The Box
Acts 10:9 – 16 | The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is impure or unclean.” And the voice came to him again a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.|
In this passage, Peter is confronted with a part of God’s character that is sometimes more challenging for us to wrap our minds around – God’s unconventionality. Peter’s perspective was that God was asking him to do something that the Law stood against, that being eating something deemed unclean. But God challenges Peter’s perspective on the matter – not once, not twice, but three times. The “box” that Peter had placed God in based on the Law, in an instant, was shattered. This moment in turn prepared Peter for his subsequent encounter with Cornelius and his men, a thought acknowledged in 10:28 – “He said to them, ‘You are well aware that it is against our Law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.’” How could Peter have gone and met with Cornelius and his men without this moment? What would Peter’s response have been if God had not challenged his presuppositions?
In my mind, this story breaks down into a few varying questions. Peter, it seems, had the perspective that he knew well enough God’s heart on the matter, because of the Law. But if that was indeed God’s heart, why did God challenge him about it? What about the New Covenant? What about Grace? I have to ask myself: Where do I “box” God in with Law? Legalism is a hard thing to combat sometimes, especially if it’s something you have grown up under. But those things…do they stand in opposition to the Grace and Mercy of God’s Love through Jesus? Where do they line up with the overarching goal of God for His Kingdom?
Secondly, God makes it clear that we are not to call anything impure that He has made clean. I mentally paraphrase this as, “Don’t speak words over things that God has already spoken over.” God is the final Word. All discussion ends with His declaration. The buck stops there. That being said, we need to constantly be asking God for His perspective on situations – and not resting in our own. This doesn’t even necessarily mean that we’re trying to pass judgment. Sometimes, we gauge situations based on previous experience, presuppositions or the experience of others that we know. We could have the best and purest of intentions in a situation, but it will not measure up to what God sees if we’re not asking Him for His eyes. We serve a God who makes old things new and turns hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. Would it not be best then to put our hope, trust and word at rest upon His perspectives, His Words, His Grace?
So, I guess the challenge that jumps out of this passage to me is…where do I , in my perspective, box my great, mighty, all-powerful, all-knowing, before-time existing, uncreated God in? And how can I see things properly without seeking His perspective first?
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