Embracing God's Inclusive Vision: The Story of Peter and Cornelius
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"Now, Cornelius, we know from the beginning of Acts 10, was a centurion. It means he was a Roman, presumably a Roman officer, and would have commanded a large number of Roman troops, forces. and was also interestingly enough in the text he's a devout man and his household as well so somehow in the experience of even though he was a centurion a roman officer of course would have nothing to do with with any kind of christianity or this emerging subversive ford but he had become a devout man and it's a fascinating kind of the way it's presented in the first part of acts 10 is interesting because let's face it under normal circumstances someone like peter and a centurion like cornelius would probably have next to no interaction" [00:04:56] (62 seconds)
"And yet, God's angels kind of intervene in both Peter and Cornelius's lives and orchestrate this coming together. And the coming together in itself is kind of fascinating when you read about it, because it is God's angels who really do guide and shape how this all happens. agents, emissaries, if you like, of Cornelius, are sent out to meet with Peter, because God has sort of invested and called that out. And Peter also then receives sort of direction from the angels, and Peter's vision is really quite remarkable." [00:06:00] (53 seconds)
"He says, what God has made clean, you must not call profane. Okay, so I want you to think about this a little bit. What does this mean? Well, what it means is Peter is living into his faith. As a Jew, he would have been a Torah observant Jew. and would have been a follower of the regimen that is associated with being a Torah -observant Jew. And dietary conditions are such an essential part of that. But it's more than just the dietary." [00:06:49] (40 seconds)
"Peter is making an assertion about the sanctity, the autonomy of Judaism in this time of occupation and oppression within the Roman Empire. And this idea of meeting with someone like Cornelius would have just been too much to ask for, if you like. And Peter is trying to stay within the context of the faith that he knows. And so this is a significance. It's like asking of us to just briefly put aside something that we would consider fundamental to our faith long enough to have this other experience. It was a lot to ask." [00:07:28] (56 seconds)
"And further on through the rest of that part of Acts 10, indeed this encounter happens, this moment of revelation. And what makes this moment of revelation between Peter and Cornelius so significant... is how he then responds, how Peter responds. He says, you yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile. So that would have been the kind of operational understanding that Peter would have had up to that moment. But, the text says, but God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean." [00:08:24] (47 seconds)
"I want to submit to you, this is a significant moment in the evolution of the first church. That all of a sudden, the leadership of that same church began to realize, wait a second. Maybe this is so much bigger than any of us could have thought of. Maybe we're being asked to move the gospel of Christ in a way that none of us could have ever thought of. That we are indeed called to bring that same message to the Gentiles, which is a kind of group, a collective noun, if you like, for everybody else in all regions of the world." [00:09:19] (53 seconds)
"And then, with that moment of revelation, Peter turns and begins the sermon that we read. this morning. And do you remember what the first thing Peter says to this assembled crowd, presumably would have been primarily Jewish, but there would have been Gentiles within the fold at least, or within that community. Peter says, truly, I truly understand that God shows no partiality. That's a remarkable thing that he says there. But in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him." [00:09:43] (51 seconds)
"See the condition there that Peter sort of puts on this that is dramatic revelation that wait a second what we're doing is so much bigger than we had ever thought of and we cannot be in the position of picking and choosing who receives the gospel of Jesus Christ but notice the text doesn't say that notice what the text said the text says what is right is what is acceptable to what is acceptable to God so in other words this is a remarkable moment because Peter is saying that his faith faith he grew up with the Jewish faith is still very much established and real" [00:10:55] (47 seconds)
"And why I think this is so much significant is that the same message is relevant today to all of us. If you think that God is this narrow band and what you know is all you know, then you've limited, not only limited your faith, you've limited God. I believe right now... we're part of something so much bigger than any of us can comprehend. And the worst thing we can do is try and hive it off into little pieces and say, oh, that's it. That's my faith, and you can't tell me any different." [00:12:48] (43 seconds)
"What's happening in our world today, what's happening in churches, what's happening in this notion of Christian Canada, whatever you want to call it, is changing dramatically. We've got to be part of that experience. We have to be open to that direction, wherever it takes us. us. It might take us in places we never would have conceived of, but if we're open to it, if we're willing to show no partiality, then I believe God will do dramatic things, not only in your life, but in our lives together as faithful followers of Christ. May it be so. Amen." [00:13:38] (46 seconds)
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"And yet, God's angels kind of intervene in both Peter and Cornelius's lives and orchestrate this coming together. And the coming together in itself is kind of fascinating when you read about it, because it is God's angels who really do guide and shape how this all happens. agents, emissaries, if you like, of Cornelius, are sent out to meet with Peter, because God has sort of invested and called that out. And Peter also then receives sort of direction from the angels, and Peter's vision is really quite remarkable." [00:06:00] (53 seconds)
"He says, what God has made clean, you must not call profane. Okay, so I want you to think about this a little bit. What does this mean? Well, what it means is Peter is living into his faith. As a Jew, he would have been a Torah observant Jew. and would have been a follower of the regimen that is associated with being a Torah -observant Jew. And dietary conditions are such an essential part of that. But it's more than just the dietary." [00:06:49] (40 seconds)
"Peter is making an assertion about the sanctity, the autonomy of Judaism in this time of occupation and oppression within the Roman Empire. And this idea of meeting with someone like Cornelius would have just been too much to ask for, if you like. And Peter is trying to stay within the context of the faith that he knows. And so this is a significance. It's like asking of us to just briefly put aside something that we would consider fundamental to our faith long enough to have this other experience. It was a lot to ask." [00:07:28] (56 seconds)
"And further on through the rest of that part of Acts 10, indeed this encounter happens, this moment of revelation. And what makes this moment of revelation between Peter and Cornelius so significant... is how he then responds, how Peter responds. He says, you yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile. So that would have been the kind of operational understanding that Peter would have had up to that moment. But, the text says, but God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean." [00:08:24] (47 seconds)
"I want to submit to you, this is a significant moment in the evolution of the first church. That all of a sudden, the leadership of that same church began to realize, wait a second. Maybe this is so much bigger than any of us could have thought of. Maybe we're being asked to move the gospel of Christ in a way that none of us could have ever thought of. That we are indeed called to bring that same message to the Gentiles, which is a kind of group, a collective noun, if you like, for everybody else in all regions of the world." [00:09:19] (53 seconds)
"And then, with that moment of revelation, Peter turns and begins the sermon that we read. this morning. And do you remember what the first thing Peter says to this assembled crowd, presumably would have been primarily Jewish, but there would have been Gentiles within the fold at least, or within that community. Peter says, truly, I truly understand that God shows no partiality. That's a remarkable thing that he says there. But in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him." [00:09:43] (51 seconds)
"See the condition there that Peter sort of puts on this that is dramatic revelation that wait a second what we're doing is so much bigger than we had ever thought of and we cannot be in the position of picking and choosing who receives the gospel of Jesus Christ but notice the text doesn't say that notice what the text said the text says what is right is what is acceptable to what is acceptable to God so in other words this is a remarkable moment because Peter is saying that his faith faith he grew up with the Jewish faith is still very much established and real" [00:10:55] (47 seconds)
"And why I think this is so much significant is that the same message is relevant today to all of us. If you think that God is this narrow band and what you know is all you know, then you've limited, not only limited your faith, you've limited God. I believe right now... we're part of something so much bigger than any of us can comprehend. And the worst thing we can do is try and hive it off into little pieces and say, oh, that's it. That's my faith, and you can't tell me any different." [00:12:48] (43 seconds)
"What's happening in our world today, what's happening in churches, what's happening in this notion of Christian Canada, whatever you want to call it, is changing dramatically. We've got to be part of that experience. We have to be open to that direction, wherever it takes us. us. It might take us in places we never would have conceived of, but if we're open to it, if we're willing to show no partiality, then I believe God will do dramatic things, not only in your life, but in our lives together as faithful followers of Christ. May it be so. Amen." [00:13:38] (46 seconds)
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