I remember one of my first Thanksgivings with my in-laws. My father-in-law beckoned me over and said: “I want to show you something. You know Romans 14?” A he opened his Bible I couldn’t help but notice this grin trying to break through from the corners of his mouth. “Right here,” he said pointing  “Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables.”

Perfect verse for your vegetarian daughter in law. I just laughed. My father in law loves to harass me about food. It’s like our own little inside joke. Every family gathering—“I saved a hot dog for you. I’m cooking up a big steak for you!” One year I may just have to get my revenge giving him a Tofurky or something similarly repulsive .

Me being a vegetarian and coming home to my meat and potatoes in-laws house wasn’t ever a big deal for real though. No one cared if I just stuck to the sides. I didn’t care if they dug into some Lexington style BBQ. Different strokes for different folks right?

Well that was not the case back in the day. In fact, as the Christian church was just starting to take root, food became a hot button issue fast. Jesus of Nazareth was a Jew, not a Christian. A Christian is what people called the disciples who followed the “way” or believed Jesus was the Christ. But like their leader, Jesus, those followers were still Jews. And Jews had very strict dietary laws. Certain foods were clean and others were unclean.

This goes way beyond canned gravy or homemade, jelly cranberry or stovetop cranberry sauce, dressing or stuffing, sweet potatoes or mashed.

This was about religious obedience, purity, doing the right thing that was ordained by God. Eating wasn’t just something you did but it was who you were. The dietary laws were part of their religious identity.

This wasn’t such a big deal at first because many of the first followers of Jesus were Jewish. Everyone was on the same page. When they sat down to eat together, no one was breaking out the pork BBQ. It didn’t get— complicated yet.

But remember how the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, all unpredictable and wild? Well good news travels fast and before long you had all the wrong sorts of people showing up at your dinner party. It may not have been vegans and vegetarians at Thanksgiving but almost as bad. What happens when God’s powerful, redemptive work expands to include people who aren’t like you? What happens when God invites the “other” to the table?

I think the natural and most human response is “make them like us.” Great, you got the invitation, we are so glad you can make it. If you’ll just step right over here we will give you the new Christian handbook complete with what to wear, how to talk and the right and wrong behaviors now that you are one of us. For those early days that meant an introduction to proper Judaism, just like Jesus lived, and that meant eating food that was deemed clean and also that little matter of circumcision.

For gentiles, those outside the Jewish faith becoming a Christian wasn’t just a religious conversion, it was a cultural conversion too. And the questions began, how much do gentiles need to conform to become Christians? For a while there, Christianity was a Jewish sect. But when Paul’s ministry to the gentiles grew, so did the looming questions of how can these newcomers fit in?

If people who used to be outside of the faith don’t change their ways, are they still welcome at the table? Even the heroes of the faith wrestled with this. Remember Peter? Peter was one of the first disciples Jesus called from the fishing business. Peter was the one who declared Jesus as the Christ, the messiah. Peter jumped out of the boat to walk on water like Jesus, Peter denied Jesus and then was restored by Jesus. Peter had a deep and intimate relationship with Jesus and was one of the pillars of the church.

But Peter struggled with who could be a part of what God was doing. Peter struggled to see gentiles—non Jews as part of the equation. Not only did Peter worry about how gentiles became Christians, he worried about even being seen with them because they were thought of as unclean. Paul actually called him out on this in Galatians. He said that Peter was being hypocritical because he used to eat with gentiles but when the good religious people came Peter withdrew from the gentiles because he was afraid.

Probably afraid of what others might think hanging out with ‘those people.’

Probably afraid of losing his respect and authority of friends and colleagues.

Probably afraid of being judged himself and ostracized and maybe even on the outs with his own tribe just because he hung out with those who were not yet fully welcomed.

Have you ever noticed that? Hanging out with the wrong people can paint a target on your back. Your loyalty is questioned. Your integrity is questioned. Even your faithfulness to God can be questioned. It’s a dangerous thing to eat with the wrong kind of people.

But something changed that for Peter.

Acts 10– Cornelius a centaurian who worships God but not a Jewish convert. He was a devout man who feared God as did his entire household, gave generously and prayed constantly to God. One afternoon he had a vision in which God told him to call for Peter. The next day Peter was traveling and arrived in a city and went to the roof to pray while people prepared a meal. While he was there he fell into a trance and saw the heaven opene and something like a large sheet coming down with all kinds of animals on it. He heared a voice saying, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” Peter was like no way! Some of those animals are unclean and profane. But a second time a voice told him “What God has made clean you must not call profane.” This happened three times.

Sometimes it takes God’s message a few times to get through to us doesn’t it? Especially when it goes against everything we’ve been taught, or teaches us a new way to see the world.

Peter was still a little puzzled by all of this when the messengers from Cornelius’ house show up. The Spirit told Peter to go with them. Peter arrives at this gentile’s house and says, “You yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile; but God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean.”

We are going to pause right there for a moment. Because this is really important. It took two visions by two different people, messengers, a command from the Lord repeated three times, and direction from the Spirit for this message to get through.

GOD HAS SHOWN ME THAT I SHOULD NOT CALL ANYONE PROFANE OR UNCLEAN.

The human race has spent thousands of years trying to annihilate one another from the face of this planet. At first it was tribal warfare. Next nations rose against nations. Races of people were deemed too numerous, too much of a threat and then objectified to justify the homicidal tendencies of a power group.

These groups use names to objectify others to make killing them easier. Words like: cockroach, savages, parasites. Unclean or dangerous animals. That contaminate our communities and need to be exterminated. That need to be cleansed. And we know that those types of words and way of viewing other people can easily lead down the slippery slope of genocide.

The only cleansing we need is the cleansing power of Jesus Christ who cleanses us from the chains of slavery to sin and death and grants salvation for all people. Not only this group or that group.

The Church, the body of Christ has been opened to people of all ages, nations and races.

GOD HAS SHOWN ME THAT I SHOULD NOT CALL ANYONE PROFANE OR UNCLEAN.

I believe that most people want to do the right thing. Most people want what is good in this world. But sometimes in our attempts to be good, and be right, and be ‘faithful’ we end up keeping others out. Unintentionally. But we start seeing people as others, as objects, as something not good and something unclean. Things to talk about and not talk to. Things to dismiss and avoid.

But that is not the way of God. That is not the way of Christ.

It took prayer, a vision, a command, and a couple people guiding him for Peter to make it over to a household he once thought of as unclean. But because he did—because Peter started seeing people differently, Peter was able to go to their homes and share the gospel message.

Acts 10:44-48

⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. ⁴⁵ The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. ⁴⁶ For they heard them speaking in tongues^[a] and praising God.

Then Peter said, ⁴⁷ “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”⁴⁸ So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

God has shown me not to call anyone unlawful or unclean: not liberals not conservatives, not natives not immigrants, not protestants not Catholics, not southerners not northerners, not gay not straight, not those inside the church or outside of the church, not addicts, not inmates, not poor, not sick— God has shown me not to call anyone unlawful or unclean.

Because— There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.