Tag Archives: gospel

Mission Accomplished

Christian Life, , , ,

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

“No sooner were these words out of Peter’s mouth than the Holy Spirit came on the listeners. The believing Jews who had come with Peter couldn’t believe it, couldn’t believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on “outsider” Gentiles, but there is was — they heard them speaking in tongues, heard them praising God.

“Then Peter said, ‘Do I hear any objections to baptising these friends with water? They’ve received the Holy Spirit exactly as we did.’ Hearing no objection, he ordered that they be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ.

“Then they asked Peter to stay on for a few days.” Acts 10:44-48 (The Message).

Mission accomplished! Finally the door of the gospel had swung wide open for the whole world. With the Holy Spirit Himself authenticating the next phase of Jesus’ mission, the disciples of Jesus were free to take the message to the ends of the earth.

What an experience for a seasoned Jew! God had got His point across in no uncertain terms and Peter had no option but to fall in and obey. God had once again fulfilled His promise that He would confirm His word with signs following.

My journey through Acts thus far had left me wondering why we are not seeing the same powerful acts of God happening through the church today as it did in the early church. What have we missed, lost, changed or forgotten that has left the church relatively powerless, an organization rather than a living organism and another religion instead of a vital and dynamic relationship with the living God?

In His teaching on prayer, Jesus brings our attention to two destructive forces in our lives and in the world — unforgiveness and the evil eye. Most of His prayer focuses on God and puts us and our insignificant concerns into the perspective of who God is and what His agenda is for us in His kingdom. Our greatest need is not for “things”, needs about which God knows anyway, but for the “daily bread” of His word without which we cannot live.

Unforgiveness wrecks relationships and cuts us off from God’s forgiveness, leaving us bitter and alone. Forgiveness is not about making excuses for other people’s behaviour. It’s about cancelling a small debt because Jesus has cancelled a very big one.

The evil eye, not the Evil One, is our biggest enemy. The evil eye refers to our natural bent towards selfishness and greed. Is it not true to say that the entire world has been ruined and destroyed by greed? And yet these two issues, unforgiveness and the evil eye are as rife in the church as they are in the world.

Jesus calls us as His disciples to be learners and imitators of Him. What were the qualities that He modelled? Humble and gentle and utterly dependant on the Holy Spirit were the hallmarks of His human life.

Among the many reasons why the church is irrelevant today, I see two streams that are disturbing. There is the tendency to “use” the Holy Spirit for the doing spectacular. He almost becomes a spiritual “entertainment” which draws the crowds. In the other stream the Holy Spirit is relegated to a doctrine. Priests and ministers have replaced Him as head of the church and individual believers grieve and quench Him into silence and inactivity.

With our relationships in tatters because we refuse to forgive, and with self with its self-will and greed firmly in the driving seat, it is any wonder that the church no longer impacts the world by modelling the life of God and the kingdom of God.

Just a thought….

A Plan Comes Together

Christian Life, , ,

A PLAN COMES TOGETHER

“The next day as the three travellers were approaching the town, Peter went onto the balcony to pray. It was about noon. Peter got hungry and started thinking about lunch. While lunch was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the skies open up. Something that looked like a huge blanket lowered by ropes at the four corners settled on the ground. Every kind of animal and bird and reptile you could think of was on it. Then a voice came: ‘Go to it, Peter — kill and eat.’

“Peter said, ‘Oh, no, Lord. I’ve never so much as tasted food that was not kosher.’

“The voice came a second time: ‘If God says it’s okay, it’s okay.’

“This happened three times, and then the blanket was pulled up back into the skies.” Acts 10:9-16 (The Message).

“I love it when a plan comes together!” said Hannibal Smith of the A-Team. Don’t you love God’s timing?

This was a crucial moment in the history of the church. Up to this point, it was growing and flourishing in the Gentile communities of Israel and Syria. God had clearly and powerfully moved in the Samaritan villages and towns, signifying His approval of their inclusion in the life of the kingdom of God. But they were half-Jews anyway.

But the Romans? They were the pits. To interact with these hated and despised Gentiles was a no-no. It would take drastic action on God’s part to convince Peter that what was about to happen was okay.

There was deep symbolism in this vision. Eating was an activity loaded with significance. It was much more that enjoying a meal in the company of others.

In a previous post I explained that eating with someone was a symbol of reconciliation. The Hebrew word for a meal is “shul” and for a table is “shulkan”. But the same word, “shulkan”, can also mean “reconciliation” and “a lamb skin.” What do these three words have in common?

If there was no table, a lamb skin would be used as a sort of picnic blanket. The sacrifice of a lamb’s life was made in order to have a lamb skin (shulkan) to use as a table (shulkan) to eat a meal (shul). Sacrifice was the grounds of reconciliation. A Middle Eastern person will only eat with someone to whom he has been reconciled. Eating together signified that two people or a group of people had not issues with each other and were therefore in fellowship with one another.

God was preparing Peter in two ways. He had to make a paradigm shift regarding what he “ate” and with whom he ate. It was obviously a serious issue for Peter because Paul had to rebuke him to his face in a later incident when Peter drew back from eating with Gentiles in the presence of some legalistic Jewish believers.

“When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles, but when they arrived, he began to pull back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.” Galatians 2:11-12 (NIV).

The symbolism of Peter’s vision was powerful. He was invited to eat from a revolting array of creatures. This illustrates Peter’s deeply-entrenched revulsion towards Gentiles. Without the vision and the disgust it had raised in him, would he have readily accompanied the three Romans back to Caesarea to enter a Gentile home and “eat” with Gentiles? I don’t think so. His scruples would have been sorely tested.

There had to be a personal reassurance from the mouth of God to remove Peter’s prejudice against the Gentiles. Once again God was gracious to an erring human. Jesus had instructed His disciples to take the kingdom of God to the world but it would take more than words to convince Peter that He really meant it. Something as supernatural as this vision was necessary to move Peter into the next phase of Jesus’ mission to the world.

God will do what is necessary and whatever it takes to move you and me into understanding and obedience to His will so that we can play our part in advancing His kingdom here on earth. Even our scruples and prejudices must give way to a greater purpose into which He calls us in partnership with Himself.