about 30 miles north to Caesarea. Caesarea was the headquarters for the Roman Procurator. A cohort—about 600 seasoned soldiers—was stationed there to protect him and to keep order. A Roman cohort was divided into groups of one hundred men and in charge of each group there was a noncommissioned officer called a CENTURION. These centurions were held in high esteem in the ancient world because they were the backbone of the Roman army. One historian said, “Centurions are required not to be bold and adventurous so much as good leaders of steady and prudent mind, not prone to take the offensive or start fighting wantonly, but able when overwhelmed and hard pressed to stand fast and die at their post.” By the way, this is not the only time we meet a centurion in the New Testament and whenever they are mentioned they are always highly commended. For example, you may remember one came into contact with Jesus—and our Lord said, “I tell you the truth. I have not found anyone in Israel with such faith.” (Matthew 9:10) Well, in Acts 10 we meet another centurion—his name was Cornelius and he had a great faith—faith in our God, the God of the Hebrews.
Luke refers to Cornelius as a “God-fearer” which meant that although he worshiped Jehovah…he had not been circumcised so as to become a full-fledged Jew. God-fearers like himself were allowed to attend the synagogue but they had to sit in the back—much like African Americans were treated back in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s…when they were forced to sit in the back or in the balcony of churches—or ride in the back of buses. Anyway, unlike most Romans, who were polytheistic—worshiping many gods—Cornelius chose to serve the one true God—the God of the Jews and not only in WORD—but in DEED as well. You see, Cornelius was a Godly man—a true seeker, sincerely desiring to not only know ABOUT God…but to KNOW God. And God responded to his seeking by sending an angel. In Acts 10:4 the angel says, “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. He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”
As a soldier, Cornelius knew how to obey orders so immediately he called two of his servants and another God-fearing soldier and dispatched them to Simon’s house in Joppa. Well, a few days later Peter was in Joppa on the roof of Simon’s home praying. It was about lunch time and while he was waiting for his meal to be prepared, he fell into a trance and God gave him a vision—one that I’m sure you are familiar with. Remember? Peter saw a four-cornered sheet coming down out of the sky and it was filled with all kinds of food—but not all of it was kosher. Lucado writes, “The sheet contained enough unkosher food to uncurl the payos of any Hasidic Jew.” And Lucado is right in saying this. I’m sure there was ham and lobster and snakes and other meat that the Jews considered unclean.
Peter heard a voice from Heaven say, “Arise, Peter, kill and eat.” (Vs 13) and his response was, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unclean.” (Vs 14) The Lord’s response was, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” (Vs 15) God had to three-peat this vision before Peter began to see through is prejudice. Then—just as his attitudinal healing was beginning to kick in, there was a knock on the door and God said, “Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.” (Vs 20) And remember, these three men were Gentiles. So really God was saying, “Simon, guess who’s coming to dinner?”
In response to this surprise company Peter showed that he was indeed beginning to heal. God’s treatment was working, because at this point Peter did something no Jew would ever do. He actually invited these three “unclean” Gentiles into the house! Most Jews would have said, “Nice to meet you, but let’s talk out here in the street. And there’s a Motel-6 outside of town where you can stay.” But Peter invited them in and even gave them lodging for the night. The next morning, Peter and some of the Jewish Christians from Joppa joined the three Gentiles and set out for the home of Cornelius in Caesarea. It was probably the first time Peter had ever journeyed with Gentiles. I imagine that as they walked along he thought, “Hey, these Gentiles are humans after all. They’re not so different!” Then when they arrived a couple days later Peter showed another indication that he had indeed embraced God’s way of thinking because Cornelius bowed down before the Apostle Peter and Peter said, “Stand up. I am only a man—JUST LIKE YOU.” (Acts 10:26) I also want you to note that Cornelius was ready for Peter’s arrival. According to verse 27, he had gathered a large group of people to hear what Peter had to say.
He had apparently calculated how long it would take for Peter to get there and had enlisted a house full of fellow seekers, waiting, hungry to hear the Gospel. This should remind us that our almighty God always goes before us in every witnessing encounter. I mean, we are never on our own when we share our faith because as Jesus said in John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me draws him.” And as Peter learned when he arrived, several people in Caesarea had been responding to God’s drawing.
As they sat down Cornelius explained the angel’s visit 4 days prior and that’s where I’d like us to start reading so if you haven’t already done so, take your Bibles and turn to Acts 10. We’ll begin with verse 34:
34 – Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism
35 – but accepts men from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.
36 – You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, Who is Lord of all.
37 – You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached—
38 – how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how He went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with Him.
39 – We are witnesses of everything He did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed Him by hanging Him on a tree,
40 – but God raised Him from the dead on the third day and caused Him to be seen.
41 – He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead.
42 – He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the One Whom God appointed as Judge of the living and the dead.
43 – All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”
At this point in Peter’s sermon—which as you can see was the basic Gospel message—at this point, Cornelius and his friends responded by putting their faith in Jesus. They received the Holy Spirit—and as you and I know we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit at the moment of conversion.
This puzzled the Jewish Christians who had come with Peter—because they also knew that if the Holy Spirit was in these Gentiles then they had indeed become Christians. They had been thinking these Gentiles would have to become Jews first—including being circumcised. In fact, I imagine they had been sharpening their knives all the way from Joppa. So, like Peter, their prejudice was healed. They learned that God WAS indeed no respecter of persons.
Okay—How did God do this? What was His treatment? How did He cure Peter and his friends of this mental malady? I believe God patiently led them to understand three basic “evangelism 101” truths—truths that we must embrace if we are to be healed of our own prejudices and become freed from this sinful way of thinking. I’m reminded of Jesus’ teaching when He said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” (John 8:32) Let’s review these truths—essential truths all evangelists must embrace.
(1) God LOVES all people the same way.
Now…I know you hear me say that God loves all people from this pulpit a lot. You heard me say this in my last two sermons in fact—and if you’re expecting me to say “but” at this point…you’re wasting your time. Because I will ALWAYS preach the wonderful freeing truth that GOD LOVES ALL PEOPLE…no “if’s,” “ands,” or “buts” about it!
This aspect of God’s great love is something Peter had to grasp to be healed of his prejudice. He had to realize that God’s love is for ALL people—he had to see that, yes, the Jews were chosen—but chosen to tell the entire world of God’s great love. In the same way that an older child he has to learn that his parents love his younger siblings just as much as they love Him, Peter had to realize that God loves all people in the world equally. Peter had been raised to think like most Jews in the 1st Century. They knew they were God’s chosen people—but they thought that meant they were God’s FAVORITE people. And God used this experience in Acts 10 to help Peter learn that His God was not only the God of the Jews but of all people—that as Jesus had said, “For God so loved THE WORLD—not just the Jews—that He sent His only Son…”
This is something you and I must understand if our prejudicial thinking is to be corrected. God loves everyone the same. I mean, He doesn’t have favorites. He doesn’t favor America over other nations or one race over another or men over women or rich over poor. It doesn’t matter who you are. God loves you as much as He does everyone else. Anyone can know Him. Anyone can experience His love. Anyone can be forgiven. Anyone can do His will. Anyone can talk to Him in prayer. Anyone can live a life that brings Him glory. God genuinely, passionately, loves everyone—no if’s ands or buts about it!
In his autobiography Mahatma Gandhi shares that in his student days in England he was deeply touched by reading the Gospels and seriously considered becoming a convert to Christianity, which to him seemed a real solution to the caste system that divided the people of India. One Sunday he attended church services and decided to ask the minister for enlightenment on salvation and other doctrines. But when Ghandi entered the sanctuary, the ushers refused to give him a seat and suggested that he go elsewhere to worship with his own people. He left and never came back.
Later he wrote, “If Christians have caste differences also, I might as well remain a Hindu!” This tragic story illustrates the truth that in order to flush prejudice from our thinking we must remember that God is unconditionally inclusive in His love—and we see this clearest in the fact that nothing kept Jesus from us. The Message paraphrases John 1:14 to say, “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.” I love that wording. I mean, Jesus touched lepers and loved foreigners and spent so much time with partygoers that people called Him a “…lush, a friend of the riffraff.” (Matthew 11:19) Lucado writes, “Racism couldn’t keep Jesus from the Samaritan woman; demons couldn’t keep Him from the demoniac. His facebook page included the likes of Zacchaeus the Ponzi-meister, Matthew the IRS agent, and some floozy He met at Simon’s house.” Listen friends! God loves ALL people the same way—and if we are to join Him in His saving work, we must love them too. Here’s a second thing we can learn from this story.
(2) God JUDGES all people the same way.
As Peter said in verse 42, Jesus “…is the One Whom God appointed as Judge of the living and the dead.” In other words, JESUS will judge anyone-living and dead the same—regardless of their skin color or education or how good a life they live—He, and He alone, will judge all people equally.
In 1994 three American citizens conspired together to smuggle heroin from Thailand into the United States. They were all caught but in different places. The person caught in the United States was given a 2 year suspended sentence and sent to rehab. The one caught in Holland spent two years in a Dutch prison. The one caught in Thailand was sentenced to death. Same crime, three different punishments because the idea of justice differs from nation to nation. In America it differs from state to state and even from judge to judge. And, we can argue till we’re blue in the face over which judge or which nation is “right”—but the fact remains that there is tremendous inequity whenever people try to administer justice. Some have rightfully argued that in courtrooms across our nation, rich have the advantage over the poor, and whites over everyone else. But praise the Lord, it doesn’t work that way with God. Human courts may fail at administering justice, but God judges everyone the same way—with absolute fairness. And, as I said, we will all be judged equally by one thing and one thing only—whether or not we repented of our sin and accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We will not be judged by race or nationality or denomination or intellect or prestige or by how much good we did. No, we will all be judged by our response to the cross of Christ. As Christians, we must never forget this. We are all filthy sinners—equally dependent on the grace of God.
Harry Ironside tells a personal story about the death of his father. As his dad was dying, he kept muttering something and the family couldn’t quite understand what it was. But finally they realized that the elder Mr. Ironside was thinking about this vision of Peter’s—the sheet full of animals. He was saying, “A great sheet and wild beasts and, and …” He couldn’t quite finish it.
A friend bent over and whispered, “John, the Bible says, ‘creeping things.’” “Oh, yes,” he said. “That’s how I got in. Just a poor good for nothing creeping thing…but I got in, saved by grace.” To be cured of his prejudice, Peter had to understand this basic truth—that God judges all of us equally because all of us have sinned and fallen short of His glory. Listen—God calls us to change the way we look at people. We mustn’t see them as Gentiles or Jews or liberals or conservatives…but as we view ourselves: as sinners saved only by the grace of God. As 2nd Corinthians 5:16 says, “We have to stop evaluating others from a human point of view.” (NLT)
This leads us to one more truth we can to take from this text.
(3) God offers SALVATION to all people the same Way.
Quoting John 3:16 once again, “For God so-loved the world that He sent His only Son that WHOSOEVER believes…” This beloved verse reminds us that God’s arms are open for any sinner who will come to Him in repentance. Like the old chorus goes, “WHOSOEVER will, may come!” And we know Peter understood this truth because in verse 43 he said to Cornelius and the other Gentile seekers, “Everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins in His name.” Years later in his 2nd epistle Peter put it this way, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting ANYONE to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) Salvation is offered to anyone the same way—in Jesus’ name. It doesn’t matter what your race is or how much money you have or how intelligent you are or how good looking you’re not. God offers YOU salvation—salvation through His Son. So the fact is, it’s not who you are, it’s Who you know. That’s what really matters!
I’m told that every year Macintosh sponsors a computer convention called “MacWorld”. Thousands of dealers and distributors and software developers attend. Years ago one of the scheduled speakers was the late STEVE JOBS, who of course was one of the founders of Apple Computers—Macintosh. In order to get into the convention you had to have a convention ID badge. Steve left his at the hotel that day and didn’t realize it until he got to the convention center. “No problem,” he thought. “After all, I’m Steve Jobs.” Unfortunately the security guard at the door didn’t recognize him and refused to let him in without a badge. One of Jobs’ assistants offered to let him use his badge but when the security guard heard this, he threatened to have them both arrested. After a flurry of frantic calls on their cell phones, the Mac people were finally able to locate the security guard’s boss, who came to the main entrance. Steve Jobs knew this man, and he was finally let in to speak at his own convention. So you see, it didn’t matter that he was founder of the company, if Steve Jobs had not known the security guard’s boss, he never would have gotten in the door. In the same way, it doesn’t matter who you are—it only matters Who you know.
Well, let me ask you-do you KNOW Jesus? Have you prayed to Him and admitted that, just like everyone else, you are a sinner in need of His forgiveness? If not, then do so right now. Come to the ground at the foot of the cross—it is the level—and ask Jesus to forgive you and then invite Him into your heart and life as Savior and Lord. And—if you’re already a Christian—but you realize that you are infected with prejudice, you need to kneel at that level ground at the food of the cross as well and ask for God’s forgiveness and healing. Ask Him to heal you as He did Peter.
You may even need to go to someone and ask for their forgiveness so that your relationship with him or her can be healed. As we stand now and sing, come as God leads.