David Bahn – Reflections

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Acts 10:1-16

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, ² a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. ³ About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” ⁴ And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. ⁵ And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. ⁶ He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” ⁷ When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, ⁸ and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

⁹ The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. ¹⁰ And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance ¹¹ and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. ¹² In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. ¹³ And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” ¹⁴ But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” ¹⁵ And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” ¹⁶ This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

I’m getting a new computer and I’m pretty excited about it. There will be some work I will have to do in order to make fullest use of it. I’ll have to transfer files, reinstall apps, and make certain all the things that work on my current computer work on the new one. It should be faster, better, lighter, and have a longer battery life. But it will take some work to get it, and there will be some getting-used-to-it involved.

I think about this because of the new ways of thinking and relating that will be required as the gospel message makes its way to more people – especially now that new people are being brought into the fellowship of the redeemed. In fact this will take a lot more adjustments than putting a new computer into service. A. Lot. More.

God is setting this up intentionally and deliberately. First he will have Cornelius call for Peter. Then Peter will come to Cornelius’ house as requested. The description of Cornelius makes it clear that Peter’s visit there was not thoughtless yet it held the potential for religious conflict. Cornelius was not only a gentile, he was a Roman centurion. As such, he was a leader of Roman soldiers. And these were the agents of a government that oppressed Jewish and Christian believers.

So Luke also tells us that Cornelius was a God-fearing man who was generous and prayerful. The term “God fearer” refers to someone who was a quasi convert to the Jewish faith, but was uncircumcised. In some way, therefore this was a half-step outside the strictly Jewish nature of the early Christian faith. We forget that the earliest Christians were Jewish believers.

But now Acts 1:8 is being played out. The followers of Jesus have been his witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea. Soon the Gospel message will go to Samaria and well beyond. But this represents a necessary step toward crossing that barrier. If the message is to take root in remote places and in Gentile hearts, some minds will need to be changed. Peter’s mind is about to be changed.

There is not an obvious parallel to that transition today. The Gospel message has been around the world. Believers from every tribe, nation, people, and tongue have heard and believed the Good News of Jesus. But there might be someone in your personal sphere of relationships who would test the limits of your gracious welcome. Perhaps God will bring someone into your life who will push out the boundaries of your sensibilities. In the meantime we can be thankful that Peter had this vision and that subsequent to it we who are not of the chosen nation of Israel are of the chosen people of God: no longer unclean.