Wednesday April 20th, 2016 Acts 11:1-18
"The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us." (verse 12)
In this passage, Peter is in Jerusalem with Jewish Christians, speaking of his personal journey and how that journey has changed his concept of God and his view of the world. He has come to understand that there is “no distinction between them and us.” Peter’s experience with non-Jewish folks has been as exciting for them as it was for the first Jewish Christians, on hearing the good news. This comes as a surprise to those early Jewish Christians. They do praise God for this new-found knowledge, but it is telling how their joy is expressed in verse 18: “Then God has given even to the Gentiles?”
It has often been true over the centuries that just when good folks think they finally have God figured out, the Spirit moves in new and unexpected directions. God’s love for humanity is such that there is no room for “us and them,” only “us.” Peter does not use fancy arguments to try to persuade his listeners. He simply tells them what the Spirit has been up to in his own life. When the Spirit provides an opening, it begins like this: “Do you know what God has been doing? Let me tell you?”
God of our journeys, bless those whose lives we will touch today. Amen. — RB
Contributed by Who does God include?
In this passage, Peter is in Jerusalem with Jewish Christians, speaking of his personal journey and how that journey has changed his concept of God and his view of the world. He has come to understand that there is "no distinction between them and us." Peter's experience with non-Jewish folks has been as exciting for them as it was for the first Jewish Christians, on hearing the good news. This comes as a surprise to those early Jewish Christians. They do praise God for this new-found knowledge, but it is telling how their joy is expressed in verse 18: "Then God has given even to the Gentiles?"
It has often been true over the centuries that just when good folks think they finally have God figured out, the Spirit moves in new and unexpected directions. God's love for humanity is such that there is no room for "us and them," only "us." Peter does not use fancy arguments to try to persuade his listeners. He simply tells them what the Spirit has been up to in his own life. When the Spirit provides an opening, it begins like this: "Do you know what God has been doing? Let me tell you?"
