Would You Eat That?

Our Christian faith began as a reformation effort in the midst of Judaism. Later when common ground became smaller and smaller, the Christians found they were no longer welcome in the community synagogues. They developed their own fellowship among mutual believers.

This did not happen overnight, nor was it done without some serious rethinking about what it meant to be the Kingdom of God active here on earth while waiting for the second coming of Christ. One of those significant breakthroughs was the realization God loved Gentiles as much as Jews. Judaism and Christianity should already have learned this from the prophet Jonah in the Old Testament.

So the Apostle Peter had to face his prejudice and learn by direct confrontation, the Gospel was for everyone. God wanted all men to come to salvation. Many might choose not to come, but it would not be because they had not received an invitation.

Act 10:9  The next day, as they were on their way and coming near Joppa, Peter went up on the roof of the house about noon in order to pray.

Act 10:10  He became hungry and wanted something to eat; while the food was being prepared, he had a vision.

Act 10:11  He saw heaven opened and something coming down that looked like a large sheet being lowered by its four corners to the earth.

Act 10:12  In it were all kinds of animals, reptiles, and wild birds.

Act 10:13  A voice said to him, "Get up, Peter; kill and eat!"

Act 10:14  But Peter said, "Certainly not, Lord! I have never eaten anything ritually unclean or defiled."

Act 10:15  The voice spoke to him again, "Do not consider anything unclean that God has declared clean."

Peter took the lesson he had learned and shared it with other leaders of the Jerusalem church. The door was thrown open to accept anyone who would acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God and claim his saving act for themselves. The Apostle Paul became the apostle to the Gentiles and people everywhere heard the good news salvation was available for them.

After 2000 years we still need to have that sheet lowered in front of us and hear the voice say, “All that I have created is worthy of receiving the gospel. Go make sure they have a chance to respond.”

Perhaps like me you have heard the horror stories of individuals coming through the doors of a church building only to find their kind was not welcome. We thought that all disappeared with growth of the civil rights movement, but it has never gone away. Even if color is not the cause for division, we still find reasons to say our church is not for everyone.

Economics can be a real door lock. Look at all the Lexis, Acuras, and Audis in the parking lot. Scattered among them are a few Volvos, Lincolns, and Chryslers. Where do you park your Ford Focus? Will there be a seat inside where your twill pants will be acceptable?

We shouldn’t point our fingers at the wealthy, uptown churches. We need to take a closer look at our own lives. Where do we shop for clothes? What brand of shoes graces our feet? What size house is acceptable?

To whom will we speak while standing in line at the drugstore? Whom do we want cutting our hair? Who is acceptable as a dentist or a doctor?

To whom will we share the love of God?

The presence of prejudice doesn’t have to take the form of crossing to the other side of the road to keep from meeting someone. It doesn’t have to take the form of refusing to give service or even acknowledge their presence. Perhaps most often prejudice is that gut level feeling that makes us hesitate to act, or leads us to make up an excuse about a lack of time or material resources, or even to think that person doesn’t deserve our help.

The Apostle Simon Peter registered his protests and then was told what he was to do. I for one am glad he overcame his prejudice.

To the Least of These

Our state has just finished another area-wide Operation Inasmuch project (operationinasmuch.org), a ministry which involves random acts of kindness by people throughout their community. It is based upon Matthew 25:40 from the Bible in which Jesus tells his followers their good deeds are not done in vain. “Inasmuch as you have done it to the least of these, my brothers, you have done it to me.”

Who are the “least of these”? It is easy for us to list those who have lost jobs and their homes and other possessions. We can point to the people who stand in lines for food when paychecks run out before the month does. We hear of but rarely see the individuals and families who must stay in homeless shelters each evening.

May I list a few other groups who may be counted among those who bear the image of Christ and are often overlooked by we who seem to be more blessed?

Economics of course come to mind first. Those in some ways have been mentioned above. There are others who must choose between food and medication or a visit to the doctor. We’d like to think that everyone who wanted to go to college could, but sometimes finances do stand in the way of a higher education. It may not be because the grants are not available, but rather because the breadwinner for the family cannot afford to quit the job that is paying the monthly bills.

What about the lonely who live in our midst? Jesus had time for those who were ostracized by society. Sometimes their lifestyle led to their rejection by their community. At other times they were isolated away through no fault of their own. Jesus took time for all these whom society no longer considers worthy of its time.

In the days of Jesus, the general grouping was labeled Gentiles, anyone who was not a Jew. Among these one particular group was avoided most by the Jews, the Samaritans. These people who lived between Judea and Galilee were considered half-breeds, half Jewish and half Gentile, bloodlines that had become mixed during the Jewish exiles of earlier centuries. Jesus chose to use this excluded people as an example many times of the breadth of God’s love. He healed Samaritans (Luke 17:11-19), he talked with Samaritans (John 4), and he used them in his parables (Luke 10).

Today we condemn this racial disparagement, but in more subtle fashion we carry a prejudice against national heritage. We let politics and situations arising in previous generations affect the way we relate to others having a different national origin than ourselves. We are called to look beyond these manmade divisions and see them as among “the least of these”.

In the region where I was raised another category existed in which Jesus would have placed those we overlook. Simply said, it is family heritage. We judge someone as being worthy of our attention based upon the reputation their family name carries. No one from that family ever graduated from high school. Every generation is on welfare. None of them ever kept a job longer than three months. You can’t trust them with anything.

“If you did it to the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me.” We can define a score of categories in which to place people we feel do not deserve our attention, our support, or our gifts of service. Yet Jesus healed the leper (Matthew 8:1-4), talked with the Samaritan (John 4), helped the Roman (Matthew 8:5-13), and called fishermen to be the bearers of the greatest news in the history of the world (Matthew 4:18-22). In Matthew 25:31-46, he includes just about all of us at one point or another.

Operation Inasmuch is all about random acts of kindness done for people regardless of their background or current context. It is far more than a day set aside for organized projects. It must become a mindset revealed throughout the year. Jesus deserves our help every day.