"Lines"

Sermon by The Rev. Cindy Carter 

May 18, 2025

I first encountered this little poem more years ago than I’d like to say in a course titled “The Social Psychology of Organizing.” That course would go on to change the direction of my studies, my career, and me; and I have always thought there is a great deal of wisdom in this little poem. I even used to keep a copy of it taped above my desk, but who knew that poem would end up in a sermon. I certainly didn’t.

I’ve thought a whole lot about that poem, as I’ve considered today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

To set the context for today – in last week’s reading from Acts, we left Peter, in Joppa (a coastal town, present day Tel Aviv), staying “with a certain Simon, a tanner.” He had come to Joppa at the request of the Christian community there when Dorcas, a beloved disciple in that community, became ill and died. But when Peter prayed next to her body and called her name, she returned alive to the community that loved her so much.

So, how how did we get from a joyful, pleasant stay in Joppa to where we are in the story today?

Today, it sounds like Peter, one of Jesus’ closest friends, had been called on the carpet by the Jews who made up the Christian community in Jerusalem. 

Called to account because they had heard that he was in table fellowship with Gentiles. And, this was a serious problem in the minds of the Jerusalem church. Unthinkable! Unimaginable!

Now Peter had to explain himself. And, explain himself he did.

First, he told these Jewish Christians about a vision he had when he was staying with Simon, the tanner, in Joppa. 

One day at noon when it was about time for lunch and Peter was hungry, he had gone up to the roof to pray while we waited for lunch to be prepared. As he prayed, he saw a large sheet coming down from heaven, and the sheet was filled with all kinds of animals and birds. All were part of God’s creation but some had been declared in Jewish law as unclean – that is, not to be used for food. 

With the sheet full of animals there in front of the hungry Peter, a voice told him to kill and eat what was there. But, Peter being a good observant Jew, said, “no.” Absolutely no, in no uncertain terms. 

Three times the sheet filled with all kinds of animals came down and he was told to kill and eat, and three times he said, “no.” But each time Peter said “no,” the voice responded that what God had pronounced clean, Peter had no right to call profane or unclean.

And, just as the sheet in Peter’s vision was pulled back up into heaven for the third time…

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

Three men arrived from Caesarea, just up the coast, and said they had come to get Peter. They had been sent by Cornelius, a Roman centurion.  An officer who commanded 100 soldiers in the Roman Army.

Now, Cornelius was a good man; he feared God and gave alms and prayed constantly. Cornelius was a good man, but Cornelius was a Gentile.

Peter, led by the Holy Spirit, went with these men who were at his door. He went to Cornelius’ home in Caesarea. 

As he spoke with Cornelius and the people in his household, Peter could see that the Holy Spirit had come upon these Gentiles just as the Holy Spirit had come upon Peter and the other Jewish believers on the Day of Pentecost. 

The Holy Spirit at work, unleashed in the world, as uncontrollable as a strong wind and a raging fire.

That was Peter’s defense. His account to these Jewish Christians who had called him on the carpet.

And, as we heard in today’s reading from Acts -

When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”

An unexpected outpouring of God’s grace and love, providing evidence that the inclusion of Gentiles in the Christian community was indeed God’s will.

Now, Peter and Cornelius may have been principal human characters in this story, but I believe the Holy Spirit was the main character.  It was the Holy Spirit who was instigator of the action, the one who had erased what had seemed like an indelible line between Jew and Gentile.

And, remember that line I mentioned earlier which told us where Peter was staying when he had the vision he described.  The house of a certain Simon, a tanner. 

Simon’s trade would have caused him to carry the odor and blood of animals and made him “unclean” according to some Jewish laws.  Perhaps this seemingly throwaway line was Luke’s hint to his readers and to us that the Holy Spirit was already at work in Peter, even before the pivotal vision occurred.



Our choicest plans

     have fallen through,

our airiest castles

     tumbled over,

because of lines

     we neatly drew

and later neatly

     stumbled over.

There are still so many lines in the church, aren’t there? 

Churches don’t only stumble, at times they actively tear themselves apart over lines that have been drawn.

Who can sit at Christ’s table together, who has the correct interpretation of scripture, who “fits” in our congregation, who is inside the line and who is outside the line. 

I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I see these lines and all the separation, division, pain, and destruction they can cause, it can be downright frustrating.  It can even make me angry. 

But, then in my clearer moments, I realize that I, too, am guilty of line drawing.  Much of the time I am simply blind to the lines I draw, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there. 

So, what are we to do and think about all these lines? 

Well, I think we can be certain that God does have choice plans and airy castles in mind for us.  God has a dream for the world that God has created and a dream for the church, the Body of Christ in the world.

 I think we can also be certain that God doesn’t care much for lines.  I don’t think God is a line-drawer.  You see the lines we draw – lines of race, sexual orientation, right and left, liberal and conservative, denomination or faith tradition, gender, class, however you want to draw them, those lines can prevent the plans and castles that God has in mind for us from coming to fruition or at a minimum those lines can definitely slow them down.  Those lines can trip us up and cause a whole lot of stumbling.

But, thanks be to God – I believe we can also be certain that the Holy Spirit is still at work.  Still preparing the Peters and Corneliuses among us.  Still speaking and leading.  Still instigating the action that will erase those lines that seem so firmly in place.  The Spirit is still working out God’s will, God’s plan, God’s dream for us.

As a Gentile, I would have been on the side of the line there with Cornelius two thousand years ago.  The side of the line where Jews thought God’s love and mercy could not gush forth in a new, abundant outpouring.  But, that line was erased.

As a woman, only fifty or so years ago, I would have been on the side of the line where no matter how strongly I believed I was being called by God to ordained ministry, God’s will for me would have not been possible in the Episcopal Church.  But, that line was erased.

I believe the Holy Spirit, the gift of the resurrected Jesus, continues to lead us, to guide us, and at times, squarely to kick us in the seat of the pants to help us get past our stubborn desire to keep the lines we’ve drawn right where they are. 

Loving and active God, may we be open to the winds of your Spirit.  May we know that you have a dream for us, a choice plan, an airy castle, better things can we can imagine or pray for.  And, as we seek to follow you toward that dream, may we not stumble over the lines we ourselves have drawn.

Alleluia!  Christ is risen.  The Lord is risen indeed.  Alleluia!