Mar 15 Acts
10:1-15 Title:
Transformation- Peter and Cornelius
10 At
Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as
the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were
devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to
God regularly.3 One day at about three in the
afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God,
who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” 4 Cornelius
stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your
prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before
God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a
man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is
staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.” 7 When
the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a
devout soldier who was one of his attendants. 8 He
told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa. 9 About
noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city,
Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He
became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being
prepared, he fell into a trance.11 He saw heaven
opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its
four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of
four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then
a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” 14 “Surely
not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or
unclean.” 15 The voice spoke to him a second
time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
Invisible
dog fence. Do you have one?
I
have never had an invisible dog.
My
neighbors saved greyhounds….. one time, their dog got away.
What
do greyhounds do?........... they run.
Fast
and far. He said it was miles before they caught him
Sermon
series on change and transformation
Real
change is difficult.
We think of change as me choosing jesus
So
we change our beliefs. And we become right with god
And
we think we are right about everything
The
world is filled with Christian know it alls
Jim
shrieves story. I was once the manager of a shop.
Insisted
that they listened to Christian radio.
Sometimes
the only way that you learn to stop judging people is to see how much you are
hurting them.
The
law and grace- its still around. Many people still hold up the law –
their law over grace
What
if you are not right?
Who
made me God
Jenny
and being boss of the world
God
invites us to change the way that we think
This
is painful change
Cornelius
A
godly man who does not know jesus.
Not
a Christian. Not a jew.
What??
How can this be?
God
ways must be higher than our ways.
Wanting
to be a part of a thing when you know you are excluded
Hoping
for reconciliation with God
Seeking
god.
An
angel appears to him
Yet,
He is being judged by peter. His is a gentile. He is not worthy
Isn’t
that crazy?
The nature of judgment
Dualism……..our
need to separate the good from the bad and make value judgments.
When
we do this we can no longer love people
Love
the sinner, hate the sin
Usually
ends up feeling like hatred to the “sinner”
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they
say, ‘He has a demon.’19 The Son of Man came eating and
drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax
collectors and sinners.’ But
wisdom is proved right by her deeds.” Mt 11:18-19
Wisdom
is proved right by her deeds
In life there are two paths.
There is the natural human path. It is the way of self. Self
protection, self centeredness, and self importance. It ultimately is the
way of complaint, retribution, anger and rage.
The other path is the way of
grace. It is the path of forgiveness. It is the path of love.
It is the path that calls us to see life through the eyes of another.
Those who choose the way of grace are always glad that they did.
Dualism
is antagonistic – you always have to choose sides – comparing one idea to
another.
Jews
in, gentiles out
Paul
resolves the opposition.
Jews
and Greeks, male and female – all are welcome
We
should take a lesson from Paul on this topic
Judging others is a sin.
When
we see others who we think are sinning, there are several things that we don’t
know.
1.
We
don’t know how hard he or she tried to avoid the situation
2.
We
don’t know the power of what they are facing
3.
We
don’t know what we would do in the same situation
Judging
others is a sin
Lets
look at romans 1 and 2.
Romans
1. A long list of sins. People use it to point out others faults.
That
is not why paul wrote it.
Read
chpt 2:1
2 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else,
for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because
you who pass judgment do the same things.
The
point of the list of sins isn’t for us to judge others, it is so that in our
smugness, paul can say, look, you are just as bad.
All
have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
but
we like to use such lists to point out the good ones and the bad ones.
Judging
others is a sin.
One time a bishop was
on a trip to the holy land. He was randomly assigned a stranger as a room
mate. After going to see the accommodations, he came up to the front desk and
inquired if he could leave his gold watch and other valuables in the hotel
safe. He explained that ordinarily he never availed himself of that privilege,
but he had been to his room and had met the man who was to occupy the other
bed. Judging from his appearance, he was afraid that he might not be a very
trustworthy person. The clerk accepted the responsibility for the valuables and
remarked, 'It's all right, bishop, I'll be very glad to take care of them for
you. The other man has been up here and left his valuables for the same
reason!'"
I
had a thought last week about helping homeless people and judging them.
When
we help others, but judge them – we rob them of the greatest gift.
“here
is a dollar, go get a job. Here is a sandwich, go shave.”
What
if we just helped the poor and didn’t judge them?
Jesus did not say, I was hungry or thirsty for reasons beyond my
control, and you fed me. He doesn't qualify the worthiness of the person
who receives the help. He simply says, I was hungry and you fed me.
Part of the holiness of helping the homeless is in the helping
them. The other part of the holiness is not judging them for why they are
the way that they are.
But
for the grace of God go I
Prayerful,
Contemplative mind is non-dualistic
Dale
dorst- lets just see how it turns out
These
are the ones that do not judge
These
are the ones who are turning the world upside down.
Who is in and who is out? Here is
a moment of awakening
Every
pastor is asked. Who is in and who is out?
I
like to answer, I am not in charge of who gets in and who gets out
The
world would be a kindler and gentler place if more people realized they were
not in charge of who gets in
Odd………the
very person that peter thought was out, was being talked to by an angel……….
Ramifications
for us – judge a person w tattoos? A muslim? Maybe god is talking to
them……
Peter
Thinking
we have it all right
We
don’t have it all right
Being
so arrogant as to fight with god over our ideas
Jews
are not allowed to visit the homes or eat with non jews
King
James Version……….
14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing
that is common or unclean.
15 And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath
cleansed, that call not thou common.
Imagine
god saying this to you……..
How
dare you! What I have called clean, what I have loved, you will not call
unclean.
3x
the vision is given.
What
will it take to get God idea through your thick skull?
Love is indiscriminate……..
The
shade of a tree, the scent of a rose, the light of a lamp go out to all
So
Gods love goes out to all
This
is a great moment for peter. He gets over himself and goes to
Cornelius home.
Doesn’t
preach a rousing sermon
God
is already there.
The
holy spirit falls upon them.
There
is no record of Cornelius accepting peters message.
He
is already accepted by god
The
vision that God gave to peter is still around, and guess what. God wants
to give it to us. What will it take for us to get over ourselves?
