Acts 10:9-20 CSB
The next day, as they were traveling and nearing the city, Peter went up to pray on the roof about noon. [10] He became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing something, he fell into a trance. [11] He saw heaven opened and an object that resembled a large sheet coming down, being lowered by its four corners to the earth. [12] In it were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, and the birds of the sky. [13] A voice said to him, "Get up, Peter; kill and eat." [14] "No, Lord!" Peter said. "For I have never eaten anything impure and ritually unclean." [15] Again, a second time, the voice said to him, "What God has made clean, do not call impure." [16] This happened three times, and suddenly the object was taken up into heaven. [17] While Peter was deeply perplexed about what the vision he had seen might mean, right away the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions to Simon's house, stood at the gate. [18] They called out, asking if Simon, who was also named Peter, was lodging there. [19] While Peter was thinking about the vision, the Spirit told him, "Three men are here looking for you. [20] Get up, go downstairs, and go with them with no doubts at all, because I have sent them."
Acts 2:17 CSB
And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all people; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.
Peter’s Vision
Mahatma Gandhi is a name known by most. What is less known is that as a student in South Africa, he was deeply attracted to the teachings of Jesus and decided to attend a Christian church to learn more about the faith. When he entered, however, an usher refused to show him to a seat and suggested he worship with “his own people.” Feeling rejected by the racial and caste bias within that body, Gandhi left and never returned, famously concluding: “If Christians have caste differences also, I might as well remain a Hindu.”
Now, imagine a mother today. She shifts the baby to her other hip and looks up at the church steps. She is a mother without a husband. The sign out front has a movable letter board with a verse she half-remembers from her own mother’s voice—the smell of old paper and vanilla. The baby fusses; she bounces him. The women going up the steps have good coats on. She looks down at her own and buttons the top button, which is the only one left.
Will the “ushers” of today see her through the eyes of tradition, or the eyes of the Spirit?
The Jewish believers were slowly learning from the Holy Spirit that anything God makes pure should not be treated as unclean. It would take a miraculous vision and divine signs before they would accept Gentiles into the church without demanding they first follow the laws of Moses, including circumcision. For a Jew, the law strictly prohibited eating anything “unclean.” Peter needed to go beyond his own legalistic limitations.
While waiting for lunch, Peter fell into a trance and saw a sheet descending three times, filled with animals he had been taught his whole life to avoid. A voice commanded him to kill and eat. This strange vision plagued Peter’s mind. What does this mean? Why would the Lord tell me to eat what is forbidden?
Peter’s answer arrived at the very moment the men sent by Cornelius stood at his gate. How great is the authority of the Spirit! Many people treat this Holy Being as a mere “force” rather than a Person. But it is the Spirit who speaks: “Three men are here looking for you. Get up, go downstairs, and go with them with no doubts at all, because I have sent them.” Not only is Peter given direct orders, but it is the same Spirit who sent the men to Peter in the first place. It is an insult to claim the Spirit of God is an unintelligible force when He clearly coordinates, speaks, and directs the movements of the Kingdom.
The Spirit lives in us to show us God’s love for others—especially the outcasts of society, the widows, and the orphans. How we treat the unwed mother or the foreigner in our church today is an individual decision, one the Holy Spirit wants to use to change lives. Like Peter, we must be willing to let the Spirit dismantle our prejudices so we can see who God has already called “clean.”
Reflection Questions
- Gandhi was turned away by a “gatekeeper” at a church. Are there “unwritten rules” in your own heart or church that might make an outsider feel like they don’t belong?
- Peter’s first instinct was to say “No, Lord!” to the vision because it challenged his tradition. Has God ever asked you to do something that challenged your comfort zone or your upbringing?
- The Spirit gave Peter a specific command to go “with no doubts.” How can we better recognize the voice of the Spirit as a Person who leads us, rather than just a vague feeling or force?
Prayer
Father,
We thank You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit, our Counselor and Guide. Forgive us for the times we have treated Your Spirit as a distant force rather than the living Presence who speaks to us. Open our eyes to the “sheets” You are lowering in our own lives—the people and places we have labeled as “unclean” or “unfit” for Your grace. Help us to button our coats and open our doors, welcoming the outcast and the lonely just as You welcomed us. May we follow Your leading with no doubts at all. In Jesus’ Name.
Amen.
