Sermon for January 9, 2011

Scripture: Acts 10:34-43

“Jesus the Bridge”    Rev. Christopher Fazel

            The first question for the Christian religion – from its beginning up to now, was and is, “Who is Jesus?”  The Biblical record itself grapples with this question.  “Is Jesus the Son of David, the Son of Man, or the Son of God?”  The Holy Bible uses all three.  The Holy Qur’an is more consistent, calling Jesus the Son of Mary. 

            More recently, there has been over the last century or so, a quest for the historical Jesus, trying to use various methods of research to form as clear a picture as possible, what Jesus was really like before he was interpreted to us by the earliest writers.  Still others argue that such a quest ultimately results in seeing our own reflection.  This view argues that the clearest image of Jesus is inseparable from the interpreters’ own mind.  And maybe it’s enough to know Jesus as he was seen and understood by those minds that have left us the record we call the New Testament and apocryphal documents.   Being a Libra rising, I’d like to think that both approaches help us see the truth.    

            Today’s reading from Acts and the story that encloses it reveals – I believe – one of the interpretations of Jesus the Christ that was most important to the earliest believers.  That interpretation is Jesus as the bridge.  Now, to clarify what I mean, I need to tell you the story that contains this speech by the apostle Peter.   You see, Peter has found himself staying with Simon the tanner in Joppa – the Judean city on the Mediterranean coast that is today Tel Aviv.  Meanwhile up in Caesarea – about 30 miles up the coast – there was a Roman Centurion named Cornelius.  It says of Cornelius that he was “god-fearing.”  Well, “God-fearer” was a technical term that described a convert to Judaism short of circumcision.  So Cornelius was both pagan by culture and Jewish by religion to a certain degree. 

            Well, one day in prayers, Cornelius sees this vision of an angel that says, “Your prayers have ascended as a memorial before God.  Now send for one Simon who is called Peter, who is staying at the home of Simon the tanner in Joppa by the sea.”  So, when he comes to from the vision, Cornelius does as he’s told.  Meanwhile, Peter, down in Joppa, begins his noon day prayer.  The text says he was hungry and had just ordered some food for after the prayer, and while it was being prepared, he fell into a trance.  And in the trance he had a vision.  He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners.  In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air.   Then he heard a voice saying, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.”  But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.”  The voice said to him again, a second time, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”  This happed three times, and the thing was suddenly taken up to heaven.

            At the moment this was over – rap rap at the door – the emissaries from Cornelius arrive.  Peter goes with them as the spirit prompts him.  When he gets to Cornelius’ house, Peter is escorted into a room full of friends and relatives of the centurion who have come to hear what Peter has to say.  And here’s what he says:

            “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to God.  You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ – he is Lord of all.  That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced; how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.  We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem.  They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.  He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead.  All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” 

            And while he says these things, the Holy Spirit descends on the listeners and they begin speaking in tongues and praising God.  The circumcised believers were amazed that the Spirit would visit the Gentiles.  And finally Peter says, “Who can refuse these people the waters of baptism.”  And so Gentiles get baptized.  A bridge had formed connecting two separate worlds – the Gentile and the Jew.  Jesus Christ was the bridge.

            Now, many scholars believe that the speeches of Peter that the author of Acts included in his book are based on living memory and perhaps even written records of the actual speeches that Peter gave.  That’s not to say that editors aren’t also at work.  And we can debate which parts are original and which parts are editorial.  But the overall vision of what Jesus meant to the earliest Christians is very clear.  Jesus was the great reconciler.  Jesus melted the walls that separated Jew from Gentile and the wall that separated all humanity from the love of God.  Jesus brought peace to those who were locked in conflict. 

            And yet, I am sad to report that in our day, Jesus is far too seldom a bridge and far too often part of the wall of hostility that feeds the warring impulses of this mixed up human race.  And I find that tragic – all the more tragic because it doesn’t have to be that way.  There is a way to understand Jesus as the Christ and yet as the bridge that can unite the peoples of the world without being triumphalist.  Sharon and I have conceived a Lenten program titled “Jesus as the Bridge.”  In those five Wednesday nights, we will seek with all our might the meaning of Jesus as the bridge.  May God bless us in our search.  Let us pray.

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