Wednesday: “Send Her Away!”
Daily Lesson for Wednesday 13th of December 2023
In the unreached neighborhood of the cities, there are many who long for hope. During Christ’s time, what prevented God’s people from bringing hope of the Messiah to such foreign cities as Tyre and Sidon? Nationalism, pride, and prejudice blinded God’s people to the opportunities to see those nearest to them who longed for the hope foretold by the prophecies of the First Advent. Today in the cities, there are many population groups with whom Jesus Christ wants His people to share the “blessed hope” of the Second Advent (Titus 2:13). And just as Jesus didn’t care what their nationality or race was, neither should we.
Read Acts 10:9-16,28,34-35. How would you summarize the lesson taught here by the Holy Spirit?
While waiting for lunch, Peter was given a vision of a rooftop buffet complete with a tablecloth filled with unclean animals and birds. Three times he was told in this vision to get up and eat. God used these visions to confront Peter’s religious pride and bigotry against the Gentiles. Peter eventually understood this truth: “Then Peter opened his mouth and said: ‘In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him’ ” (Acts 10:34-35, NKJV).
With this background, let’s reflect on our story for lessons from Tyre and Sidon. Look again at Jesus and His interaction with the mother. What lessons did the disciples learn from this field trip that related also to Peter’s vision? How can we apply these to our lives today and to Christ’s last-day call to His mission to the cities? What biases prevent us from seeing the needs of urbanites? What opportunities has God provided to us in the cities—to expand our mission understanding, and caringly to confront our bigotry, nationalism, and spiritual pride?
Jesus patiently taught His disciples, who did not yet fully understand that God’s great plan of salvation was for the entire human family, not just one nation or rural ethnic group. The Holy Spirit can help us to overcome our prejudice and bias in order to complete our mission to the cities.
Read Galatians 2:11-13. What should this teach us about how hard it can be to be purged of the prejudices we have been taught since childhood?
(18)
Reading on to Galations 2:14, "...they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel". Are there ways and rhythms in my life that are out of step with the steady drumbeat of the gospel?
The friends and family of the non-Jewish man Cornelius had received the Holy Spirit simply by hearing the gospel with faith. They had not needed to keep any Jewish ceremonial or sacrificial laws. Peter learned this truth directly from God in vision and embraced this new freedom - eating openly with his Gentile brothers and sisters in Antioch. But when the Jewish Christian "circumcision party" came to Antioch, Peter feared this religious policing group and cut off fellowship with his Gentile Christian family...to avoid ruffles, or to keep his authority, or I don't think we know why.
What would be some similar scenarios today? What about fearing to stop for some emergency gasoline (petrol) on Sabbath because other church people might see you there? Or to buy some food on Sabbath for someone in need because someone might see you and judge? Or what about fearing to visit and worship with a non-Seventh-day-Adventist friend on Sunday at their church because it is the counterfeit Sabbath? Or fearing to wear a knee-length skirt if everyone at your church is wearing floor-length ones? Can Seventh-day Adventist kids play with and befriend non-Adventist Christians? There can be many such questions related to growing in holiness, especially for those who are sincerely wanting to obey God and live as His Body together.
Instead of giving answers to these for each other, maybe we can look at what being in step with the gospel is like.
(1) We know that faith in Jesus erases fear. Hebrews 13:6 says, "The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid what men can do to me." 2 Tim. 1:7 and Rom. 8:31-34 echo this. If we are in a constant state of anxiety that we may be breaking a law or about to be judged by others in our faith group, then I think it's a sign that we need to see the gospel again....just like Paul had to go remind Peter. Looking to Jesus in the gospel story gives us confidence and hope and boldness. While we can help to encourage one another in lives "worthy of our calling", we answer only to God. He sees our heart, people don't. I love how John tells us in John 2:23-25 that Jesus did not need human opinions about Himself. We don't either.
(2) Do I put up fronts, or make sure to say the right phrases, to avoid rejection or condemnation from others in my faith circle? We may not want to lose our leadership role at church, or even be shunned out of fellowship. In other words, fear leads to hypocrisy, as we see in Gal. 2:13. Paul and Barnabas and the others believed one thing in their hearts (it's good to eat with Gentile Christians) but did something else with their actions (avoided the Gentiles) to prevent troubles with the "religious police". When we keep our eyes on Jesus, the root of hypocrisy is cut off. In fact, Jesus directly talked about this hypocrisy born of fear in Luke 12:1-4. Insecurity is inconsistent with the gospel and a life hid in Jesus.
(3) Peter and Barnabas and the others were sending a message to the Gentile Christians that they were not fully Christians unless they kept dietary laws. Does this sound familiar? Do we judge others by how we perceive they are keeping God's laws...and offer acceptance or rejection based on our analysis? I think that is what the buzzword "legalism" is all about. Making "like-minded" (Acts 4:32) be about judging each other's lifestyle and walk with Christ, and hanging out with only those who most closely resemble ourselves, rather than about sharing life openly in the free grace of God, sacrificing for each other (all Christians and all peoples) joyfully as an act of worship, as the early church did.
We fight a battle to believe the gospel, as much as the world does. The gospel tells us that Christ willingly suffered, put up no fronts or defense to save Himself, to live in the truth of God's love for all people and all life. Those who have not yet made a stand for Jesus won't meet Him through us if our words and actions are ever saying, "Send her away".
Esther, love this!
This has piqued my mind. We need a complete V-turn as Christians. But this will be made possible by Christ Himself to change us and see the rest as belonging to the fold as well.
Our message should be that those who fear the Lord and do righteousness will be accepted by God. This applies to everyone irrespective of whether you are a Jew, Gentile, Cananite, Kenyan or from any other nation.
Social environment and culture can dictate much of our behavior. I'm sure there is a figure value for that. How can we work and recognize what attitudes in us are pure prejudice? May the study of proper knowledge open our minds and hearts because that's the key to change; thus, may we become efficient and free from discrimination in communicating God's love.
What should this teach us about how hard it can be to be purged of the prejudices we have been taught since childhood?
"Jesus patiently taught His disciples, who did not yet fully understand
that God’s great plan of salvation was for the entire human family, not
just one nation or rural ethnic group. The Holy Spirit can help us to
overcome our prejudice and bias in order to complete our mission to
the cities".
I am not sure how to understand the questions: “What opportunities has God provided to us in the cities – to expand our mission understanding, and caringly to confront our bigotry, nationalism, and spiritual pride?” Is this question asked of the members of the 7th day Adventist church or Christians in general? Taught to be a 'Protestant' in Germany, I became better educated about the Gospel's inclusivity of all races and ethnicities when living in America.
Any denomination I had the privilege to be part of has been involved in missionary services to neighborhoods of their own cities and communities. For example, I am not aware of any prejudice within local Baptist churches to exclude one from fellowship because of nationality, pride, or prejudice.
I also learned about a powerful example of a God led mission - the Salvation Army founded by William Booth in 1865. “He and his wife formed the 'Christian Mission' and began preaching to crowds of poor and disadvantaged people outside of a pub in London. Booth, who was a minister, did not preach in a traditional church but instead preached directly to people on the streets.” (The Salvation Army – History, Timeline & Significance by Janine Dellinger and Elisa Goldman)
‘Their ranks had grown to 1000 volunteers and 42 evangelist by 1874. It became an international Christian and religious movement in 1879 when Amos Shirley traveled to Philadelphia and held the first meeting of the Salvation Army during that same year. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.” (same source and authors)
Brigitte, I think that prejudices can be more nuanced than those 3 the author listed. I think that spiritual pride is probably a big one for people in the church. Those who were “born into” the church sometimes carry a prejudice against those who are new converts even if they came in as strong believers from other Protestant denominations. Even more granular, life-long members of the church might be tempted to believe that a newcomer just doesn’t have the same status. Even if that newcomer is a lifelong Seventh Day Adventist. Those are the types of issues that I see.
We need to be freed from our sin to over our prejudices.
Thank the Lord.
Jesus was the greatest living example of loving all and meeting them where they were and as they were. It is that kind of love that can be a catalyst for sharing the gospel. Understanding we are all children of God equal before His eyes and His salvation is freely offered to all. May we embody that love as we connect with others. After all, they are our brothers and sisters even if they don't know it yet.
I guess that there was a mistake for the title of send her away which can be the title of Tuesday from being of Wednesday. Just help me to understand well the corresponding message.