The qualities of a leader are strong in every age. Our country’s historical leaders have been the likes of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. In Delaware we are proud of Caesar Rodney, Absalom Jones and E.I. du Pont. Maryland’s leaders include Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and Thurgood Marshall. In the Episcopal Church, we are blessed to have leaders like Desmond Tutu and Katherine Jefferts Schori to be our bishops. No matter what age or era, one thing is true about leaders: they insist on moving forward; they resist the status quo.; they learn from their experiences; they do what it takes to keep growing.
That’s the way it was with Peter. He had been actively working to encourage Jewish believers in places like Jerusalem and Philippi to grow as followers of Jesus.
Peter had been chosen by Jesus for a reason. Remember that he was the first to step out on the water when Jesus called. And he was the first to speak up when Jesus asked, “Who do you say that I am?” Some said John the Baptist. Some said Elijah. But Peter said, you are the Christ.
Peter was a careful person, someone who protected himself. When he ventured out on the water, he considered that it was dangerous. He got distracted and began to sink. When asked whether he was a friend of Jesus, he said that he did not know him. He was cautious for good reason, but, in the end, he made good choices.
His mission in going to Phillipi was to support believers in that region. Little did he know that he would make a critical act to open the Church on that trip. It was not his intention to include non-Jews in the fold. But something new was about to happen, and because Peter had the leadership qualities necessary, he interpreted his vision of forbidden animals to mean that God shows no partiality and that the Holy Spirit comes on all who hear the word.
If today’s lessons have a single thread holding them together, it is that
Growth embraces what is new.
Growth means making adjustments.
Growth means adapting.
The something new that Peter introduced was the idea of inclusion of non-Jews, and, that for the church to grow, it would have to both respect Jewish traditions and laws while including Jesus commandment to include and love all persons.
Up until this point, Peter operated under a code that said it was unlawful to associate with Gentiles or even be in the same room with them, for they were thought to be unclean and their uncleanliness contagious.
But then he had that vision, the text says it may have been a trance. Whatever it was, he interpreted it as an opportunity for growing the Christian Church.
The leaders of the new church back in Jerusalem were not happy with him. They wanted an explanation.
“What on earth were you thinking?” they asked Peter. “Why did you go to those unclean people?”
And that is when Peter told them the story of how he had gone to the house of a Gentiles, and the Holy Spirit came upon all the people there, and he said:
“I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?"
When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, "Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life."
If the Church is going to grow, Peter learned, it has to be willing to make adjustments from time to time. Its leaders have to be open to the Holy Spirit. The status quo may feel comfortable, but the truth is that the Holy Spirit is always moving, so it is up to us to keep up.
To keep up takes discipline, commitment and training. It is not unlike becoming an athlete. The fact is, as some have noted, we are not born with the ability to insist on resurrection everywhere we turn. It takes the discipline and repetition that forms an athlete – in this case, a spiritually fit Christian.
We practice our faith because we must – it withers and atrophies unless it is stretched. We must continue to give evidence of the faith that is within us.
During the Easter season we are training ourselves for the purpose of what some have called “fighting the good fight.” Like Peter, God has given us a vision to stretch our hearts and minds for the future. God has renewed a life given to the evil of this world on behalf of those with no other helper. That earth-shattering and tomb-shattering rebirth has planted the seeds of hope in each one of us. Yet those seeds do not produce fruit without struggle.
The disciples were looking for new hope in the midst of death and struggle. As a nation and a people they were in grave danger as outlaws of the status quo Roman occupation. But their willingness to accept new members is evidence of the hope that was within them as a people.
The Christian community that would eventually spread from Jerusalem to the far ends of the earth was a community that could adapt and include. It had to in order to practice its faith in strange lands, with different peoples and cultures, always welcoming new members and growing in knowledge and spirit.
The Christian community is meant to be a mutual hope society, with each one offering courage to another whose hope is fragile. I am inspired by the promise that no matter how lost you might feel, new life is possible. Our work as a community is constant – it will not end until the end of all things. Like Peter, we are called to spread the word, year in and year out, and to invite others in. Our hope and joy are in the words, "Alleluia, he is risen! Indeed, he is risen, Alleluia!" For the body of Christ is risen when even a small part of it can rejoice that God continues to make old things new.
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