Issue 361
A midday meeting which changed the world
The striking thing about a prejudice is that when you have one, you find it difficult to see its presence or its effects.
If you have ever taken part in a job interview, you may have experienced prejudice or indeed been influenced by your own. Employment laws are increasingly informing us that decisions should not be made on the basis of age, gender, race or beliefs but purely on suitability for the job; what the law cannot regulate is the feelings, first impressions, personal preferences, or chemistry which influence the interaction between one human being and another.
Peter, the rock, and one of the first Christians, had changed career from fisherman to clergyman; what had not changed were some of his deeply held values, but they were about to.
Around the middle of the day, Peter goes up onto the roof of the house where he is staying. Things arealready changing in his life, because he is a guest of a man named Simon, whose job as a tanner is considered unclean by people form Peter’s background. Peter seems to have overcome this barrier already.
What he still carried was a view that any non-Jew was in some way inferior. Views ranged from mild superiority to downright racism and Peter would have been somewhere on this scale. Its origins lay in the legitimate understanding of the Jews as a chosen people – but this choice was about responsibility, not superiority.
The ‘in between’ time that Peter experiences is in between hunger and satisfaction, as well as sleep and awake. The moment is described as a trance; it is a dream-like, somewhat surreal, state in which Peter sees symbols and animals and also hears a voice. As so often occurs in such experiences, the drama repeats – almost like a video loop.
The point of the dream was to smash Peter’s prejudice and dismantle his bias. Peter realised that choice did not mean favouritism and superiority was just another form of racism.
God uses numerous methods to open your eyes; one of them is to close them in sleep, so that you can learn something life-changing and dramatic. He takes you into an ‘in between’ state, where prejudices can’t survive. Before you minimise the importance of such an experience, you might like to consider that it led Peter to bring the carpenter’s message to a non-Jewish audience for the first time. It not only changed his prejudice but their lives, and opened the same door through which you now pass.
Perhaps you should consider that ‘Lord of the trance’ is another one of God’s tactics and he uses it to meet us in the ‘in between’ state in order to free us of unnecessary prejudices.
Acts 10:9-23
9About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12It contained all kinds of fourfooted animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. 13Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” 14“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” 15The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” 16This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven. 17While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. 18They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there. 19While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you.
20So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.” 21Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?” 22The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to have you come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.” 23Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.
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Geoff Shattock
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