Nougat 23

Pentecost greetings to us all. It’s the Church’s anniversary and we all got the gift … of God’s Grace and anointing. What joy! Please receive today’s Holy Nougat

“Again a voice came to him, a second time: “What God has made clean, you must not consider unholy.” This happened three times, and the sheet was immediately taken up to heaven.” Acts‬ ‭10:15-16‬ ‭TLV‬‬

This encounter has been seen as a very profound restoration and sending of Peter to the Gentiles. Commentaries have observed that Peter denied Christ thrice; and this act of proved God’s total restoration of Peter. Of course; one cannot overlook that private Jesus-Pater conversation in John 21 (Feed my sheep); which many accept as The Moment of Reckoning and Restoration.

Let’s ponder about this more intently:

Thrice Denying (Sin);

thrice reinstated (Grace);

thrice Sent (Commissioned).

Sin-Grace-Commissioned what a combo! This is also easily applied to our own situations. It would would be hard for us to deny the reality of our own sinful nature; despite being a new creation in Christ. We also recognize that where sin is present; God’s Grace is even more abundant. And, having received this Grace, through confession and repentance (our accepting that we offended God and asking to be restored);we are sent to share with others. That is the essence of what happened and it’s implications for our lives on one level.

But like the onion; there are multiple layers to this.

We cannot help but notice the reference to the unclean or the ongoing trifecta of events woven in the retelling. I suspect that we are all agreed that neither of these is accidental. For the casual reader or observer, it may be fine to continue with the reading even after it is noted; but that’s not us.

On the whole, three is a complete biblical number. We see the unity of God in the Trinity, and we celebrate the outpouring of God’s Spirit in many circles as Pentecost. I propose that the triple experience may have served as PROOF that God was speaking and this was not a random distraction. Right or wrong, we do know that Peter realized it was God speaking to him.

For me, this then invites us to dig a little deeper. What/Who were the unclean in Jesus and Peter’s day? Other than the lepers, social and literal, it was the Gentiles. As ‘defiled’ as the worst Jew could have been; Gentiles were worse off as they were considered to be spiritually unclean. Just like the unclean undead animals in Peter’s vision. In other words, it was You, Me – US!

But by God’s Grace by God’s Spirit because of God’s Son … we have been redeemed, restored and re-membered! What joy!

On this Pentecost Sunday, might God be reminding us of our new identity and inviting us to also go forth to share the Truth.

Blessed Pentecost

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May all we seek be found in Christ