David Bahn – Reflections

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Acts 11:1-18

Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ² So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, ³ “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” ⁴ But Peter began and explained it to them in order: ⁵ “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. ⁶ Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. ⁷ And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ ⁸ But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. ¹¹ And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. ¹² And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³ And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; ¹⁴ he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ ¹⁵ As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. ¹⁶ And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” ¹⁸ When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

I can count on one hand the times I’ve seen a direct response of repentance to an admonition I’ve offered. That is partly because I don’t tend toward admonishment. It’s not my style. Perhaps it should be. Maybe I should be more direct and challenging. After all Jesus was often very challenging and quite direct. “Unless you repent,” he said on one occasion, “you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3) John the Baptizer also brought strong words to bear on the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to be baptized by him in the desert, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:6)

Take  for example, also the Old Testament prophets. They railed against the apostate Israelites.

[The LORD says,] I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
¹⁴ Your new moons and your appointed feasts
    my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
    I am weary of bearing them.
¹⁵ When you spread out your hands,
    I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
    I will not listen;
    your hands are full of blood.
¹⁶ Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
    remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
¹⁷     learn to do good;
seek justice,
    correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
    plead the widow’s cause. – Isaiah 1:14-17

But I am struck by Peter’s kinder, gentler approach. This isn’t an in-your-face confrontation like he offered in Acts 2:36, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified [emphasis added].” But here it’s a kinder approach. And that simple word of grace had an outsized impact. Luke tells us, “When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, ‘Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.’”

This is God’s gift – sending Jesus to save us, and sending messengers to bring his word to us. Add to that the gift of the Holy Spirit who moves our hearts to repent and believe.

I’ve seen short-term results from strong blasts from the pulpit. And I’ve seen life-changes through quiet and gentle admonition. This is the latter kind. I wish every soul was as open to this gentle message of God’s grace.