Acts 10
Here is the story of Cornelius. Has anyone here ever heard the story of Cornelius? You can find it in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 10.
Cornelius lived in Caesarea, one of the towns in Israel. He was a soldier in the Italian Guard, in the army of the Roman Emperor. At the very start of the story we are told a surprising thing, that Cornelius was a thoroughly good man. This is surprising because you would expect a Roman soldier to be described as mean and nasty. But Cornelius inspired everyone in his extended family to worship God, he was always helping people in need, and he prayed all of the time.
One day Cornelius had a vision. An angel came into the room, and said “Cornelius!” Cornelius wondered if he was seeing things. He said “What do you want?” The angels said, “Your prayers and your good works have gotten God’s attention. Here’s what God wants you to do: send some of your men to find Peter; he is staying in Joppa with Simon the Tanner.” So Cornelius sent three men to find Peter in Joppa. (Peter, in case you have forgotten, is one of Jesus eleven disciples, and this story takes place after Jesus’ resurrection.)
As the three men approached Joppa, Peter went out onto the roof of Simon’s house to pray. As he prayed, he got hungry and while waiting for lunch he fell into a trance and began to dream. In the dream he saw the sky open up and he saw what looked like a huge sheet being lowered to the ground by its four corners. And look, every kind of animal was on the sheet, animals, reptiles, and birds. The Peter heard a heavenly voice telling him, “Go ahead, Peter, kill and eat”. “Oh no, not me, Lord, Jews can only eat certain foods, and some of the food I see here is food I won’t touch!” The voice spoke again, “If God says it’s OK to eat, then it’s OK to eat.” The vision was repeated three times, and then Peter woke up.
As Peter was trying to figure out what the dream meant, Cornelius’ men showed up at the door looking for him. The Spirit nudged Peter and told him to follow those men. When Peter approached them, he asked, “Why are you looking for me?” They answered, “Cornelius, a Roman centurion, was directed by an angel of God to send for you.” Peter let the three men spend the night, and in the morning he went with the three men, as well as some of his own friends, to Cornelius’ house in Caesarea.
Cornelius was expecting him and when he stepped into the house, Cornelius fell to Peter’s feet and worshiped him. “Stand up”, Peter said, “I’m a man, no different from you.” So Cornelius invited him in to meet everyone else in the house. Peter said, “This is highly irregular; Jews like me never talk with people like you. We call you Gentiles and we keep our distance. But I’ve just had a dream in which I now understand to mean that God treats all people the same. So when you summoned me, I came even though I am a Jew and you are Gentile. Now, why did you send for me?”
Cornelius then told Peter about the angel’s visit, and how the angel had instructed Cornelius to bring Peter to his home. “Now that you’re here, Peter, teach us what you know!”
Peter just about exploded with this news. “Nothing could be plainer”, he told Cornelius and the others about his new understanding, “God plays no favorites. It makes no difference who you are or where you are from - if you seek after God and are ready to do as God says, the door is wide open. The message that God sent to the children of Israel, the Jews, that through Jesus Christ everything in the whole world is being put right – well, God is sending that message to everyone now, Jews and Gentiles alike. “
As Peter spoke, the Holy Spirit was touching all of the hearts in the room, and it was plain to see. The ones who had come with Peter from Joppa were astounded that the Spirit was touching Gentiles like Cornelius and his friends. They had always believed that the Spirit of God was only for people with a Jewish background, and that the Spirit avoided everyone else. That day it was plain to see that the Spirit of God was reaching out to all people and so that day Cornelius and the people of his house were baptized. This is an amazing story. There are some important things to learn from it.
The first is this: never assume you know everything about God. Peter and his friends thought they had God and Jesus and the Spirit it all figured out, but then God surprised them by instructing them to share the Gospel people with Gentiles, non-Jews they didn’t trust, with people they didn’t like, with people they always believed had to be avoided at all costs. You and I have new things to learn from God. Jordan is being confirmed today, but he is not done learning about God. He will continue to grow in his understanding of God everyday for the rest of his life. And as his understanding of God grows all of his friends will grow, too. .
The second lesson is this: never assume you know everything about other people. Not only was Cornelius a Gentile, but he was a Roman centurion, a soldier trained to conquer and kill. Keep in mind that Roman soldiers had arrested Jesus and nailed him to the cross. Now here is one of them, Cornelius, who has been touched by Jesus and his message. You and I have new things to learn about other peoples. Jesus told a story about this, of a hated Samaritan that most people would have guessed would have kicked the wounded lying on the side of the road. But the Samaritan was not at all what people expected, he stopped, and helped. Jesus friends thought they knew about Samaritans. It turned out that there was more to learn.
The third lesson is this: never assume you know everything about yourself. Peter and his friends from Joppa discovered that their hearts could grow to include people like Cornelius. Had you asked Peter before he was summoned from Joppa if he would ever welcome the baptism of a Roman soldier, he probably would have laughed at the absurdity of it, at the impossibility of it. He would have done everything possible to stay as far away from a Roman soldier as possible. You and I have new things to learn about ourselves. Years ago, when I was in junior high, I believed what some other boys told me when they advised me to keep away from Puerto Ricans because they carried knives. Who could have guessed that my adopted son Roberto and now our granddaughter would be Puerto Rican? I never would have guessed that my heart would grow in this way.
I hope it grows some more! And I hope your heart is growing, too.
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