Beyond Our Distinctions - Sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Easter (May 18, 2025)

Scripture Readings: Acts 11:1–18 | Psalm 148 | Revelation 21:1–6 | John 13:31–35

“The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us.” (Acts 11:12a).
 
I’ve never really been one for telling jokes. Some people are, and they have a whole host of jokes stored up, ready to go at a moment’s notice. Not me. But I did learned one joke as a child and that has always stuck with me. Here it goes:
 
‘What’s the difference between an elephant… and a loaf of bread? Well, if you don’t know the difference, I’m certainly not sending you to the store to buy a loaf of bread!
 
Sometimes distinctions matter a lot. But sometimes, we want to draw lines and build up barriers that end up actually getting in the way of what matters even more!
 
Our Scripture reading today from the book of Acts recounts the story of one of the biggest changes and challenges to the status quo that the first generation of Christians had to face: as the Holy Spirit of God led them to let go of a familiar and distinctive way of living… a way of seeing themselves, as well as all those around them, to become something new.

Our reading comes from a watershed moment in the story of the Christian Church, as St. Peter carefully defends his controversial choices and actions as an Apostle of Jesus Christ… actions that would come to have truly world-changing significance.
 
Following the Holy Spirit’s lead, St. Peter had opened up the fellowship of the Church to welcome in non-Israelites… baptizing a family of Gentiles, and embracing them as full brothers and sisters in Christ.
 
Now this may not seem like a big deal to us today, especially as most, if not all of us here this morning are Gentiles ourselves… descendants of families that cannot be traced back to the patriarchs of Israel. But this was an incredibly big deal for the early Church, which was an entirely Jewish community to begin with… one centered on a band of Galilean Jews, who bore witness to the Risen Lord Jesus of Nazareth, whom they proclaimed to be Israel’s Messiah, the Christ… God’s chosen one sent to rescue His people from their sins.
 
But as we heard, God Himself had worked through St. Peter to radically challenge some of the basic assumptions that were widely held by these first members of the Church, specifically assumptions about the age-old distinction between Jews and Gentiles.
 
Without belabouring the point… St. Peter tells his fellow Jewish Christians how God’s Holy Spirit led him to go with some Gentiles “and not to make a distinction between them and us.” (Acts 11:12). And how, in response to his visit and his message, these Gentiles received the gift of God’s Holy Spirit as well. Finally, St. Peter says to his critics “If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” (Acts 11:17).
 
And despite their own expectations, and reservations… the Jewish believers confronting St. Peter back in Jerusalem fell silent. They had a choice to make: to cling to their old ways, and the clear distinctions that had made so much sense up to this point… or to follow God’s lead, and to take part in this new thing His Spirit was inviting them to share in.

Thankfully, they chose the latter. Verse 17, “they praised God, saying, ‘Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.’” (Acts 11:18).
 
What happened here was nothing less than a complete paradigm shift for the Church… a radical reorganization of their understanding of God’s story, and their place in it. Suddenly, they were no longer just a part of their own community’s religious renewal movement… a glorious restoration of Israel in their unique role as God’s chosen people. Now it was starting to dawn on them that God wanted even the Gentiles to share in the new life of Christ’s Kingdom… that God was actually after a world-wide restoration… giving the gift of repentance that leads to new life to all other nations as well!
 
I don’t think that many of us are used to thinking of repentance as a gift, but the first Christians did. Repentance in Scripture doesn’t simply mean apologizing, or feeling bad for the wrong things we’ve done, even though it might, and often does involve these things. No, repentance means ‘turning around’… a clear change in direction, and action.
 
And so, we can be given the gift of repentance when God opens our eyes to our need to turn around, and do something different… to change… to leave behind our old ways, and start to move towards the new life God has in mind for us.
 
For a long time, faithful Israelites had looked on their Gentile neighbours as those headed straight for disaster… as those who had embraced all sorts of foolishness and evil… especially in their worship of idols. And the Prophets had often accused the kingdoms of Israel and Judah of becoming just like their Gentile neighbours… of turning away from the Living God, and breaking their sacred covenant with Him to live as His faithful people… warning that this path would lead them to the horrors of Exile… which is exactly what happened.
 
But God had mercy on them, and eventually, the survivors of Judah were brought back to their own land, where many became very concerned about allowing themselves to be influenced by their Gentile neighbours once again. Add to this the fact that Judah was repeatedly being oppressed by hostile Gentile Empires… Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and finally Romans. Is it any wonder that in the first century, most Jews, including Jewish followers of Christ, looked at their Gentile neighbours as enemies… as obstacles to God’s good Kingdom?  
 
And yet, all through the Bible… and even in the words of the Prophets that had some pretty harsh words for the Gentiles at times… God’s word holds out hope for the nations… and He consistently points forward to their restoration and healing alongside Israel.
 
But for the early Jewish Christians, who had for so long imagined themselves to be God’s main concern… and had understood the saving work of Jesus Christ to be primarily about them… it was startling to suddenly see that God was doing something much bigger through Jesus than they had recognized: God was fulfilling His promises not only to rescue and forgive His covenant people Israel… God was reaching out to rescue and forgive everyone else too… reaching out to save even the Gentiles through Jesus, Israel’s Messiah… turning them around to share in the gift of God’s new life as well… breaking down this ancient barrier, and uniting them… in Christ.  
 
And of course, this is the key: it is through Jesus Christ that God is reaching out to both Jews and Gentiles… reconciling them to Himself, and to each other through Christ’s saving love at work at the cross… dying for the sins of the whole world, and rising again to bring about God’s New Creation… God’s new beginning for everyone who puts their faith in Jesus.
 
And this was the heart of St. Peter’s message to the Gentiles that the Holy Spirit led him to visit. He told them the story of Jesus, and that story changed their lives for good. Let’s turn back to Acts 10:34-48, to hear the message that St. Peter shared that fateful day:
 
“Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’
 
While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, ‘Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’  So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.”
 
There is so much here to explore… but I’ll try to keep things focussed, and draw our attention to verse 43: St. Peter says “All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

First of all: everyone. Peter and the prophets proclaim that this gift is open to everyone! There are no essential distinctions between who can become a Christian, and who cannot. Absolutely everyone is invited… to what? To believe.
 
And this is now the only distinction that’s made: everyone who believes in Jesus Christ… those who respond to the Good News of His story… of His life, and death, and resurrection, and coming return… and place their trust in
Him receives forgiveness of sins. Not as some religious hoop to jump through, but as a gift… as a new story to live by, a new direction to follow… a new freedom from our old sinful ways, and freedom to live God’s way, through His Spirit at work in us.
 
There is no partiality at work here. God is not playing favourites, or choosing sides. St. Peter tells his Gentile hosts that they too can take part in Christ’s Kingdom… that they can receive God’s forgiveness, and share in His new life offered to all in Jesus’ name. And they believe it… and God’s own Holy Spirit is poured out on them, just as it was on the Apostles at Pentecost.

Faith in Jesus the risen Lord had united Jewish and Gentile believers into one family. Both now were being turned around to share together in the story of God’s saving love.
 
And this is our story to share in too. The story of the Christ’s own Church throughout the centuries: of God’s saving love reaching out to all nations… to everyone, without distinction… so that all of the unnecessary and tragic divisions we humans keep creating can be torn down… and God’s gift of repentance and forgiveness can turn us all around to share in His new life together in Jesus’ name.   
 
This is our story. But sadly, so often we Christians have forgotten what our story’s all about. So often we have given into the temptation to divide the world up into ‘us’ and ‘them’… and fooled ourselves into believing that God’s good Kingdom is really about our own priorities and plans. There are all kinds of examples of this divisive behaviour throughout the history of the Church, but I think that one of the most tragic, and disastrous distinctions we Christians have made is when we turn against each other.
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When we turn our backs on our fellow believers… and refuse to have anything to do with our brothers and sisters in Christ… and keep on fighting amongst ourselves, while the world around us watches.
 
From the start, Jesus Christ came to rescue and reconcile us all to God, and to each other. To share His holy, life-changing love with everyone… forgiving our sins, and leading us into a whole new Spirit-led life together. But again and again, we His people keep failing to follow His Spirit’s lead, or obey His clear commands… and then we sit back and wonder why the world around us doesn’t seem all that interested in what we have to say.  
 
But even so, Jesus our Lord has given us all a clear calling. He’s made an important distinction to help His disciples stay true to the heart of our story… and to draw all peoples to Himself:
 
John 13:34-35, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
We Christians are called first and foremost, to love one another! This is where it all begins!
 
To love one another. Not just some perfect, ideal community… but the real, everyday believers we share our lives with. To love one another as Jesus our Lord first loved us: practice offering each other grace… assistance… encouragement… honesty… patience… forgiveness… and hope… everything that He has already shared with us.    
 
This is how the world around us will come to know the Good News of God’s saving love: when we Christians put His love into action… when, with the Holy Spirit’s help, we truly try to love one another, in our words and actions.
 
Because honestly, if we Christians aren’t trying to love one another… even imperfectly… why should our neighbours believe anything we say about the life-changing, saving love of God? But if we are striving to share God’s love… starting with our fellow believers, and building from there… our neighbours will start to see God’s own power at work in us, inviting them to draw near and receive this gift as well.
 
As Christians today, we are commanded to love one another. Not only those gathered here at St. Luke’s, but all those who place their faith in Jesus Christ, and seek to walk in His ways. We will not always agree. And there may be some important distinctions that we have to hold onto for now. But that cannot stop us from seeking to share the love of Jesus Christ with one another in any way we can.
 
And this may mean we need to repent of some things… turning away from our old ways that lead us farther away from God’s will for us… or tearing down some of the unnecessary barriers that we have built up over the years.  
 
If we are to take part in Christ’s Kingdom work today… and help our world come to know the Good News of Jesus, and God’s saving love offered to absolutely everyone in His name… we need to do all we can to put that love into practice. With the Holy Spirit’s help we really need to love one another. And that’s no joke. Amen.