Sunday, June 29, 2008

Faith in the face of God driven change (Acts 13:1-4)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon June 29, 2008

Here are some cartoons about change that I found on the Internet.

  • “Change is good, son…” Not when it’s not enough for bus fare.
  • “The only constant is change.”
  • “That’s the international symbol for ‘Don’t Rock The Boat.’”
  • “I’ve seen this before: Combustion due to extreme resistance to change.”
  • Then, there is Dr. Seuss’s classic “Green Eggs and Ham” for children.

From very young, one thing that seems to be common for all of us is we don’t like changes especially the changes of uncertain, threatening or stressful natures. We have many reasons for not liking changes. We may get disappointed for not liking changes we make, we may have fear of screwing things up, or we may feel too overwhelmed and stressed that we get paralyzed to make any change, or we are simply too comfortable with the status quo and don’t feel any need to change.

Sometimes aversion or reluctance to change is so strong that we may refuge to change although we know some changes will only make good impact in our lives.

Ironic may be, but it is true, “The only constant is change.” Spiritually speaking, this is true as well. Apostle Paul describes what is norm for Christians in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “And we, who with unveiled glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” Christianity is all about change. It begins with the radical change of being justified by faith in Jesus Christ and continues with changes in on-going sanctification again by faith in the power of Jesus Christ to make real differences in us, around us, through us.

One sure way of testing spiritual health is to evaluate your attitude toward change and see what evidences are there for actual on-going change. If there is strong aversion, apathy or fear toward changes God wants to make in your life, if there is no measurable, self-evident changes, then something is not quite right with your spirituality. The way you respond to God who wants to make changes in you reveals a lot about the kind of faith you have.

Today’s short passage speaks to how the early Christians dealt with change God was engineering in their lives. What we see is they didn’t shy away in fear or apathy from making the real change when they knew it was God who wanted to bring about the change.

Charles Swindoll writes, “I’m convinced that living a life of obedience is an impossibility if you and I are unwilling to change.”[1] He explains this way, “Change brings adventure, and adventure stretches your faith. All that spells growth. Growth happens within us when we face risk. Head-on. Faith and risk go hand in hand.”[2]

The journey with Jesus is journey of trusting in Jesus, trusting that he is really smart and knows exactly the kind of changes that will be best for us and have the power to make changes in us.

Ask your self these questions. Do you have faith in the face of God driven change?” Do you welcome changes God wants to make in your life because you are convinced God is far smarter than you will ever be and the changes he seeks in you are what’s best for you?

  • God driven change is possible when you welcome God’s vision for you instead your vision for yourself.

Back in chapter 11, we saw how Barnabas began ministering in Antioch where a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord, both the Jews and the Gentiles. He was sent by the Jerusalem church. Seeing the evidence of the grace of God, being glad, and encouraging the new Christians, he enlisted Saul to minister with him. So for a whole year, Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people according to Acts 11:26.

During this time, a prophet named Agabus came from Jerusalem to Antioch and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. Responding to this prophecy, the church of Antioch sent Barnabas and Saul to Jerusalem with tangible means to help them deal with the famine that was to hit them hard.

And, at the end of chapter 12, we read, “When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.”

These two men were instrumental in teaching and nurturing the Antioch church to thrive. They were trustworthy leaders entrusted with the material provisions for the church of Jerusalem by the Antioch church. When they returned, they walked into the vibrant growing church where everything was going great. Along side of these two great leaders were three other, together they were known as prophets and teachers in the church of Antioch.

Barnabas and Saul were in the top of their game sort of speaking. They had everything going for them. Their diligent early work paid off and now being back from delivering much needed relief help to Jerusalem, they were probably ready to dive right back into the life of the church, doing what they did best, teaching them, nurturing them into deeper growth.

But, it was in this context when things were going really well, when everything was taking off and moving along in their ministry at Antioch, when their powerful presence, their gifting in teaching and nurturing were much appreciated, demanded, this is when God decided to move them.

Now, Barnabas and Saul were the most mature and seasoned leaders, believers. Their absence while delivering help to Jerusalem was deeply felt and missed, I am sure. When the Antioch church was envisioning again for these spiritual giants to do great work among them, this is precisely when God initiated his call to send them out for the mission.

If the church of Antioch insisted on their vision of seeing Barnabas and Saul doing greater work in their church over God’s greater vision, if the church resisted the change God was seeking, I wonder how things might have turned out.

What’s certain is that instead of insisting on God to fulfill their own vision, instead of what they thought was good for them they decided that God should have his way with them. What mattered at the end of the day was not whether their dreams, their agendas, their visions got fulfilled. What mattered to them was for God to have his way with them; to see God’s vision come true for them was what mattered to them.

In my desire to see my vision get fulfilled, I felt ambivalent when I first learned what God wanted to do with Shannon and Carol. It was surely a big change for them, but it was also a change for me and for our church. Part of me didn’t want to see them go. But, I knew that God’s great vision was for them to get plugged into the oversea mission work.

When I think about having to send off some of you to the mission fields because God has called you, I know I will feel sad, not wanting to see you go, but I again, I will stand on God’s vision and will rejoice greatly over seeing God making his claim upon you!

We must learn to trust God’s vision for our lives is best for us. No matter what we think is good if it doesn’t align with what God sees as good, it isn’t good.

Real faith embraces changes God wants to make in you.

  • God’s driven change is possible when you are praying with humility for God’s vision.

Verse 2 says specifically that the Holy Spirit told them about Barnabas and Saul while they were worshiping the Lord and fasting.

The right context for the Spirit to come and make changes is when you and I are in intimate relationship with the Lord through humble prayer.

Two things that they were doing when the Holy Spirit came to announce his plan for change were ‘worshipping and fasting’.

The Greek verb (leitourgevw) that is translated as ‘worshiping’ in NIV is also translated as “ministering” in NAS. And, when this Greek word is used to translate the Old Testament passages, it is used in the context of priests doing their priestly functions and rituals. And, in the New Testament, the Greek noun (leitourgov") of the same derivative as in Acts 13:2 is also used in the similar context of ministering or serving as priest. Apostle Paul in Romans 15:16 talks about being a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God. Again, Hebrews 8:2 speaks of Jesus as one who serves as the true high priest in the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man. And, according to a theological dictionary, what is translated as “worshiping” carries the sense of Christian worship in prayer.[3]

So, when the Holy Spirit found the believers in Acts 13:2, the believers were ministering as “believer-priests.” Darrell Bock describes this way. “Here is a church that has seen the need to reach out to the world as its members draw near to God. Their heart has become wedded to God’s calling as a result.”[4] The way the believers served as “believer-priests” was through praying. As believers who were saved by God’s grace, they were now exercising their priestly ministry privilege to pray for others to experience God’s grace as they experienced.

In the Old Testament, often fasting and prayer went together. Fasting was practiced in Israel as a preparation to converse with God as Moses did up on Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights without eating bread of drinking water (Exodus 34:28). David fasted when he pleaded for the child born when he committed adultery (2 Samuel 12:6). There are many other accounts. The deeper meaning of fasting was an expression of one’s humbling before God.

What we see in Acts is the similar thing. The believers were praying earnestly and fasting was an expression of their earnestness. Fasting in itself has no value in its own right, but only when it is accompanied by the attitude of lowing oneself before God.

Isaiah 57:15 says, “I live in a high and lofty place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” When our prayer is accompanied by fasting, when the posture assumed before God is of the humility, and when simply calling out to God, “Oh, God, how I need you!” the promise is for God to be with us, to live with us to revive our hearts.

When the believers were praying together, when they were humbly telling God, “we need you so much,” when their fasting expressed their utter dependence on God, that is when the Holy Spirit came down to direct them to the change God desired for them.

Their response to the Holy Spirit who directed them to send out Barnabas and Saul was not complaining or arguing with the Spirit, but their response was to engage in more prayer and more fasting. Now, the purpose of their prayer and fasting was to discern what they heard was indeed from the Holy Spirit.

God wanted a change, a huge change. God had a master plan to reach the far corners of the known world then through Barnabas and Saul. If the believers weren’t praying as believer-priests, if they were not engaging in prayer earnestly with humble attitude expressed in their fasting, they wouldn’t have been able to hear or discern the voice of the Spirit.

Without prayer and humble fasting, they would have gone on with what they thought was God’s will when in fact they were after their own desires, wishes, and vision.

Prayer and humble fasting allowed them to hear the Holy Spirit’s voice for change, to discern God’s will clearly without distortion, and enable them to joyfully submit to God’s vision, the best vision for them.

The result was the very first missionary journey taken by Saul and others to reach the unreached with the gospel.

  • Do you desire real changes by God? Find yourself at the cross.

If you don’t find yourself before God, if you don’t find yourself in humble posture before God, the chance of you hearing and discerning the Spirit’s voice to make change will be dismally low.

Where do you begin to experience God driven change in your life? You begin at the foot of the cross. That’s where it all begins for us. That’s where we continue our spiritual journey. At the cross any confidence in your ability to do life on your own, to fulfill your own vision must be shattered. Self confidence must be replaced with the earnest and humble prayer, “Lord, I can’t do life without you. I need you. I need you to change me.” At the cross you must hunger for his presence, his change!

Pray, fast for God driven changes! God will revive you and give you the faith in the face of God driven change.


[1] Charles R. Swindoll, “A Man of Grace and Grit: Paul, Word, 2002, p. 122.

[2] Ibid., p. 131.

[3] NIDNTT, leitourgevw (G3310).

[4] Darrell Bock, Acts: Baker Exegetical Commentary. p. 440.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Driven by God’s happiness, earnestly pray even in anguish and uncertainty! (Acts 12:1-24)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon June 22, 2008

Do you know anyone who gets into frequent conflicts with authorities over them? If you’ve been tracking with me for a while going through the book of Acts, you get the sense that Peter and other apostles, and other early Christians were those people who were getting into troubles with the authority; of course, not for committing evil acts, but for faithfully committing to speak about what they knew of Jesus Christ.

Already in Acts 4, Peter and John alarmed and disturbed the Jewish authority in Jerusalem because they were going around doing miracles and teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead (v. 2). For this reason they were put in jail. Along the powerful demonstration of God’s power over sicknesses, the central message was simply this, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The fact that the Old Testament scripture points to Jesus as the true Messiah, the Deliverer, the Savior, was nothing to impossible for these Jewish religious leaders to accept. For this, they warned Peter and John not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus (v. 18).

Where the next time, it wasn’t just a verbal warning that they received, they were thrown into jail (Acts 5:18) for telling the people the full message of the new life in Jesus (v. 20). There, we saw the first prison break out when the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail for them (v. 19). But, instead of fleeting, they went right back to the heart of Jerusalem to proclaim the good news. And, they paid for this insistent effort to spread the good news. This time, they were flogged (v. 40) and again were told not to speak in the name of Jesus.

Then, there was the story of Stephen who was stoned to death for remaining faithful to Jesus.

  • The message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is offensive to those who don’t believe, and in turn makes the messenger offensive as well, but the reward is God’s happiness.

So, when we come to our text for today, what happened to James and Peter shouldn’t surprise us. What we learn is that the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ was offensive to the Jewish leaders and all others who refused to believe in Jesus. And, in turn the messengers who faithfully spoke of Jesus Christ became offensive to them. But, the truth is that the reward outweighs the risk of offending others with the gospel.

Apostle Paul speaks in 2 Corinthians 2:15-16a, “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.” What was so evident in the parts of the early Christian life was that they got this truth down. Irrespective of how individuals may respond to the good news of Jesus Christ, what mattered to them was the fact that their faithful witness to Jesus Christ made God delighted because it centered on the Son whom he loved.[1] God loves when we talk about his Son to others so much so that our sharing of Jesus Christ becomes the aroma of Christ.

So, we can always expect two kinds of responses when we share the gospel, one from God and the other from the people who hear us. God is always happy to hear us talk to others about his Son. This is one response that we can always expect from God. One way we can delight God is to talk about his Son with others.

The other thing we can expect is that either people will be offended or take it seriously. Those who are offended by the good news that salvation is only available through Jesus Christ will treat the message as the smell of death, something to be avoided and dismissed as a terribly out of step relic only suited for the intolerant, backward minded people. If we focus on this rejection, negative response, how the message of the gospel might offend others, how we may offend others, of course it doesn’t make sense to go there. What we need to is to cultivate this important truth that it makes God very happy to hear us share the gospel with people irrespective of their positive or negative responses.

The prevailing mind set for the early Christians was delighting God who loved them so much that he gave up his most prized one and only Son to die on the cross, delighting God by sharing Jesus with others.

I pray that we as a church would not be deterred by the fact that some and many might consider us offensive because the message of the gospel is offensive to them. But, that to talk to others about Jesus as truly the way, the truth, the life makes God happy would be the driving force that would have us come out of our shell and begin to actively share the good news.

And, the reward will be, as seen in thus far in the book of Acts, many who will take us seriously because they take the message of Jesus Christ seriously. Taking seriously, many will consider us the fragrance of life in delivering to them the life saving message of Jesus Christ.

  • Sharing the message of Jesus Christ is inherently dangerous, but the reward is God’s happiness.

King Herod mentioned in Acts 12 is different from Herod the Great we read about during the time of Jesus. King Herod in our text is actually The Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod the Great of Jesus time.

To this Herod Agrippa I, pleasing the Jews was paramount to ensure his reign over Palestinian, Judea and Samaria area. So, as the anti-Christian sentiment grew stronger among the Jews of his time, he played it right along by arresting prominent Christian leaders.

One of them was James, the brother of John. It may be helpful to clarify that in chapter 12, there are two different James mentioned. James in v. 2 is James, the brother of John, together who were known as the sons of Zebedee. Later in verse 17, when Peter told those who gathered in Mary the mother of Mark’s house to inform James about what happened to him, this James is the half brother of Jesus Christ. This James, the half brother of Jesus became the prominent leader when Peter had to leave for another place as explained in verse 17 to escape the risk of being recaptured.

Now, going back to James, the brother of John in verse 2, Mark 10:35-40 tells the story about him. Here, James, his brother, and his mother approached Jesus with a request. Jesus asked them, “What do you want me to do for you?” They wanted Jesus to have the two sons be seated next to him to his right and to his left. They wanted to be positioned in honor and power. To this Jesus replied, “You don’t know what you are asking Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” Jesus was referring to his death on the cross. They replied, “We can.” To this Jesus replied, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

James, the brother of John, was the very first apostle to die for the gospel. Who would have thought what Jesus said about sharing in his baptism, which referred to sharing in his physical death would have been fulfilled so early.

To make sense out of martyrdom, we need to go back to the point I already made. For James not to have pulled back when he felt the growing anti-Christian sentiment and hostility and physical threat, but to have pressed on in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, it speaks to where his focus lied. It was on God. That God was pleased, that sharing the gospel made God happy was good enough, that God’s happiness was his reward… this was the driving force behind James’s determination to stand his ground and not give up on sharing the gospel; God’s happiness was his happiness.

So, the profile of Christian that develops from the accounts of Acts is someone who precariously lives through the happiness of God. God’s happiness is the greatest happiness that there is.

  • Turn you agony into earnestly praying even though you may feel uncertain.

The Herod Agrippa I also arrested Peter during the Feast of Unleavened Bread followed by Passover. His plan was to put Peter on the trial after the Passover when there would be greatest number of Jews from all over the places still in Jerusalem. He was going to rack up big point with the Jews.

And, 12:5 records the response of the church. It reads, “So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.”

Now, it does not say that the church prayed for James when he got arrested earlier and until he was martyred. But, it would be illogical to assume this silence as to mean that the church only prayed for Peter and not for James for some odd reason.

Logically it makes more sense to assume that the church prayed for them both earnestly. Luke happened to focus more on the account involving Peter at this point. Assuming that the church prayed for both James and Peter, the outcomes were completely different.

The word earnestly in Greek is used also to describe how Jesus prayed on the Mount of Olives before his suffering and death on the cross. Luke 22:44 says, “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”

Think about the contexts in both cases. Both involve death. For Jesus it was the death on the cross, the baptism he was to undergo. For the church of Jerusalem, they were praying for Peter after James was beheaded by the Herod.

Now, when it says Jesus was in anguish in Luke 22:44, the word anguish is ajgwniva, where we get agony. Agony has a meaning of struggling preceding death. To describe Jesus as feeling cowardly facing his death would not be accurate. The better sense is not to see as fear or struggle over death, but to understand agony in the sense of feeling intense mental grief and anxiety, to anguish and to feel intense sorrow[2] over “concern for victory in the face of the approaching battle on which the fate of the world depends.”[3]

When Jesus felt anguish, agony, that is when he prayed even more earnestly. When the thought of carrying the weigh of the sins of the world, and the concern over victory over the battle awaited him were heavily on him, his prayer turned with such intensity that he sweated like blood was pouring out of an opened wound.

lightbulbThis is precisely the kind of prayer that the church offered to God. They were anguish over the death of James. Now, here was another servant of God imprisoned and waiting for the execution. The church was faced with the choice, either be paralyzed by intense mental grief and anxiety or turn what they were feeling into prayer. They chose the latter.

lightbulb Another matter about the prayer… Both Jesus and for the church, the matter was about seeking God’s will, praying for God’s will be done. For Jesus, it was about carrying the weigh of the sins of the world to the cross, to gain complete victory over the power of death in his resurrection. For the church of Jerusalem, it was about the message of the Lord Jesus Christ spreading further even under persecution, it was about Peter remaining strong, it was about God doing what only God can do, God-sized supernatural stuffs.

lightbulb What were the effects to their prayer? We see Peter sleeping so soundly even chained in both arms to the two guards that the bright light didn’t wake him up, but the angel had to strike hi side to wake him up. Even then, he was so groggy and incoherent that the angel had to direct him to get up and to put on clothes and sandals and to follow him. To be able to sleep so soundly like this while waiting for the certain execution following the execution of James, perhaps, Peter was reminded of God’s miraculous rescue from the prison last time. Even to recall the past act of God in the time of great distress is the evidence of God’s grace. And, it wouldn’t be stretching to think that the church’s earnest prayer had something to do with his ability to sleep so soundly.

The obvious effect to their prayer was that God moved to rescue Peter. Their prayer converged into God’s will to deliver Peter. If their prayer wasn’t earnest, sincere, intense, meaning that if they gave up on praying by letting anguish feelings paralyzed them, they would have given up before seeing their prayer converged into God’s will.

lightbulb Now, here is what’s revealing about the church who so earnestly prayed for Peter. When Peter was rescued from the prison by God’s intervention, he went to the house church, meeting at Mary’s house, the mother of Mark. When he showed up, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. But, when she recognized Peter’s voice, she got so excited that she forgot to open the door for him. Peter trying very hard to be discrete about it kept on knocking hoping that the door would be opened quickly for safety.

In the mean time, those who gathered in the house church thought that Rhoda was out of her mind. When she insisted that it really was Peter out there, they dismissed her thinking that she might have seen an angel. It was only when they actually opened the door and seen him face to face, they believed that Peter was out of the prison.

The irony is that they prayed so earnestly for Peter, yet they prayed in uncertainty. They didn’t have the outstanding perfect faith that their prayer was going to be answered without any doubt. No, the realty was as this episode revealed there was plenty of uncertainty.

The life always has a way of bring us to seasons of uncertainty and anguish when we feel completely out of source. We must make chose either to be paralyze by agony, anguish and uncertainty, or choose to fix our eyes on God who can do the God-sized miracles in his will. We must turn our anguish into earnest prayer. We must pray through confusions and uncertainties, knowing that at the end God will come through, he will have the last word.

  • When we are driven by God’s happiness and earnestly praying even in uncertainty, we will see that God has the last word.

The story of Herod reveals that God has the last word. Here was a man who dared to touch God’s two of the faithful servants, believing that he could suppress and stop the spread of the gospel. He thought he could oppose God and be okay. When people praised him and attributed to him a divine quality, he gloried in it. God struck him dead with a terrible death of being eaten by warms from within.

Who has the final say? Verse 24 reads, “But the word of God continued to increase and spread.” God has the final say.

Although the current reality may not look this way filled with uncertainties, heartaches, sorrows, the truth is God will have the final say.

Knowing that God will have the final say, knowing that God’s will cannot be thwarted wouldn’t it make sense to learn to pray earnestly so that our prayer life converges into God’s absolute powerful purpose?


[1] EBCNT, 2 Corinthians 2:15,16a.

[2] Louw & Nida, #2363, ajgwniva

[3] TDNT, 140

Sunday, June 8, 2008

What makes you glad? (Acts 11:19-30)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon June 8, 2008

I am very glad to have Shannon and Carol back with us for a while from the mission field. I remember vividly the time you stood before us to give us your testimony from the mission field. Carol, I especially remember how hard it was for you to hold your tears back. I wonder if it was when you thought of the faces of the students who were being transformed from Muslims to Christians, and the village children and the adults who have yet to believe in Jesus; I wonder if it was because your heart was aching for the lost souls and yearning for more workers to go to the mission field to make disciples of Jesus. I think it was something along this line that made it very difficult for you to hold your tears as you shared.

And, Shannon, few days ago you when I asked you what you have learned about yourself having served two years in the mission field, you shared with me couple things. The first thing was how you realized you could live anywhere. Whether in the States, in Africa, in Bosnia, wherever it may be, you feel that you can adapt and live anywhere.

And, the second thing you shared with me about yourself was what it was like having to depend on God to provide for you guys to be in the mission field in the means of finance, prayer and moral support.

What I cherish from you guys is how your hearts beat after what makes God’s heart glad that is for people to come to know Jesus. I think the reason Carol you cry when you think of the faces of the people you got to know in Guinea, the reason Shannon you feel that you can live anywhere is because in deep level you’ve been awakened to what makes God glad. Having to depend on God radically for two years, you know little deeper what it is to experience God’s grace personally and to see God imparting his grace to others. What I will say is that you are now addicted in the healthiest sense to God’s grace.

My prayer is that as long as you remain with us until God moves you again to where he wants to send you, you cherish what makes your heart really glad that is when you see the evidence of the grace of God and continue to allow this being glad by God’s grace motivates you to remain true to the Lord with all your hearts. And, somehow this deepened capacity to be really glad for God’s grace rubs on us as we rub our shoulders again.

Today’s story asks this question. What makes you glad? What makes you happy? What we see in the passage is the picture of a man who was at his best in terms of being most happy and glad when he saw the evidence of the grace of God and how this became the drive, the motivation to encourage others to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.

When it comes down to it, we all want to be happy, we all want to be glad and delighted. And, what makes you happy is what you are going to invest most of your precious resources, your time, your effort, your talent, your money. Another word, to see what makes you happy, or to understand what you think that makes you happy, all you have to do is to evaluate what preoccupies your attention, your time, your human resources. Then you know what is that you think would make you happy.

  • The ordinary you and I in preoccupation with telling the good news about Jesus Christ can find true happiness.

The key verse for today’s passage is Acts 11:23. “When he [Barnabas] arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.” This verse plainly states that what made Barnabas glad, happy and what motivated him to encourage others was seeing the evidence of the grace of God.

But, what this verse doesn’t tell us is what the evidence of the grace of God was. For this we have to look back to 19-21 and consider what actually happened.

What we see in these verses is the ordinary people whose names aren’t mentioned by Luke preoccupied with telling the good news about Jesus Christ. There were two groups of the same. They all fled the persecution in Jerusalem which was ensued after the Jews killed Stephen for preaching the good news. The major differences was that one group of people telling the good news to other fellow Jews only, while the other group who originally came from Cyprus and Cyrene went to Antioch and told Greeks the good news about the Lord Jesus.

Now, these people weren’t missionaries commissioned by Jerusalem church. These were simply unnamed ordinary people doing what the Spirit was compelling them, to share the good news.

The evidence of God’s grace in this scene is captured well in verse 21. “The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.” When we say someone’s hand is with so and so, we are talking about how this person is helping others. We are talking about a person empowering others. One of the ways the word grace is used is this aspect of God empowering. In this case, God empowered the unnamed ordinary Jewish Christians who were simply fleeing for their lives. They fled in weakness, but God empowered them to use them exactly where they fled to.

lightbulb The implication should be very obvious to us. It is not just the missionaries who were commissioned, sent by our church like Shannon and Carol, it is not just me the official pastor of our church, but it is all of us ordinary Christians who can experience God’s empowering help to spread the good news. Jesus’ command to make disciples in Matthew 28:19 and his promise in verse 20, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the ages,” these command and promise aren’t just for the select few to follow and experience. Fernando says, “Some of the most significant work for the kingdom has been done by unknown witnesses who are obedient to Christ right where they are and where they do not attract much attention.” You may say, “I am no Shannon, I am no Carol,” implying the false belief that somehow only the officially recognized or select gifted individuals of our church can tell the good news to others. The truth is that God wants to use you. God wants you to get excited by this truth, it is not about what you can do, but it is about what God can do through you. When you gripped by this truth, that’s when you are going to get really glad.

  • Character of goodness is what will drive your appetite for the things of God and make you truly happy.

Few weeks ago we learned little bit about Barnabas. Here was a man who got excited and happy for seeing the evidence of the grace of God and how this motivated him to encourage others.

How do you become like that? If you have heard about Barnabas in the past, understood what he stood for, I won’t be surprised to find all of us desiring God to shape us like him. But, again the question is how does this happen? How does God shape us so that we get excited for God’s business, we get really happy whenever we see God at work in power?

The answer is character. Character speaks to who you are. In Barnabas’ case, his character defined him as a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith. That’s who he was. What naturally happens to a person who is a good man, who pays attention and follows the leading of the Holy Spirit, and trusts in God? This person finds happiness not in happenings, not in material possession, not in what he or she can do, accomplish for his or her own gains. This person doesn’t find happiness in making himself or herself happy, but when he or she is preoccupied with what’s in God’s heart.

lightbulb In what ways, was Barnabas a good man?

I am sure he was a morally outstanding person. He was a good hearted person. But, more than that what really made him a good man was because he stood on the shoulders of Jesus Christ who paid the price for Barnabas sins by dying on the cross for him, who was raised from the dead to overcome the death, the sin for him. Barnabas was a good man because he precariously lived his life through Jesus Christ’s ultimate righteousness, Christ’s goodness.

Living precariously through Jesus’ life is the ingredient to living a truly happy life. This requires the conviction that we do not stand on our own merit, but only on the merit of our Savior who died for us, who is resurrected for us, who is sitting at the right hand of God interceding for us. When we stand of Jesus’ shoulders for all that he has done for us, does for us and will do for us, the one who promised that he will never leave to the very end of the age, only then the true happiness, true gladness is possible.

lightbulb Another character formation that I see in Barnabas is that he was a man full of the Holy Spirit and faith. John’s gospel in chapter 3 describes the Holy Spirit as the wind that blows where it pleases. As wind cannot be controlled by any of the best of the best human technologies, the Holy Spirit cannot be controlled. As the one who cannot be controlled, he calls us to yield to his control.

This is a key to experience real happiness. When your life is about you being in control, what you discover is that all your effort to be in control won’t float you when you try to walk on the water. As Peter walked out the boat on to water toward Jesus, the Spirit of Christ calls us to step out of our own boats on to the water. Being a Christian means having a completely new set of DNA. God changes us so that we are wired radically in different shape. People walk on the solid and safe ground where there is no risk of falling, hurting, sinking. But as Christians we will not find true happiness unless we walk on water where there is the real risk of sinking into the ocean, where you will be out of control unless you are controlled by the Holy Spirit.

And, this giving up the effort to control our own lives, but allowing the Holy Spirit to control us requires us to take a leap of faith.

When Peter stepped on to the side of the boat and saw the water, his human emotion and logic, all that he knew about life told him, “Don’t do it, stupid! No body walks on the water!” But, then he saw Jesus standing on the water, he remembered how he fed thousands out of few loaf of bread and fish, he saw him healed impossible diseases, could he enable me to walk to him on the water? What got him off the boat and did what was considered really a foolish thing was he saw Jesus, he remembered what he did, what he taught, he trusted in him.

His trust in Jesus wasn’t perfect, since he took his eyes off of Jesus and sunk like a rock. When he realized in the split moment, he was going to drown deep into the lake, when the crisis brought on by taking off his eyes off Jesus came on him, he called out for help. And, Jesus was right there, never having left him. I don’t know if that doesn’t build trust what will. I bet Peter was really happy guy for having experienced what it was to walk on water as he fixed his eyes on Jesus.

You can walk on water too and be happy if you fix your eyes on Jesus, if you would trust in him.

lightbulb The last thing I would like to mention is the character of encouraging and empowering others to do God’s ministry.

Barnabas being a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith had contributed greatly to the growth of the Antioch church. God used him and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. At this point, if he was about building his own little empire of his spiritual legacy, well he would have stayed there and enjoyed the glory of the growth.

But, what he did was to leave to Tarsus to look for Saul. Even before he left, what he did was as seen in verse 23, encouraging others to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was encourager.

When he left the church of Antioch and found Saul and Tarsus, he brought him to Antioch. And, for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people.

His character was such that he wasn’t interested in building his own little kingdom. He was all about empowering others so that they too can be full participants in building God’s kingdom. He wanted others to experience the happiness in doing God’s work with his empowering Spirit and seeing the evidence of God’s grace.

He was a kind of person when it was time to walk on water, he would look around for a person to bring along with him so that he could share the great happiness of walking on water toward Jesus.

So, if you want to experience the death of happiness, then look around for that person, the people whom you can journey together and be known as those who walk on water.

Conclusion

Verse 26 says, “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” When Christians were first called Christians, it was understood very well that they were ordinary people who found true happiness in telling others about Jesus Christ, who possessed unique character of walking in the robe of Jesus’ righteousness, not controlling their own lives, but yielding to the control of the Holy Spirit in trust so doing crazy things like walking on water.

We have diluted the richness in being called Christians. My prayer is that we rediscover the true meaning of being Christian as one who get really happy for seeing the evidence of God’s grace and encourage others to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

We serve God who initiates, orchestrates and invites all people to accept the good news. (Acts 10:1-11:18)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon June 1, 2008

Scripture reading

1) 10:1-23 Cornelius’s vision & 10:9-16 Peter’s vision -- Sarah

2) 10:24-48 Peter’s sermon in Cornelius’s house & Gentiles received the Holy Spirit -- Joyce

3) 11:1-18 Peter explains his actions – Rachael

As I mentioned to you last week, today’s passage speaks to the very important events that propelled Christianity beyond the boundary of what was familiar to the Jewish Christians, further into the Gentile world.

Jesus’ promise back in Acts 1:8 was “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” We see leading up to chapter 10 this progression of the gospel being carried outward.

Let me quickly trace back this movement of the gospel.

Back in chapter 2, you see the Pentecost in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit came upon the Jerusalem Jews. This was the moment when the gospel was ignited. The gospel was set on fire and it transformed just a handful of followers into a fast growing Jerusalem church by the hundreds and thousands of people trusting Jesus. The growth was not without pain. Along the growth of the church was the growing hostility. We saw how Stephen paid the ultimate price when he proclaimed the gospel boldly; he was stoned to death in the hands of the angry mob.

When it seemed the church was being defeated by the growing hostility, it actually had the very opposite effect. The persecution didn’t slow or stop the growth of the church. Instead of being stifled, those who were running away from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria for safety took with them the gospel. As people fled, the gospel went out with them beyond the boundary of Jerusalem. This is when we are told about the ministry of Philip in Samaria and leading up to Caesarea in Acts 8:40.

After the story of how apostle Paul came to faith in Jesus Christ in chapter 9, we are now back to the stories involving apostle Peter. We also see apostle Peter making his journey away from Jerusalem first to Lydda, twenty five some miles away from Jerusalem and then to Joppa 10 miles further away. This is where we find Peter at the end of chapter 9. Verse 43 tells us Peter stayed in Joppa at Simon’s house.

Now, we are ready to consider chapter 10 & 11:1-18. What we see here is God at work to fulfill Jesus’ promise back in Acts 1:8 to push the gospel beyond the boundary that was comfortable for the Jewish Christians.

  1. God initiates and orchestrates fulfilling Jesus’ promise to spread the good news.

In chapter 10:1, we are introduced to a place called Caesarea. This is the city we are told in Acts 8:40 as a place Philip reached in his evangelistic journey.

Caesarea was in the center of the coastal Plain of Sharon in northern Palestine, on the shores of the Mediterranean, some sixty-five miles northwest of Jerusalem. It was named in honor of Augustus Caesar (Caius Octavianus, later called Augustus), the adopted heir of Julius Caesar.[1] The city was not an important place until Herod the Great took over and transformed into a finest port city. Herod the Great took a massive project to increase the harbor size, brought fresh water through aqueducts from miles away, and built public buildings like a huge amphitheater that could seat thousands of people. Here, Jews were no longer majority. Caesarea as built in honor of August Caesar was a foremost pagan city. Here, the history shows deep tension existed between the Gentiles the majority and the Jews the minority, causing frequent conflicts. To consider this city as a site for Christian missions was unthinkable to many Jewish Christians.[2]

In this pagan city lived a man named Cornelius. A good deal of description is given for us. He was a centurion of the Italian Regiment. A centurion was a noncommissioned officer who had worked his way up through the ranks to take command of a group of soldiers within a Roman legion. He would be about equivalent to a captain today. He was in charge of about hundred soldiers.

10:2 describes him and all his family as devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.

This would make him a Jewish sympathizer who had a great affinity to the God of the Jews. He was not a Jewish covert though since this would have required him to be circumcised and follow the laws strictly. The modern term that you might have heard that describes him well is ‘seeker.’ Cornelius as a Gentile was drawn to the God of the Jews. Do you know someone like that? Someone who seeks to know God better? He was also what people nowadays might consider a really nice guy who does a lot of good things for others. Do you know someone like that? Someone who cares a lot about other people, and does the charity works, who believes in God and tries really hard to live a good moral life?

To this Cornelius, a Jewish sympathizer, a seeker, a really nice and caring guy, an angel of God showed up in a vision. Just like the description about him, the vision took place while he was praying. The angel told him that all his prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God in verse 4. God took notice of this man who was trying really hard to live a good life. When Cornelius learned that God wanted Peter to come to Cornelius, we see him responding without hesitation in verse 7 by sending three of his people to Peter in Joppa.

Just a day latter, Peter like Cornelius was praying. To pray on the roof seems odd to us, but the way the houses were constructed the roofs were readily accessible with stairs and provided quite place to pray. As Cornelius saw a vision of an angel visiting him, Peter saw a vision of all kinds of animals contained on a sheet. When the voice, perhaps it was the voice of Jesus, told him to get up, kill and eat them, both clean and unclean. Peter responded in repugnant to God, “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

I can imagine Peter’s response very similar to my wife’s response to what I sometimes make for lunch. I make Shin Ramyun in a fusion style by adding a table spoonful of Curry powder with frozen vegetables and egg dropped into it.

To Peter’s response, the voice spoke, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

Now, this requires some explaining to understand what’s going on here. Leviticus 20:24b-26 says:

But I said to you, “You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the nations. “‘You must therefore make a distinction between clean and unclean animals and between unclean and clean birds. Do not defile yourselves by any animal or bird or anything that moves along the ground—those which I have set apart as unclean for you. You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.”

When Peter didn’t want to eat the unclean food he saw on the sheet, it was an appropriate response, doing what any good Jew would have done. After all, it was God who set a distinction between clean and unclean animals and birds. In the Old Testament, food laws were to help the Jews remember how they were called to live holy, differently than their neighbors, different in worshiping God who revealed himself to them, who chose them, who led them out of Egypt into the Promised land, who gave them the Law. They were to be set aside, to be holy to serve the God of Israel.

But, when Jesus came what made a person set aside was not about eating clean food and avoiding unclean food. What made anyone set aside for God’s purpose was taking a part in the New Covenant of Jesus’ blood and his body. That is what we did this morning. The communion that we took points us back to Jesus who died for us, who shed his blood for us, whose body was broken for us and who now stands in the midst of us as resurrected Christ. You can read Mark 7 where Jesus talks about how food doesn’t make a person unclean since it goes into one’s stomach, not into heart. And, in the same verse 19, Mark made an parenthetical comment about what Jesus was saying to his disciples “In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean””

Acts 10:16 tells us that Peter heard the voice telling him to eat all the animals and the birds without calling any of them unclean, not just once, but three times.

Verse 17 gives us a picture of Peter in deep thought, wondering about the meaning of the vision. It wasn’t yet clear to him what the vision was all about.

A vision for Cornelius, three men sent by him according to the vision, a vision for Peter and the Spirit in verse 19 telling Peter about the three men looking for him and how he must get up and go downstairs and not to hesitate to go with them for he had sent them.

What you see is God initiating and orchestrating to fulfill his plan.

à Do you know this God who initiates and orchestrates to fulfill his purpose? Do you know that this God who initiates and orchestrates is also working in you to fulfill his purpose for you?

For Cornelius and Peter, what you see from their immediate positive responses to God who was initiating and orchestrating in their lives is that they knew this God. They experienced the God who initiates and orchestrates.

  1. The moment of clarity: God is impartial.

Now, as Peter wondered about the meaning of the vision of being told to eat all the animals and birds without calling any of them unclean, it still wasn’t clear for him.

But, this much was clear to him. For whatever reason that was beyond him at this point, God was initiating and orchestrating a divine moment when Peter could speak to Cornelius about the good news of Jesus Christ.

Now, here is another thing that I need to pause and explain. As there was a distinction to be made about what kind of animals or birds the Jews could eat as clean food verse unclean food, this call to make distinction about food was also understood by the Jews as a call to be separated from the Gentiles. So from the food laws, the Jews further expanded the restrictions upon their relationship to the Gentiles. This made sense to them since the likelihood of being served by the Gentiles the unclean food was high they would all together avoid eating with the Gentiles at their houses.

You see it was a stretching for Peter to have stayed with Simon the tanner earlier. This Simon, a Jewish Christian, who made leather, had to deal with dead animals. And, according to the Old Testament law anyone who touches dead animals would be considered unclean. Well, that was hard enough.

Now, the vision to Peter was to eat all animals and birds without calling any of them unclean. Well, that was really difficult.

Now, to walk into the Gentile’s house was even more difficult. What if Cornelius serves him Samkyupsal or Jockbal? The Gentiles who eat unclean food would be unclean as well was the logic.

But, the moment of clarity can be seen in verse 34-35, where Peter said, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”

How as a Christian may practice the same kind of ethnocentric, superior-prideful, exclusive complex? Consider the road traveled from Joppa to Caesarea… where many cultures and races can be met. Peter who traveled the road couldn’t remain removed, indifferent, uncaring. The road led Peter away from the “original exclusivistic and protectionistic environment. The road led to the threashold of Cornelius’ house and the open door of faith for all nations. That journey lies before all Christians in all times and places.”[3]

Consider the story of Jonah who was a prophet to the Gentile nation of Nineveh, a prophet sent by God to forgive the sins of the Gentiles if they turn to him. “the Cornelius conversion is legitimized as the continuation of God’s merciful work at Nineveh, Simon-Peter is the bar Jonah, who is called by his ancestor’s God to convert the Gentile, and the people of God should do nothing but praise God and say, ‘God granted the Gentiles repentance unto life’ (Acts 11:18).”[4]

Impartiality of God c.f. Deuteronomy 10:17-19, “For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.”

The word, “alien,” refers to “the non-Hebrew, the resident alien Gentile who lived in the Land of Israel”; this affirms “the LORD’s universal impartiality.”[5]

“The impartial nature of God which opens salvation to all is also the basis for fellowship within his body… Unity which supersedes external divisions comes from a common relationship with God in Christ. Such unity among God’s people is an extension and reflection of his nature.”[6] “Your unity which is rooted in the impartiality of God must supercede any secondary, potentially divisive factors. You must learn to live acceptingly of diversity, knowing “nothing among you except Jesus Christ, the crucified one.” To do other wise, as the Epistle to James implies, is to operate on a basis different from that which God used in choosing those who would be his own (3:5).”[7]

“My father spent a lot of time with his grandfather, the slave owner and Confederate soldier.  I once asked Daddy if his grandfather had ever discussed his attitudes toward slavery with him.  He answered, "No, and I always wondered how a man who was as strong a Christian as my grandfather could have owned slaves."  I look back at my father, probably the strongest and most consistent Christian male I have ever met, and wonder how he could have lived out his life as a racial segregationist.  Now, I wonder what blind spots my children do and will see in me.”[8] Christian growth after God’s nature of impartiality over generations

à Missional Implications for Christians:

  • Recognize the scope of God’s invitation to his salvation. God’s call is for everyone. This should lead us never to limit who we take the gospel to.
  • Facing the prejudice and impartial attitude that prevents us from going beyond what feels comfortable. We compromise God’s invitation to his salvation for all people if we act on prejudice of any kind. Confront ethnocentrism
  • The story of Cornelius validates our effort to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.
  • The story of Cornelius also validates our effort to take the gospel to those around us.
  • Driven by who God is and what he does (Jesus did only things that he saw Father does.)
  • Know and talk about what really saves a person

When Christians understand their status in Christ, it is not difficult for them to apologize. Their identity does not depend on their performance but on the acceptance they receive from Christ. Sin can hinder that acceptance. Therefore if they think that they have sinned, they will be eager to apologize, so as to ensure that they have their identity and security in Christ intact.

Fernando, Ajith. “Contemporary Significance” In NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Acts. By Ajith Fernando, 328. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 1998.

“We have noted theological implications of the impartial nature of God in Acts 10:34, when this text is viewed in its historical cultural setting.  There are other significant features in it.  Let us note a grammatical one.  In Peter's statement the verb translated "I perceive," "grasp," or "comprehend," katalambanomai is in the present tense, showing action in progress, with the middle voice indicating that the action is upon or for the benefit of the speaker.  A better rendering would be, "I am just now in the process of coming to grasp for myself that God is not partial ..."  Peter was certainly aware of the Old Testament statements about the impartiality of God; he had also heard Jesus' command to "make disciples of all nations" (Matt 28:19).  Yet, the full impact of the implications of these realities had not registered in his mind.  In the centurion's home the light finally dawned.  His words attest that only then did Peter come to a personal realization of this truth about God and its consequence for the Christian community!”[9]

Peter’s openness to change was fueled by his being willing to do things he was uncomfortable with, such as living in the home of a tanner. There is a lot of talk about being on the cutting edge today. But for Christians cutting-edge ministry comes as a result of cutting-edge identification. Some great Christian advances are made not in the strategy meetings of our air-conditioned boardrooms but in the difficult and uncomfortable situations to which love for people takes us.

Fernando, Ajith. “Contemporary Significance” In NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Acts. By Ajith Fernando, 329. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 1998.

The role of prayer in Cornelius and Peter… for the Lord to have directed them to a complete unexpected and uncomfortable road according to his grand salvation historical plan.


[1] EBCNT

[2] http://www.wheaton.edu/DistanceLearning/Cornel00.htm

[3] J. Julius Scott, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 34/4 (December, 1991), p. 475-484. http://www.wheaton.edu/DistanceLearning/Cornel00.htm

[4] http://www.wheaton.edu/DistanceLearning/Cornel00.htm

[5] J. Julius Scott, Acts 10:34, A Text for Racial and Cultural Reconciliation Among Christians,” The Gospel in Black and White. Deninis L. Okholm, ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1997), 131-139. http://www.wheaton.edu/DistanceLearning/ACTS10-34.htm

[6] Ibid. http://www.wheaton.edu/DistanceLearning/ACTS10-34.htm

[7] Ibid. http://www.wheaton.edu/DistanceLearning/ACTS10-34.htm

[8] Ibid., http://www.wheaton.edu/DistanceLearning/ACTS10-34.htm

[9] Ibid., http://www.wheaton.edu/DistanceLearning/ACTS10-34.htm

We serve God who initiates, orchestrates and invites all people to accept the good news. (Acts 10:1-11:18)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon June 1, 2008

As I mentioned to you last week, today’s passage speaks to the very important events that propelled Christianity beyond the boundary of what was familiar to the Jewish Christians, further into the Gentile world.

Jesus’ promise back in Acts 1:8 was “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” We see leading up to chapter 10 this progression of the gospel being carried outward.

Let me quickly trace back this movement of the gospel.

Back in chapter 2, you see the Pentecost in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit came upon the Jerusalem Jews. This was the moment when the gospel was ignited. The gospel was set on fire and it transformed just a handful of followers into a fast growing Jerusalem church by the hundreds and thousands of people trusting Jesus. The growth was not without pain. Along the growth of the church was the growing hostility. We saw how Stephen paid the ultimate price when he proclaimed the gospel boldly; he was stoned to death in the hands of the angry mob.

When it seemed the church was being defeated by the growing hostility, it actually had the very opposite effect. The persecution didn’t slow or stop the growth of the church. Instead of being stifled, those who were running away from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria for safety took with them the gospel. As people fled, the gospel went out with them beyond the boundary of Jerusalem. This is when we are told about the ministry of Philip in Samaria and leading up to Caesarea in Acts 8:40.

After the story of how apostle Paul came to faith in Jesus Christ in chapter 9, we are now back to the stories involving apostle Peter. We also see apostle Peter making his journey away from Jerusalem first to Lydda, twenty five some miles away from Jerusalem and then to Joppa 10 miles further away. This is where we find Peter at the end of chapter 9. Verse 43 tells us Peter stayed in Joppa at Simon’s house.

Now, we are ready to consider chapter 10 & 11:1-18. What we see here is God at work to fulfill Jesus’ promise back in Acts 1:8 to push the gospel beyond the boundary that was comfortable for the Jewish Christians.

  1. God initiates and orchestrates fulfilling Jesus’ promise to spread the good news.

In chapter 10:1, we are introduced to a place called Caesarea. This is the city we are told in Acts 8:40 as a place Philip reached in his evangelistic journey.

Caesarea was in the center of the coastal Plain of Sharon in northern Palestine, on the shores of the Mediterranean, some sixty-five miles northwest of Jerusalem. It was named in honor of Augustus Caesar (Caius Octavianus, later called Augustus), the adopted heir of Julius Caesar.1 The city was not an important place until Herod the Great took over and transformed into a finest port city. Herod the Great took a massive project to increase the harbor size, brought fresh water through aqueducts from miles away, and built public buildings like a huge amphitheater that could seat thousands of people. Here, Jews were no longer majority. Caesarea as built in honor of August Caesar was a foremost pagan city. Here, the history shows deep tension existed between the Gentiles the majority and the Jews the minority, causing frequent conflicts. To consider this city as a site for Christian missions was unthinkable to many Jewish Christians.2

In this pagan city lived a man named Cornelius. A good deal of description is given for us. He was a centurion of the Italian Regiment. A centurion was a noncommissioned officer who had worked his way up through the ranks to take command of a group of soldiers within a Roman legion. He would be about equivalent to a captain today. He was in charge of about hundred soldiers.

10:2 describes him and all his family as devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.

This would make him a Jewish sympathizer who had a great affinity to the God of the Jews. He was not a Jewish covert though since this would have required him to be circumcised and follow the laws strictly. The modern term that you might have heard that describes him well is ‘seeker.’ Cornelius as a Gentile was drawn to the God of the Jews. Do you know someone like that? Someone who seeks to know God better? He was also what people nowadays might consider a really nice guy who does a lot of good things for others. Do you know someone like that? Someone who cares a lot about other people, and does the charity works, who believes in God and tries really hard to live a good moral life?

To this Cornelius, a Jewish sympathizer, a seeker, a really nice and caring guy, an angel of God showed up in a vision. Just like the description about him, the vision took place while he was praying. The angel told him that all his prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God in verse 4. God took notice of this man who was trying really hard to live a good life. When Cornelius learned that God wanted Peter to come to Cornelius, we see him responding without hesitation in verse 7 by sending three of his people to Peter in Joppa.

Just a day latter, Peter like Cornelius was praying. To pray on the roof seems odd to us, but the way the houses were constructed the roofs were readily accessible with stairs and provided quite place to pray. As Cornelius saw a vision of an angel visiting him, Peter saw a vision of all kinds of animals contained on a sheet. When the voice, perhaps it was the voice of Jesus, told him to get up, kill and eat them, both clean and unclean. Peter responded in repugnant to God, “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

I can imagine Peter’s response very similar to my wife’s response to what I sometimes make for lunch. I make Shin Ramyun in a fusion style by adding a table spoonful of Curry powder with frozen vegetables and egg dropped into it.

To Peter’s response, the voice spoke, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

Now, this requires some explaining to understand what’s going on here. Leviticus 20:24b-26 says:

But I said to you, “You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the nations. “‘You must therefore make a distinction between clean and unclean animals and between unclean and clean birds. Do not defile yourselves by any animal or bird or anything that moves along the ground—those which I have set apart as unclean for you. You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.”

When Peter didn’t want to eat the unclean food he saw on the sheet, it was an appropriate response, doing what any good Jew would have done. After all, it was God who set a distinction between clean and unclean animals and birds. In the Old Testament, food laws were to help the Jews remember how they were called to live holy, differently than their neighbors, different in worshiping God who revealed himself to them, who chose them, who led them out of Egypt into the Promised land, who gave them the Law. They were to be set aside, to be holy to serve the God of Israel.

But, when Jesus came what made a person set aside was not about eating clean food and avoiding unclean food. What made anyone set aside for God’s purpose was taking a part in the New Covenant of Jesus’ blood and his body. That is what we did this morning. The communion that we took points us back to Jesus who died for us, who shed his blood for us, whose body was broken for us and who now stands in the midst of us as resurrected Christ. You can read Mark 7 where Jesus talks about how food doesn’t make a person unclean since it goes into one’s stomach, not into heart. And, in the same verse 19, Mark made an parenthetical comment about what Jesus was saying to his disciples “In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean””

Acts 10:16 tells us that Peter heard the voice telling him to eat all the animals and the birds without calling any of them unclean, not just once, but three times.

Verse 17 gives us a picture of Peter in deep thought, wondering about the meaning of the vision. It wasn’t yet clear to him what the vision was all about.

A vision for Cornelius, three men sent by him according to the vision, a vision for Peter and the Spirit in verse 19 telling Peter about the three men looking for him and how he must get up and go downstairs and not to hesitate to go with them for he had sent them.

What you see is God initiating and orchestrating to fulfill his plan.

Do you know this God who initiates and orchestrates to fulfill his purpose? Do you know that this God who initiates and orchestrates is also working in you to fulfill his purpose for you?

For Cornelius and Peter, what you see from their immediate positive responses to God who was initiating and orchestrating in their lives is that they knew this God. They experienced the God who initiates and orchestrates.

  1. The moment of clarity: God is impartial.

Now, as Peter wondered about the meaning of the vision of being told to eat all the animals and birds without calling any of them unclean, it still wasn’t clear for him.

But, this much was clear to him. For whatever reason that was beyond him at this point, God was initiating and orchestrating a divine moment when Peter could speak to Cornelius about the good news of Jesus Christ.

Now, here is another thing that I need to pause and explain. As there was a distinction to be made about what kind of animals or birds the Jews could eat as clean food verse unclean food, this call to make distinction about food was also understood by the Jews as a call to be separated from the Gentiles. So from the food laws, the Jews further expanded the restrictions upon their relationship to the Gentiles. This made sense to them since the likelihood of being served by the Gentiles the unclean food was high they would all together avoid eating with the Gentiles at their houses.

You see it was a stretching for Peter to have stayed with Simon the tanner earlier. This Simon, a Jewish Christian, who made leather, had to deal with dead animals. And, according to the Old Testament law anyone who touches dead animals would be considered unclean. Well, that was hard enough.

Now, the vision to Peter was to eat all animals and birds without calling any of them unclean. Well, that was really difficult.

Now, to walk into the Gentile’s house was even more difficult. What if Cornelius serves him Samkyupsal or Jockbal? The Gentiles who eat unclean food would be unclean as well was the logic.

But, the moment of clarity can be seen in verse 34-35, where Peter said, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”

How as a Christian may practice the same kind of ethnocentric, superior-prideful, exclusive complex? Consider the road traveled from Joppa to Caesarea… where many cultures and races can be met. Peter who traveled the road couldn’t remain removed, indifferent, uncaring. The road led Peter away from the “original exclusivistic and protectionistic environment. The road led to the threashold of Cornelius’ house and the open door of faith for all nations. That journey lies before all Christians in all times and places.”3

Consider the story of Jonah who was a prophet to the Gentile nation of Nineveh, a prophet sent by God to forgive the sins of the Gentiles if they turn to him. “the Cornelius conversion is legitimized as the continuation of God’s merciful work at Nineveh, Simon-Peter is the bar Jonah, who is called by his ancestor’s God to convert the Gentile, and the people of God should do nothing but praise God and say, ‘God granted the Gentiles repentance unto life’ (Acts 11:18).”4

Impartiality of God c.f. Deuteronomy 10:17-19, “For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.”

The word, “alien,” refers to “the non-Hebrew, the resident alien Gentile who lived in the Land of Israel”; this affirms “the LORD’s universal impartiality.”5

The impartial nature of God which opens salvation to all is also the basis for fellowship within his body… Unity which supersedes external divisions comes from a common relationship with God in Christ. Such unity among God’s people is an extension and reflection of his nature.”6 “Your unity which is rooted in the impartiality of God must supercede any secondary, potentially divisive factors. You must learn to live acceptingly of diversity, knowing “nothing among you except Jesus Christ, the crucified one.” To do other wise, as the Epistle to James implies, is to operate on a basis different from that which God used in choosing those who would be his own (3:5).”7

My father spent a lot of time with his grandfather, the slave owner and Confederate soldier. I once asked Daddy if his grandfather had ever discussed his attitudes toward slavery with him. He answered, "No, and I always wondered how a man who was as strong a Christian as my grandfather could have owned slaves." I look back at my father, probably the strongest and most consistent Christian male I have ever met, and wonder how he could have lived out his life as a racial segregationist. Now, I wonder what blind spots my children do and will see in me.”8 Christian growth after God’s nature of impartiality over generations

Missional Implications for Christians:

  • Recognize the scope of God’s invitation to his salvation. God’s call is for everyone. This should lead us never to limit who we take the gospel to.

  • Facing the prejudice and impartial attitude that prevents us from going beyond what feels comfortable. We compromise God’s invitation to his salvation for all people if we act on prejudice of any kind. Confront ethnocentrism

  • The story of Cornelius validates our effort to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.

  • The story of Cornelius also validates our effort to take the gospel to those around us.

  • Driven by who God is and what he does (Jesus did only things that he saw Father does.)

  • Know and talk about what really saves a person


1 EBCNT

2 http://www.wheaton.edu/DistanceLearning/Cornel00.htm

3 J. Julius Scott, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 34/4 (December, 1991), p. 475-484. http://www.wheaton.edu/DistanceLearning/Cornel00.htm

4 http://www.wheaton.edu/DistanceLearning/Cornel00.htm

5 J. Julius Scott, Acts 10:34, A Text for Racial and Cultural Reconciliation Among Christians,” The Gospel in Black and White. Deninis L. Okholm, ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1997), 131-139. http://www.wheaton.edu/DistanceLearning/ACTS10-34.htm

6 Ibid. http://www.wheaton.edu/DistanceLearning/ACTS10-34.htm

7 Ibid. http://www.wheaton.edu/DistanceLearning/ACTS10-34.htm

8 Ibid., http://www.wheaton.edu/DistanceLearning/ACTS10-34.htm

9 Ibid., http://www.wheaton.edu/DistanceLearning/ACTS10-34.htm