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January 18, 2009
“The Great Tablecloth Vision”
Acts 10: 9-23
January 18th, 2009
Chapter 10 of the book of acts describes a turning point in the church of Jesus Christ. It can be argued that this chapter also describes a turning point in human history.
It all started with a man named Cornelius. Cornelius was a Centurion or Master Sergeant in the Roman Army stationed in Caesarea on the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Caesarea was the capital of that district of the Roman Empire. Being stationed in Caesarea was good and bad. It was good because of the climate. The coast of the Mediterranean Sea usually provides one with a good climate and a good view.
The bad part of his assignment was that Caesarea was in Israel. No Roman politician or Soldier desired to serve in Israel. They were seen by the local population as being oppressors and usurpers of the authority that naturally belonged to God and the deposed Jewish rulers.
During that time there were all sorts of Jewish uprisings against Rome. In about 30 years the final Jewish Rebellion against Rome would occur. At the end of that rebellion, Jerusalem would be destroyed and most of the Jewish population would be destroyed or deported.
Cornelius was not your average Non-Commissioned Roman officer. He seems to have liked his assignment in Israel and he seems to have gotten to know the locals. He began to Worship their God with them and he contributed to their offerings for the poor in their communities. We are told that he was a God-fearer, a Jewish term for a Gentile who worshipped their God but had not formally become a Jew.
Such a person would be welcome at the synagogue services but would not be welcome in Jewish homes or be able to receive Jewish guests in his home. Gentiles and Jews did not mix socially because of the OT laws against intermarriage between Jews and Gentiles and especially because of the Jewish Food laws. Jews could only eat certain kinds of food. They were especially restricted as to what kinds of meat they could eat. Their food also had to be killed and prepared in specific ways. So Jews only bought food from a Jewish market. Food prepared in a Gentile kitchen was forbidden.
So Cornelius was welcome in the Worship of the Jewish community but he was not a part of the Jewish community. One day an angel of God visited Cornelius in a vision. The angel told Cornelius to send to Joppa and invite St. Peter to come and stay with and talk to him. So Cornelius sent two servants and a soldier to invite Peter to return with them. They were almost at the end of their 30 mile journey when God visited Peter to prepare him for their visit and invitation
Peter was at the time on the flat roof of the house he was staying at in Joppa. He was hungry and he was up there praying while his lunch was being prepared.
God gave Peter a vision. In the vision Peter saw a large cloth, probably sailcloth, let down like a tablecloth would be floated onto a table. On the sheet or tablecloth were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. Some would have been acceptable as food for Jews, some would not, but the command of God was “Get up, Peter, kill and Eat”.
This caused a problem for Peter. He was an Apostle of Jesus, but he was still a Jew. He had been raised to practice the Jewish dietary laws. According to those rules, some of the animals on that tablecloth were unclean, Jews were not allowed to eat them. And even the clean or acceptable animals would have to have been blessed by a priest or rabbi, killed according to Jewish ritual, and prepared in proper vessels in a Jewish kitchen. Peter was commanded to kill and eat all of the animals on the cloth.
Peter said “No. I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.” The voice of Jesus answered “What God has made clean you must not call profane.” God then repeated the instructions two more times. Now in the Bible, when a vision or set of instruction occurs three times in a row, it means that this is definitely the Word of the Lord. So Peter was sure that he had the word of the Lord on this matter, but what matter was it? What did the vision mean?
At just that moment, the Gentile representatives of the Gentile Cornelius were arriving at the Jewish household where Peter was staying. At that point the Holy Spirit spoke to Peter and said, “Look, three men are searching for you. Now get up, go down, and go with them without hesitation: for I have sent them.”
I would be willing to bet that Peter was not happy to see that they were Gentiles, representatives of a Roman Centurion, and that the invitation involved Peter’s staying in his house and eating his food. In addition to the Gentile and food problem, remember that Peter’s beloved Lord Jesus was killed by Roman Soldiers. And now the voice of Jesus had commanded him to go and stay in the home of a Roman soldier.
Peter was a great apostle but his life as a Jewish man living in Roman controlled Israel had left him with some prejudices. And sometimes prejudices are not erased without considerable effort.
God took considerable effort in this case. Peter did go to Caesarea with those 3 Gentile men. He did stay in Cornelius’ house and eat his Gentile food. And most importantly, Peter preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Cornelius and his family and friends. And they believed. And that was the beginning of Gentiles, non-Jews becoming Christians. And all of us have had a stake in that. We are all but one or two of us Gentiles who believe in Jesus. Cornelius was our spiritual ancestor, the first born again non-Jew.
God used the vision of the tablecloth or sheet to make Peter understand that God was now accepting Gentiles as equals in His sight to Jews, the chosen people.
When God said to Peter “What God has made clean, you must not call profane”, those words were to have an impact on much more than just Peter or the apostles or Cornelius or his friends. You see, we never know whom God has made clean, or is making clean or will make clean. We never know whom God is working in by His Holy Spirit. God has made for us brothers and sisters in Christ of every nation and ethnic group in our world. And God willing, many more will be made clean by the blood of Jesus before he returns.
And that means that we Christians must treat every person we meet with dignity and respect. They were created by God and bear His image. And they might be or become our brothers and sisters in Christ. How wonderful it would be if they might come to Jesus partially because of our love and acceptance of them and our witness to them.
Tomorrow is a Holiday that honors a man who sought equality for all people of all nations and ethnicities. Tuesday a man from his race will be inaugurated as President of the United States of America.
It appears that we have come farther from segregation and prejudice than some of us had thought. And that is a marvelous thing. But we can only continue our progress as long as we Christians continue to see in each person we meet a creature in the image of God and a potential brother or sister in Christ. Our progress will only continue as long as we treat each person with dignity and honor because they bear God’s image. Our progress will only continue as long as we remember that we never know whom God has or will make clean by the blood of Jesus.
Pastor David Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Posted by faithpres at January 18, 2009 05:07 PM