Eastertide
April 18, 2016

Scripture Reading: Acts 11:1-18

Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, ‘Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?’ Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, ‘I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” –Acts 11:1-7

One of the greatest tasks we have as persons of faith is melding together each day what is essential in our relationship with God and what is not. It is possible in my understanding of God that what is a priority for me may not be as important to another simply because of who I am and who they are. I am blessed by music another may be blessed more by the reading of the word. My skills at service are more in administration than in one on one contact. It does not mean that I only want music in worship or that I am not blessed by sharing one on one. It does mean that every community of faith rides the wave of shared talents and traits deepening the oneness we share individually and collectively with God.

Problems arise when our discernment of the sacred (that which is set aside for God) is what God discerns as sacred and thus must apply to all. The movie Fiddler on a Roof dealt with this very subject. Teyve, the father in the story, must deal with one daughter who breaks the tradition of the family and wants to marry for love rather than the person chosen by the matchmaker, another daughter who chooses a relationship with one of the rebels challenging the Russians, and finally the third daughter who actually ask for her father’s blessings to marry a Russian rather than a Jew. The story asked the age old questions how much is too much compromise. I think it also raises the issue of understanding God’s role in discerning issues of what is sacred.

We live in a society that is divided by the issue of who decides what is sacred. The result is an unwillingness to compromise on many things. It seems we are leaving God out of the discernment process altogether. Just as with Peter in welcoming the gentiles or Teyve in opening his mind to moving away from long held traditions, we must seek guidance from God in the justice, mercy, and humility of our understandings to find God’s way together.

Prayer: Lord, open our hearts and minds to your leading. Nudge us forward as you did Peter to step out in faith in sharing your love. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.