In Jesus' Name
Our reading from Acts today is a small part of the whole narrative about the conversion of Cornelius. This is the longest narrative in Acts and probably marks Luke’s main point in Acts (Luke is the writer of Acts). Up to this point in Acts all those who were converted and Baptized were Jewish. In this account Luke talks about the Baptism of a Gentile. Cornelius was not any old Gentile, he was a Roman soldier – an enemy of the Jews. That is one of the reasons Luke spends so much of his story on the event. It certainly was controversial and angered many people. Although Luke, as he does through the whole book, smooths over the controversy. Anyone who has been involved in change in a church will know it is never that easy. Even when God wants the change.
Yet this story is not just about the conversion of Cornelius, his family, and friends, it is about the conversion of Peter. Remember prior to this bit of text we read today Peter, while praying, is offered a vision of a collection of animals Jews are forbidden to eat but were told to eat. We note Paul had only one vision. We also note that it was not the visions that changed Peter’s mind, it was the face-to-face dialog with Cornelius. This is not new or earth shaking. We know this as well. It is our contact with others in everyday life that we are called on to show the love of Jesus. It is God’s intent that we expand our world and those to whom we share God’s gifts of love and faith.
While there are people who seem to think that only certain people can be Christian or that Christians need to gather only with themselves and let the world go where it will go, that is not God’s intent nor Jesus’ call to pick up your cross and follow him. Jesus invited all the world into his kingdom and calls us to do the same. Everyone, even our enemies. If you look around you will see many Christians who seem to have missed this point. I suppose that is not surprising. It took visions from God for Paul and Peter to understand it.
We also remember that it was while praying that Peter received his vision. (Paul, on the other hand, was on a witch-hunt.) That is a reminder that we should do the same. In fact we have an advantage over both Peter and Paul. We have the Bible – a history of God’s people who struggled with God’s call to them and how they responded to their call. I encourage you to pick up your Bible and read and spend some time in prayer asking not just for God’s help but also for God’s guidance. That is how we prepare ourselves for the difficult work of sharing God’s love, hope, justice, and peace with the world.