Overcoming Obstacles
Scripture Reading: Acts 10: 9 - 16 (NIV)
About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
14“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
15The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
16This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
Message: Overcoming Obstacles
Obstacles of the mind
It was midday, Peter was tired after all his travels
He went up on the roof to pray, just to have a quiet moment with God
He was probably lying down
Up the stairs came the smell of lunch being prepared - a pleasent smell that met his hunger…
He probably dosed off - and had this vivid dream while the smell of food being prepared teased his hunger
The Greek word for trance here is “ekstasis” - which litterally means “displacement of the mind” or “a state where someone is ‘outside of themselves’”
We could also say, he had a vision - a vision from God with a profound and specific message
I do believe that God speaks to us through visions… we sometimes struggle to understand, but I am convinced that God speaks in our lives through visions
Sometimes is it is throught the oddness of our visions that God moves us
Today is the second part of our “forward in faith” series and the theme is “overcoming obstacles”
I believe that the obstacles we have that prevents us from moving forward in our faith, are in our mind
It is in our mind where we get stuck with our faith, not being able to move forward
And it is therefore in our mind where God meets us to help us overcome the obstacles that is holding us back
Just think about Peter and how Jesus was helping with overcoming obstacles… walking on water… restoration after he betrayed Jesus…
In this vision, God is also addressing an obstacle in Peter’s mind
God helps Peter to be more open to the way in which God provides what he needs
God is telling Peter that He operates outside of the religious boundaries that Peter subscribed to
God is telling Peter that he can let go of the fear of failing in his religious practices
God is telling Peter that it is ok for him to try something new, or something that feels foreign to him
God is telling Peter that he does not have to be in control all the time…
I believe that this speaks to the obstacles we face today, that prevents us from moving foward in our faith:
The fear of failure, the fear of the “other” and the fear of losing control
Fear of Failure
This week at our Session meeting, we discussed as elders the anxiety we sometimes experience (myself included) when we serve Communion
We have set ways in which it should be done, the way the table is set, the way order in which things are done, who’s doing what…
And before we know it, the fear of failure is creeping into all sorts of situations in our endeavour to be perfect
Peter wanted to be perfect in the practice of his religion…
This also speaks to our expectations…
It is because of our pre-set expectiations of how things are supposed to be, that we are consumed by the fear of failure
Perhaps we should reconsider our expectations
Perhaps we should remind ourselves that the way we have always done things is not neccessarily the right way of doing things
Perhaps re-assessing our expectations can open us to gain new insight into what is relevant in the way we practice our faith
And this not only true for our religious practices, it also applies to my faith
What do I expect from my relationship with God?
What is keeping me from trusting in God?
What is it that I am really afraid of when it comes to my faith?
Fear of the “Other”
There is also the fear of the “other” that is an obstacle in our faith
In the vision, Peter just could not bring himself to eat what is unclean
It has been so ingrained into his behaviour, that anything that is not cosher, was totally unacceptable, even if it is God himself telling Peter to eat
He just couldn’t go there in his mind - he could not bring himself to just eat what God was giving
I sometimes wonder if we have become so set in our ways that anything that deviates from what we deem to be acceptable throws us off in our faith
Why are we so scared of the “other”?
Why are we so upset by a kid kicking a pew in our church?
Why is it so hard for us to allow the community to use our facility?
Why is it so hard for us to talk to a stranger?
God is telling Peter to go ahead and eat
The message translation is striking: “If God says it’s ok, it’s ok.”
We should not let our discomfort with what is different become a obstacle in our faith
Fear of Losing Control
When God challenges us in this way we are called to let go of being in control of how everything unfolds in our lives
Because we hate not to be in control of how things unfold in our lives
And when we feel we are losing control of the different aspects of our lives, that we do all sorts of desperate things to get control back
We will lose our temper, we will be extra adamant in our conversations, we will scheme and manipulate, we will ignore of numb important impulses in our lives, just in order not to lose control
But control is an illusion
In anything we think we are in control of, we can lose that control in an instance… whether it is our relationships, our health, our finances, our religion,
We are vulnerable in all the areas of our lives
That is why we need God
And that is why we need to trust God instead of being obsessed with being in control of every aspect of our lives
We should do what we can to control what we can, but then we should also know that there comes at time to trust God
Forward in Faith - overcoming obstacles
Moving forward in faith is all about trusting God!
God invited us to experience the vision he gave Peter
It is my prayer that God will make this vision real for you in way to help you move forward in faiht
Let us move forward in faith and let go of our fear of failure
Let us move forward in faith and be open to who what God brings into our lives
And let us move forward in faith by letting go of our urge to be in control all the time and learn to trust God more
AMEN
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