Key Scripture:

Acts 10.44-48 – “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.  And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.  For they heard speak with tongues, and magnify God.  Then answered Peter, ‘Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?’  And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.  Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.”

 

Acts 11.17-18 – “’Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?’  When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, ‘Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.’”

 

James 2.1 – “My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.”

 

James 2.9 – “But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.”

 

Hebrews 13.1-2 – “Let brotherly love continue.  Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

 

Who are THOSE people?  Where are THEY from?  Look at them!!! Aren’t they….?  Have you ever heard someone say things like this before?  A better question would be, “How often have you heard someone say things like this?”  In just about every place one can go, there will be people who think themselves better than others for one reason or another.  In the USA and other English–speaking countries, we call this “bigotry” or being a “bigot”.  Whether the people are foreigners, strangers, come from a different state or city, speak a different language, have a different skin color, eat strange foods or wear strange clothes, or just happen to have hair color that is different, it seems that there will always be people who think that they are better, more deserving, and just plain in a better state than others.  This even happened in the Bible, and was especially a problem in the times of Jesus and the Early Church.  What does the Bible have to say about how to treat people?  What does it say about bigotry?

 

Relations between Jews and Gentiles

Early on in the Bible, God commanded the Children of Israel in ways on how to deal with foreigners, or, as the Bible calls them, strangers:

 

“One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.”

– Exodus 12.49

 

“Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

– Exodus 22.21

 

The reason for this was not only because God cares for and loves all people, but also because…

 

“Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

– Exodus 23.9

 

Very early on, the children of Israel were commanded by these and other verses, to be kind towards foreigners, and to treat them well.  Despite the command by God to destroy the Canaanites, the Children of Israel were not forbidden to totally cut themselves off from the rest of the world and be xenophobic; they were, however, to remember who they were and to Whom they belonged.  They, further, were not forbidden to marry foreigners, so long as those who the Israelites in question were marrying were ready to accept the faith of the Israelites – faith and trust in God.   The reason for the verses in the Old Testament forbidding marriage between Jews and foreigners dealt with the foreigners not giving up their faith, and the Israelites giving up theirs in God.  Men or women of foreign birth, however, who wished to receive God, and follow him as the Old Testament Jews followed him were accepted, and were acceptable for marriage.  The Problem that came about, as with any law than man is given some control over and adopts for himself or herself, was that by the time of Jesus, the Children of Israel were basically religiously and racially arrogant.  Such was the case that Jews were not even to enter the houses of Gentiles and eat and drink with them.  This was the problem that the Early Church Leadership had with Peter at first, as, because of the racial bigotry of the Jews, they considered it a serious offense to eat with them. 

 

It’s Just Business

This did not mean that there weren’t business dealings between Jews and Gentiles.  As far back as the times of the judges, the Children of Israel had business dealings, trade, and even cooperation with foreigners.  One of the first kings to recognize the legitimacy of King David’s reign was King Hiram of the Phoenician City of Tyre (II Samuel 5.11-12).  Throughout the ancient Israelite world, trade, military cooperation, economic partnership, exploration, naval and maritime operations, and even alliances were made between Israel and foreigners.  However, that is basically where things ended, so long as foreigners held to their religions, idols, and gods.  Unless they converted and became proselyte Jews or submitted to the Israelites (as Gibeon and four other cities did in Judges 9) as servants, the only interaction that could exist, and was allowed to exist on the basis of Scripture was that of business.  The reason is because of God’s warnings to his people, the Israelites, about adopting and accepting other religious practices and foreign gods.  King Solomon – much to the disaster to himself and Israel later – married many foreign wives, and thus fell under his wives’ sway to worship their idols.  Governor Nehemiah, Ezra the Scribe, the Prophet Malachi, and many other of the Bible’s writers later spoke of the dangers of marrying foreigners without those foreigners accepting God.  Anything other than business relationships and somewhat distant friendships, by the First Century AD, were basically forbidden by Jews, thanks in large part to the disasters that befell the Israelites due in part to their interrelationships with their ancient foreign neighbors.

 

THOSE People are Just…Well, You Know…

There was an unwritten rule among the Jews of the First Century that there were just certain people with whom upstanding and “good” Jews were not to associate.  While these “certain people” were racially categorized (such as Greeks, Samaritans, and other racially foreign peoples), they were also categorized by occupation.  While most of the tax collectors in Israel at the time of Jesus Christ were Jews, they were despised because they worked hand-in-hand with hated Rome.  Prostitutes were also on this list for obvious reasons, even though the majority of them in Judea in the first century were, of course, Jewish.  What made Peter’s entrance at Cornelius’ house so much worse was the fact that not only was Cornelius a Gentile (Roman), but he was a member of the Roman army…and a high-ranking officer to boot!  Roman Legionnaires in Judea in the first century AD were known to be cruel.  A Roman Soldier of any rank could force a Jew to carry anything he wished for as far as a mile or two, and this was a particular sore spot for Jews in Israel.  All of this, when we think about it, was good reason for the Early Church Leaders to question Peter about going to Cornelius’ House for any reason, let alone for spreading the Gospel.

 

What Would Jesus Do?

We have probably all seen a bracelet, a ring, or a necklace worn by a Christian which had the letters “WWJD?”  These letters remind Christians to think as Jesus Christ thought, and to do what Jesus Christ would do in certain situations.  The Apostle Peter had been a good student of Jesus Christ.  Despite his needing to be reminded that Jesus accepted all who came to him (see Acts 10.9-23) – including Gentiles – Peter, in going to Cornelius’ house, did exactly what Jesus did when he encountered Gentiles:  he went to them when he was called.  Many times today, we forget that Jesus, while he walked bodily on Earth, touched the untouchables, was friends with sinners, ate and drank with tax collectors and publicans, held company with prostitutes, and healed the sick and diseased, all of whom the Pharisees and Sadducees would not come within shouting distance if they didn’t have to.  Peter and his companions, when they went to Cornelius’ house to spread the Word of God to them, were following in Jesus’ footsteps.  Just as Jesus was criticized for his interactions with the lowest of the low, and the untouchable s of his day, so, too, was Peter called into question by the Early Church Leadership.  However, just as Jesus was right to spread the love and the Gospel to the lowest of the low and to Gentiles, so Peter was also right to go to Cornelius’ house to preach the Gospel.  The Early Church Leadership, on seeing that this work was from God, and not just from headstrong, impetuous, impulsive Peter, praised the LORD that the Gentiles were able to be saved!  And we need to be thankful to God for Peter, too!!!!  For had Peter not bothered to go to Cornelius’ house, we very likely would not have the Gospel in our hands, and Christianity would just be seen as a sect of the Jews (as it was in the days of the Early Church).

 

Send Out Those Missionaries!

How is the Church of Jesus Christ doing today?  How are we doing when it comes to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who are different from us?  Denominationally, regionally, and nationally, the Church of Jesus Christ is doing pretty well!  In the last three Centuries, since the preeminence of the British Navy, the Victorian Age, and the Rise of the USA as a world power, the Word of God has been sent and preached to every corner of the globe.  Great Missionaries such as David Livingstone, J. Hudson Taylor, William Carey, David Brainerd, C.T. Studd, John Moffatt, and Jonathan Edwards, have literally impacted the world for Jesus Christ.  Many great missionary societies have been established, and continue to reach the lost for Jesus Christ today.  Since the great commission was spoken by Jesus Christ, the Church, at large, has done a magnificent job of spreading the Gospel to every creature. 

 

THOSE People?  In OUR Church?!?!?

However, on a local or city-wide level, how is the church doing?  When someone new or strange or different enters the church, how is he or she greeted?  Are people who are different accepted into our churches, and greeted warmly, or do we look at them with anything but a welcome smile?  Do we – as Peter did – go out of our way to share with strangers in our midst, when they come to the churches we happen to worship in, or do we give them the coldest of shoulders, ignoring them as we leave church to go on our way?  The problem with many churches in the world today is that many have become more like social clubs than really soul-saving stations.  We have let ourselves make our churches into a place that is not much really different than a spiritual filling station: get filled up with fuel, check the hood, wipe the windows and windshield, maybe check the air in the tires, and then we’re on our way, with little to no regard for anyone new ho may need even just a word of encouragement.  Many people in such churches either don’t invite others to services, and if they do, the people or families that come are usually scrutinized to the Nth degree (if the other members notice) or are ignored altogether…and God forbid anyone ever invite a total stranger or ***GASP*** foreigner into our midst!  Whatever shall we do if that were to happen?  This writer – being the son of a Pastor – has always been surprised to the point of being shocked at how many churches preach and teach strong missions, calling for money, supplies, and goods to be collected and sent to the field, but the instant a foreigner decides to visit the church, attend regularly, or even join the congregation, that church’s congregation went out of their way to either make the person feel unwelcome, or, in nicer cases, acted indifferently to him or her.  We need to understand that what we do and say and preach and teach needs to be the same way we act and interact with any stranger or visitor to our churches.  The reason for the Church of Jesus Christ is not for the comforting of the Saints even primarily:  the church exists to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a dying world, and if we, as members of one or more local congregations do not make strangers in our own localities feel welcome, and feel loved by Jesus Christ, we will lose the mission field.  Jesus, when he gave his disciples their instructions, told them to reach Jerusalem and Judea first.  Why?  The reason is, if the base of operations isn’t secured, then operations outside will never even materialize, let alone succeed.  We, as the church, must succeed in receiving and welcoming any and all strangers who come to us and to our churches.

 

Accept the Person; Reject the Sin

Please understand the meaning here.  While the insistence here is to accept anyone that walks in the door, it is not meant that the lifestyle or the sin should be accepted.  Yes, we, as the Church of Jesus Christ need to accept every person who comes through our doors, and we need to love every person we encounter.  However, anything that comes to our ears, anything that someone brings that contradicts what the Bible teaches must not be accepted.  This is the other extreme of acceptance that is poisoning the Church of Jesus Christ in this day and age.  He so-called “mega-churches” and the TV Churches of this day and age have seemingly more and more lessened their preaching against sin, and preached more on self-esteem and the Gospel of “self help”.  In many mainstream churches today, a visitor is more likely to hear how God can help him or her become rich, happy, fulfilled, or satisfied in this world, and less likely to hear how sin is destructive, hell a real place, and the devil the ultimate enemy of everyone on the face of the Earth.  This is the other extreme, and we need to remember that though each and every person who enters in is totally and completely welcome, accepting the ideology of anyone or anything that contradicts or conflicts the Gospel needs to be rejected.  Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners (Matthew 9.12-13, Mark 2.17, 1^st Timothy 1.16), and that is the reason for the being of the Church of Jesus Christ.  If we, as the church, water down the message of the Gospel so that we will become more “acceptable”, then not only will the world cast us out, but we will become like the church of Laodicea, of which Jesus said this:

 

“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”

– Revelation 3.15-16

 

We need to be accepting of everyone that comes to us, but we must reject anything that degrades Jesus Christ and his written Word in any way, shape, or form.  We must love the sinner, but reject the sin.

 

Conclusion – Remember to Entertain Strangers

Throughout the Bible, we are commanded and instructed to entertain strangers, to treat people different from us well, and to be open to people who come to us and to our churches.  It is said that Mahatma Gandhi rejected Jesus Christ because of how he was treated when he went to a Church in South Africa during the days of Apartheid.  As his skin color was different, the white church he visited rejected him, and Gandhi, in turn, rejected Jesus Christ.  Friends and Brethren, when strangers come into our church and to our churches at service time, there is always a reason, and the person is very likely a seeker to some degree or another.  In many cases, visitors come after the person who invited them had done so for a long period of time, and had prayed for such a visitation nto take place.  Even if the visitor comes alone without invitation, there is always a reason, usually being of a need for Jesus Christ.  We need to entertain strangers, because in doing so, the Bible states this:

 

“Let brotherly love continue.  Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

– Hebrews 13.1-2

 

We never know who will come into our churches, and we never know how they will be impacted.  Let us be welcoming, and when called to do so, let us not refrain from inviting them to our homes, and going to theirs.  Even if the stranger and visitor is not an angel, the impact will still be eternal.

 

Prayer – Heavenly Father, we thank thee for this day.  Help us, Lord, to be as Peter, and as your Son, Jesus, when he walked this earth.  Help us to accept people from any walk of life that comes unto us, and to treat them with the love that you treated everyone with.  Give us all a great day, and we ask you, Lord, to be with us in the days and months ahead.  We bless thy name today, and we thank thee.  Help us to spread the Gospel as Jesus Commanded, and to live in such a way that visitors will want to come to where we worship.  When they come Lord, help us to go out of our ways to make them welcome.  We pray all of this, and we thank you, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

Verse to Remember:

“Let brotherly love continue.  Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

– Hebrews 13.1-2