Visions on sheets, breaking rules, boundaries, and the new commandment -

In the Name of God, Creator, Redeemer, sustainer- May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you Christ, my deliverer. Why do we come together to worship? Is this something we do for God, for ourselves, for our neighbors? All of the Above. In this mornings readings, we hear Scriptures which provoke our awareness the many ways God has been experienced throughout the ages. Fair to say none of the writers would have described themselves as religious. It’s also quite likely they wouldn’t call themselves spiritual either. Still, their identities were interwoven with an understanding that they had a connection with the invisible power, the Divine Spirit, and in some way owed their entire existence to God as their creator. Identity as special people, chosen over all others is a repeating theme in the scriptures. Being special people is a theme that is challenged as we hear Peter address the early community of believers in Judea. They stayed fixed in the idea of being uniquely special to God. And their reaction to news of Peter’s breaking of holiness code disturbed the community. Peter was called out to explain his actions. As a chaplain, there are times when I find that I need to explain how a chaplain is a unique ministerial calling. Our work requires living the Gospel in our actions. Those actions are based in holy love for neighbors, rather than persistently and relentlessly espousing specific traditions. Personally, I can imagine how Peter might have felt attacked as he offered his defense for the new way. Peter stayed focused on his experience with the Holy Spirit. He relied also upon a communal witness, the “Six who went with him” from Joppa to Caesarea. In faithfulness he went and provided testimony and saw the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon a household. Scripture gives testimony to the idea of a progressive advancement of understanding of God at work in the world. But often that scares people. People like things to remain unchanged, but change is written into the very fabric of the world. There are seasons, and they are a cycle . As a Chaplain I have come to understand that no individual church, or congregation owns God. [Peter served the Gentiles- Who do Chaplains serve?] In this new Century- already 25 years old, we still have a mission, and a duty to serve the Risen Lord. The Good News is that the appropriate response to the Good News of Jesus is very simple….Love one another. The Gospel provides the new commandment. “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” It’s really that simple- when others speak hate, let us show love.