Sermon Title: "God Shows No Partiality"
Date: January 9, 2011
Minister:  The Rev. Charles Ensley

Lesson:  Acts 10:34-43

The Emperor Franz Josef, who died in 1916, was the last of the great Hapsburg rulers.  He lay in state in his magnificent palace in Vienna, surrounded by exquisite floral arrangements, sumptuous fabrics, jewels and gold.  On the day of the funeral, his body was taken to the church in an exquisite hearse drawn by magnificent matched horses.  The pallbearers removed the casket from the hearse, and brought it to the locked doors of the church.

One of the emperor’s attendants knocked loudly on the door, and a voice came from within:  “Who goes there?”

“His Majesty Franz Josef Emmanuel Hans, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Head of the Hapsburgs.”  Came the reply from within:  “We do not know him.”

A second time the emperor’s attendant knocked loudly on the door, and a voice came from within:  “Who goes there?”

“His Majesty Franz Josef Emmanuel Hans, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Head of the Hapsburgs.”  Came the reply from within:  “We do not know him.”

A third time the emperor’s attendant knocked loudly on the door, and a voice came from within:  “Who goes there?”

The answer this time was much softer and simpler:  “It is Franz, a child of God.”

Soon, there was a loud noise as the massive bolts were drawn back, the doors were opened wide, and the interior of the magnificent church was made visible.

The doorkeeper then said, “The Lord welcomes Franz, a child of God.  Him we know.”

“Then Peter began to speak to them:  ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality,

but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.’”

                                                                                                          (Acts 10:34-35)

This speech of Peter offers one of the shortest and most potent expressions of the ancient gospel message.  Many scholars think this kernel of preaching predates the book of Acts, and might be as original to the words of the historical Peter as anything else recorded.  It was delivered at Caesarea to a group of Cornelius’ relatives and friends.  Luke, in his second volume known today as Acts of the Apostles, promises that the apostles will bear witness to Jesus “in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  (1:8)  At the point of today’s lesson, Peter has left Jerusalem, headed to Joppa and Lydda, and now moves further north to Caesarea, which is west of Galilee, almost in the province of Syria.  The gospel message is quite literally spreading from Judea, past Samaria, and eventually to the ends of the earth.

But the political demarcations of the Roman provinces are not the only boundaries being crossed in the apostolic missions of Acts.  Here in chapter 10, Peter is famously crossing the ethnic boundary that divided Jew and Gentile in the ancient world.  Last Sunday, we heard about the wise men, Gentiles from the East who came to worship the new-born King of the Jews.  Through the mysterious visions granted to Peter and Cornelius, in today’s lesson the God of Israel has taken the initiative to arrange a meeting that will welcome non-Jews into fellowship with God.  The first Gentiles to be welcomed are Cornelius and his family and friends who, after hearing today’s words spoken by Peter, in the following verses are overcome by the gift of the Holy Spirit and receive baptism.  (10:44-48)  This extension of God’s fellowship to the Gentiles is a truly momentous event, as it opened the door for the Gentile ministries of both Peter and Paul, which led to the urban growth of the Christian movement throughout the Roman empire.

The doors are opened to the Gentiles in Peter’s opening line:  “God shows no partiality” to the members of one nation over another.  (10:34)  This declaration of divine open-mindedness is certainly a timely reminder to our modern era, in which the leaders of many nations—including our own—often claim that God is partial to their particular countries.

“…God shows no partiality…”

A front page article in Tuesday’s (1/4/11) Los Angeles Times tells of the Rev. Jane Adams Spahr, a Presbyterian minister, who has been tried three times by her denomination for continuing to officiate at ceremonies uniting gays and lesbians in what she insists on calling “marriage,” because she believes “God shows no partiality.”

Last week I was thumbing through the magazine of Doane College, one of our United Church of Christ colleges in Nebraska.  Their choir has sung here, and will be returning in another year or two.  My eye caught this one-paragraph note accompanying a picture of an administrator:  “Doug Christensen will undertake an additional role at Doane as special assistant to the president for diversity.  He will act as a resource expert on diversity programs, training and professional development, recruitment, retention, and alignment of diversity strategies college wide.”

“…God shows no partiality…”

You know we live in what is widely regarded as one of the most culturally diverse cities in the nation.  No matter how hard I try to avoid it, it seems every time I drive by Wilson High the students are either passing across Ximeno Avenue between classes, or heading home much sooner than seems normal to me.  Sitting there at the stop light, I think what I see is a microcosm of our entire city.  I am sure the same scene occurs daily outside Poly High.  And those they are going to class with are who they will interact with, perhaps next at college, then in the world of their career.

“…God shows no partiality…”

That God shows no partiality means that nobody has the edge, that all people are equal before God and none are “more equal” than others.  Nor is there any hint of a “separate but equal” doctrine.  Rather, the only litmus test that counts is whether Jesus dwells within or is acted out through our human heart.  Or, as Peter preaches it that day, “the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead.”  (10:42)

At its best, this means that we take what God has revealed to us and immediately put it into practice.  If God shows us that we have behaved unjustly, then we need to start behaving justly.  If God shows us that we are shutting out some that God includes in, then we need to move to where God is.  In each case, we need to act ourselves on what God has shown us.

One Ohio pastor tells of how growing up as the son of Salvation Army officers, he developed a strong distaste for the poor.  Because officers and their families were usually housed in the same buildings that were the Salvation Army’s places of worship and centers of social welfare operations, this boy saw lots of down-and-out people come to his door, where his father and mother dealt with their physical and sometimes spiritual needs.  He also heard many of the stories these persons told as reasons why they needed aid.

To his ears, many of these tales sounded bogus, designed only to “work the system.”  And rather than making him more openhearted toward those in need, his insider view of this stream of humanity made him skeptical of the poor, and disinclined to help them himself.

Later, however, after entering the ministry, he was convinced by God that his hardheartedness toward those seeking aid was unchristian, and it was up to himself to change how he behaved.  Today, though his distaste for the poor remains, this pastor’s actions are different, and he works to understand those who come to his parsonage door asking for help.  He makes himself take the time to deal kindly with them and to truly listen—and to try to give what is most needed.

Using Peter as a model, we who follow Jesus today do well to remain open to the idea that God does new things, and that we may be called to be agents of change.  And sometimes, to our surprise and chagrin, it is the agent who needs to change.  We need to be reminded that in Christ Jesus God shows no partiality, and that as followers of him, we are challenged to seek ways to do the same.