Toothpaste or Tuthpaste

In our house, before the kids go to bed we’ve started to play a game that the kids have named “What would you rather say?” It’s a simple game, there’s no winners or losers, and it basically does exactly what it says on the tin. One person says “what would you rather say?” and then proceeds to give two options of words or phrases with similar meanings and then the other people have to answer. So you might say “What would you rather say, tuthpaste or toothpaste?” Or “What would you rather say Sofa or Settee?”

Anyway, I thought we could play a quick game of it now. So I’ll give you two options of what would you rather say? And then I’ll get you to raise your hand for whichever one you choose. Got it?

What would you rather say – Quilt or Duvet?

What would you rather say – Cob or Bap?

What you would rather say – Dinner or Tea?

What would you rather say – Scon or Scone?

And then once you’ve answered, my kids would say all of you who said Scon, you’re now best buddies and all of you who said Scone, you’re now best buddies.

In life, as in the game, people are often divided. We’re very good at dividing ourselves into two groups – the Scons and the Scones. These divisions could be those of class, race, gender, ideology or even just saying the right/wrong thing.  Human beings are so good at creating us and them societies  and if you’re not one of us then you can often be disliked or simply just forgotten about.

Things were the same in Peter’s day – even Peter, the leader of the early church, had bought into the idea of us and them – he was best buddies with the scons but he’d forgotten about the scones – yes he was out preaching the good news of Jesus to the Jewish people – but what about everybody else?

God on the other hand, God is isn’t in the division game, no, God is all about peace. And so in Chapter 10 of Acts, God brings two very different men together. One of whom was Peter, the Jewish fisherman and the other was Cornelius, the Roman Soldier.  We find ourselves, in verse 34, in Cornelius’ house as Peter is about to preach to all those who are present. God has recently brought Peter to the realisation that Jesus wasn’t only for the Jewish people.

“Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness”

Peter begins “I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts from EVERY nation the one who fears him and does what is right.” (vv 34-35) And then he continues to summarize the gospel – the good news of Jesus. He talks about “how God anointed Jesus…with the Holy Spirit…and he went around doing good and healing”(v38) He describes how Jesus was killed, hanging on the cross, “but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.”(v40) And he finished by saying “All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (v43)

You might have noticed that Peter’s speech is bookended by this message of the inclusivity of God. God does not show favouritism (v34) – EVERYONE who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins (v 42). And then before he finishes talking God poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit on those listening, many of whom did not come from a Jewish background. These “others”, who nobody really expected to be included, receive the Holy Spirit and praise God.

What that means is that this Jesus, who Peter is talking about, who died and was raised from the dead and who was then made judge of all, gives the same offer to both the Jews and the Gentiles – the offer of salvation, regardless of their past or their heritage. Every single person gets treated the same. So if you’re a Jew from Jerusalem then Jesus’s offer is for you. If you’re a beekeeper in Brazil, his offer is for you. If you’re an Anglican in Amington, his offer is for you. Jesus is for you! Peter’s message is the message that runs through the whole length of the Bible and just like the gentiles did after they heard it, it’s a reason to praise God because it’s not just good news, it’s the best news, Jesus came to save every single one of us. For some reason when I was reflecting on this passage, I kept thinking about that video, which you may have seen, where Oprah Winfrey gives everybody in the audience a car and goes around saying “you get car, you get a car.” But instead it’s Jesus pointing to everyone saying “you get saved, you get saved, you get saved.” In that video everyone was jumping around, screaming with excitement and that was just a car but this is much better than getting a car – this is real, eternal salvation. Feel free to jump around screaming with excitement on the zoom call if you like, it’s an exciting thing, or perhaps we can settle for a little “Hallejuah!”

“He commanded us to preach to the people.”

Now for the challenging bit – If Jesus’ offer of forgiveness and salvation is for everyone then that means that it’s not just for you and for me, but for everybody you know, everybody you’ve ever met, ever will meet and may never meet – and not just the people you get along with, but the grumpy ones too, those people you find challenging to be around.

Like I said earlier, people are very good at creating divisions and we’re also very good at staying within our comfort zones. We stick with the people who are like us and we daren’t venture outside that group. Sometimes without knowing it, we can easily divide the people in our lives into two groups – those we are comfortable talking to about Jesus and those we’re not, perhaps because they’re a bit grumpy or we just assume they won’t be interested in hearing it. But perhaps we can learn a lesson from Peter in our reading – Peter certainly wasn’t used to going into the houses of gentiles – Peter stepped out in faith and stepped out of his comfort zone to start talking to those who were different to him about Jesus. If we really believe that EVERYONE who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness for their sins, if we really believe that God’s offer of salvation is open to everyone, then the obvious next step is to let them know about it even if it means stepping into the uncomfortable situation. Peter says in verse 42 “He commanded us to preach to the people.” I think here he was specifically speaking about himself and those who saw the risen Jesus but the idea that we need to be sharing this message with others is one that extends to all those who believe in Jesus – to go and make disciples of all nations. It doesn’t mean we all need to be delivering 20 minute sermons, and actually I think if you walked into someone’s garden or stood up in the middle of your work place and did that it might come across as a bit peculiar. But it’s worth challenging ourselves seek out opportunities to tell people we normally wouldn’t about Jesus, because his life, death and resurrection were for them too – It could be as simple as saying to somebody you know “you know I’m a Christian, have I ever told you why?” and if like me, you struggle with articulating the “why” – perhaps you could use Peter’s words in the passage we’ve read this morning as a template. Yes it will be challenging but I think if we do manage to step out in faith, we may just find that like those who accompanied Peter to Cornelius’s house, we’ll be pleasantly surprised at how God works in that situation and by what follows.

I suppose if I was going to sum up what this passage says to me, it’s this – Jesus if for EVERYONE. Pass it on.