PARDON THE GLORIOUS INTERRUPTION
Acts 10; particularly verses 44-48

Today’s Good News: God shows no partiality in pouring out the Holy Spirit on people so that all may be saved.

If ever there was a case of a “God-incidence,” the meeting of Peter and Cornelius in Acts 10 is one of the very best. The whole new world of Christianity was about to be gloriously interrupted and notoriously tipped on its head. Demographically and geographically, the boundaries of Judea would soon be reached. The good news of Jesus Christ seemed to be headed for the proverbial end of the road. Think about it; if God had not had bigger plans for the Judeo-Christian world, you and I might not be gathered here together right now.

Everyone—Jews and Gentiles—in biblical days believed the message of Jesus Christ was given to the Jews only. God eliminated this belief through bringing together two men of faith: Cornelius, a Gentile from Caesarea; and Peter, a Jewish man and apostle of Jesus Christ. God brought these men together for the purpose of revealing that the good news of Jesus Christ is meant for all people; that no one who believes in God and does what is right shall be denied salvation.

The only complication was that each man was shocked by the vision he was given and wanted to resist it in the worst way. Cornelius stared in terror at the angel of the Lord who told him to send for Peter in Joppa. Peter characteristically, impulsively protested when he was told to eat of the animals, even those that Jewish law proclaimed unclean. “By no means, Lord!”

Terror and fear, confusion and resistance. Peter and Cornelius were “greatly puzzled” (10:17) by their double vision. Certainly they had never even heard of each other, let alone met, yet God called them together for the purpose of bringing Jews and Gentiles together as one in Jesus Christ. Each chose to obey the word of the Lord they had received even though it called for them to take great risks for the faith.

I think we can certainly identify with Cornelius and Peter. They were not just being called to step outside their religious boxes, they were called, in the words of Anne Robertson (formerly pastor of St John’s Methodist Church in Dover, NH), to “Blow the lid of the God-Box” they lived in.

Robertson writes, “When we become closed to aspects of God that we don’t understand or to experiences of God that aren’t our own, we create the fiction that we know all there is to know of God and God’s ways. Our limited experience and expression then become the standard by which all others are measured and the truth by which all others are judged” (Robertson, Blowing the Lid off the God-Box, p x).

It is very difficult to step outside the comfort zones of our religious boxes, let alone blow the lids off them! We tend to be gut reactors to God’s call Just like Peter, we can say far too quickly, “By no means, Lord!” Yet, no matter who we are or where we are on our life’s journey, God created us good, for his purpose and for his pleasure.

We may at times find this trusting God in all things difficult. The tension we feel can only be relieved through prayer, study, meditation, and obedience; yet, it is so much easier to go with what we know rather than with what can make us grow.

The tension we feel is real, as real as the tension Peter spoke of when he entered Cornelius’ house. “You yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile; but God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without objection” (Acts 10:28-29).

Peter’s entourage experienced a similar sense of tension as they witnessed Cornelius’ household receiving the Holy Spirit. Luke writes in Acts 10:45. “The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles.”

Empowered by the Holy Spirit all the people in this story were able to see their way through what at first they believed was “unlawful” to do. Yet, they overcame a common, pedantic belief by risking it all for a most uncommon teaching: God shows no partiality in pouring out the Holy Spirit on all people so that all people may be saved.

A message for us today is to challenge ourselves to take risks for God. Cornelius through answered prayer and Peter through divine vision show us that not only is obedience in the face of fear possible, it is to be preferred; it is to be entered into with haste and without objection.

The same powerful Holy Spirit that was poured out on Cornelius and his household is poured on us as well. Imagine what wonders we would behold if we could really let go and let God’s Holy Spirit send us beyond the limits of our known comfort zones.

We could blow the lid off our God Boxes and speak to the world about the mighty God we serve, the gracious God who loves all without partiality, the merciful God who died once that all who believe in him and do what is right might live forever—talk about speaking in tongues!

In the middle of Peter’s preaching he sees and hears that the Holy Spirit has been poured out on the Gentiles; they’re talking in tongues and praising the Lord. You can just hear him thinking, “Enough with the preaching! The water’s merely a formality; bring on the Spirit! It’s happening to them just as it happened to us on the day of Pentecost! Good Lord, what a ride!”

Peter’s sermon was gloriously interrupted by the outpouring of the Spirit upon people he never would have believed could receive it from God. Such good news is this for us today! Christianity has spread to all nationalities, all races, all places since that day at Captain Cornelius’ house. His gift is our gift. How shall we praise the Lord for his gift of the Spirit? How shall we celebrate the good news that God shows no partiality?

We must do as Peter did. He went to places God sent him without objection. Faith is a journey God invites to take; faith is not pretty scenery God invites us to sit back and watch. Each one of us is called, by name, to join the journey.

If we struggle with a serious illness, would it not be better to share the journey with the healing power of the Holy Spirit? If we fear the darkness because we have lost our way, would it not be better to share the journey with the divine light of the Holy Spirit to guide our way? If we wrestle with doubt, or grief, or depression or fatigue, would it not be better to have the immutable strength and perseverance of the Holy Spirit working for us?

The Holy Spirit is for all people. What good news! Speak of it; give the gift a voice. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Live and empowered life for the news is good my friends: from now on there is neither Greek nor Jew; slave nor free, male or female, for we are one in Christ Jesus who is Lord of all (Galatians 3:28). This Word is not sort of true; it is not partially true; it is fully true, and upon its truth we are saved. Amen.


May 17, 2009
First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor