2016.05.15 The Gospel and Racism (Acts 10) INTRO: Baptism Weekend, Worship Update and Invite to Night of Worship When Sarah and I first visited Owensboro, David Ross and Oz Osborne took us around town. When we came to Frederica Street, David said it was one of the town s major thoroughfares. I said, Oh, this one: Frederica? Everything in the car stopped. He turned toward the backseat and said, Now listen, the two fastest ways for people to know you re not from here is to pronounce this street Frederica and to call the county Daviess. I made a mental note and haven t made the same mistake since, though I ve heard other out- of- towners do it. Have you ever felt like you were an outsider? Sometimes it s innocent. You ve heard the old phrase, Birds of a common feather flock together, meaning people with similar tastes and interests congregate in groups. Maybe you have a group of people you like to lift weights with. Or you re part of the Pickle Ball craze down at the Rec Center. Maybe you tend to hangout with people who went to your school or read the same kind of books you do. Those are all fairly innocent examples. At other times, though, hanging out with people who are just like you can digress into something much more divisive and destructive. Some of the worst days in American history revolve around race relations. Turn on the news and it s not hard to find another story that proves this is still a really huge issue in our day, whether it s a story of a hate crime in South Carolina or bullying in schools. Even this year s Oscar ceremony launched the #OscarsSoWhite (+ picture). Now you might be wondering why we re talking about this. For two reasons. First, it s a pressing issue in our world today. Second, we ve been studying The Book of Acts together as a church. And Acts teaches us, time and again, that the church is at its most vibrant, healthy, and dynamic when we set aside the different barriers that keep people separated and instead unite around Jesus. 1
If this is your first time here, you sort of picked a heavy weekend. But that s okay because it s important for you to know the Bible addresses serious topics. I want to start to today by giving you a broad view of the Bible s overall teaching on race relations. Then I want to hone it in to one chapter from the Book of Acts. BROADER NEW TESTAMENT TEACHING: Jesus envisioned a multi- ethnic church 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one 23 I in them and you in me so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me (John 17:22-23, NIV 11). Jesus prays here for the church s unity amidst their diversity. Just as the Son and Father are distinct yet at the same time One, Jesus prays that the church, though distinct economically, socially, culturally, and ethnically would be one as well. And notice the reason he gives in v.23 so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Jesus point is that where there is unity there will be conversion people will come to know the love of Christ. Luke described a multi- ethnic church. Acts 11 19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord And then we re told in v. 26, And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians (Acts 11:19-21, 26, ESV). 2
What s interesting for our purpose today is this idea that Antioch was the first place people were ever called Christians. Before then followers of Jesus were called disciples or they were called The Way. Christian is a term that essentially means, little Christ. Antioch was a place where followers of Jesus were living in such a way that people noticed they how much they were like their Lord. And one of the reasons is that it was the first place that refused to divide themselves along ethnic lines. Antioch sat in what is now southwestern Turkey. It was the third largest city in the Roman Empire, a metropolitan city made up of Greeks, Syrians, Phoenecians, Jews, Arabs, Persians, Egyptians. 1 And yet the believers there saw everyone as worthy of the Gospel message; everyone as members of the same church. They were one as Jesus prayed they would be. Acts 13 tells us a little more about Antioch. It tells us the church also had a diverse leadership. It s no accident the church committed to sharing the Gospel with all people reflected diversity in their leadership as well, both socially and ethnically. The Book of Acts envisions a multi- ethnic church. Paul prescribed a multi- ethnic church. He talked about it and encouraged it on a regular basis throughout letters like Ephesians, Galatians, and Romans. 2 Revelation promises a multi- ethnic church. 9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb! (Revelation 7:9-10, ESV). 1 Bock, 413. 2 See especially Ephesians 3:6; 2:14-16. 3
Get this heaven is going to be a remarkably diverse place of worship. In 2012, Chris Tomlin recorded the song How Great is Our God in languages from all over the world Hindi, Indonesian, Russian, Spanish, and Portuguese. The chorus was sung by the Zulu African choir. The song provides a powerful picture of what worship in heaven will be like. You may remember in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus prayed, Father, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. If the Kingdom of Heaven isn t going to be segregated then why is the church? DEMOGRAPHICS AND STATISTICS: 3 According to the 2012 census bureau, over half of American children under the age of 1 belong to minority groups. According to projections minority children in the US will become the majority by 2019. By 2042 the United States will be a majority- minority nation in which there will be more collective minorities than the historically white majority. And yet one of the most segregated hours in America is 10am on Sunday morning. I m not saying the church should be diverse because of changing demographics. I m saying the church should be diverse because the Gospel calls for it. If the church doesn t embrace the implications of the Gospel, if we don t embody the principle of unity amidst diversity through the power of Christ and for the sake of Christ than the world will increasingly believe the church has nothing of value to say. As our community becomes more and more diverse, our church cannot become less and less. 3 See DeyMaz, 13-14 4
In Acts we see the church move from a local homogenous gathering to a worldwide multi- ethnic fellowship. And as you might imagine it brought about some opposition. Racism is not either new or old. It simply is in our history, in our communities, sometimes in our own hearts. That s why we need to hear what the Bible has to say. TEXT: 1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, 2 a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God (Acts 10:1-2, ESV). Just a quick aside, sort of a mini- sermon within the sermon. Notice Cornelius is a really good guy. He s a solider, which means he works hard. He s devout in his beliefs. He s generous. He prays. But we learn in this story being good isn t good enough. Even believing in God isn t enough. You need a relationship with Jesus Christ. You need his goodness in your life because the standard isn t the people around you it s the holiness of God. Jesus offers that to you. 3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, Cornelius. 4 And he stared at him in terror and said, What is it, Lord? And he said to him, Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. 5 And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. 7 When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, 8 and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. 9 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 11 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 5
And there came a voice to him: Rise, Peter; kill and eat. 14 But Peter said, By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, What God has made clean, do not call common. 16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven. 17 Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon s house, stood at the gate 18 and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. 19 And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, Behold, three men are looking for you. 20 Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them. 21 And Peter went down to the men and said, I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming? 22 And they said, Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God- fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say. 23 So he invited them in to be his guests. The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. 24 And on the following day they entered Caesarea (Acts 10:3-24a, ESV). Caesarea is of course named after Caesar. There are a couple of Caesarea s mentioned in the New Testament. Apparently having one city named after you isn t enough. The one mentioned here is Caesarea Maritime, which means the Caesarea by the Sea. To really get this story you ve got to understand Peter how far Peter is out of his league. Peter is a Jew from Galilee, a nowhere village. Joppa, where Peter had the dream, is a nowhere town. Caesarea, on the other hand, it s dope. Sending Peter to Caesarea is like sending the mayor of Elizabethton to be the mayor of New York City or San Francisco. If you go to Caesarea Maritime today it s still impressive. ü Roman Theatre (picture #5) sat over 4,000 people, where they would hold plays and different events. 6
ü The Hippodrome (Internet picture- see desktop) this is where they would hold horse races. It s sort of like an ancient Churchill Downs. The women wore large hats and dresses and everything. Seriously though, this place is amazing. It was 250m in length and 50m in width (that s over two 400m tracks) with twelve rows of bleachers that made up 10,000 seats. ü Herod s Bay from Temple Mount (picture #34) King Herod had built a temple to Caesar alongside the bay where ships bringing trade goods would sale into the city. This picture is taken from where the temple once stood. Imagine pulling into port and the first thing you see is the Temple built to Caesar sitting atop the hill. There s no question who was king in this city and it wasn t Jesus. Caesarea was no joke. It was built as sort of a mini- Rome and for that reason was as non- Jewish as possible. If you ve ever felt woefully out of place, you know exactly how Peter feels in this moment. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, Stand up; I too am a man. 27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. 28 And he said to them, You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me (Acts 10:24b- 29, ESV). Summarize vv. 30-33 34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him (Acts 10:34-35, ESV). Summarize vv. 36-43 7
44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47 Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 10:44-48a). Men, I mentioned a few weeks ago that when a father comes to faith 90% of the time his family follows. When Cornelius recognizes the work of God in his life he comes to faith and his whole household as well. And when they do come to faith they go all in with Jesus through baptism. Baptism weekend I pointed out earlier the Bible tells us Cornelius was a good man; he was a generous man. But being good isn t good enough. We can t rely on our own goodness; we have to rely upon the goodness and grace of Jesus Christ. When we re baptized we go down into the water as a way of saying, I trust Jesus can replace my old self with his self. I trust he can make me new. It s our way of going all- in with God. What s amazing about all this (in a bad way) is that right after this great story of conversion where Cornelius and his whole family come to Christ there were people who were actually upset. Look at the very next verse in chapter 11: 1 Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, 3 You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them. (Acts 11:1-3, ESV). You went to people who were culturally different? Ethnically different? And at with them? How could you? The Bible doesn t hide the ugly side of people; it s brutally honest. I think that s one of the reasons Acts goes on to highlight the Antioch church in this very chapter. It s the Bible s way of holding up Antioch as the standard to follow. God is inviting us, you, to be united around Jesus Christ. To recognize that Jesus is the most important thing we can have in common, not skin color. Not money. Not age. 8
From all that let me give you a few quick takeaways for today: APPLICATION: The Gospel seeks the supreme value of every human being, regardless of skin color, background, or socioeconomic status. We can t be a multi- ethnic church if we aren t living multi- ethnic lives. If we don t see social, cultural, and ethnic walls coming down, then something is wrong. PEOPLES CHURCH OF CINCINNATI: 4 When walls come down the church becomes an example to the world and people come to know the love of Christ. Jesus prayed it would happen this way. There is a wonderful example of this just a few hours from here in Cincinnati. Outside a few brief years of peace, the nations of Ethiopia and Eritrea have been entrenched in conflict since 1962. From 1998 to 2000 they engaged in aw war that claimed over 100,000 lives. But in the Peoples Church of Cincinnati these two nations worship God as one family. They have come to realize their bond in Christ is stronger than any national alliances. And their love for one another serves as a testimony to families back home. It s a picture of what Jesus envisioned, what Luke described, and what Revelation promised. CONCLUSION: I want to ask you to search your heart today. If you re wishing this sermon would just be over already, you might want to ask yourself, why? 4 See DeyMaz, 102-03. 9
If you ve never personally been treated differently due to the color of your skin or your ethnic background, then be careful before suggesting racism isn t still an issue today. Search your heart and ask God to bring you to a place of conviction. The second thing: Be humble and listen to other people s stories. Seek to develop genuine friendships and relationships with people of other ethnic groups and cultural backgrounds. If you re wondering where to start, ask questions then be quite and listen and learn. Don t automatically project your experiences onto someone else s life. Perhaps you walked into the room today or you walk in most weeks, look around and you say, You know what? I m the minority here. Here s what I would ask of you. I d ask you to be patient, understanding, and gracious. If we are ever going to be an ethnically diverse church as the Gospel would have us to be, we need your help and leadership. There may be times when I say something insensitive. Help me learn and become a better pastor. As we live with one another, and love one another, Christ becomes known among us. If in our community we began to break down walls that may be up it wouldn t just be a testimony to Owensboro Christian Church it would be a testimony to God s church. And that would be a beautiful thing. Prayer à Response 10
Resources Bock, Darrell L., "Acts," Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007). Brockett, Aaron, The Gospel and Racism, Sermon delivered at Traders Point Christian Church (October 10-11, 2015). DeyMaz, Mark and Oneya Fennell Okuwobi, The Multi- Ethnic Christian Life Primer: An Eight- Week Guide to Walking, Working, and Worshipping God Together as One (Little Rock: Mosaix Global Network, 2013). Marshall, I. Howard and David Peterson, eds., Witness to the Gospel: The Theology of Acts (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998). Schnabel, Eckhard J., "Acts," Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012). Williams, Jarvis, How to Avoid Becoming an Unhealthy, Multi- Ethnic Church, www.raanetwork.org/unhealthy- multi- ethnic- church- plantation/. Witherington, Ben, The Acts of the Apostles (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998). 11