Holy matchmaking
This week's study is short on scripture but long on meaning. Acts 10:44-46:
This story starts out with Cornelius getting a visit from an angel mid-afternoon. Cornelius was a Roman centurion, not just a Gentile, but one involved in what the Jews perceived as the desecration of their holy nation. I guess you could call him a dirty Gentile, even though he was devout. He's in his secure Gentile compound when he's told by the angel he needs to send for one of the natives, some scoundrel named Simon Peter, and invite him into his home.
Peter is praying in his place the next day and gets a vision from God telling him not to look down on the dirty Gentiles. God has to repeat himself more than once. The day after that, Cornelius's men show up, and Peter goes with them to the Gentile house.
Peter preaches the gospel to the people in Cornelius's household, and they accept Jesus. That's where these verses come in. The Holy Spirit falls on the Gentiles, the dirty Gentiles, and they glorify God. It says that the Jews Peter brought with him, those of the circumcision, were astonished. Two days earlier, they didn't even think God was interested in Gentiles, and here they are with the Holy Spirit. And two days earlier, the Gentiles didn't even know what the Holy Spirit was. Who do you think was more astonished when the Holy Spirit came?
The beautiful thing about this is that neither of these men, or groups of men, would have met on their own. They didn't exactly move in the same circles. Cornelius was walled up in his fort, and Peter was practically homeless. Their paths never would have crossed.
God intervened in both of their lives and went out of his way to get them together. Both were men of prayer, willing to stop their day for what God wanted of them. Are we that receptive? Do we trust that God has such specific plans for us? What would have happened if either of these guys wasn't paying attention, or didn't care, or didn't think God wanted to use them?
This was the event that united the early Church. We might have ended up with two religions, or none at all, had these guys not been willing to do what God wanted of them. Neither of them woke up in the morning knowing what God wanted them to do, or what a difference it would make. They had to wait and find out.
And the most amazing of all is God's interest in us, Jew and Gentile. No matter what our ethnic or religious background, God is interested in knowing us and including us in his family. He gave these Gentiles everything he had. And he chose Simon Peter, the guy who denied him, and trusted him as the one to open this door and represent him. That is love.
Wait on God and spend some time in prayer. See what he wants for you. I don't believe that all of the cool stories in history have already been told in the Bible. There may be something amazing for you, and you won't know it any more than Cornelius and Peter knew it before they found out. God loves you and created a purpose for you and you for a purpose.
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.
This story starts out with Cornelius getting a visit from an angel mid-afternoon. Cornelius was a Roman centurion, not just a Gentile, but one involved in what the Jews perceived as the desecration of their holy nation. I guess you could call him a dirty Gentile, even though he was devout. He's in his secure Gentile compound when he's told by the angel he needs to send for one of the natives, some scoundrel named Simon Peter, and invite him into his home.
Peter is praying in his place the next day and gets a vision from God telling him not to look down on the dirty Gentiles. God has to repeat himself more than once. The day after that, Cornelius's men show up, and Peter goes with them to the Gentile house.
Peter preaches the gospel to the people in Cornelius's household, and they accept Jesus. That's where these verses come in. The Holy Spirit falls on the Gentiles, the dirty Gentiles, and they glorify God. It says that the Jews Peter brought with him, those of the circumcision, were astonished. Two days earlier, they didn't even think God was interested in Gentiles, and here they are with the Holy Spirit. And two days earlier, the Gentiles didn't even know what the Holy Spirit was. Who do you think was more astonished when the Holy Spirit came?
The beautiful thing about this is that neither of these men, or groups of men, would have met on their own. They didn't exactly move in the same circles. Cornelius was walled up in his fort, and Peter was practically homeless. Their paths never would have crossed.
God intervened in both of their lives and went out of his way to get them together. Both were men of prayer, willing to stop their day for what God wanted of them. Are we that receptive? Do we trust that God has such specific plans for us? What would have happened if either of these guys wasn't paying attention, or didn't care, or didn't think God wanted to use them?
This was the event that united the early Church. We might have ended up with two religions, or none at all, had these guys not been willing to do what God wanted of them. Neither of them woke up in the morning knowing what God wanted them to do, or what a difference it would make. They had to wait and find out.
And the most amazing of all is God's interest in us, Jew and Gentile. No matter what our ethnic or religious background, God is interested in knowing us and including us in his family. He gave these Gentiles everything he had. And he chose Simon Peter, the guy who denied him, and trusted him as the one to open this door and represent him. That is love.
Wait on God and spend some time in prayer. See what he wants for you. I don't believe that all of the cool stories in history have already been told in the Bible. There may be something amazing for you, and you won't know it any more than Cornelius and Peter knew it before they found out. God loves you and created a purpose for you and you for a purpose.
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