Read: Acts 10:9-33
What God has made clean, do not call common. (v. 15)
Today we join Peter in prayer on a rooftop in the city. It had been a weary day of travel, and Peter was hungry and tired. I have sometimes wondered if it was his hunger that caused Peter to see a vision of unclean animals, coming down from the sky!
Three times, this vision happened in the same way, and Peter was baffled. What could it mean? He had been a practicing Jew all his life. He would never consider handling that which was unclean. He didn’t have long to ponder, though, because God told him. The vision wasn’t just about meat, but about people. And it was repeated three times—it’s not as though the calling card was unfamiliar! Peter was called by God to share the good news of Jesus with the Gentiles. God was making it clear that the resurrection is not just for Israel, but for the whole world. This was astounding news for those who had always been “God’s chosen people.” God was doing a new thing: in Jesus, God chooses the whole world.
Along with Peter, we see the long trajectory of the Christian faith take shape, just as Jesus said it would, and as the tongues of fire foreshadowed. The Spirit is constantly inviting the church to open its arms wider and wider—to expand and grow through welcoming all people, even those who are quite different from us, into the wide mercy of God. —Amy Curran
As you pray, ask God to show you who you are called to welcome in Jesus’ name.
About the Author
Amy Curran is a gardener, a reader, a runner, and an avid coffee drinker. She lives in Durham, North Carolina, where she runs a community garden and a farm-to-table café for Reality Ministries.
