Hinder

Acts 11:1-18
Peter’s Vision

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2011%3A1-18&version=NRSVUE
 
Peter had been busy spreading the good news and ministering to people. He was in Joppa after he brought Tabitha back to life, and he received an odd, perplexing vision from God about how God makes unclean animals clean. Peter retells this vision to the Jerusalem church, and it goes over about as well as telling a coworker about a crazy dream you had the night before. It did not make sense to them! Peter explains the vision by sharing how God perfectly timed the arrival of Cornelius’ men to take him to Cornelius’ household who was ready to receive Christ. Peter even said, “The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us” (v.12). So, Peter went and this Gentile household opened the door for Christ to enter the Gentile world.
 
Peter reported this amazing experience to the Jerusalem church, but they couldn’t get past the fact that Cornelius was a Gentile. He was a Roman Centurion, a Commander in the military, yet Cornelius “was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God” (Acts 10:2). Although he was a Roman, he had converted to the Jewish faith. And now, he and his household (which included his family and servants) believed in Jesus. What would that mean for them to lose their Roman friend who was sympathetic to their plight? What would that mean for their Jewish faith?
 
The apostles and other followers heard that Gentiles were receiving Christ, but the “circumcised believers” still struggled with their Jewish laws that said they were not supposed to associate with Gentiles. They asked: “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” (v.3). The uncircumcised, the Gentiles, were considered unclean, and they could not be near or eat with anyone unclean. The people could not get past their old laws that created insiders and outsiders, even though Peter explained God’s hand was in this.
 
Peter tried it from a different angle. He explained that he knew he wasn’t supposed to associate with Gentiles, but “God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean” (Acts 10:28). And, “If God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in Jesus, then who was I to hinder God?” (v.17, paraphrased). God is doing a new thing. Christ’s love is for everyone. Who am I to stand in the way of God?
 
When they heard this, they understood. They praised that “God has broken through to the other nations, [and] opened them up to Life!” (v. 18, The Message). God continues to break through our old way of thinking and our strict, discriminatory laws that hinder God’s love. God breaks through our distinctions and brings us together in Christ.
 
God’s dream is for all people to receive Christ. However, the people’s prejudice toward the Gentiles was a hindrance to God. Their laws created divisions between the people that stood in the way of God’s dream coming to fruition. There’s no stopping God though! The Spirit showed Peter God’s new vision. The Spirit moved Peter’s heart and used him to open the door to real change. Will we be the ones that God uses to bring real change, or will we be the ones who stand in God’s way? What in your life hinders God’s way, and how can you allow God to break through it to new life?    
 
 
Reflection Questions:
Have you ever stood in God’s way?
What has caused a hindrance to God? Your prejudice, anger, self-righteousness, grief?
How can you remove it to get out of God’s way?
 
Pray: Risen Lord, show us where we are standing in your way. Pour your Spirit upon us to see life in a new way.
 
Act: Allow a new spiritual insight to change the way you treat others.
  
*New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America.