One of my favorite moments in all of scripture is in Acts, when Peter is invited to the house of someone who is neither Jewish nor a member of the same army that killed Jesus on the cross. It is here that God tells Peter that Jesus is bigger than the boxes we try to put him in. In a vision, he says to Peter, let no one call unclean what God has called clean (Acts 10:15).
As Peter communicates God’s acceptance to his host, he starts by saying God shows no partiality (Acts 10:34). Peter did not come up with those words himself; he is quoting what God said to Samuel as Samuel was searching for David, the youngest of his family and the least likely choice among his brothers, to anoint him King. For the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart (1 Sam. 16:7).
The vision that blew Peter’s mind and blew open the doors of the church was that God’s sight does not stop at the surface level. The Lord does not get distracted by the clothes we wear, the car we drive, the money we make, or the amount of respect people show us. He sees through all of that into the parts of us we don’t show anybody and even hide from ourselves. His light shines through all of that down to the core so we can know, no matter what anyone else says, how deeply loved we are.
That’s a hard message to receive in a shallow world that judges our appearance. It’s hard for women to feel loved in the workplace if they have to work twice as hard as the men around them for their ideas to be taken seriously. It’s hard for people with darker skin or an accent to feel loved if strangers stop them in the street to ask for proof that they belong. It’s hard for people to feel loved if they grew up thinking they deserve to be treated a little better than everyone else, only to see life break that promise.
The vision that blew Peter’s mind and blew open the doors of the church was that God’s sight does not stop at the surface level.
The good news is that God’s love runs deeper than all of that. God can see through what we’ve been through and appreciate the person we’re trying to be. God looks with compassion on the wounds we are trying to cover up when we say or do things we later regret. God can show us the way forward when our heads are cast down in shame and our eyes are pointed at the ground. He knows us well enough to see through the masks we wear, and he is able to coax us out of the corners in which we hide.
My favorite thing about Peter’s story in Acts is that God is teaching us to see the way he sees. He is teaching us to look at another person’s face with enough love to reach down to the heart of things. He is able to span the distances between us with a spirit that won’t stay in the boxes any one church or family tries to put it in.
It makes me think of an old optical illusion in which one can either see two faces or a vase. Looking past the faces, I see a cup poured out for the world that promises to make clean what the world has called unclean, that sees our hearts and makes them whole, and that binds up a broken world by helping each of us hear that we are beloved and we belong.
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Rev. John Harrison is the pastor of Nacoochee Presbyterian Church in Sautee Nacoochee. He believes strongly in seeking Jesus among “the least of these” and making opportunities to turn strangers into a community. Born and raised in Georgia, he went to seminary in Texas and served for 8 years as a pastor in Missouri before moving back home. He is married with two daughters and enjoys coffee, movies and spending time outdoors.
Nacoochee Presbyterian Church is located at 260 GA-Hwy 255 N, Sautee Nacoochee, GA 30571 (across the street from Sautee Nacoochee Center). You can visit them online at nacoocheepresbyterian.org.
