Our reading for today is from Acts 10:1-34 – please take a moment to read it…
It is the story of Peter going to Cornelius’ house… it includes the sheet being lowered from Heaven with the unclean/non kosher animals on it and Peter being told to eat from it. Peter says he has never eaten anything that is profane or unclean. And God responds “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”
There is a lot more to this story, but this is where I want to focus… It is interesting that the sheet is lowered from Heaven and the contents are described as “all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air.” All kinds of four footed creatures does not mean that they are unclean, and birds of the air are not unclean, all of them… The only thing that tells us they are unclean is Peter’s pronouncement of the items in the sheet being unclean. Now I agree that Peter does hold some weight because of his stature and his place with Jesus, but why do we take his word that the items are unclean? And where did the kosher laws come from? We say we believe something because it is written in the Bible in black and white (or maybe red). But where did the Bible come from. Yes it was inspired by God, but what does that mean? What is important is the statement form the voice, and the lesson Peter learns. The voice says to eat. Because the voice knows we need fuel. When Peter balks, the voice says, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” Everything that God has made is good. Isn’t that what he said in Genesis? It is good and God has made it clean and we can not then call it profane! We have no right to say something is removed from God only God has that power. God shows no partiality, and that is what Peter learned. God alone can say something is profane! We do not have that right.
Live in the love God has given you and give that love you have been given with no partiality, because that is how God does it…
aSacredRebel 