David Bahn – Reflections

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

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 heard today the account of Pastor Paul Korabandi, a Lutheran pastor from India. His calling to the ministry began in 2015 when he worked as a pastor in India with another church body. Somehow he learned of the Lutheran Church and particularly of the climate in Texas for people such as him to enter the ministry here. It was 2019 when I actually met Paul, then a young and idealistic man whom another pastor and I interviewed as a first step toward becoming a Lutheran pastor. The interview proved to be helpful in a way he had not intended.

Through our conversation he was better prepared to take the next step in that process. That was to interview with church leaders in Missouri where our church headquarters is located – together with one of our two seminaries. He indicated that the conversation there was not as cordial or encouraging as ours had been. In fact it seems as though it was almost off-putting. Nonetheless he continued to pursue his dream of becoming a Lutheran pastor in the United States – even after having to return to India and wait for a visa to study and live here.

Paul and his family received his visa in 2019, and in 2021 Paul was ordained as a Lutheran pastor in the north Houston area. He now serves an Indian congregation in that area. But the path was long and challenging to get there. He credits it all to God’s timing. I think of it as patience.

We’re not told how long Cornelius had been praying before God answered in the way he did. But the description of his faithfulness indicates that it may have been years. Finally he is told to summon Peter. Peter was made ready for this by means of the vision of the formerly unclean or common foods and the command to rise and eat. All this came together by God’s timing.

Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix is one of the most insightful books I’ve read. Written by Edwin Friedman, this book in its title captures the challenge we all face. We live in the age of the quick fix. We want our solutions now. We want to see God move now. We want to have the results of our efforts and the answers to our prayers now. We too often are willing to settle for a quick fix when God has a much better blessing planned for us.

However long Cornelius prayed, God did (finally?) answer. Peter was dispatched. New things are on the horizon. God’s story will continue to unfold. I like to say that we overestimate what we can do in the short term and way underestimate what God will do in the long term. God’s timing is perfect and gracious. His answers are always good. That’s why we pray faithfully without ceasing and wait hopefully for God’s answers – whenever the timing of God brings them to pass.