Thoughts for the Day

Peter’s Report to the Church at Jerusalem

Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, ‘Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?’ Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, ‘I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” But I replied, “By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.” But a second time the voice answered from heaven, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, “Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.” And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?’ When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, ‘Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.’

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

There is a fable about two people who lived on islands separated by a narrow shark infested channel. They had plenty of wood, water, food, but sometimes they felt isolated and lonely. They would wave to each other occasionally, before getting on with the business of everyday life. One day, however, one of the men decided to build a rope bridge to connect the two islands. Once the second man got the idea he joined in and soon the two islands were linked together.

In Acts Chapter 11 we find Peter recounting his experience concerning the conversion of the Gentiles to the other apostles and believers in Jerusalem. His audience is dismayed at what has happened, for they have always believed that Gentiles were unclean and should be shunned. But Peter ends with the words: "If then God gave them the same gift that He gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?"

This moment in the New Testament marks a shift in the early Church’s understanding of God’s plan for all nations to be included in His Kingdom. For God does not show favouritism but accepts people from every nation into His family. Sometimes there are barriers between people, and bridges between people need to be built. We can help by dismantling obstacles and being open to new opportunities. After all Jesus built a bridge between God and humans for a reason. We need to help foster unity, understanding, and acceptance today to help build bridges between people and societies, both in our churches and in the wider world in any way that we can.

Lord Jesus,
may we learn to follow Your example
to break down barriers that separate us,
whether they are barriers of age, race, or sexuality.
Help us to build bridges between people
and foster unity in our church and community.
In doing so may we draw closer to You.
Amen.