Storied Faith

Storied Faith June 21 (Acts 10) Over one lunch hour the Apostle Peter went up to a rooftop and prayed. With the heat of the Middle-East’s noonday sun and the time of day we are told understandably that Peter became hungry but as the food was being prepared he was visited by what must have seemed the most cruel of visions. Before him heaven was opened and what descended? Not a dove. Not fire. But a sheet, a tablecloth, filled with all manner of four-footed animals, reptiles, and birds of the air mixed and intermingled together. And then as his stomach rumbled the voice came to him saying, “Okay Peter get up. Kill and eat.” Not to waver in his faith Peter stood firm, “No way! I have been formed in faith by your word all my life Lord and never have I eaten anything unclean.” The voice came again, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” It says that this dialogue was repeated three more times and then suddenly the tablecloth was pulled and the vision was gone. And Peter remained hot and hungry pondering this vision when the Spirit told him that three men, Gentiles, were waiting for him downstairs. And so began a miraculous moment in the story of the church. Peter not only invited the men to eat with him but traveled with them to eat in their house, which would no doubt render him unclean by their religious law. Peter, however, had grasped the vision and we have recorded in our Bible these most tremendous words. God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. And then came his confession, I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts people from every nation who honour him and do what is right. Then after telling them of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection it says, “while Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.” To be honest, it gave me shivers when I wrote these words down in preparation for this morning. Peter was by no means perfected in his faith. Peter had asked Jesus to help him on walk on water and he sank from fear. Peter was often quick and rash in his statements often missing the point of Jesus’ words. Peter wanted to deny the opportunity for Jesus to wash Peter’s feet. Peter denied he even knew Jesus three times for fear of his own well being. Peter was challenged it seemed at many times about how he would respond in faith to this person Jesus. But in all this Peter continued to follow despite stumbles and even after backpedaling. We are wise to remember earlier in John’s gospel that when others did begin to fall away from Jesus Peter affirmed, “To whom shall we go? You alone have the words of life.” And when Jesus asked the disciples who he was Peter confessed, “You are the Messiah.” It is this same, all too human, Peter that we encounter in the book of Acts seeking the Lord in prayer. Here Jesus again calls on him to understand that a shift has occurred. Not a shift away from what God has been doing. This is not truly a new thing. From Genesis through to the prophets and into Psalms God has always been calling the nations. This shift is away from those things that at one time served their purpose but now hindered the blood, the Spirit, flowing from the heart of God. Peter was called to bypass hardened arteries so that the Spirit of God could be poured out on all flesh. This 2000 year old story continues . . . We have heard this morning that Hillcrest too is a part of this story. We have heard deliberate and bold steps taken. We have heard of tentative and unsure steps. And if they were steps of faith you can almost be certain they came with some tension and

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conflict within us and among us because this would only be in keeping with the Gospel. There are many more steps that have gone unspoken. Like Peter, some of them were perhaps too rash, some of them were simply in retreat, and others, others, were dead-on in keeping step with God’s Spirit. We are gathered and worship here this morning joined to this story. Whether you are here for the first time or attended the first service over 45 years ago. Whether you are 8 years old or 80 you are here and now affect our story. And so I would ask that if you have not perhaps you should sit up and pay attention. This morning I am posing the question, “Where are we in God’s story?” Perhaps I can ask it a little more simply. At a conference that Jan, Andrea and I attended this week the question was asked of our churches, “What business are you in?” To what end do we gather and scatter as Hillcrest Mennonite Church? What business are we in? You can tweak the language if you want but don’t avoid the point of it. What would you tell someone who asked you this? If I have heard and continue to hear the stories correctly then I would say that Hillcrest exists so that people, individuals, families and communities would be transformed as we work and worship together. We are in the business of faith formation. Does this ring true? We exist for the purpose of having our faith formed in relationship with a living God. If we are bold enough we can then move onto the next question that I heard this past week. So how is business? Are our gathering and scattering, our worship and work connecting us and our world to God’s transforming presence? To use another image from this past week; is our spirituality transforming our hopes, our fears, our work, and our decisions? Or does our spirituality simply stretch a mile wide through programs, committees and practices but only reach an inch deep? Peter was asked to bypass the hardening arteries that kept him and others from the heart of God. So is our church at risk not of hardened arteries but hardened categories? Do our practices and ministries exist simply because they always have or do they connect us with life-blood of God? I celebrate and give thanks that I am part of a church that is willing to ask this question. But as a leader in this church I am also hesitant because if bypass surgery is necessary it is always risky. This is all the more reason why we must gather to discern this question. We must celebrate and give thanks for those acts which lead to faith formation. We must also identify where our hardened categories are actually restricting this life-giving flow. And so conversations are happening right now. Some are reminding us that we have named children and youth as valuable members of community so the question continues by asking if we are connecting them to meaningful opportunities for faith formation and where is that flow being restricted by our traditions. And furthermore we have named that faith formation is for all generations. Do we all believe that? Do each and every one of us here desire to commit ourselves to that goal? Do we even know what it would look like if it were happening? We have named meaningful and authentic relationships as a priority. Where will those happen? Do we believe that faith formation is a life-long pursuit as it was marked by Peter’s own life? Where are our rooftops where we go to pray? Have some of us already seen a vision from God once, twice maybe even three times now as Peter saw? Will we follow them to sit to dine at a strange table that was once forbidden or ignored by our story?

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Hillcrest exists for the purpose of faith formation. Faith formation happens when our worship and our work, our gathering and our scattering are connected to the lifeblood, the Spirit, of God. Are we, each one of us, willing to ask and to seek and to knock until those life lines are found and flowing? This is not about programs or volunteering or strategy. This is about the fundamental belief that God is life-giving. This is about the fundamental belief that faith formation leads us into new and ever renewed life. This is about a view that too often lays dormant in our church walls that just maybe the Gospel is the good news that faith in Christ will lead our lives and our world in the way of grace and love and peace. Amen.

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