It is ok to eat an ant - August 26
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 119:1-24; PM Psalm 12, 13, 14; Job 6:1,7:1-21; Acts 10:1-16; John 7:1-13
“What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”
My first summer away at Boy Scout camp was quite memorable for a number of reasons. I have already written about my face being painted red and blue while being told the 50 reasons I was a horrible person, all while having my footlocker paddled out to the floating dock in the middle of the lake in the middle of the night (hazing at its finest). Another memory is of Jeremy, a fellow ginger a few years my senior, who was raw and rough and pushed the boundaries of rule-following behavior. We all admired him greatly. We were sitting one day under the green canvas tarp that smelled like outdoors, campfire, and mildew perfectly commingled. There was a wooden picnic table, and Jeremy had straddled the board at the end. I am not sure why we were gathered, although maybe just one of those conversations that take place after a meal and has no purpose but to help you make light of boredom.
Jeremy had a crooked look in his eye and a bottle of Tabasco sauce. He was a few years older and probably a little more open about his Tabasco sauce than his Marlboro Lights, both things that were mysterious and intriguing to us first-year scouts. “I am going to eat this ant!” Jeremy proclaimed. We were all shocked. He then pulled out the Tabasco Sauce, put a few dabs on his pocketknife, and with the ant, took a bite.
“You can’t eat ants!” someone screamed. Another person had to announce to everyone how gross but cool Jeremy really was. And then he did it again. “All protein is good for the body,” Jeremy offered. We were dumbstruck. I asked how it tasted to which he responded, “everything tastes better with a little Tabasco.” He was way ahead of his time for a fifteen-year-old.
In the reading from Acts, Peter is praying on a roof and he has a vision. There is a feast with all sorts of animals, and Peter, having been steeped in the Jewish faith and so he knows there are all sorts of things he shouldn’t eat. Remember, there are Jewish laws around pork, because pigs have a cloven hoof, and there are laws about shellfish. Let’s just say that a devout Jew would never eat a cheeseburger. An ant is certainly not kosher (oddly, a locust is the only kosher insect). And then Peter hears this voice, that tells him to get up and eat. “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”
Now, I don’t really care what you eat (well I do hope it is ethically sourced and responsibly grown), and I don’t own any stock in Tabasco, but I think there is a tremendous amount of hope and possibility packed into those little words offered by the mystical voice. They might be some of the most important words in all of the Bible. Think about it. God creates. And that creation is made new (clean) in Jesus Christ. And not only do we not call it profane, but should name the hope and possibility that is made manifest through Christ.
A birth. A baptism. An adoption. A marriage of two people. A story of repentance and forgiveness. A gift of grace. A person who is different. As Christians, we get to name beauty and hope and possibility! How wonderful!
If you turn on the news or have a Facebook feed filled with fear and anger, it might seem like we humans are in the business of naming the profane. But our Scripture today reminds us to go somewhere else. Instead, we should be looking for what is possible, what God is up to, even if it crosses our comfort zone or stretches our faith. I mean, isn’t all protein good for the body? Where do you see hope and possibility and God doing something new?
- John+
Questions for Self-Reflection: What are some of the things you think are profane? How might you think about those things differently? Are there things you used to think were profane that you now think are God’s blessing?
Daily Challenge: Open your social media feed. Find one thing that drives you crazy. Now, find one way of seeing that story as offering something of hope. It might be difficult, but there should be some perspective, or way it is written that can offer some good news. Naming it can help us learn to be more open.