Some moments in life are unforgettable. Even if, in the moment, they seemed small, insignificant to the others present.

That meeting in the chaplain’s house one evening, when I was still a teacher, was one such evening. The various students had gathered for the usual coffee and biscuits, and I was also present as I was one of the staff who used to help with chaplaincy (unofficially).

The students were asking questions about sexuality and the bible, particularly about same-sex relationships. This must have been some seventeen years ago. Basic assumptions were not the same then, and this was an area of concern for these young people, not least because there was a very vocal Christian member of staff who unequivocally viewed this as sin. They wanted to talk about this, to ask, to make up their own minds. TO ask what the bible really said about this, and other, matters.

In many ways, it was just an ordinary evening.

And then the chaplain, Revd. Munna Mitra, an incredibly wise man, said something I’ll never forget, which has defined and informed my ministry, and my bible reading, ever since.

“Wherever I have drawn a line in the sand, and said ‘thus far and no further will I go!’, I have always encountered Jesus on the other side of that line.”

For the past seventeen years, eleven of them in ordained ministry, these words have echoed in my soul. Every time I find myself facing hard choices, asking hard questions, studying challenging passages in the bible, I remember these words. Jesus with the woman caught in adultery. Jesus with the lepers. Jesus with Levi the tax collector. Jesus with the Samaritan woman. Jesus’ answer to the Pharisee who wanted to know who his neighbour was, wanting to know where that dividing line stood.

And this Sunday’s gospel, when Peter has this vision of all the animals and creatures of the world, and is told to “kill and eat”. Dietary and purity laws were so important in the Jewish faith. Peter is here being told that God has overcome all such laws. Everybody is included. And what follows is an incredible outpouring of God’s Spirit on the non-Jews. The gift and love of Christ is no longer confined to the Jewish people. As St Paul said, “we are all one in Christ Jesus.” Thanks be to God.

“Wherever I have drawn a line in the sand, and said ‘thus far and no further will I go!’, I have always encountered Jesus on the other side of that line.”

Blessings,

Revd. Talisker