Baby Steps
Have you ever been called by someone important and been asked to do something special for him or her?
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." - Acts 10:1-6
In today's reading, Cornelius is rewarded for his devotion to God by being called to serve. He is to send men to Peter to shake him out of his funk and get him back on track.
We have all heard the expression, God works in mysterious ways, but it may be more accurate to say that how God gets us to work for Him is a mystery and a miracle in itself.
From the beginning, as described in Genesis, the responsibility for this life and all that we find in it was handed over to us by God. This is our playground, our sandbox, and it is up to us to be actively involved in making it all work.
So, it makes sense that if we pray to God for help, He will call on us to do something, the way he called on Cornelius.
The amazing thing is that what he was called to do was easy. Send a few men to Peter. How hard is that? In fact it is so simple, and it makes so little sense, that most of us would have questioned the purpose.
We are like that, aren't we? If we don't understand why we have to do something, we stand firm and refuse.
Well, in this case, God also had to work on Peter to get the message to be clear, and that part of the plan would not have been known by Cornelius.
I think back on the times when someone approached me with a suggestion or idea and I shrugged it off thinking it foolish or too outrageous to work. The idea that we can make big changes in the world by taking baby steps seems like a waste of time, so many of those baby steps never happen.
Lately, I have stopped trying to understand the potential outcomes or probabilities of success when I hear an idea like that. Let's do something to save lives. Let's find a way to feed the hungry. Let's get our churches back in shape. Let's cure disease.
The goal is so big, and we are so small in comparison, we fail to try anything, waiting for God to do something.
Well, I think that something God is doing is planting the seeds of desire to try in the hearts of many. I look at the ice bucket challenge for ALS as one simple example of starting something without knowing the outcome.
On September 17th, we will be holding a community meeting entitled Breaking Hate, to talk openly about saving lives in the war-torn Middle East. It is a lofty goal, and just having a discussion can result in a battleground, but it is a baby step that we need to take.
Like Cornelius and the men he sent to Peter, we have no idea what will come out of this journey, but we are willing to take those steps and see what God has in mind for us.
Who knows. He may be talking to others as well.
More to come...