(Psalm 103: 1-13)

Acts 11: 1-18

Rev. 7: 9-12
At first these may seem like very strange passages for Heritage Day but I
think they speak volumes into our country (and our world) today.
The passage from Acts tells the story of how one group of people with
their own particular Heritage learn that God’s Grace extends beyond their
Heritage – to all people – to every race, tribe, nation, tongue and Heritage
(as the Revelation given to John shows).
That was God’s plan right from the beginning but somehow the Hebrew
people had missed that. When God called Abram, God said that from
Abram a great nation would arise, a nation called to be a light to the world.
To enlighten every race, tribe, nation, tongue to the one true God – the
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The God who is redeeming all things,
reconciling all things, repairing all things, bringing all things together in
the love of God.
God rescued this nation, Israel, from slavery in Egypt, led them through
the desert, shaping them into a unique (holy) people and brought them into
a land full of opportunity – a land flowing with milk and honey. But Israel
abandoned their Heritage and ended up in captivity in Babylon.
Ultimately, Jesus redeems their Heritage and fulfils their purpose revealing
God to all people but it still takes a while to really catch on.
And so in Acts we read of how God shows that God’s Grace is for ALL –
ALL are welcome and included in God’s Kingdom regardless of race,
tribe, nation, tongue, (and Heritage), and ALL are called to build for that
Kingdom here on earth until God establishes it in all its fullness once and
for all. We are called to build together (despite our differences).
But let’s look more closely at what happened in Acts. Peter is a Jewish
man – his Heritage is that of the Hebrew people, the nation of Israel, the
descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Peter has upheld his tradition –
his Heritage –and part of that includes not having anything to do with
anyone who is not a part of that Heritage or who has not chosen to become
a part of that Heritage. But God tells him, through a vision, “Do not call
anything unclean that God has called clean”. And God calls Peter to go to
the house of a Gentile (to do that which is forbidden by his Heritage) and
God shows Peter that the Gentiles are also part of God’s plan for the

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redemption of all things. These Gentiles receive the Holy Spirit and Peter
baptises them – a sign that God welcomes them into God’s family. So,
God’s family is not just one Heritage but includes every race, tribe, nation,
tongue.
But, that’s not all! We are told earlier (10: 1) that Cornelius is a captain in
the Roman army. Cornelius is a part of the army of the oppressor. Israel
was once again in captivity – held captive by the Romans. Israel was
awaiting a Messiah who would set them free from their oppressor – but
Jesus set us free from all that oppresses in a different way. They wanted to
remain exclusive but God shows them how to be inclusive. Remember
Jesus taught that we should even love our enemies.
This is not like Egypt where the oppressor is destroyed when the Israelites
are set free. Now the oppressed and the oppressor are called to work
together for something new – for God’s plan for the redemption of all
things. And so Peter declares (Act 10:34-35), “I now realize that it is true
that God treats everyone on the same basis. Those who fear him and
do what is right are acceptable to him, no matter what race they
belong to.”
Later on when Peter tries to convince the others that God’s plan is for all
people not just one group, those of Hebrew Heritage try to impose their
Heritage onto the Gentiles – they insist that everyone is circumcised. But,
they soon realise that they cannot do this – God does not want us to
impose our Heritage on others but to allow the diversity of every race,
tribe, nation, tongue to work together for the reconciliation of all things to
God.
Later on they will learn not to impose other things like what can and can’t
be eaten – they learn to embrace diversity. They will see that diversity is
God’s gift to us.
N.B. God never tells them to give up their Heritage – no one is called to
give up their Heritage. God invites us to work together in our diversity for
the reconciliation of all things to God.
And that’s why I believe that these passages speak to us and our world
today.
Today we celebrate Heritage Day – a day when we can celebrate our own
Heritage but not at the expense of others. Where we can also celebrate our
rich diversity and the gift that is. In the new South Africa (as in God’s

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Kingdom) the oppressed and the oppressor are called to work together for
the new thing God is doing. Of course oppression is not a part of God’s
plan and we are not called to tolerate oppression but as we see God’s plan
and embrace it, we are all called to work together for it – to let go of past
hatreds, to make right for past injustices (and we still have a long way to
go on this) and to work together for the world God intends.
There is a story that I’m always reminded of when I think of this, it’s the
story of experiments done on PROCESSIONARY CATERPILLARS
(by the naturalist Jean-Henri Fabre)…
<STORY>
When we live in exclusion to the gift of diversity we are marching to our
death but as we embrace diversity (with all its challenges) and seek to
work together – we begin to see God’s dream for us and all creation
become a reality.
One final illustration that comes from the building industry: I am told by
engineers (those who know this sort of thing) that steel reinforced
concrete is often used in building because of its strength. Steel on its own
has weaknesses and concrete on its own has weaknesses but together they
are super strong. Their strengths complement one another making them
much stronger than they are on their own.
So it is with us: Each of us has strengths and each has weaknesses but
when we work together – honouring our differences – we are much
stronger than we are on our own.
So, we celebrate our Heritage – we celebrate that we all have different
backgrounds – different strengths and weaknesses and we commit
ourselves to working together to build for God’s perfect reign here on
earth as it is in heaven.

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