Eastertide
May 3, 2021
Scripture Reading: Acts 10:44-48
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.
Who is in, and who is out? Humans spend a lot of time discerning who is accepted and who is not. I watch grieving parents on TV recently whose son was going through the fraternity rites of becoming one of those considered acceptable. He was forced, cajoled into drinking too much hard liquor in too short a time, and died. The fraternity has been banned from the school, and eight young men face criminal charges for the incident.
Athletes at a local faith-based university knelt in solidarity against racism during the presentation of the US National anthem, and the school banned them from ever doing it again. The whole campus is now caught up in discerning who is right and who is wrong. Who sets the standards of acceptable behavior?
For weeks, I cannot recall a morning when the lead story on the news was not someone being shot overnight in Oklahoma City, many killed, many teens and young adults as our nation struggles regarding the right to possess weapons. What legacy are we passing to our children?
Peter was speaking to a crowd of both Gentiles and Jews about the living Christ, the One who came to teach all how to love and care for one another. We are called to accept all of God’s people, and all people are God’s. It is hard to change cultural norms. We all have been taught directly and indirectly that some are in and some are out. This story of Peter’s speaking does not leave it to him to tell us who God accepts. The Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. God has spoken now; we humans must clear our hearts and minds of all those prejudices that are so much a part of our being. although we do not recognize them as pre-judgments. God calls us to love one another and that requires us to find common ground for the Common Good.
Prayer: Create in us a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within us*. Amen.
*See Psalm 51:10
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.