Acts 11:1-18 Thinking Outside the Box

May 6, 2007 By Rev. Kathy McDowell

We’ve all heard the expression “thinking outside the box.” It’s a great expression - it means to brainstorm, think creatively, dream big dreams. It means we don’t let the way things are box us in for the future.

I like to use this expression when I talk about the church, because sometimes we in the church are stuck inside the box. Now that is what was going on in today’s scripture reading from Acts. There is no box in the story, but there is a sheet and what shows up in that sheet in Peter’s vision tears open every box Peter ever had. Let me explain.

Peter’s had a dream and he can’t stop talking about it. If you read back to Chapter 10, that’s where we first hear about this dream. Peter has had this wild vision about a sheet being lowered from the heavens,

filled with all kinds of animals and birds and reptiles. And then a voice telling him to eat these animals.

Now you have to understand a little about Jewish life to understand what was going on here.

You see, Peter had grown up with these strict laws, laws that set the Jews apart. Don’t eat these foods. Don’t eat with gentiles. Stay away from people who aren’t like you. These were boundaries in place, fences, the box which helped Jews figure out who was in, and who was out. But then this vision comes to Peter. And this box is much bigger than anything he’s ever imagined before.

At first, he’s kind of confused about this vision. It gets much clearer when Cornelius, a Roman centurion sends for Peter and asks him to come and talk with him. Now here’s the problem. Peter knows he’s not supposed to hang out with gentiles – Jews and Gentiles just didn’t mix. But the Holy Spirit nudges him and he heads towards Ceasarea to meet with Cornelius. As he starts teaching Cornelius and his relatives and friends, the Holy Spirit falls on the whole lot of them and Peter gets it. Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? he asks.

Peter couldn’t and he didn’t. All of a sudden, this mission to go out and make disciples has changed.

The box has gotten much bigger than just the Jews in Jerusalem.

When we pick up the story in chapter 11, Jerusalem is where we find Peter. Word had gotten back to the church there that Peter had been teaching - of all people -- the gentiles. Now this is where you need to pay close attention. Because there is a word here that is a big clue to what was happening in this church. When Peter got to the church they were criticizing him. The problem? Peter had been in the home of gentiles. He had eaten with them. He had taught them about Jesus Christ. The problem was that Peter had stepped out of the boundaries of what some people thought church should be. Back there in Cornelius’ house, he had announced to the Jews and Gentiles alike: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Later he asks the Jerusalem church “who was I that I could hinder God?” With that, Peter opened wide the doors of the church and let the outsiders in. All the fences and boundaries about what the church should be had just come tumbling down. The good news of Jesus Christ is for everybody!

Like we heard in that amazing anthem. To you belong all the nations. To you belong all the peoples. God’s vision for the church is without boundaries!

We’d like to think that the church doesn’t put up boundaries anymore. Those early apostles - bless their hearts - they just didn’t know any better. But we all know that’s just not true. Churches still put up boundaries. They’re just not about Jews and gentiles anymore. Every year in June there is a massive 3 day outdoor rock concert which takes place on acres and acres of fields near Nashville, TN.

It’s called Bonaroo. Anyone ever hear of Bonaroo? The reason I know all this is because one of my friends, a musician, went to it several years ago and told me about it. 30,000 people, most of them young and restless, many of them lost and lonely, come to this concert every year. They sleep in tents and cars out in the fields until it’s time for the next concert. There are 7 outdoor stages, and to get to the concert area, these young people have to walk up a long, narrow blacktop road, which runs by a little country church. All along the road, vendors have set up tables and booths and sell everything from t- shirts and necklaces, to massages, fortunes, and food. What you don’t see are the drugs, the alcohol, that’s being sold under the table. But in any case, it’s a giant outdoor market. Someone with a sense of humor even set up a table “Free jokes.”

So as you walk along this road with tables and booths, suddenly you’re walking by this little country church. And here’s what you see: they have surrounded their church and parking lot with a temporary 12 foot high chain link fence. The doors to the building are bolted shut– there are no services scheduled for this Sunday. And there’s a sign every so often on the fence: “No trespassing” or “Keep Out.”

My friend told me about this and asked if I wanted to go with her the next year and set up a table outside that fenced-in church that said “free prayers.” Or hand out free Bibles.

For 3 days in June every year, this church is surrounded by 30,000 people, many of them really lost, and they have surrounded themselves with a fence. They have literally locked themselves inside what they think the church is and can’t even see the tens of thousands of lost and lonely people right in their midst who could use a prayer and the good news of Jesus Christ.

But fences don’t have to be the 12 foot high chain link variety to keep us from becoming the church God is calling us to be. There are other fences, other boxes that we stay in all the time.

We don’t have any money. We already tried that. There’s nobody to do it. We’ve always done it this way. We’ve never done it this way. We’re just a small church.

The trouble with these boxes is they keep us from seeing God’s vision. How do we open up these boxes and start seeing the world with God’s kind of vision? Today I promised you a testimony from Jack Weldon. As you know Jack is in the hospital, recovering from heart surgery. But before he had his surgery, Jack and I visited with each other. When I saw him yesterday I promised to say a few things.

So today I bring you a word from Jack. Jack takes his Bible study seriously and makes an effort to apply it to his life. He told me that some years ago, the pastor at his former church, Mt. Paran, was teaching on the beatitudes. When he got to “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God,” he was stumped for a while. First he thought about what it means to be pure in heart. Then he started to wonder “How do we see God?” He pondered this for several years, and then he finally realized that the way we see God

is when we can perceive God in other people. He said it just like this and I quote, “When we stop judging people and start loving people, then we see God.” Judging people is “like wearing dirty glasses,” he explained. When we realize – really realize that we’ve been forgiven, it’s then that we can clean the glasses off and look around and start to see the good in other people, he added. Seeing the good in other people - that’s the vision God gave Peter - That’s a vision for all of us.

When we start seeing the good in other people, somehow we start seeing good everywhere and we celebrate that. I’ve told you this before and I’ll tell you this again: there are amazing ministries already here at Peachtree Corners. And today I brought a box just to remind you of some of these.

Here are just some of the ways we are the church: With our music (instrument)

In our worship with our weekly communion (bread)

With our commitment to learning God’s word (Bible)

With our stronger than ever children’s church (children’s bible)

With our welcoming spirit at this church (People - I couldn’t fit all of you in this box)

With our commitment to NCM (can of food)

With our relationship with First Atlanta Chinese Christian Church (Hymnal)

With our support of the Peachtree Corners Christian Church Preschool (toy)

With our annual pumpkin patch (pumpkin)

How do you think God wants us to think outside the box? How would God’s vision affect our current ministries in the box? Do you think God wants us to thrive as a church or just survive? Do you think God wants us to really change people’s lives here at PCCC, in Norcross, how about to all the peoples, all the nations! Do you think God wants us to have a relationship with Christ that will impact everything we do? Do you think God is asking us to make deeper commitments to do that?

There’s another box I brought today. You can think of this as a toolbox - God’s kind of tool box.

Or if you’re Peter, think of it as a sheet being lowered from the heavens with a vision in it.

However you think about it, it’s God’s Box and what’s in it can help us think outside of our box.

So what do we have here in God’s box?

Let’s start with window cleaner for when our glasses get dirty.

Remember Jack’s story -

we need to see people through eyes of love rather than eyes of judgment.

And then we’re going to need those same glasses to see our vision clearly.

Next we’ve got some diving gear.

Because when we are becoming the church God is calling us to be,

we are going to go deep. Deeper worship. Deeper study. Deeper commitments.

Climbing rope - because we need to stay connected with each other -

bind ourselves together as the Body of Christ - in order to be the church.

Shawl - this is actually a prayer shawl, made and prayed over by one of my friends. Prayer is central to turning around our church. A praying church is a powerful church.

Cross - Christ must guide every step of our way.

God has given us everything we need to dream and live out the vision

he has for us here at Peachtree Corners Christian Church.

Will you pray with me?

Awesome God, open our eyes and let us see,

The bigger vision you have for our church.

And when you’ve opened our eyes, then mold our hearts and minds

So that we might claim and live into your vision. Amen.