God Has No Favorites (Acts 10-11)

Dr. Tony is back with Mary Balfour, and he brings the hinge of the whole book: Peter and Cornelius. It is the longest story in Acts, and Luke tells it with such care, repeating the visions again and again, because he does not want anyone to miss the point. God is doing something enormous, and he is doing it on purpose. A Roman centurion, a Gentile, an enemy of Israel, turns out to be a man of deep prayer and generosity. Meanwhile Peter is up on a rooftop, hungry, when a sheet full of unclean animals drops from heaven and a voice tells him to eat. He refuses, three times, until the message finally lands: what God has called clean, you must not call profane. The animals were never really the point. The people were. Dr. Tony walks Mary Balfour through how the Holy Spirit works on both ends of this story at once, and how Peter moves from “here is who I am and what I have never done” to “here is who God is and what God has done.” At the center sits the line that holds the entire gospel: God shows no partiality. Or in the older, more literal phrasing, God is no respecter of persons, no accepter of faces. God’s welcome is not based on how we look or talk or dress or even how we believe. We keep trying to make faith about our character when it was always about the character of God, the One who loves and accepts everyone. By chapter 11 the Spirit has fallen on the Gentiles, Peter asks the only honest question left, who was I to hinder God, and in Antioch the followers of Jesus are called Christians for the very first time. A story that is easy to say and hard to live, then and now. As always, remember that we love you, but most importantly, God does. Readings for next week: Acts 12 Links mentioned in this episode: Dr. Tony’s notes on Acts 10-11 (https://www.stmartininthefields.org/w...) Dr. Tony’s notes on the Acts of the Apostles (https://www.stmartininthefields.org/w...) Dr. Tony’s notes the First Century Church (https://www.stmartininthefields.org/w...) Check us out on YouTube (   / @biblelovepodcast  )