God is in the room (10 May 2015)

Acts 10.44-48 (John 15.9-17) 
If you were with us last week you may remember that we looked at what it means to remain in or to abide in Jesus, the true vine. In today’s gospel reading Jesus now speaks of us remaining in his love. If you keep my commands, you will remain (abide) in my love… And Jesus’ command here is that we love one another. He says this on the eve of his arrest and crucifixion, when he’ll show the extent of his love for us. The simple test of our abiding in his love then is that we love those around us; that we are kind, compassionate and hospitable to others, especially those different to ourselves.

The Book of Acts gives us an insight into the life of the early Church as it began to share the good news of Christ’s love and his resurrection. Peter was the great spokesman of the Jerusalem Church in those days and his preaching took him across the country – for instance to Joppa, on the coast. Now, further up the coast in the Roman town of Caesarea lived a centurion by the name of Cornelius. He was not a Jew (as all Christians were at this stage) but a gentile. However, he is said to be God-fearing which means that he was not circumcised, he didn’t keep the Jewish law and its dietary restrictions but he did pray to the God of Israel.

He has a vision – send to Joppa for a man named Peter and hear what he has to say. At the same time Peter has a vision too – a great sale-cloth let down from heaven with all kinds of animals, reptiles and birds in it. He is invited to kill and eat but being a good observant Jew Peter says ‘Surely not Lord! I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.’ To which the reply comes: ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ This happens three times. When the centurion’s servants come for Peter he has misgivings about going with them, about entering under the roof of a gentile and accepting hospitality – for it was against the Jewish law. But the Spirit reassures Peter and he goes.

When he gets to the house it’s big, and inside is a large gathering of people. They share their visions and everyone settles down to hear what Peter has to say. In effect Peter says to them ‘Well, I didn’t want to come here but God has shown me that I shouldn’t call anyone impure or unclean – so here is the gospel message that I’ve been sharing with my fellow Jews.’ But as Peter is preaching his sermon he is rudely interrupted by the Holy Spirit – O that we should all be so lucky! He was just getting going. 44 While Peter was still speaking … the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. It was just like the original disciples’ own Pentecost experience in the upper room in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit was pour out on these uncircumcised gentiles – they spoke in tongues and praised. It was undeniable. God was in the room. What else could Peter do than say: ‘Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptised with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.’ It was totally unexpected but true.

Do you remember that moment at 10 o’clock last Thursday evening when the Exit Poll was announced? It was just so totally unexpected wasn’t it - by all parties and the BBC. Paddy Ashdon said he would eat his hat if it were true. Well, it turned out to be so and more – quite extraordinary. The Holy Spirit coming on the gentiles in Cornelius’ house was that kind of moment: The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. And what can Peter do but order that they be baptised. Acts records that this wasn’t his own bright idea; it was the inevitable result of something initiated entirely by God. And Acts charts how the church was left to figure out the consequences of what had just happened. That banal sounding verse: they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days no doubt covers some hard thinking that went on about quite what he was going to say to the all Jewish Church in Jerusalem when he got back – poor man.

But it was undeniable. Peter could defend his actions by saying: ‘Look, God set up the meeting between me and Cornelius. And God was in the room as I was preaching. And the Spirit didn’t even wait for me to finish but fell on them as on us. The Spirit couldn’t wait - what else could I do?’ Read on in the Acts of the Apostles and you’ll see how the church responded, recognising that the Spirit had gone ahead of them. As a body they discerned how to proceed, making room for gentile converts and learning to love one another and remain in God’s love.

So, what about us? How shall we respond this morning to this portion of scripture? The Spirit still goes ahead of us; are we aware that there are sometimes divine appointments for us to keep? Might we be in danger of limiting our own experience of God by a lack of imagination on our own part? Are we aware that God may wish to use us in some small way to help other? Perhaps by crossing a barrier or a boundary we have been careful to avoid in the past? Will we allow for the possibility that God is in the room and able to do far more that we think or imagine? Might that not be a helpful mantra for us to adopt – God is in the room. Are we prepared to have our carefully planned schemes interrupted by God’s Holy Spirit?