Text: Acts 11:1-8
A month from today, on the first Sunday of June, I will begin teaching a Sunday school class.
We will use a curriculum called "The Wired Word." Each Thursday I will get an email from
"The Wired Word" with the lesson for the week. The lesson will be a current event in the news. I
will get a synopsis of the event or issue plus some Bible passages to consider in light of that
current event. I will then email the lesson to the class members so they can read it and go deeper
before our discussion on Sunday morning. As class facilitator, I will ensure no one dominates the
discussion and that we address the issue in light of what the Bible has to say. If we had done the
lesson for today, it would have been on the topic of immigration.
As you may know, on April 23, Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona signed into law the toughest bill in
the nation against illegal immigration, unleashing a flurry of protest and opposition from people
who see its provisions as an open invitation for harassment, discrimination and racial profiling
against Hispanics. The law makes it a state crime for illegal immigrants to be in Arizona and
gives police the right to demand proof of legal status from anyone they might suspect of being in
the country illegally.
Arizona residents have reason to be concerned about illegal immigration, as their state has
proven to be the busiest gateway for unauthorized entrance into the country and a major entry
point for illegal drugs. Reportedly, more than 60 percent of all undocumented workers come into
the United States through Arizona, and an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants currently live in
Arizona. While many tend the yards and do home repairs for citizens or hold other jobs, some
also commit crimes, though at no greater rate than the legal population, according to police
officials.
The murder of Arizona rancher Robert Krentz on his own property in March by a suspected
smuggler contributed to the movement to pass the bill through the Arizona legislature.
But other concerns contributed as well, including a worry that illegal immigrants receive social
welfare services and add to the drain on tax dollars and that they take jobs from Americans.
Others argue, however, that many of the jobs illegal immigrants take are those that Americans
don't want to do. And several studies have shown that two-thirds of illegal immigrants pay all
taxes, Social Security and Medicare, in part to establish a record. Whatever the reality, however,
the concerns exist.
At minimum, opponents of the new Arizona law see it as going too far and as a violation of civil
liberties. Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of
Arizona, said, "If you look foreign, you are going to be subjected to never-ending requests
[from] police to confirm your identity and confirm your citizenship."
Still others see the measure as mean-spirited and even treading on basic human rights. Cardinal
Roger M. Mahony, Archbishop for the Catholic diocese of Los Angeles, said the authorities'
ability to demand documents was like "Nazism." Jim Wallis, head of the Christian social justice
group Sojourners, describes the bill as "a social and racial sin."
According to those who study immigration, of all the immigrant workers in America, 75 percent
are here legally. Another 10 percent have entered the country legally but have overstayed their
visa. Only 15 percent of all immigrants are here illegally. They are working not only in Arizona,
but in Florida, California, New York, Maine, Minnesota, Michigan and elsewhere. They are
virtually invisible to us, but we get the benefit of their cheap labor in the price of our food and in
the service industries.
Supporters of the measure say that it was necessary because the federal government has not done
enough to control immigration, but getting immigration regulation through Congress has thus far
been an elusive goal. The Arizona bill passed the state legislature with only Republican support
and was signed by a Republican governor. But on the federal level, even when Republicans were
in the majority in Congress, Republican President George W. Bush's attempt at comprehensive
immigration reform did not succeed when his own party split over the issue.
Many observers predict that the Arizona action will move immigration reform higher on the
agenda of the current administration and Congress.
The immigration question is one we must face as a nation and as a congregation. As a
nation of immigrants and a congregation of immigrants, one question is ever present like a
white elephant that no one will mention: "Who will we let in?" This crucial question is as old
as the apostles according to our text today.
Reared in the faith of the Jewish synagogue, Peter was clear in his own mind that there were
certain rules for followers of Jesus Christ. One of the rules was that a follower of Jesus could not
eat barbecue. Pork was an unclean food and thus off limits to Jews and Christians. Or so Peter
thought before the Holy Spirit gave him a vision of what God intended for Christ's church.
The vision provided to Peter by the Holy Spirit first blew his mind and then changed his mind. In
the vision, God made it clear that God's requirements for membership in the church were less
restrictive than Peter's requirements for membership in the church. The vision showed Peter that
was doing a new thing. God intended to include unclean people in Christ's church. As Peter said
to someone about his vision: "The Spirit told me ... not to make a distinction between them and
us."
Peter's vision sounded charming but did not convince other Christian leaders that God's will
included letting unclean people into the church. But what could they after the Holy Spirit broke
into their midst and filled some unclean people right in front of their faces? The Holy Spirit
showed the leaders of the early Christian church that God was the boss and not them. The
Christian leaders responded with astonishment and joy.
The question that Peter faced was the same question we face: "Who is in and who is out?" What
are the boundaries for citizenship and membership? Christian leaders such as Peter had some
clear ideas on the topic. But Peter and the other church leaders were about to learn that the Holy
Spirit did not pay much heed to their ideas about who was eligible to be a member of Christ's
church.
I wonder if any of us could get up before the congregation and say, with Peter: "The Spirit told
me ... not to make a distinction between them and us."
Just as the Jews in Peter's day needed to know that the Gentiles were also welcomed in
God's plan of salvation, so too we need to break through the barriers that prevent us from
carrying the good news to those who are outside of the household of faith. There are men
and women whom we reject every day who are searching for meaningful experiences in
their lives.
After Peter had heard about God's plan to include those he had planned to exclude, Peter
asked, "Who am I to hinder God?" We could ask the same question of ourselves. Who are
we to stand in God's way?
Peter and the apostles refused to remain in the box that others wanted them to stay in. Peter came
out of the box to bring a message of love, power, and justice to people who didn't share his views
which included Jews and Gentiles.
I wonder if that's what the church needs to do today? Perhaps we need to come out of the box of
spiritual confinement. Come out of the box of safety and comfort. The Holy Spirit calls us as
individuals and as a congregation to come out of the box of spiritual limitation and solitary
confinement. We are called to spread the Good News of Christ to all people and not simply stay
within the nice, neat little boxes we have fixed for ourselves or that others have forced us into.
Peter and the apostles refused to stay in the box. Paul refused to stay within the box of his
cultural and religious programs.
Jesus refused to allow hatred, prejudice, class, race, age, ethnicity, money, power, influence,
sickness, affliction, trouble, sorrow, pain, or death to keep him in a box. Jesus came and died and
rose so that we would come out of the box. The box of narrow-mindedness and provincial
thinking, the box of limited vision and opportunity and the box of the seven last words, "We
never did it that way before," all kill the forward movement of the spirit's power and presence.
Jesus calls us to come out of the box. The empty box is the empty tomb. Jesus is out of the box
and we as disciples of Christ should come out of the box too!Christ was crucified and
resurrected so that we could come out of the box of our cultural and religious programming.
Christ commissions us to go into the world to preach, teach, and reach others for Christ; to come
out of our little boxes to spread the Good News of Christ. We can do it when the Holy Spirit
comes upon us. Then we can come out of the box. We no longer have to allow things to box us
in and keep us from taking a message of hope to all people. Let's come out of our boxes and give
him the glory! Then we may experience the astonishment and joy that fell on Peter and the
others when they realized God's vision is bigger than they had imagined.
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Dr. Jon Burnham preached this sermon from Acts 11:1-8 at St. John's Presbyterian Church on May 2, 2010.
