4 Step-by-step, Peter explained what had happened. 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying when I had a visionary experience. In my vision, I saw something like a large linen sheet being lowered from heaven by its four corners. It came all the way down to me. 6 As I stared at it, wondering what it was, I saw four-legged animals—including wild beasts—as well as reptiles and wild birds.[a] 7 I heard a voice say, ‘Get up, Peter! Kill and eat!’ 8 I responded, ‘Absolutely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 The voice from heaven spoke a second time, ‘Never consider unclean what God has made pure.’ 10 This happened three times, then everything was pulled back into heaven. 11 At that moment three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were staying. 12 The Spirit told me to go with them even though they were Gentiles. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered that man’s house. 13 He reported to us how he had seen an angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is known as Peter. 14 He will tell you how you and your entire household can be saved.’ 15 When I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as the Spirit fell on us in the beginning. 16 I remembered the Lord’s words: ‘John will baptize with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, then who am I? Could I stand in God’s way?”
18 Once the apostles and other believers heard this, they calmed down. They praised God and concluded, “So then God has enabled Gentiles to change their hearts and lives so that they might have new life.”[Footnotes:
Acts 11:6 Or birds in the sky]
Reflection Questions:Some of the early Christians in Jerusalem thought it was okay to "love" Roman "sinners," as long as you made it clear that you hated their sins by refusing to socialize or eat with them. God had to direct forcefully to get Peter and Cornelius together. Cornelius saw an angel; Peter had a vivid vision three times; the Spirit spelled out, "Go with these men." Peter summed it up eloquently: "Who am I? Could I stand in God's way?"
- Peter's critics in Jerusalem could quote Bible texts that said Israelites should avoid contact with Gentiles (e.g. Deuteronomy 23:3, Nehemiah 13:1-3). So Peter was quite sure he knew what was clean and unclean, and a bit proud that he had strictly avoided the unclean (verse 8). Then he learned that God's definitions were different from his. Has God ever led you to rethink any of your "clean-unclean" definitions? Are there any God is nudging you about right now?
- Prejudice was not one-sided. Jews saw Romans as impure pagan occupiers; Romans saw Jews as ignorant conquered people with odd practices. Why do you think God cared so much about guiding Peter and Cornelius beyond those negative views of each other? We all see the world somewhat as "us" and "them." Are you okay with leaving "them" alone, or has God's desire to reach beyond barriers begun to shape your feelings, too?
Mike Wilhoit serves at The Church of the Resurrection as Local Missions Director.
It wasn’t an angel or dream that nudged me out of my pre-teen comfort zone, but a public school system.
Stamford, Connecticut sits on Long Island Sound just 45 minutes northeast of New York City. My hometown is a great mix of families from every religious and socioeconomic background. It was there that I began walking out of a bubble. Before Stamford High School, my world was made up of people like me–white, upper middle-class and religious, whether Catholic, Protestant or Jewish.
My high school basketball teammates, most of whom were African-American, welcomed and inspired me. Soon, I found myself in gyms and games where I was a racial minority and very at home.
As the Director of Local Missions at Resurrection, I encourage you to join me on the journey and consider volunteering at one of our inner-city partner schools. The only thing you have to lose is your comfort zone. Click here to learn more about opportunities to serve in our partner Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, you said, "Happy are people who make peace, because they will be called God's children." Nurture your peace-making spirit in my heart—yes, even toward the "thems" in my life. Amen.
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grow. pray. study. The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide - Wednesday, 4 February 2015 "'Hating the sins' of others can blind us to our own"
Daily Scripture: Matthew 7: Judging
Elton Trueblood's book The Humor of Christ noted that Jesus, far from always being somber and serious, often used humorous images to make a point vivid. In today's reading, Jesus painted the absurd picture of someone with a log in their eye criticizing and trying to remove a splinter in another person's eye. The image was laughable, but Jesus' point was serious. He knew it's easier to rebuke even others' small failures than to see and correct our own flaws.
Lord Jesus, set me free from the addictive feeling of superiority when I find a "sin" to hate in someone else. Give me a clearer vision of myself, and of the love and grace with which you flood my life. Amen.
It wasn’t an angel or dream that nudged me out of my pre-teen comfort zone, but a public school system.
Stamford, Connecticut sits on Long Island Sound just 45 minutes northeast of New York City. My hometown is a great mix of families from every religious and socioeconomic background. It was there that I began walking out of a bubble. Before Stamford High School, my world was made up of people like me–white, upper middle-class and religious, whether Catholic, Protestant or Jewish.
My high school basketball teammates, most of whom were African-American, welcomed and inspired me. Soon, I found myself in gyms and games where I was a racial minority and very at home.
As the Director of Local Missions at Resurrection, I encourage you to join me on the journey and consider volunteering at one of our inner-city partner schools. The only thing you have to lose is your comfort zone. Click here to learn more about opportunities to serve in our partner Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, you said, "Happy are people who make peace, because they will be called God's children." Nurture your peace-making spirit in my heart—yes, even toward the "thems" in my life. Amen.
____________________________grow. pray. study. The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide - Wednesday, 4 February 2015 "'Hating the sins' of others can blind us to our own"
7 “Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged. 2 You’ll receive the same judgment you give. Whatever you deal out will be dealt out to you. 3 Why do you see the splinter that’s in your brother’s or sister’s eye, but don’t notice the log in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother or sister, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ when there’s a log in your eye? 5 You deceive yourself! First take the log out of your eye, and then you’ll see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s or sister’s eye.
Reflection Questions:Elton Trueblood's book The Humor of Christ noted that Jesus, far from always being somber and serious, often used humorous images to make a point vivid. In today's reading, Jesus painted the absurd picture of someone with a log in their eye criticizing and trying to remove a splinter in another person's eye. The image was laughable, but Jesus' point was serious. He knew it's easier to rebuke even others' small failures than to see and correct our own flaws.
- What kinds of psychological "payoffs" often make it feel better to criticize others than to admit and face up to our own challenges? In what ways can recognizing the payoffs from that tendency serve as the first step in changing our behavior? What spiritual practices have you found that strengthen you to resist the inner urge to judge others?
- Have you ever had someone judgmentally attempt to remove a "speck" from your "eye?" Did that experience draw you closer either to the other person or to God? How did that experience differ from a time when someone graciously and compassionately offered insights you felt free to accept or reject?
Lord Jesus, set me free from the addictive feeling of superiority when I find a "sin" to hate in someone else. Give me a clearer vision of myself, and of the love and grace with which you flood my life. Amen.
Insight from Steven Blair
Rev. Steven Blair is the Congregational Care Pastor of Live Forward and Live Well Emotional Wellness Ministry. www.cor.org/liveforward
Jesus has a sense of humor, evidenced by this Scripture. People would have laughed. Jesus told the Pharisees, the professional law followers, about pointing fingers. “You focus on the speck in someone else’s eyes and tell them how they should remove that speck with rinsing, but you have a big log coming out of your eyes.” The crowd would have snickered to each other, “Jesus just called the Pharisees Log-Eye.”
A log coming out of one’s eye is a funny picture, until it’s our eye and our log.
It’s a funny picture, until someone else’s log hits us.
Jesus is using humor to challenge the judgmental people. “When you point a finger at another person, you point four more back at yourself.”
Unless you want to be Mister or Miss Log-Eye, do not judge. It’s a funny picture, until it isn’t.
Church of the Resurrection
Jesus has a sense of humor, evidenced by this Scripture. People would have laughed. Jesus told the Pharisees, the professional law followers, about pointing fingers. “You focus on the speck in someone else’s eyes and tell them how they should remove that speck with rinsing, but you have a big log coming out of your eyes.” The crowd would have snickered to each other, “Jesus just called the Pharisees Log-Eye.”
A log coming out of one’s eye is a funny picture, until it’s our eye and our log.
It’s a funny picture, until someone else’s log hits us.
Jesus is using humor to challenge the judgmental people. “When you point a finger at another person, you point four more back at yourself.”
Unless you want to be Mister or Miss Log-Eye, do not judge. It’s a funny picture, until it isn’t.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224 United States
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