Living on the Edge April 28, 2013

Life is filled with difficult lessons. Whether we are on the teaching side of the lesson or sitting on the learning side of the lesson – it might be - that one of life’s first lessons is the hardest. It is the lesson about sharing. My mother made a mean chicken wings and rice dish. It was a cheap meal and one that got her and her family through the depression. But for me – my mom’s chicken wings and rice was a meal fit for a king. My boyfriend through high school and college ate many a meal with us and one of his favorites was – chicken wings and rice. Like any good mom and cook she loved it when we showed our appreciation for her culinary delights – and so the small pan of chicken wings and rice grew larger and larger until it was made in a good sized soup pot. One evening my boyfriend was on his third helping and since he was in the living room with my dad eating at a TV table – I offered to refill his plate. Not because I was the doting girlfriend, but because I wanted to limit his rice intake – because you see I love the rice best and if he ate it all – or most of it- there would be less for me. Well right as I spooned a measly portion of rice on his plate – here comes my mother around the corner. And she was appalled at her stingy daughter and told me so in so many scolding whispers. But I held out – NO I said in my only child brat voice. And then quick as a blink the dish was out of my hands and in hers – and the measly rice portion grew to take over half the plate. I think she was trying to teach me a lesson... At any age...Perhaps the hardest of life’s lessons is the one about sharing. The question the religious authorities in Jerusalem asked Peter was Why did you eat with the uncircumcised? Translated --why did you eat with unclean Gentiles? More to the point – Peter, what possessed you to eat with people who are not like us? Bottom line - Peter, why would you even consider eating with people like them? It would appear that Peter’s back is up against a wall. He has broken the law in more than one way: It’s bad that Peter has eaten food that has been forbidden for generations; bad that he knowingly violated the dietary laws of his faith; It’s bad that he has knowingly associated with the unclean; but put them together – an actual sit down meal with heathens – done voluntarily..and perhaps even (oh say it isn’t so) enjoyed his evening with people who were different....Oh yes, Peter is in big trouble. It’s a funny thing about sharing a meal, isn’t it? When in the school cafeteria we sit with people we like; when thinking about having a dinner party, we invite people we like; at fellowship, at picnic in the park we tend to sit with people with whom we have things in common; even at family holiday dinners, we avoid crazy Aunt Clare and cousin Herman who beat us up when we were ten ---and hope all the way to Granma’s house that we don’t get stuck sitting next to them at the table. In its own way eating has an intimacy about it, and it is rare – if ever – that we share a meal with strangers, or people whose ideas are different than ours, rare that we would willingly share meal with enemies – or in Peter’s case, unclean heathens. Why was Peter willing to break rules that he had been taught all of his life? Why willing to be hauled in front of the religious authorities in Jerusalem? What could have compelled Peter to go against doctrine and be so sinfully reckless? Blame it on trances, and visions and dreams...blame it on seeking God’s will in prayer and hearing it in voices and angel’s messages. Blame it on the Holy Spirit at work. The Holy Spirit! Not the Holy Spirit. Peter, Peter....First eating with Gentiles – now you’re telling us that the Holy Spirit (excuse me, OUR HOLY SPIRIT) spoke to them...and yikes – fell upon them...you mean just like it fell upon us? Us, God’s chosen people? It’s a funny thing about sharing the Holy Spirit, isn’t it? When we THINK we’ve got it...(BUT WE PROBABLY DON’T) but no matter - we take ownership – belongs to me, not you – in our church, not yours, for certain kinds of people, but not those kinds of people. Since Jesus was a Jew and the Jewish Messiah...and we are talking gentiles here (that’s us by the way)...the question with which those in Jerusalem were faced was this: Who is in and who is out? Should anyone be out...is this what Jesus meant when he told us to Make disciples of all nations? If that was what Jesus meant – then lots of long held beliefs and ideas, long held religious doctrine and cultural norms were gonna have to change. Today’s reading records a time in our church history when that realization was just starting to sink in. Living Jesus’ teachings was counter-cultural, stepping into his footprints was radical behavior, being the church in a Jewish, pagan, Roman world was more than risky – it was life changing. It mean a change in thinking, in attitude, in behavior...it meant living on the edge. Though we try, we cannot imagine the very early church - breaking away from Judaism – scorned, humiliated, ridiculed, persecuted - diverse in a world that was segregated, inclusive in a world of prejudice and rules. In ways that the present day church is not – be assured that the early church was progressive and was a progressive force to be reckoned with. Way back in the first century, it was the church who was exploring a risky, radical, never-heard-before idea of accepting those considered unclean – the Gentiles – in the church. It was the church of the first century who looked back and remembered how lovingly Christ treated every unclean oddball reject...and then looked forward into an unknown future and trusted the leadings of the Holy Spirit. It was the church led by the Holy Spirit - who welcomed those who had always been excluded (gentiles/us) from keeping company with God’s covenant people. It was the church who --with Peter’s help, brought believers together by the breaking of bread and the sharing of the cup, the church who – looking to Christ - encouraged hospitality and table fellowship. It was the church --who with Peter’s help, recognized that the Holy Spirit was a free agent, without human-imposed limits, human prejudices, human arrogance. It was the church who knew there was no stifling the Holy Spirit; no keeping it from going where it would, or keep it from falling on all kinds of people. Let me paraphrase the closing words of one of the commentaries I read: : When today’s church seriously considers the truth about the inclusive and diverse nature of the first century church...when today’s church truly sees Christ and actually listens to Peter...when today’s church is embarrassed by whom we have chosen to exclude...and chooses instead to include...when we share both the nourishment of the body and that which nourishes our spirit with those who are not like us - then we too will be living on the edge.