Scripture/Sermon of the Day. January 8, 2023

Acts 10:34-43

Gentiles Hear the Good News

Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every people anyone who fears him and practices righteousness is acceptable to him. 36 You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. 37 That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” 

Reflection/Sermon:

I.      Next Sunday, January 15th, is the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr..  If he were still living, he’d be 94.  (He was born in 1929).  I read an article recently that was titled:  “How to Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday.”  It suggested that we “Celebrate diversity over dinner” to honor the dream King had where the world would become a place where every person was loved and respected equally and no one was judged any more by their skin color.

So plan a dinner with an emphasis on diversity — a sample menu could include a French crudité platter as an appetizer, bobotie (a kind of fancy meatloaf) from South Africa for the main dish, Moroccan cous-cous as the salad course, followed by the truffle-like brigadeiros from Brazil for dessert, served with Turkish coffee. And make an international music playlist to accompany your feast.

II.     OR — if you don’t feel like cooking all those different foods, you can do what Jesus did.  Just have a simple meal of bread and fish and invite five thousand people to dinner — five thousand people who, at the time of Jesus’ life, were a cross-section of Israel and the surrounding regions, like Syria, Phonecia, all the people connected to Israel by the Mediterranean Sea — Greeks, Italians, Africans, plus people to the west, from Persia (Iran) and Asia Minor (Turkey).  In the group of five thousand that Jesus fed, there were probably families from every one of these countries.  There were rich and poor, people with light and dark skin, people who spoke different languages and worshipped different gods, and many who worshipped no god.  The most amazing thing about this dinner that Jesus hosted WAS NOT that he fed all these people with just a few fish and loaves of bread and had twelve baskets of leftovers BUT THAT HE DIDN’T CARE WHO WAS THERE OR WHERE THEY WERE FROM OR WHAT THEY BELIEVED OR DIDN’T BELIEVE BUT LOVED EVERY PERSON EQUALLY.  That was the real miracle.

III.    Because “God shows no partiality — whether you eat Taco Bell or McDonalds or Sushi Palace —God loves you.  Do you eat couscous or Kentucky-fried?  It doesn’t matter — God loves you.  Are you Sicilian — or a sexual predator?  God loves you.  An Arab or an adulterer?  God loves you.  One of the last things Jesus did in his life here was to offer a thief and a killer the kingdom of heaven.  And the criminal on the other side of Jesus who spoke to him with bitterness and hatred?  Jesus loved him too.

IV.     God loves us, whoever we are.  And Jesus wants us to do the same — love everyone equally.  God gives us the mind of Jesus Christ so that we know there is “neither Jew nor Greek, and neither slave nor free, but all children of the living God are surely kin to me.”