First Sunday after the Epiphany – January 9, 2011

Acts 10:34-38 - ³⁴ Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism ³⁵ but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. ³⁶ You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. ³⁷ You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— ³⁸ how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

If you are one of those people that tend to read church signs, this one may have caught your eye once. It’s the one that reads, “No (N-O) Jesus; No (N-O) Peace” – “Know (K-N-O-W) Jesus; Know (K-N-O-W) Peace.” And you know, in many ways it is that simple. When we know Jesus by faith, and know that he is our Savior who has accomplished our salvation for us - we know the peace that is ours through the forgiveness of sins he won. So this morning we are reminded of how important it is to Know God’s Peace – and that it is Given through Christ and Given to all.

Have you ever stopped to consider just how extraordinarily blessed you are? And I’m not talking about how much food you have in your cupboards or the house you live in or how many clothes you have in your closet. I’m talking about the fact that you are a believer. I’m talking about the fact that you know peace in Jesus. Do you realize how tremendously blessed that makes you; especially when you consider that it hasn’t always been that way? That’s right, I’m telling you, the one occupying that seat right now; the one sitting next to your family member; the one who got up and drove to church this morning – you once were an unbeliever. You once did not know God’s peace.

That’s because by birth and by nature we all were in the devil’s kingdom. We were under the power of the devil. We were rotten through and through. Totally wicked! And, you see, the Lord tells us, “There is no peace…for the wicked” (Isaiah 48:22). That is why countries stockpile enough munitions and weapons to destroy their enemies many times over. That is why our country is marred by racial prejudice and conflicts between economic groups. That’s why homes have been torn apart by domestic strife. That’s why individuals are at odds with themselves. It all boils down to the fact that individuals are at odds with God.

This truth also explains why right now, even though we are Christians, we sometimes act the way we do. Because there is still a part of us, known as the sinful nature, that wants to be back under the devil’s power. And too often we let that sinful nature dictate our actions and control our thoughts. That’s why we still find such severe strife between husband and wife instead of the peace and harmony God wants. That’s why we find cruel words and distrust between members instead of the loving, family relationship it ought to be. That’s why we still demonstrate racial prejudices toward people we don’t think are like us, instead of doing all we can to welcome them and invite them to hear God’s Word. That’s why we still self-righteously think at times we are more worthy of God’s forgiveness than others. Finally, that’s why there are times we still feel like having peace with God is like trying to grasp air.

But it needn’t be that way! God wants us to know his peace! He wants us to know that it is a secure peace, based on Christ’s completed work. We need to stop looking at ourselves for this peace! We need stop giving into the sinful flesh! We need to stop letting our sinful nature pull us back towards the devil’s power! Instead, we need to look, meditate, and fix our eyes on all the work our Savior did to make this peace secure. He suffered and died, so that the punishment we deserve might fall on him. Jesus removed the reason for warfare between us and God – our sins. He could pay for them with his life and death because he is the Lord of all. Jesus atoned for our sins, and so there is peace between us and God, and that peace is secure. That’s what Peter is reviewing when he said, “You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.”

Given through Jesus Christ, that’s how we know God’s peace. And that peace in Jesus is secure; that peace in Jesus is complete. That’s the good news Peter is stressing. He tells us this peace is given through Christ, and he tells us we know Jesus is the Christ because “You know…how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil...”

The word Messiah means “Anointed One.” So when Peter says “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth,” he is saying, “God declared him the Messiah.” That took place at his baptism. In our gospel lesson we read that when Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit descended upon him. We heard that Jesus was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. He was baptized because this was what the Father wanted. He always did what the Father wanted. He did that throughout his entire earthly life. Peter simply says, “Jesus went around doing good.” He always obeyed; he always loved; he always did everything to the glory of the Father. He did that to establish a complete record of righteousness for us. But his baptism also served another purpose. Jesus was baptized as if he were a sinner so that he could identify with sinners. He had to identify with us so that he could answer for our sins.

Jesus answered for them all on the cross. There he cried, “It is finished!” “It is finished,” says the empty tomb of the risen Lord. “It is finished,” says the good news of the peace of Christ. What’s the result? He has healed those under the power of the devil. Remember, that’s us. God sent us the message to make sure that its offer of peace came to us just as he wanted. The Holy Spirit opened our hearts that we might believe the good news and so that the peace won by Christ might live in us. And there is more. The good news tells us that God is at peace with us. This isn’t just a truce, but we have moved from enemies to allies.

Yes, we are tremendously blessed! We know we need peace. We know we want peace. We know we cannot achieve peace for ourselves. We know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ acquired peace for us. We know our peace is secure because the Lord of all took the responsibility for doing what it takes to give us peace. And of course, we know that this peace isn’t just for us, but God offers this peace to all.

To see how our sermon text brings this across, let us go back and look at the first five words, “Then Peter began to speak.” Peter had been staying in the city of Joppa. One day as he waited for his noon meal, he had a vision of sheet filled with “unclean” animals. The Lord told him to eat, but he refused to eat something impure. The Lord replied to him, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean” (Acts 10:15). This happened three times and Peter stood wondering what it meant.

A day earlier in a city named Caesarea, a Gentile (that is the Bible’s reference to everyone who isn’t a Jew) centurion named Cornelius was visited by an angel of God. Cornelius was a believer in the true God, yet it seems that he was unaware of the resurrection of Jesus. This angel told Cornelius to send men to Joppa to get Peter and bring him back to Caesarea.

So, as Peter was wondering about his vision, Cornelius’ delegation came to the house where Peter was and brought him back to Caesarea. There Cornelius explained his vision. “Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism.” Peter was beginning to understand the vision. Peter of course knew God’s command to go into all the world. He knew that the gospel was for all people. He knew the Old Testament had said Abraham’s seed, the promised Messiah, would be a blessing to all people. But only now was he beginning to grasp the significance of the words, “Jesus…is Lord of all.”

You see, Peter grew up in a society which believed that God accepted the Jews simply because they were Jews and rejected the Gentiles simply because they were Gentiles. He was taught to judge by the eternals of the law, and he thought God would judge in the same way. He was of the mindset that since Jews were God’s chosen people, they were better than Gentiles simply because they were not Gentiles.

And the natural man thinks the same way. That’s why it’s important to hear again today that God’s peace is offered to all. That’s why it’s valuable for us today to examine our hearts and minds and lives to see if we haven’t become guilty of some of Peter’s thinking. Have we adopted the mindset that since we are Christians we are better than everyone else? Sure, we memorized John 3:16 and that God so loved the world, but do we qualify that by our thoughts and actions thinking, “The Muslim isn’t worthy of God’s peace; neither is the Mormon or Jehovah’s Witness if they are going to be so foolish to believe that garbage.” Have we become discriminatory or prejudiced? Not willing to witness because that “rif-raff” isn’t good for our church’s image; they aren’t our “type” of people; or we know things they have done.

Shame on us if that’s what we’ve done! Shame on us if we’ve been cold to the visitor because they don’t look like us, or dress like us, or talk like us! Shame on us if we’ve given dirty looks or furrowed our eyebrows because we wonder what “they” are doing here! Shame on us if we haven’t witnessed because we decided they weren’t worthy of God’s message of peace! Shame on us, because God is no respecter of persons as far as nationality and race are concerned. When it comes to sin and salvation, there is no difference. All people have the same Creator, and all people need the same Savior. God peace is offered to all. He doesn’t show favoritism or discrimination. Neither should we.

So let us get out there into the mission field! Let us invite the co-worker, relative, exercise buddy, and hair-stylist until we’re blue in the face. Let us join in on the religious conversation in the hospital room. Let us tell everyone who will listen that peace in Jesus Christ is not just a rumor. It is not just a matter of someone’s opinion. It is not a fantasy. It is not a pious story someone made up because it sounds good. It is not some legend about a controversial teacher. It is not the invention of any human mind. It is not something that was made up to make us feel good. It is the message God sent. It is his message, and it is the truth. It is given to all.

Now is the time to get out and speak the good news of Jesus so everyone can know peace, because, if they don’t know Jesus they have no peace. Amen.