READ Acts 10:9–10, 19–20
About noon the next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat; and while it was being prepared, he fell into a trance.… While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Look, three men are searching for you. Now get up, go down, and go with them without hesitation; for I have sent them.”
MEDITATE
You can barely sense it, but there’s a tremor at the foundation of the church. A premonition. A red sky at night, sailors’ delight—or red sky in the morning, sailors’ warning. A PVC—a premature ventricular contraction—at the heart of the earliest Christian community, an unnerving palpitation signaling the possibility of a full-fledged arrhythmia about to hit.
When, during those earliest days, Peter heads to the roof, the church is happily Jewish, homogeneous, comfortably rooted in Jewish traditions of purity, kosher laws, temple worship, and the study of Torah, prophets, and psalms. When he descends from the roof, the storm of the Spirit is gathering over the Gentiles, non-Jews, who are about to receive an immense dollop of the Holy Spirit. Just imagine the changes afoot. Kosher-keeping Jews shoulder to shoulder with Greeks from islands like Cyprus, who eat—gasp!—calamari, sardines, and shrimp.
When I was young, my father once took me on a business trip to Korea. He warned, “Wait till you smell kimchee! You’ll smell it as soon as you get off the plane.” An exaggeration, a joke, even, but when you smell kimchee, you know you’re not in Kansas anymore. Compare the smell of kimchee and a cheeseburger. The church isn’t just about to become different; it will dress differently, read different scrolls, even smell different when Gentiles join with Jews!
And where does this change begin? On a nondescript rooftop in Jerusalem during an otherwise forgettable lunchtime. Why does this change begin? Because Peter prays. It’s that simple. Big changes begin with small disciplines. Any athlete or author or artist worth her salt knows this. When an aspiring writer once asked me for advice, I told her, “Show up at your desk. Every day.”
Peter showed up. Peter prayed. And when he did, three things happened.
First, he dreamed—in Greek, ekstasis came upon him. Ekstasis can signal sleep or a vision—or both. Maybe Peter was so tired that he trudged up the steps to pray but fell asleep and had a dream that would change the church. A dream of unclean foods, which a voice commanded him to eat. Peter would never have come up with this move on his own. This was the first tremor.
Second, Peter puzzled about the dream. Notice that he didn’t bask in the ecstasy he’d just experienced. He didn’t revel in his trance. He didn’t go out and blab to anyone who would listen about his astonishing experience. He stayed put and puzzled. He wanted to know what his dream meant. This was the second tremor.
Third, “while Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him …” that men—Gentiles—were looking for him and that he should go. He did. He went. The third tremor.
Notice the sequence of events on this ordinary but auspicious afternoon.
Discipline—prayer—precedes the presence of the Spirit.
Deliberation—puzzling—precedes the presence of the Spirit.
Direction—a word of the Spirit—follows prayer and puzzling.
Peter does the hard work of faith before the Spirit speaks to him. Exhausted and famished, he climbs the steps to the roof, where he prays, dreams, and puzzles. It’s as if he actually learned a thing or two from Jesus, who said, in the passage we reflected on yesterday, “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.… If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:9, 13).
It turned out to be quite an afternoon for Peter, with a vision, a voice, and a visit—all because he showed up to pray.
So climb up those steps. Haul yourself into that closet. Curl up on that couch. Take that walk. Do just about anything to pray.
REFLECT
PRAY
Holy Spirit
I depend upon you for inspiration
the wind at my back
the breath in my lungs
the Spirit in my heart
Guide me now
to pray even without inspiration
to learn even without exhilaration
to puzzle even without enthusiasm
So that I am ready for your future
prepared to listen when you speak
primed to puzzle over experiences I can’t understand
poised to leave when you tell me to go
Amen
