Sermon for May 18, 2025 (Acts 11:1–18)
In many Lutheran circles what’s called the “common table prayer” is often said together before meals: “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let thy gifts to us be blessed. Amen.” It’s considered common, but newcomers to the faith or to Lutheranism wonder if this prayer is inspired or just brief and to the point. It’s not common to them. It is a “common” prayer that unites the “in group,” but it likewise excludes others. The same was true about circumcision or “unclean foods” in the first century in creating “in groups” and “out groups.” But what our text today calls us to see is that God’s grace and promises go out to all and these work to bind all who believe together as Jesus’ Church.
We may be skeptical of God bringing to faith others outside our own circle (vv 1–3). We see in our lesson that the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem called into question Peter’s actions of going to Gentiles. This resistance to including the Gentiles can be traced back to the Old Testament in which God Himself had established a distinction between Israel and the Gentiles (Deut 7:1–6). Jews felt that even eating with Gentiles would make them ceremonially unclean. And God had also forbidden Israel to eat many foods the Gentiles ate (Deut 14:2–19).
But we see in the life of Jesus that He ate with sinners and others who were judged to be unworthy. And so we may be unsure about whether God has called us to associate with others, even fellow Christians, who do things in ways that are uncomfortable or at least unfamiliar to us. But such different practices may even include traditions in our congregation that could be stumbling blocks to those coming from the “outside” that keep them from feeling welcomed.
Sometimes, we are hesitant to welcome people into the church because their backgrounds are suspicious to us. For example, we may wonder whether Muslims can become Christian. Or maybe we’re afraid that members of our own congregation who are the “in group” will disapprove of our welcoming attitude toward outsiders, and we refrain from reaching out. But God leaves no doubt about His purpose and His desire to welcome and include everyone.
In our lesson from Acts, God made His desire to welcome everyone very clear to Peter. He gave Peter a miraculous vision that challenged Peter’s preconceived notions about certain things being “unclean” (vv 4–10). And when Peter may have been unsure about God’s message to him, three visitors helped affirm God’s message (vv 11–14). Finally, God left no doubt in Peter as He sent the Holy Spirit to the entire Gentile household to baptize them in the death and resurrection of Jesus (vv 15–17).
Today, God affirms that His promises are given to all people by the testimony of His Word. Scripture had always hinted that God was the God of all when He commanded Abraham to be a blessing to the nations by His faithfulness to the one, true God. And now, as we see in the thirteenth verse of our Gospel lesson (Jn 16), we understand clearly that the Holy Spirit has spoken of the truth being given to ALL nations so that they may know God’s mercy in Jesus Christ. Because this welcoming of the Gentiles is one of God’s “new things” (Rev 21:5) as described in our text from Revelation today—the dwelling place of God is now with ALL people!
This openness and acceptance of the Gentiles is part of the new covenant instituted with the shedding of Jesus’ blood. Jesus’ death on the cross has paid for the sins of the whole world (1 Jn 2:2), of ALL people! By Jesus’ cross, the gifts of forgiveness and eternal life have been given to all who believe (v 17), not just those who look like us or worship like we do.
In the end, we recognize with joy that God calls all to faith through the same Word and Spirit. Whether it’s through infant Baptism or by adults coming to faith, all are gathered and called by God’s Spirit through His Word. And this Gospel message—so open and free—is itself beyond our reason. By our own reason, we are driven to think that those who are “in” must somehow be doing something right to have received the message of God’s grace in Jesus. But we know better; every one of us is part of the “in group” because Jesus paid for our membership by dying for us—and for no other reason!
Sometimes, because we forget that we’re forgiven sinners, we need to make sure that we don’t stand in the Spirit’s way. Ultimately, the only God-pleasing response that we can have for God bringing others to saving faith in Jesus is praise, just like we see in verse 18 of our text—“When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” Alleluia!
When we invite Jesus to “be our guest,” it’s crucial to remember that we don’t make up the guest list. We’re always Jesus’ guests at the heavenly table, always by His grace in giving His life for us. Jesus is always bringing other guests to the table with Him. Like the holiday meal to which some outside the family are invited, it’s something new for us to get used to. But the gifts to us that we ask to be blessed in our common table prayer—“let thy gifts to us be blessed”—just may be new people whom God has welcomed into His family. Amen.