Eastertide

May 13, 2019

Scripture Reading: Acts 11:1-18

‘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.” But I replied, “By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.” But a second time the voice answered from heaven, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” –Acts 11:5-9

My work unit had a tradition of going to lunch together to celebrate each person’s birthday and the celebrant picked the restaurant. On one of these occasions a very popular seafood restaurant was selected. Along with seafood it offered the full array of commonly popular “American” food like steak and chicken. One of our staff was originally from Indonesia. His eyes lite brightly as he saw squid on the menu. One of his favorite foods, it rarely was available in landlocked Oklahoma. When it arrived, the steak eating guy seated next to him asked to trade places with someone at the end of the table as he could not stomach watching someone eat squid. We did the seating shuffle, and all was well. I think of that incident when I read stories like the one from Acts recorded above. We forget how very much we are controlled by the culture in which we were raised. In a worst-case scenario we presume our culture is the only right culture. Our co-worker who needed to move did not think less of the squid eater, he was dealing with his cultural bias in the best way possible without encroaching on his friend’s preferences. I have seen a similar reaction to someone watching another eat a very rare steak.

Our world is getting small. I am surrounded by many Asia and Middle Eastern restaurants and routinely frequent them. I am not sure how authentic the food is in all of them because they do not have ready access to some ingredients and local choices usually drive what is served.

The scripture is not about eating or culture. It is about the acceptance of all God’s children by all God’s children. Jesus called it being one.

Prayer: Lord, teach us to respect each other as we learn to love all others. 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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.