The Shower

Some people sing in the shower. I think there’s something about the acoustics which makes a voice (even mine!) sound so much better. Elvis used a stairwell for at least one of his songs, so who are we to judge singing in the shower?

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I don’t sing in the shower. I use that time to think. Sometimes my thoughts are about what the day will be like, other times it’s inconsequential junk like, “I wonder why nothing rhymes with ‘orange’.” Maybe it's, "Sean Connery was sitting on the toilet when he voiced the intro to Highlander? Seriously? No vocal effects were added?"

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The morning I wrote this my thoughts turned to Peter’s vision about food, and God telling him not to call unclean the things He said were clean. “Hey,” I thought, “that’s a continuation of the conversation God had with Adam in the Garden of Eden. “Who said you were naked?” Then it struck me that He’s continuing that same conversation with humanity every single day.

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The point He was making with Adam was, “Don’t say something’s bad unless I tell you it’s bad. Where did you get the idea that nakedness was bad? I AM the ultimate Judge, and I didn’t say that.” But Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, so they thought they were qualified to determine things on their own understanding.

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The Jewish people were given the Law of God partially to separate them from the people-groups around them. They were Chosen to be a light to the rest of the world, to give an example of what living the way He told them would look like.

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But while they did succeed in keeping their community separate, they failed to keep God central to their lives. Various times they were conquered, sent into exile, and many of them simply melded into the society they found themselves in. But Babylon was different. The Hebrew race managed to remain separated when Babylon finally obliterated the nation of Israel.

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But now we come to Peter’s vision. God showed him animals which had been deemed unclean according to Old Testament Law. “Peter, have a snack.” “Uh, Lord, you told us not to eat that kind of thing.” So did God change His mind?

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No. The role of Israel had changed.

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Israel had originally been meant to be a light for the world. When Jesus came, HE became the light. That He was illuminating the whole world, not just Israel, is exemplified in the episode at the well with the Samaritan woman.

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Which gives me a perfect opportunity to digress:

Samaritans originated with the people left behind after all the exiles were taken away. They were still Hebrew, but intermarried with the folks Assyria and Babylon brought into the region. They kinda had a hodgepodge religion, and when the exiles returned they were forbidden to intermarry with Samaritans. There would be danger of corrupting the worship of God. The books from Judges through Kings details how real that issue was.

Because of that, Samaritans and Jews really hated each other. A lot happened in the 400 years between the OT and NT times to fan the sparks of hatred into a full-blown bonfire.

But Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman at the well, and gave her the opportunity of salvation. (And He went out of His way to do it!)

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So Jesus is now the light of the world. Though He was Jewish, He isn’t the salvation of ONLY Jews. Peter is told he no longer needs to be separate and distinct from the rest of the world. God (in Jesus) came to save the entire human species from eternal condemnation in Hell.

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BTW, “Hell” is the free will choice of those who turn their backs to God. The punishment isn’t imposed by a vicious deity just getting back at those who refuse to bend their knee to him. No, it’s giving people what they most ask for - life eternal without God.

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Pardon me for a second digression in the same posting, but it pertains to how I wrap this up.

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God continues that same conversation with us. Adam was told, “Hey, I didn’t tell you nakedness was bad.” Peter was told, “Hey, I said you could eat that stuff.” We are told, “Hey, you don’t get to condemn folks. That’s My job.”

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God is the Decider-in-Chief. He’s above every king, higher than every president, more powerful than every autocrat, and more majestic than all of them combined. He gives us instructions on how to live, and it’s up to us to live the way He said. And one thing He’s said over and over is, “You don’t get to decide what’s right and wrong.”

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You may like certain things written in the Bible, and dislike other things. You don’t get to pick and choose. God sent Jesus to take the penalty for the sins of every man, woman, and child on Earth. If they’ve “signed on the dotted line” of the contract outlined in the Bible, who are you to tell them they’re going to Hell? Their pet sin is no worse than your pet sin.

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The thing is, people have to accept that salvation (sign on the dotted line) to qualify for Heaven. If someone refuses to accept God as the final arbiter of Good and Evil, then they’re turning their back on Him.

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Free will. They choose. God honors that choice because He loves us too much to impose His will against our wishes.