Launched off center

 

Acts 11: 1-18
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
May 15, 2022

Time lapse photo of a rocket launch with a bright streak of light arcing from the left side of the photo into a dark sky.  Smaller streaks of light show the path of stars and planets.

One way to read this story is through a lens from the story itself, the question that Peter asks, “Who was I that I could hinder God?” I’d like you to keep that question in mind as I go through what I think is happening in this story.



The scene opens in Jerusalem with Peter answering other Jesus-followers like himself why was he at the home of Gentiles, eating and drinking with them. Jesus ate and drank with gluttons, drunkards, and outcasts, and was judged for doing so. Table fellowship implies a company of equals, peers, everyone eating the same food. Henri Nouwen wrote that table fellowship implies at least a temporary peace because even soldiers must lay down their weapons at the table. And so to eat with Gentiles, with those outside the covenant of Israel, would mean that something deep and important, something potentially disruptive had occurred. Peter then takes his critics through what happened, step by step, because he wants them not to react but to understand his experience.



Peter is in Joppa, far from home, about 40 miles from Jerusalem. As he is praying he goes into a trance, he has a vision, what some might call a waking dream. The Greek word used for trance or vision is ekstasis, an ecstatic state, which means to be thrown out of place, off-center, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. This vision transforms him. In fact, some call this Peter’s conversion story, but I’d like to challenge that. Peter is not being converted from his Jewish faith to being a Christian. That distinction did not quite exist as yet. Like Paul, Peter is a Jew who follows Jesus who is also a Jew.



Jewish holiness codes were not as stringent against Gentiles as this story would have us believe. After all, the temple in Jerusalem had the court of the Gentiles, a place for Gentiles to pray. Jesus was livid that the court of the Gentiles, a place of prayer and worship, was being used by the moneychangers as a place of business. Even though the Torah was not as restrictive as these critics of Peter, there are always those who go beyond what is required, whose observance of the faith is more zealous. Peter is caught between a rock and hard place. He wants to be faithful, he wants to obey God, he wants to answer his critics truthfully, and yet he also has had a transformational experience, something that completely changed his thinking, and he can’t help but be true to what he knows.

Poster with a stone wall background of gray rocks with this quote: "When we pray, 'Let Your kingdom come,' we are likewise praying, 'Let my kingdom go.'" - Carlos A. Rodriguez, #DropTheStones

This experience of Peter’s—it’s like now he understands that marriage is about partners who love each other no matter their skin color or sexuality or gender. It’s like now he understands that gender identity and gender expression are two different things and no one else gets to define another person. It’s like now he understands that everyone should be able to make their own decisions about their body and their healthcare. It’s like now he understands that all lives won’t matter until Black lives matter, trans lives matter, poor lives matter, indigenous lives matter, Asian lives matter, that civil rights are human rights. It’s like now he understands that holiness, wholeness isn’t about how we set ourselves apart from others but that which brings us together. “Who was I to think that I could hinder God?”



Think back in your own life. How has your faith, your values, your beliefs changed throughout your life? Have you ever been thrown off-center spiritually, emotionally, physically, thrown off what you thought you knew? When was the last time that happened? Did you take time to grieve that loss of certainty? What if anything sits in its place? What are you sure of now?



Christianity as it has been known for two millennia has been thrown off its center, Whiteness is being thrown off its center, which is why we are witnessing this desperate, destructive grab for power by Christian nationalists and White supremacists. Where the Church used to be an authority in the lives of millions, now it is one voice amongst a multitude. Anglican bishop Mark Dyer observed that every 500 years or so the Church, other faith traditions, and the world appear to undergo a giant rummage sale—shifts in culture, economics, politics, power, and social relationships. Previous 500-year shifts resulted in the Reformation and in the Great Schism between eastern and western Christianity. Whenever this upheaval, this being thrown off-center occurs, one crucial question must be answered: by what authority shall we live?

Photo of a large puddle of water on a beach at sunrise/sunset with a figure leaping exuberantly and this quote by John Shelby Spong: "God is the Source of Life that is worshiped when we live fully. God is the Source of Love that is worshiped when we love wastefully. God is the Ground of Being that is worshiped when we have the courage to be."

In the Reformation, the answer to that question is the five solas, the five essentials of the Christian faith: sola scriptura, solus Christus, sola gratia, sola fide, and soli Deo Gloria. Scripture alone, Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone, and the glory of God alone are the authority by which we should live. But now scripture as it is found in the Bible is not the only authority by which we know holiness, wholeness, how we should live. Many Christians find wisdom, meaning and truth in other faith traditions, in poetry, art, music, science, in the 12 steps of recovery, and even popular culture. Christ is not our only teacher. Some of us expand our thinking in listening to Buddha, Muhammed, Hildegarde of Bingen, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King Jr., Octavia Butler, Sappho, Gen Z activists. Some Christians find this scary. Some are furious. Some think it is exciting. And others, because of trauma caused by the Church, have had to find their own way because they’ve left but still claim a spiritual life of their own.



We are living through the 500-year seismic shift of our time. Historian Phyllis Tickle calls it the Great Emergence. What is emerging in this movement? One, it is radically Jesus-centered. Jesus meant what he said regarding money, the poor, and how we are to love one another. This movement is also beyond denominations, beyond Protestantism, and it lives and is organized mostly online, on social media. It seeks to de-center Christian exclusivity and particularity, that there is no “only” when it comes to salvation or what that even means. Holiness looks more like wholeness. It’s less about what we believe and more about how we live.

Photo of a shaft of light entering a worship space with this quote by Abraham Heschel: "When faith is replaced by creed, worship by discipline, love by habit; …when faith becomes an heirloom rather than a living fountain...when religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion--its message becomes meaningless."

Shifts like these can cause us to grieve and they can be exhausting. The Church is not what it was when we were younger, let alone what it was even two years ago. It’s hard to say what the Church, this church will look like in five, ten years from now. One thing I do know is this: this church from its very beginning has sought to be authentic, emerging from your own spiritual experiences and the experiences of your life together. Over 40 years ago you created a church like no other. I expect that moving forward will be no different. 

In the meantime, it’s not easy being in a holding pattern of sorts while we figure things out. What we will need to do is trust the Spirit, that wisdom within each of us, trust each other, be patient with each other, loving, forgiving, and accepting of each other. We are being launched off our center, like that Jesus-movement so long ago, and we hardly know the way. Who are we to think that we can hinder God? A new thing is being done, a way made, a future revealed. May we have the courage to dream anew a community that completely changes our thinking.

Benediction – Vincent Harding



We are building up a new world (3x)
Builders must be strong


Courage, siblings, don’t get weary
Courage, neighbors, don’t get weary
Courage, people, don’t get weary
Though the way be long


We seek justice for all people
We seek justice for all creatures
We seek justice for all beings
Even through the trials