Brief synopsis of the readings: Again in Acts we see Peter with Cornelius. Cornelius knelt in front of Peter but Peter raised him and said: “Get up. I myself am also a human being.” Peter spoke and said that God shows no partiality but accepts everyone who fears him and acts uprightly. While Peter spoke the Holy Spirit fell on everyone listening, Jew and Gentile. Peter then instructed that everyone be baptized. In John’s Gospel we read a discourse from Jesus. He tells his disciples to remain in his love and their joy will be complete. Those who lay down their lives for their friends show the greatest love. Jesus then tells them that they are no longer slaves as slaves don’t know what the master does. They are, instead, Jesus’ friends as Jesus has told them all he has heard from the Father. He reminded them that rather than them having chosen Jesus, Jesus first chose them, and chose them to product fruit. “This I command you: love one another.”

I can only imagine Peter’s surprise when Cornelius knelt before him; Cornelius was not a Jew. He was a Roman officer who believed in God but did not follow Jewish customs. Because of his rank and wealth he was a man who was more used to having people kneel before him. To Peter’s credit he didn’t place himself either or below Cornelius but instead acknowledged their common humanity. Both of their lives had changed.

And indeed, once Jesus’ apostles recognized that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead they certainly knew that their lives going forward were going to be drastically different from what they expected. But that path was far from certain and there were several whiplash experiences ahead of them.

Those born at the time of Jesus were born into a time that was predictable, if not easy. Virtually all Jews of the time were strictly observant. They didn’t eat unclean meat, they didn’t eat with non Jews, and they tried to keep to themselves. The Romans wouldn’t bother them as long as they paid their taxes and gave no hint of challenging their authority. Most people spent their lives doing what their fathers did: farmers begat farmers, carpenters begat carpenters, etc. If you had the financial means, the brains and the desire for education you could study to be a pharisee. If you were particularly pious you could become an Essene. But those roads were only for a few. And this was only for the men. Women’s lives were even more confined. You (or your father) were expected to find a husband and care for children born of that marriage. Your level of wealth was entirely dependent on how your husband’s wealth and you could do nothing to change that.

But if you followed Jesus all bets were off. Within a few years your trouble came not primarily from the Romans but the Jewish authorities who didn’t follow Jesus. They recognized that Jesus was crucified because he stirred up trouble with the Romans and wanted nothing to do with his memory. In Acts, just before today’s first reading, Peter had a dream where unclean food is presented to him to eat. When he protested a voice from the sky told him that all food has been purified by God and nothing he creates is unclean. After that point Peter and the other apostles were able to eat previously unclean food and this became a crucial change when they reached out to Gentiles to convert. Cornelius’ story is noteworthy because he was one of the first Gentiles who were accepted into the fold.

So if all that felt like an ongoing series of whiplashes and changes, what do we hang on to? At the risk of sounding obvious, it’s spelled out (again) in the Gospel: our call to love. Everyone. All the time. No matter what. If John tells us nothing else he tells us that God is love and we are called to live in his love.

Even during times of whiplash. The need to follow Jesus in uncertain times has, if anything, increased over the years. In 1970 Alvin Toffler published his book Future Shock that described how technology has accelerating in the last few generations while we try to keep up. Today it’s hard to imagine going to college without email and the internet, or using multiple remotes to turn on the television, but that was the reality for many of us.

It’s also brought us increasing issues of morality. If life begins at conception, when is conception? Is IVF a permissible way to plan a family? How do we care for the super elderly when their children are themselves in need of care? What is our responsibility toward victims of violence, human trafficking, natural disasters on the other side of the world? Previous generations would never have known about them but because of 24 hour news networks we see instant replays of human suffering. Does that oblige us, and if so, how?

If we don’t sometimes feel overwhelmed by this we’re probably not paying attention. But compassion fatigue is not new; those we revere in Acts struggled with a world that was now open to Gentiles and without dietary restrictions. Soon missionaries would be exploring lands they had never heard of. And through it all they were called to love. Not conquer, not dominate, not “civilize.”

We live as a link in a long chain that confronts changing realities. It’s not easy, but it never has been. We need to understand our world but God does not tell us that we need to understand everyone, only to love them. As I write this families and other groups continue to struggle with issues of homosexuality, bisexuality, transgender, and nonbinary issues. Nowhere does God tell us that our path to salvation requires us to break relationship with others. Nowhere does God tell us that we are enforcers of the law.

We are called to be both Peter and Cornelius. As is so often the case in our reading of Scripture, we can read about the struggle of our ancestors to instruct us how to pass along their love. Let us act in a way that makes Peter and Cornelius smile.