Read Acts
10:9-20
9 About noon the
following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter
went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat,
and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven
opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four
corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles
and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” 14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I
have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” 15 The voice spoke to him a
second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” 16 This
happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven. 17
While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by
Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. 18 They
called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there. 19 While Peter
was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men
are looking for you. 20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with
them, for I have sent them.”
Although Jesus set out the mandate of reaching the
“ends of the earth” before he left – in fact, even though it was implanted into
Israel’s original DNA back in Genesis 12! – Jesus does not press it home until
here in Acts 10. Further, as I’ll outline later on, there were a series of
incidences that led and built up to it.
- What does this teach us about times when we feel we have something important to share that we think other people just aren’t getting?
- How might this affect our own decision-making?
- e.g. I have decided that I will start a PhD in theology in September 2012. I have been fairly sure that this is what I would do for about two years and yet, until now, couldn’t quite commit myself to going with it. So, on the one hand, you could argue that I could have been more faith-filled and gone for it sooner! However, on the other hand, there has been important stuff that God has done in my life over the last two years which hasn’t just been crucial in terms of helping me make this decision but will, I am sure, also be hugely important in terms of equipping me in this challenge. Thus, even though in some ways I could have made this decision a while ago, I’m glad I didn’t! And so, I guess my question is this: how can we help one another to discern when we are procrastinating against something that God has called us to do (and so we just need to get on with it); and when we have heard a genuine call but God doesn’t want or expect us to rush into it straightaway?!
If you have a bit longer :-)
- Why do you think God forbade the eating of certain “unclean” animals back in the Mosaic Law and yet allows – even instructs it – in this passage?
- On what basis do we determine what else from the OT has changed post-Jesus and what has stayed the same? (This is a HUGE question I realize, so think about it for a bit but don’t let it stress you out!!! It will raise itself again when we get to Acts 15.)
- Why do you think Peter was so reluctant to eat these animals (in his vision!)?
- Why do you think Jesus gave Peter this vision about food, which left him a bit baffled, rather than just appearing to him and saying something along the lines of: “Listen Peter, I want you to start telling the Gentiles about me!”?
- Is there anything in your life at the moment that you think God is calling you to do but which you’re struggling to walk into because it would mean breaking an internal or external “law” you hold onto? How can we help one another to walk more freely in this regard? (By “law” in this instance, I mean something that we’re bothered about but God isn’t! – obviously I don’t mean that we should be encouraging one another to free ourselves from the laws against stealing, oppressing others, speeding and so on!)
- e.g. I reckon I’d be much bolder in sharing my faith if I wasn’t so bound by my internal “law” against offending people. This isn’t to say I think I should go around deliberately offending people but rather that I’m fairly sure my fear of the latter inhibits my faithfulness in the former.
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