Sunday, May 18, 2025
First Congregational Church of Cheshire
© the Rev. Dr. James Campbell
Acts 11:1-18
Now the apostles and the brothers and sisters who were in Judea heard that the gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners, and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ But a second time the voice answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.’ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” 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.”
In March of 1956, a young man named Richard Cushing joined this church. On May 5, 2025, that same Richard Cushing passed from this life into the life to come. In all the intervening years, Richard lived his life and had a career and made friends and was a faithful member of this congregation.
By the time I arrived here in January 2018, Richard, who used to sit right over there, was elderly and not well. Part of his struggle was a difficulty in speaking. Despite that, he liked to participate in the Joys and Concerns, and he used to write me notes and leave me voicemail messages. Sometimes I understood him. Sometimes I struggled. But there was one phrase that Richard was fond of and which, when he said it, was always clearly understood. And that phrase was “sound doctrine.” It was very important to Richard that the preachers of this church would always preach and teach “sound doctrine.”
And lest you think that Mr. Cushing was simply an outlier in that regard, you should know that my job description charges me to “Communicate the Word of God in worship services through clear, compelling, and doctrinally sound sermons.”
So, the idea of sound doctrine is built into the very DNA of this church. But what, you might be wondering, does that phrase actually mean? And how do you decide if what I am preaching is sound doctrine?
This is an especially complicated issue in a non-creedal church like ours. In the Congregational tradition and in the United Church of Christ, we receive the historic creeds of the church as testimonies of faith, but not tests. No one signs on the dotted line. We receive the traditions of the church, but are free to make new traditions. And as for the Bible, yes, we honor it as containing the Word of God, but how you interpret it and how I interpret it may be two very different things entirely.
Because of all of that, the United Church of Christ is often accused of not having any theology at all. And that misperception makes us the brunt of jokes by other Christians who have much firmer boundaries than we do.
I once overheard a group of Episcopal priests titter when one of them said that the initials UCC actually stand for “Unitarians Considering Christ.” I have also heard that that UCC stands for “Utterly Confused Christians” or “Upper Crust Congregationalists” or, my personal favorite, “Upset Christian Cynics”.
But those jokes are based on a misunderstanding. Because we do have theology in the United Church of Christ. And it’s very rich. But we also live in a very big tent. In when you live in a big top, the three ring circus can sometimes appear as chaos.
But here’s the thing: it always has, and not just in the UCC. Despite what some people claim about the so-called uniformity of church history, trust me when I tell you that the church has been chaotic since the beginning.
That’s exactly what we read in the book of Acts today: Holy Spirit chaos! Remember that the Jesus movement started as a reform movement of Judaism. It was for the Jewish people and by the Jewish people and about a Jewish rabbi. But soon enough, the Spirit began to blow this nascent movement in new and unexpected directions. And lo and behold, the Gentiles began to accept the message about Jesus. So old St. Peter paid those unclean outsiders a visit. But more than that, he sat down and ate their non-kosher food.
Well, the elders in Jerusalem, who were charged with keeping sound doctrine, were none too pleased. And so, they called Peter back to Jerusalem to give him a good talking to about proper boundaries, as defined in Scripture and tradition.
Now, I suppose, that upon hearing those accusations, Peter could have argued with them and tried to convince them to see his point of view. But don’t we all know that arguing with anyone rarely wins them to your point of view. But telling a story might. And that’s what Peter did. He told them a story about what happened to him when the Holy Spirit came to call.
Peter said that while he was in Joppa, he had a vision, a strange vision, of a large sheet being lowered down from heaven by its four corners. And on that sheet were all kinds of things that a good Jewish man would never eat. But a Voice from heaven said to him: “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” Of course, Peter resisted. He knew the rules. He knew that this food was forbidden. But the Voice said, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” Someone should put that on a bumper sticker: What God has made clean, you must not call profane. And, then to drive the point home, this strange vision repeated itself two more times.
Just then, three men from Caesarea arrived and invited Peter to go to the home of a Gentile named Cornelius. And Peter went, because, as he said: “The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us.” So he went. And much to his surprise, the same Holy Spirit that inspired his strange vision, was poured out on these outsiders.
This story is actually told twice in the book of Acts: first in chapter 10 and then again in chapter 11. Why? Because this was the precise moment when the entire course of church history was changed. And the Jesus movement, which might have remained a sect of Judaism, was instead sent to people like us. And here we are, all because of Peter’s willingness to challenge the boundaries.
Now this kind of talk scares some people. And they wonder: what are the limits between being flexible and malleable and being a heretic? It’s a good question.
The great 20th century German theologian, Helmut Thielicke, wrote about this fine line in his book entitled, The Trouble with the Church: “… it is easy to remain orthodox and hew to the old line. But (the one) who speaks to this hour's need and translates the (Gospel) will always be skirting the edge of heresy. Only (the one) who risks heresies can gain the truth."
And what is the truth that is worth that kind of risk? What is the unifying principle around which we dare not turn?
I think you already know. It’s actually found in the Gospel lesson appointed for this day, but which we did not read. Jesus said to his disciples: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
And here’s the thing about that kind of love: it will always push us right to the edge of heresy; right up to the line of what others think is acceptable. Because to love is to always choose compassion over blind obedience, and mercy over the most hallowed traditions, and human stories over human rules.
Long before it was so commonplace for LGBTQ people to be in the pews and in the pulpit, the pastor of an expatriate Baptist Church in Jerusalem was called on the carpet because he allowed an openly gay couple to sing in the church’s choir. The denominational officials dressed him down, and quoted the Bible at him, and accused him of disregarding tradition. The pastor listened to their concerns, and when it was time for him to speak, this is what he said: “When I stand before the judgment throne of God to give an account of my life, if I have been wrong, I would rather err on the side of compassion than on the side of judgment.”
Mr. Cushing was right, you know. Sound doctrine is important. And this is how you know it: sound doctrine is as sound doctrine does. And the bottom line of any creed worth following is LOVE.
First Congregational Church of Cheshire
© the Rev. Dr. James Campbell
Acts 11:1-18
Now the apostles and the brothers and sisters who were in Judea heard that the gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners, and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ But a second time the voice answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.’ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” 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.”
In March of 1956, a young man named Richard Cushing joined this church. On May 5, 2025, that same Richard Cushing passed from this life into the life to come. In all the intervening years, Richard lived his life and had a career and made friends and was a faithful member of this congregation.
By the time I arrived here in January 2018, Richard, who used to sit right over there, was elderly and not well. Part of his struggle was a difficulty in speaking. Despite that, he liked to participate in the Joys and Concerns, and he used to write me notes and leave me voicemail messages. Sometimes I understood him. Sometimes I struggled. But there was one phrase that Richard was fond of and which, when he said it, was always clearly understood. And that phrase was “sound doctrine.” It was very important to Richard that the preachers of this church would always preach and teach “sound doctrine.”
And lest you think that Mr. Cushing was simply an outlier in that regard, you should know that my job description charges me to “Communicate the Word of God in worship services through clear, compelling, and doctrinally sound sermons.”
So, the idea of sound doctrine is built into the very DNA of this church. But what, you might be wondering, does that phrase actually mean? And how do you decide if what I am preaching is sound doctrine?
This is an especially complicated issue in a non-creedal church like ours. In the Congregational tradition and in the United Church of Christ, we receive the historic creeds of the church as testimonies of faith, but not tests. No one signs on the dotted line. We receive the traditions of the church, but are free to make new traditions. And as for the Bible, yes, we honor it as containing the Word of God, but how you interpret it and how I interpret it may be two very different things entirely.
Because of all of that, the United Church of Christ is often accused of not having any theology at all. And that misperception makes us the brunt of jokes by other Christians who have much firmer boundaries than we do.
I once overheard a group of Episcopal priests titter when one of them said that the initials UCC actually stand for “Unitarians Considering Christ.” I have also heard that that UCC stands for “Utterly Confused Christians” or “Upper Crust Congregationalists” or, my personal favorite, “Upset Christian Cynics”.
But those jokes are based on a misunderstanding. Because we do have theology in the United Church of Christ. And it’s very rich. But we also live in a very big tent. In when you live in a big top, the three ring circus can sometimes appear as chaos.
But here’s the thing: it always has, and not just in the UCC. Despite what some people claim about the so-called uniformity of church history, trust me when I tell you that the church has been chaotic since the beginning.
That’s exactly what we read in the book of Acts today: Holy Spirit chaos! Remember that the Jesus movement started as a reform movement of Judaism. It was for the Jewish people and by the Jewish people and about a Jewish rabbi. But soon enough, the Spirit began to blow this nascent movement in new and unexpected directions. And lo and behold, the Gentiles began to accept the message about Jesus. So old St. Peter paid those unclean outsiders a visit. But more than that, he sat down and ate their non-kosher food.
Well, the elders in Jerusalem, who were charged with keeping sound doctrine, were none too pleased. And so, they called Peter back to Jerusalem to give him a good talking to about proper boundaries, as defined in Scripture and tradition.
Now, I suppose, that upon hearing those accusations, Peter could have argued with them and tried to convince them to see his point of view. But don’t we all know that arguing with anyone rarely wins them to your point of view. But telling a story might. And that’s what Peter did. He told them a story about what happened to him when the Holy Spirit came to call.
Peter said that while he was in Joppa, he had a vision, a strange vision, of a large sheet being lowered down from heaven by its four corners. And on that sheet were all kinds of things that a good Jewish man would never eat. But a Voice from heaven said to him: “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” Of course, Peter resisted. He knew the rules. He knew that this food was forbidden. But the Voice said, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” Someone should put that on a bumper sticker: What God has made clean, you must not call profane. And, then to drive the point home, this strange vision repeated itself two more times.
Just then, three men from Caesarea arrived and invited Peter to go to the home of a Gentile named Cornelius. And Peter went, because, as he said: “The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us.” So he went. And much to his surprise, the same Holy Spirit that inspired his strange vision, was poured out on these outsiders.
This story is actually told twice in the book of Acts: first in chapter 10 and then again in chapter 11. Why? Because this was the precise moment when the entire course of church history was changed. And the Jesus movement, which might have remained a sect of Judaism, was instead sent to people like us. And here we are, all because of Peter’s willingness to challenge the boundaries.
Now this kind of talk scares some people. And they wonder: what are the limits between being flexible and malleable and being a heretic? It’s a good question.
The great 20th century German theologian, Helmut Thielicke, wrote about this fine line in his book entitled, The Trouble with the Church: “… it is easy to remain orthodox and hew to the old line. But (the one) who speaks to this hour's need and translates the (Gospel) will always be skirting the edge of heresy. Only (the one) who risks heresies can gain the truth."
And what is the truth that is worth that kind of risk? What is the unifying principle around which we dare not turn?
I think you already know. It’s actually found in the Gospel lesson appointed for this day, but which we did not read. Jesus said to his disciples: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
And here’s the thing about that kind of love: it will always push us right to the edge of heresy; right up to the line of what others think is acceptable. Because to love is to always choose compassion over blind obedience, and mercy over the most hallowed traditions, and human stories over human rules.
Long before it was so commonplace for LGBTQ people to be in the pews and in the pulpit, the pastor of an expatriate Baptist Church in Jerusalem was called on the carpet because he allowed an openly gay couple to sing in the church’s choir. The denominational officials dressed him down, and quoted the Bible at him, and accused him of disregarding tradition. The pastor listened to their concerns, and when it was time for him to speak, this is what he said: “When I stand before the judgment throne of God to give an account of my life, if I have been wrong, I would rather err on the side of compassion than on the side of judgment.”
Mr. Cushing was right, you know. Sound doctrine is important. And this is how you know it: sound doctrine is as sound doctrine does. And the bottom line of any creed worth following is LOVE.
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