God-in-a-Box

Acts 11:1-18

 

No doubt you have seen a “jack in the box” toy before. You may have even played with one as a child; which means that you experienced the excitement of anxiously anticipating the clown to unexpectedly pop out of the box as “Pop Goes the Weasel” reached its climax.

 

Have you ever tried to control God? It sounds ridiculous to ask the question, but if we are honest with ourselves, we do it every day. It’s called sin. We rationalize, manipulate and do everything but back flips, to control our world.

 

The church in the first century tried to control God by saying that only Jews could follow Jesus, not Gentiles; not the uncircumcised. They wanted a god-in-a-box; a god that they could control; that wouldn’t surprise them.

 

After visiting Cornelius in Caesarea, Peter returns to Jerusalem where he comes under fire for associating with the uncircumcised. He explains to the Jews how the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles in the same way that He had with them.

 

^17 “Since God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I stop the work of God?” ¹⁸ When the believers heard this, they stopped arguing. They praised God and said, “So God is allowing even other nations to turn to him and live.” NCV

 

Confronting this concept of a god-in-a-box, was a constant battle for Jesus during his earthly ministry. His ministry focused on people who were scorned by the culture, and as a result, were social, religious and emotional outsiders.

 

Think of the hemorrhaging woman, the lepers, prostitutes, tax collectors, the demoniac; all of them fit into this category. The religious establishment didn’t have room for them. Their god-in-a-box wouldn’t allow it.

 

God-in-a-box: it doesn’t seem like it would sell very well, but in reality, we all buy into it. We want to control our life and if we can control God, then we are well on our way to accomplishing our goal.

 

But God will not be controlled. His Holy Spirit will move whomever and whenever He desires.

 

 

 

Our decision is whether we want to be a part of His work… or not.