PROPERS: 5 EASTER, YEAR C
TEXT: ACTS 11:1-18
PREACHED AT ST. PAUL’S CHAPEL, MAGNOLIA SPRINGS, ON SUNDAY, MAY 15, 2022.
ONE SENTENCE: The magnanimity of God expands the reach of his grace; we are beneficiaries of that expansion.
Nora and I like going to New York City occasionally. We enjoy the plays, the operas, and the general sights and sounds of the city. One of our joys was taking our grandsons there. It was good for all of us.
One time, when it was just the two of us, we took the Circle Line Tour to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The Statue of Liberty, of course, was a gift from France, arriving in New York Harbor in 1885. Ellis Island, only a short distance away, served as the entry point for 12 million immigrants between 1892 and 1954.
A descendent of those immigrants can now search the island’s records and find the precise arrival date of ancestors. Many people do that.
Our visit was a moving experience. After our excursion boat returned to the southern tip of Manhattan, Nora and I continued to wander. One of our favorite areas is Mulberry Street in the heart of Little Italy. It is a multi-blocked street which features a virtually endless array of Italian restaurants. And great food.
Immediately adjacent to Little Italy is Chinatown, laced with many shops and restaurants. Like Little Italy, a visitor encounters many descendants of those immigrants who came through Ellis Island.
The same is true for the nearby neighborhood of Koreatown.
One of my favorite places to stop and have a meal is Katz’s Deli. It is the quintessential New York Jewish deli. It was featured in the movie When Harry Met Sally. The corned beef sandwich there is beyond compare.
The lower part of Manhattan, these neighborhoods tell us, is a melting pot. From all over the world, people came as Italians, Chinese, Koreans, Jews, and countless other nationalities. They are now Americans, and part of the fabric of our culture.
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Today’s lesson from Acts tells the story of Christianity moving beyond the narrow confines of a small Jewish sect. The apostle Peter recounts, to Jerusalem church leaders, his encounter with the family of Cornelius, the Roman Centurion.
The story had been told during the previous chapter. It involved an ecstatic vision by Peter, who was then led to Cornelius’ house. There he baptized Cornelius’ family after having been told in his vision that whatever God has made clean, you must not consider profane.
The first Gentiles – the first non-Jews – had been brought into the household of faith.
From that point on… from those humble beginnings on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea… the expansion of the church began.
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When I was in seminary, we were taught the story of scripture – the overarching narrative of those 66 books in the Bible.
Yes, scripture teaches us moral and ethical lessons. One cannot read the prophets without seeing those.
But more importantly, the story of scripture is about God’s movement among people – of expanding the covenant first from Adam and his family; later to Abraham and his descendants; to the 12 tribes of Israel; to the followers of Jesus; to the Gentiles; and then to all the world, as told in Paul’s missionary journeys.
My point is this: It is only because God expanded his reach into those who were not of the original community of faith that we are participants in the kingdom which Jesus proclaimed. We are the immigrants which have been incorporated into the People of God – not the original residents. In a sense, we are the people who came through Ellis Island.
The expansion of God’s kingdom continues, just as the universe continues to expand. We are called to humble gratitude and to not proclaim as profane what God has made clean.
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