Acts 11:1-18 is the First Reading appointed for the Fifth Sunday of Easter in the Year of Luke. It is the apostle Peter's retelling of his encounter with Cornelius, the Roman centurion, who was visited by an angel who instructed him to send for Peter and hear a word from him. It is striking how the narrative makes clear that the events described herein are God's work, not the work of either Peter or Cornelius. It will be the task of the preacher to announce this powerful work to God's people.
(The following questions have been developed to lift up the function of the Word in the text, a primary concern of Law and Gospel preachers. The way the Word functions informs us as to how the sermon will function, thus its essential role. For more on this method and on Law and Gospel preaching in general, see my brief guide, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com or amazon.)
1. How does the Word function in the text? The Word is functioning primarily as Gospel, showing God's determination to bring the good news to all people. In Peter's retelling, it is the Spirit, the Lord, and God who are the subject of the verbs.
2. How is the Word not functioning in the text? The Law is little present here, calling us to repentance. The only hint of Law is in the opening verses when the circumcision party calls into question Peter's willingness to enter into the house of and eat with Gentiles.
3. With whom are you identifying in the text? The Word is being spoken to the circumcision party, those who are resistant to this new state of affairs, so it will be important for us to identify with them and ask ourselves, "When have I resisted God's embrace of others?"
4. What, if any, call to obedience is there in this text? This text could primarily be heard as an implicit call to obedience, the call being, "What God has made clean, you must not call profane." In other words, our response to God's generous grace to us, is a generous grace towards those who differ from us.
5. What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text? Using some of the terms in the text, we might construct a number of couplets. A few ideas: unclean/clean; rejected/embraced; judged lacking/accepted completely.
6. Exegetical work: Kittel has an important insight into the word translated "accepted" in verse 1. The word is dexomai. "The use of dexomai in this connexion - it is an equivalent of faith - shows us that in the total NT view man's existence over against God is limited to the reception of His gift. It has no immanent possibilities. In hearing this message, however, man is liberated for decision in relation to it... The divine claim of the Gospel sets man in the freedom of decision. This is the theological significance of the term dexomai." (Theological Dictionary of the NT, vol. II, p. 54). What this points out is that even what is initially reported in verse one, that "the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God," is God's work. Their faith, their acceptance, their welcome of God's word to them, was the Word doing it's work in them. That means that what has scandalized the circumcision party is God's work. Isn't that often the case? Our resistance to reach out to others or to allow them a place and a role in the Church is often justified using the Bible, when God is the one going ahead of us doing this outreach! We can see this played out again and again in the disputes over the roles of all sorts of folks in our churches.
7. How does the Crossings Community model work with this text? Mark Marius does an excellent job of showing how our insistence on "law-abiding believers" only insures our own condemnation. Thankfully, Christ has other ideas and sends the Holy Spirit to call us to God. See this entire analysis at crossings.org/text-study.
Blessings on your proclamation!
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