Nougat 20

At times, we totally miss the nuanced irony in conversations around us. It may be that it’s an inside joke, or we got to the story late, missed one meeting, the translation mangled the message, etc. But once in a while, despite all that, there’s breakthrough. Consider today’s Holy Nougat

“Now send men to Joppa and call for Simon, also named Peter. He is being entertained as a guest by Simon the tanner, whose house is beside the sea.”” Acts‬ ‭10:5-6‬ ‭TLV‬‬

I have read this passage since Sunday School, multiple times, and yet I missed it. Did you notice it? Simon Peter was staying at the home of Simon the Tanner. It wasn’t his surname (although years later it might have been just that). This was his vocation. He worked with leather, and that included the process of curing the animal hides. A total religious taboo for the ceremonially pure Jews. Granted, by way of sacrifice, some meats were no longer taboo, but the ongoing processes required for tanning skin to make leather was ‘unclean’.

As a fisherman, Simon Peter might not have had issue with a tanner (their vocations might have been similar in some ways). But one might argue that it was hypocritical or a bit incongruous for Peter (and the other disciples for that matter) to insist that Gentiles were outside of God’s redemption. So much so that while Cornelius was receiving that message, God had to prepare Peter for the visit.

It is so easy to look down on someone who is different from us, and we might miss looking up to God. Are we living under Law or Grace? What prejudices do we harbor as people of faith?

Hmmmn

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May all we seek be found in Christ