OPEN THE DOORS WIDE

Read Acts 10:1—11:18

In 1995 I attended the UFMCC General Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. We planned to take to the streets, in a peaceful demonstration, and walk the mile or so from the conference hotel to the Martin Luther King Center. With Rev. Elder Troy Perry in the lead, approximately a thousand of us began that walk. I remember the power of the moment when we walked past the Ebenezer Baptist church where Martin Luther King Jr. had preached many an inspiring sermon.

As we passed the church I noticed an African American man get out of his car near us. He had a small boy with him who looked to be about four years old. Reading our signs and banners he turned to his child and said, “Oh baby, you better cover them jewels cause these people want them.” Horrified I watched as that little boy placed his hands over his genitals with look of absolute terror on his face.

I was sick at heart. A part of me wanted to make the demonstration a lot less peaceful in that moment. I wanted to shout at that man and tell him that he, of all people, should understand our march for freedom!

The truth of the matter is that even though minorities may share in similar journeys, no two experiences are the same. The Native American journey is different from the African American journey. The LGBT journey is different from both of them. Those who are differently-abled have their own unique stories to tell, as do women, the financially challenged, and others. We cannot assume to understand each other’s journeys, but we can learn to celebrate one another’s differences and victories.

In pastoring in different parts of the country, and visiting MCC’s across the USA I have seen the following responses to diversity outside the cultural norms: hatred, tolerance, acceptance, celebration. Unfortunately I have seen these played out in the Christian Church as well as in the greater culture. Although this may be difficult to read and harder yet to believe, it must be said: I have seen similar responses and attitudes displayed in Metropolitan Community Churches. Here are some direct quotes I have heard over the years from our own faith communities that outwardly espouse God’s unconditional love for all people:

“Well, I suppose they need someplace to worship, but they’ve got their own churches, why can’t they go there?”

“If we start moving out pews to make room for wheelchairs, it’ll mess up the whole sanctuary. Can’t they just sit in the aisles?”

“If they’ve had the surgery then they’re straight now. Let them go to those churches.”

“Great, another gay pride media blitz on drag queens and men in leather. Why don’t they realize that they give a bad name to the rest of us?”

“We don’t have the money to make the social hall accessible. We can bring refreshments to them and they can sit in the sanctuary and eat.”

“Well, there goes the neighborhood. What are we supposed to do with a bunch of those kind of kids running around getting into things?”

“OK, we saw what kind of people were here this past week. We need to tighten up on security around here before things start to go missing.”

“Why do they have to bring them to this church? They are loud and drive me crazy when I’m trying to focus on the sermon.”

While these are isolated incidents and not any one church’s attitude as a whole, I find that these attitudes close more doors than they open. These invisible doors can speak louder than the big welcome sign at the front door!

We cannot assume that because we are in an MCC that everyone is warm and fuzzy about each person who comes through our doors. We may find that educational opportunities abound within our own congregations as we strive to teach an inclusive open door theology. All churches have doors on the outside of the building, but there are usually invisible doors as well. Those doors we can’t see with our eyes but can sense with our spirits, especially if we look different from the cultural norm of the congregation.

Let’s talk about those invisible doors that can be found in just about any church on just about any day of worship. I can think of some different kinds of doors:

Storm Doors:	Keep people out.
Screen Doors:	Give the illusion that all is open, but there’s a door there.
Swinging Doors:	These doors swing in and out. Once inside or outside you had better take a step because if you don’t the doors will swing back and whack you. Have you ever heard the saying, “Don’t let the doors hit you on the way out?”
Revolving Doors:	You can come in and you can leave with only worship in between. There is no commitment, accountability or responsibility.
Back Doors:	You can come in but don’t let anyone see you.
Cellar Doors:	You can be here, but you must know your place.

It’s been said that between 11:00am and noon on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America. That says that there are a lot of doors involved in during that hour!

What we need to do is to move past the hatred, move past the tolerance, move past the acceptance and begin to truly CELEBRATE OUR DIVERSITY!

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Let’s look at Acts 10, one of the greatest turning points in the history of the Christian faith:

Cornelius was a Roman centurion stationed at Caesarea, the headquarters for the government of Palestine. Here are some things we know about him:

He was known as a God-Fearer. In those days it was a term for non-Jewish people who had tired of trying this religion and that, and attached themselves to the principles of the Jewish faith. They didn’t accept circumcision or the law, but attended synagogue and believed in one God.

He was kind. Scripture says that he did many acts of love and charity for others.

He was a man of prayer. We don’t know what his relationship with God was like, but we know that he prayed.

Before Peter could come and be in any kind of fellowship or communication with Cornelius he had to have a spiritual awakening. Peter had grown up with the Jewish religious laws; the six-hundred-and-thirty-six laws that made up the Holiness Code. Before he could come and meet with Cornelius, God had to do some work in his heart and spirit. The Jews had no use for the Gentiles; some even said that help shouldn’t be given to a Gentile woman giving birth since all she was doing was bringing another Gentile into the world. Peter had a lot to unlearn in a short time. Fortunately God had a plan!

On one of his travels Peter found himself staying at the home of Simon the tanner. Simon would have been expected to have a house near the sea because of his trade; out there would be less people to be disturbed by the sights and smells of his vocation. Finding himself hungry during midday, Peter did what was common in that culture, and climbed up onto the top of the house to wait for the meal to be prepared. While he waited, he went into a sort of trance. In this trance he had a vision in which he saw the sky open and some kind of vessel coming down. It was like a great sheet and on it was all the animals, reptiles and birds one could imagine. Interestingly enough, the Greek word for “sheet” is synonymous with the Greek word for “a ships sail”. So it could be that while Peter was on that roof overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, waiting for his lunch, that he saw a vision of a ship with a huge sail. On board the ship were all of the animals.

A voice came through the trance that said, “Peter, rise up, kill and eat.” Peter must have wondered what on earth was going on because as a law abiding Jew he could never eat the animals on that ship!

(Leviticus 11 states the strict food laws for anyone who is interested in reading more about them.)

This vision happened to Peter three times, and then the trance ended. If it had happened once Peter could have said that it was his imagination. Twice and he could have said it was his imagination and perhaps faintness from being hungry. But three times? It has been said that if we really want to grasp a concept we have to hear it three times. Peter has seen the vision three times but he’s still unsure of what it means.

While he is trying to understand it, the men whom Cornelius sent have shown up at Simon’s door looking for Peter. In that culture Gentiles were not allowed inside a Jew’s home; in fact, they could come no farther than the door. Can you imagine their surprise when Peter invited them inside? One would have to wonder who was the most surprised at his act of hospitality toward Gentiles:

· Simon the Tanner

· Simon’s watchful neighbors

· Cornelius’ men

· Peter himself

Peter went with them to Caesarea and Cornelius met him at the door. No doubt he never thought Peter would walk into his home. But Peter, a religious Jew, crossed the line and walked through that door into the home of a Gentile.

And when he walked through that door barriers began to go down!

Cornelius may have doubted that Peter would even come, and now he is there inside his home saying something like, “I know I shouldn’t be here, but God has shown me that I shouldn’t judge anything to be unclean or impure. So here I am. How can I be of help to you?”

Cornelius told his story about the “Being” who came to him, and said, “Now we are all here in God’s presence to listen to everything you have been commanded to tell us.”

Peter began to share the story of Jesus with them. While he talked the Holy Spirit fell upon those Gentiles and they were filled with the Spirit and began praising God in other languages! They had their own Pentecost experience, didn’t they?

Did Peter bring the Holy Spirit? No.

Did Peter do something to make the Holy Spirit come upon them? No.

Peter just had a teachable spirit and the commitment, accountability and responsibility to obey God. When he did what he was called to do, the door opened for the Holy Spirit to come upon them. Seizing the opportunity Peter said, “Hey, can anybody stop us from baptizing here? I mean who can stop us when these people have obviously received the Holy Spirit!” And for the first time in the history of the Christian Church someone who was not a Jew became a Christian. Cornelius asked Peter to stay with them for a few days because they had so much to learn.

If we assume that Peter’s experience in Caesarea went over well with the others back home, we are mistaken. Acts 11 tells us that when he returned to Jerusalem he was criticized for the decisions he had made. He explained the whole thing and fortunately had the correct amount of witnesses with him to back him up. According to law they had to have seven witnesses in order to prove a case. Peter had six others with him and he made the seventh. The case they proved was that all people can be filled with the Holy Spirit and come to God.

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My case for this study holds the same results. All people can receive the Holy Spirit and come to God; we don’t need to put invisible doors into place that keep someone out simply because of their age, size, gender, nationality, skin color, religious beliefs, physical/mental/emotional abilities or sexual orientation. In fact, we need to search out any such doors in place within our own congregations, as subtle as they may be, bring them to the awareness of the congregation and have them removed. In doing so we can diminish their power and break down the barriers, thus becoming the truly inclusive Church.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

It has been said that until everyone is free, no one is free. How does this fit into the life of your congregation?

What is the congregational norm for your church? How many women, men, kids, people of color? What ages, class, race, abilities and sexual orientations are represented?

Do you think there might be invisible doors at your church that give a different message than the physical doors on the front of the church? If so, who is not openly welcomed?

How does your church respond to someone who is different from the cultural norm? Does the person come back?

If there is such an invisible door on your church, what kind is it? (storm, revolving…)

If Acts 10 is one of the greatest turning points in the history of the Christian faith, how might it become a turning point in the life of your congregation?

Can you think about a time when you have experienced an invisible door that gave you a different message than what was openly displayed? How did it make you feel?

If leadership is influence and one of the best ways to train leaders is to be a role model, what kind of influencer has Peter become?

Why do you think it’s important to respect people with journeys different from our own?