18 Jan

5/6/18  Acts 11:1-18    “Where is Your Hope Found?”

I know that we have a lot of problems in our world today and I could take up all my time by naming them.  We have guns, mass shootings, abortion, politics just to name a very few.  But the underlying cause of all of these and any other problem is Satan.  This is his world and he plays us like a master violinist plays a complicated concerto.  He has wormed his way into all aspects of our lives and we don’t even realize it.  As a matter of fact, we often invite him in willingly.  He may be the eventual demise of this country.  He is that strong; far stronger than any of us.  I drive by places on Sunday mornings and wonder just how many people actually attend church.  We will never get things straightened out until we turn back to Jesus.  He is our only hope and we have to acknowledge and act on this.  In this morning’s reading we have dietary restrictions being lifted from the Jewish Christians plus the way is opened up so all people can come to Jesus, not just Jews.  Let’s see how this is relative to your life.

Melvin Newland tells the story of a man who went on a missionary trip to a very remote part of Thailand.  They were warned ahead of time that these people were really poor.  But that didn’t prepare them for what they saw.  These people lived in what we might call grass huts.  There was garbage everywhere; they people were underfed and dirty.

And that wasn’t the worst part.  Just about all the people went around with a blank stare.  The government had promised them an education so they could help themselves out of their poverty.  But they had only delivered an education to the 4^th grade and only then if you could pay for it.  The people realized that they had no chance at a better life and worst of all is that the children realized it also.  So here was a community with no hope.  Of course the missionaries were there to show them that there is hope and that hope is in Jesus Christ. There is always hope with Jesus.

Anyway this got me to thinking about our society.  We like to think that this is the greatest society in the world.  We have so many things that we don’t even like to think about how some of our people live way under the poverty level.  I have been to many homes in this area where there are similar blank stares of no hope.  I have been on reservations where many people young and old look as if there is no hope.  We talked last week about a woman named Alice who lived in an orphanage.  She had no hope after a few rejections.  What is it that we do to children where they start school in the first grade all excited and enthusiastic and by the time they are in 7^th grade they have lost all spark in their eyes.  I could keep going with this but I hope you see a pattern.  It’s the pattern of no Jesus in our lives.  But there is hope and there is hope for all people everywhere no matter what the circumstances.  The name of this hope is Jesus Christ.

And that is what this today’s scripture is telling us.  If we just glance at this reading we would say that this is the place where God lifts the dietary restrictions for the Jewish diet.  As I stated last week, most Christians during this time were also Jews.  They would go to the synagogues on Saturday and observe the Sabbath.  Then they would observe the Christian Sabbath on Sunday.  They were not yet separate.  But this passage says so much more than that.

As we begin we see that Peter had just come from the house of Cornelius who was a Gentile.  He had been in the house and eaten with Gentiles.  The Jewish Christians were upset.  No Jew would ever do this. This is a huge red flag to them.  Even though they were Christians, they still considered themselves Jews.  And to eat with a Gentile was to be unclean.  They were exclusive in their Christianity as the Jews were in their Judaism.  Outsiders were not welcome.

I really don’t think that we have to go too far to see this today.  We are all exclusive.  We all feel that our country is the best in the world and it may well be so.  But this kind of thinking just isn’t right.  We are also exclusive about our religions.  Methodism is best.  Or Presbyterianism is best.  Or it is best to be a Catholic.  But none of these things are right.  Jesus Christ is not about who is best.  It is not about where we can go so that we feel the best.  It is about honoring Jesus Christ.  It is about putting Him first in our lives.  It is about adjusting our lives to the Bible and not adjusting the Bible to our lives.

As we move on we see that Peter starts one of his famous discourses.  He is talking to a bunch of angry people.  They were angry because he had eaten with the Gentiles.  Peter begins with a vision he had from God.  Please make no mistake about it; God is in total control here.  He sent this vision to Peter about the animals so that Peter could relate it to these angry followers.  And in the vision Peter is to eat all kinds of animals that are not clean.  Totally unheard of!

And God did not just send this vision one time.  He sent it three times.  He reinforced it so that there would be no doubt in Peter’s mind or the minds of those listening to Peter.  God wants these people to know without a doubt that it is ok to eat anything that God tells them to eat.  God tells them, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”  Basically He is saying that what you eat physically is not that important.  Spiritual food is what is important.

Most people who do not know the Bible and our wonderful Savior will stop here and say this is all about the dietary laws of the Jews.  Well, it is about that but it is also about so much more.  Through Peter God has gotten the attention of the disciples and followers.

I have just one quick little question here.  What does God do to you to get your attention?  I have only been a Christian for 26 or 27 years.  I think that He uses just about everything around me to get my attention.  I could have never followed the evidence trail that I can follow now before I became a believer.  There is so much evidence that He is working everywhere.  For example one time many years ago, we blew an engine on one of our cars.  That is bad news.  Monday we went and found a replacement car.  That was good and bad news.  I picked the car up on Wednesday and the salesman and I were talking about the misfortune.  I said and I quote from a friend of ours, “If you can replace it with money, then it is not important.”  This stopped him in his tracks.  We spent about 10 minutes talking of his salvation.  He did not come to the Lord that day but he might have later.  I had planted the seed and the rest was up to the Holy Spirit.  I had become the link to this person and God.  God uses us and we don’t even know it sometimes.  And He can use you also.

If you know someone that doesn’t know Jesus, tell them about Him.  Have them repent of their sins and ask Jesus to live in their hearts.  They will never regret it and you will have allowed Jesus to work through you.  If you are not sure about doing this, talk to me as I may have a couple of useful ideas that God has given me.  Or else you can tell me who you are thinking of and I will try to talk to them.  But this is important stuff.  This could have an eternal difference for people you know.

And that is what God is doing here through Peter.  In the next section we find Peter with a bunch of Gentiles.  The Holy Spirit is directing Peter now and he goes without hesitation with them.  As Peter began to speak the Holy Spirit came upon these men just like He had come upon the disciples in the beginning.  And now for the revelation; Peter remembered what the Lord had said in the beginning, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Suddenly Peter knows.  He knows that this wondrous gift is for the Gentiles also.  It is not just for the Jews.  This is tremendously important.  This gift is for you also.  And then he goes on to say, “Who was I to think that I could oppose God?”

We always take it for granted that Jesus is there for us and we should rightfully think this.  Or better yet, we should know this.  For me, Christianity is not just belief but it is ‘a knowledge.’  For me, I do not only believe in Jesus but I know for a fact that He is there.  I have experienced the living God as many of you have also.

But this wasn’t always so.  And it is in this passage that we read with absolute certainty that Jesus is for everyone and not just the Jews.  Unfortunately, this trips us up today just like the Jews had trouble with it.  I would like you to think about the the poor children of Thailand, in Africa and in China.  Do we minister to them?  Or do we minister to all the children who live in garbage dumps throughout the world?  Or is Jesus for us and not for the homosexual world?  And here is the one that I have trouble with because I have trouble with pride.  Is Jesus for those people who have different opinions from my own?

And the answer is yes, yes, yes, yes.  Jesus is for everyone.  I don’t care if you are big, small, black, white, nice or obnoxious, Jesus is for you.  And we should be praising the Lord for this because there is not a person in this room who is worthy of this gift.  Not one!  It is only through the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross that makes us worthy.  So next time God tugs at you to talk to someone about Jesus just do it.  You may find an attentive audience like the car salesman I mentioned earlier.  I have found that if you are filled with the Holy Spirit, people listen.

Now we come to the last paragraph.  This is the last miracle of this passage.  After Peter’s audience heard this, they had no further objections.  Not only that but they praised God for granting the Gentiles repentance into real life.  These people, these listeners had been programmed since they were little children that the Gentiles were some sort of inferior unclean being.  This was ingrained into their minds.  They had never praised God for the Gentiles before this.  And we see that there was not only praise but there were absolutely no objections.  This can only happen because God is at work here.  I just love to find all these hidden miracles in our Scriptures.

I think that we should take a look at our own broken lives.  I want you to know that I include myself in this also because I am just as guilty as anyone else.  How often do you hear God speak to you and yet ignore it?  How often do you feel compassion for someone or a mission and yet ignore it?  How often do you see the tears of the so called unworthy and yet walk away?  Or better yet, how often do you criticize someone for presenting Jesus in a way that is different from us?

You are an extension of Jesus Christ.  And you will never feel better than when you pick up your cross and do the work that God has intended for you.  God wants what is the very, very best for you.  And this is how you go about getting the very best.  You become a servant.  You become a servant to those that seem unworthy.  You never know where this will lead you.

That reminds me of a story told by Jim Cymbala about a woman named Roberta.  She left her broken home at age 16 to live with a man in his thirties.  He started her on heavy drug use.  One night after they had shot up some heroin, he thought that she had died.  He just left her on a rooftop for someone to find.  They did and she was revived.

Roberta recovered from this but went right back into the drug culture.  She shared needles with everyone and finally ended up trying to sell her furniture to support her drug habit.  Then she called her mother and moved back home to Florida.  There she kicked the habit.  She was excited to have a new life until she found out she was HIV positive.  This sent her back into drugs for two more years.  She ended up in front of the Brooklyn Tabernacle pleading to God.  God took her in through someone at that tabernacle.  She started a ministry that continues for drug users, especially ones that have HIV and have no hope.  She tries to give them the hope of Jesus.  She went from a down and out drug addict to a disciple of Jesus.  Wow!

Jesus took me from a godless life and transformed me into a preacher.  He worked this miracle because my mother kept praying for me.  Jesus will work through all of you if you let him.  Whatever He has you do, you will find just as much Godly satisfaction as I do as I minister every week.  Even though you are a Gentile, he wants you so He can help you.  You take the first step and He will take all the rest.  Open your heart to do his good works today and you will never regret it.  Praise the Lord.  And thank you Jesus for first loving us.  Let’s pray.