A Tale of Two Men

We don't always know what God has in store for us, or why.

In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort, as it was called. He was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God. One afternoon at about three o’clock he had a vision in which he clearly saw an angel of God coming in and saying to him, ‘Cornelius.’ He stared at him in terror and said, ‘What is it, Lord?’ He answered, ‘Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa for a certain Simon who is called Peter; he is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside.’ When the angel who spoke to him had left, he called two of his slaves and a devout soldier from the ranks of those who served him, and after telling them everything, he sent them to Joppa. About noon the next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat; and while it was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners. In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air. Then he heard a voice saying, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.’ The voice said to him again, a second time, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ This happened three times, and the thing was suddenly taken up to heaven. -  Acts 10:1-16

In today's reading, God is working on two men, Peter and Cornelius.

He will bring them together to change them both in different ways.  Peter will discover that God's grace extends to everyone, not just to the Jews, and Cornelius will receive the Holy Spirit and be changed forever.

Neither of these men were strangers to God.  God knew both of them and they prayed to God regularly, obeying His commands, being devout in their faith, yet they were different and distant from each other.

To Peter, Cornelius was a gentile, someone outside the faith who would never be a part of the fold.

But God had a different perspective on who is welcome and who is not.  And God arranged for a meeting.

With God's help, we can get to see the complete picture, to know that God loves all his creation, not just those like us.

So, what do we do with this knowledge?  How do we make ourselves be open to God's call to come together and be one with those not like us?

Do we let the stranger invite us to his home?  Do we get to see him as just like us?

Or do we need God's help, like Simon Peter did?  Do we need to wait until God shows us the way?

More to come...