Today we begin looking at one of the most important sections of the Book of Acts.
Chapters 10-15 tell the story of the disciples discovering that God’s dream for the church is more expansive and inclusive than they have previously imagined.
They discover that God’s dream is for all the peoples of the world to be gathered together into one family under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
For God’s dream to be realized all human walls of separation must be transcended.
Peter begins his journey of discovery with the vision he has of “all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air” being lowered down on something like a sheet and a voice telling him to kill and eat.
To kill and eat would violate the kosher food laws, Peter, as a devout Jew, would have kept since he was a child as an essential part of his religious identity and so he refuses.
The voice, however, responds,
“What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”
What can that possibly mean?
It takes the rest of chapter 10 for Peter to fully comprehend the new thing God is doing.
Tomorrow we will read about Peter’s journey of discovery and transformation as he begins to fully understand what God is doing.
