Drawing the Circle Wider

I am rule-follower. I appreciate knowing that there are rules and regulations, standards and expectations, dos and don’ts in our daily lives. I even joke that I became Presbyterian primarily because I like things “decently and in order.”

Ever Wider by Rev. Lisle Gwynn Garrity, A Sanctified Art

As a devout Jew, I think Peter was a rule-follower too. Peter had been raised to follow and obey the law, a set of spiritual and ritualistic rules given to God’s people by God and passed down from generation to generation. It was the law, and the people’s obedience to the law, that set God’s people apart from the other nations (or at least it was supposed to).

Over the years, religious leaders interpreted God’s law in such a way that it became impossible for an ordinary person to follow and obey, but the intent of the law was to create space and rhythm for work, worship, and daily living so that God could be honored and glorified. As such, the law touched just about every aspect of human life.

And then Jesus came.

Jesus was known to take the rules, God’s law, and redefine it. He showed the people the heart of the law, what God intended for the law. Jesus healed on the Sabbath. Jesus dined with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus talked to Samaritan women. Jesus touched the lepers. Jesus called people to stop hiding in trees, whispered truth to seekers in the middle of the night, and told people to stand up for there was no one to throw stones any longer.

For three years Peter witnessed it all.

Over and over, Peter saw Jesus come alongside people, push the known boundaries and draw the circle ever wider.

So, in Acts, Peter must wrestle with the implications of that wider circle. He must figure out for himself, and for the growing church, what Jesus’ life and example meant.  

And then, Peter had a dream. It was a strange dream involving animals, deemed by the law to be unclean, coming down from heaven on a sheet and a voice saying, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane” (Acts 10:15).

I can imagine Peter’s reaction to his vision. His confusion. His questions.

Because yet again, the circle was being drawn wider.

Grace and peace,

Kimmy