All Are Made Clean
Caesarea – Part 1
Who is Cornelius?
A good man, God-fearing man
Not only for himself but for his family
His devotion to God was demonstrated in generosity, specifically focused on the poor.
Now, as we will see, this is not everything, but it’s also not nothing.
This is one of many times that the book of Acts demonstrates the power of radical generosity. In fact, one could argue that a theme (not the theme, but a theme) of Acts is that radical generosity given in God’s name can change the world.
That’s certainly the case here, and I think it is probably the case today as well.
Along the way, in this series, we’ve pointed out several things that we believe are necessary if we want to see the Church reach a post-Christian culture: single-minded devotion to the Lordship of Jesus and one another, longing for the presence and move of God, praying for and seeing signs and wonders, leading the way in the pursuit of justice.
We should definitely add to that list radical, breathtaking generosity. The Church’s generosity can change the world.
A Roman Centurion
This makes him the enemy
The captain of an occupying army
For Peter, who grew up in nationalist Galilee, his position would have incited plenty of latent anger
Despite his devotion to God and his generosity to the poor, Cornelius represents a new phase in God’s mission to restore the world.
Remember, Jesus told his disciples, “Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth.
Cornelius represents the next step outward as the Gospel continues to spread from the center outward toward the fringes.
This is what the love of God does: it expands. It radiates out from the center of his heart to the very edge of the universe (scientists say that the universe is expanding; God’s love creates as it expands)
The New Testament writers talk about death and resurrection of Jesus as a moment of new creation. Like a rock dropped in a pond, the power of this ripples from the center ever toward the edges of the world. This is what God does.
This is what God does.
Notice that this has been clear throughout the book of Acts. Tradition has named this book “The Acts of the Apostles,” but anyone who’s reading carefully will recognize that it should be named, “The Acts of God.”
Both Cornelius and Peter have a role to play in this story; their obedience matters.
But the story makes it clear that their role is to follow God’s lead.
God is at work, leading the charge. He doesn't send orders from base camp and expect his followers to figure it out. He leads the way and asks us to follow in his wake.
This is true personally as well as missionally.
God was looking for you before you were looking for him.
God is at work, and it’s our job to be attentive to his work and follow where he leads.
Also, notice how God is at work: through his people.
Notice, that the angel doesn’t preach the Gospel to this man; he instead instructs him to find a person to preach the Gospel.
This is what God does. He uses people. This is his MO in this world (stories across the Islamic world). Much of this story is about what God does in the hearts of the people he uses.
Where is God at work? Where does he lead us?
To the fringes: this Gospel of the Kingdom is not for those at the center but for those on the margins. Remember, Jesus said he came not for those who thought they were healthy but for those who knew they were sick.
To the edge: this movement of God from the center outward requires his people to move from the center as well, often beyond the edges of ourselves. This is what happened to poor Peter: Jesus pushed him beyond the edge of himself.
Joppa
Why are there Christians in Joppa? Because Phillip preached the Gospel from Azotus up the coast to Caesarea.
Peter
Staying the house of a taxidermist named Simon, and I love what this story tells us about Peter.
I mean, this is Peter, the pillar of the Church, the guy to preach the first Church sermon in history, a man who’s performed countless miracles in the name of Jesus. And look what happens in this story.
He goes up on the roof to pray, and what happens while he’s praying?
He gets hungry.
So hungry, in fact, that he stops praying to ask someone to get him something to eat.
And, while he’s waiting for them to deliver his food (still praying), he falls asleep
And dreams about food!
My kind of guy!
Peter’s vision
Because the kosher laws became about far more than food. Food is the center of our social lives, so food defined the boundaries of fellowship (as Peter would point out at the beginning of his speech). Calling food unclean resulted in calling people unclean, people who God created in his image, loved as his own, and wanted to restore to himself.
The laws that had originally served to keep God’s people distinct so that they could be conspicuously different in the eyes of the watching world were now keeping God’s people from interacting with the world, making it impossible for them to be a part of God’s mission in the world.
So, God gave Peter this vision, the moral of which is this: everything God created is good, and the implication for Peter and for us is that, if we want to be a part of God's mission of restoring the goodness of his creation, we need to be willing to see it. You can't restore something you can't see. In other words, we don't get to label people as unclean or unworthy. We have to see them as their Creator does: designed in his image with purpose. If we want to be a part of the mission of God in the world, all of our prejudices must die. If we cling onto any, we are not in step with the Spirit.
So, for the Gospel to spread to the whole earth, some prejudices (even "good" ones) needed to die.
This was a wildly revolutionary and offensive idea. This seems like a sweet, little story, but it is one of the more surprising events in the Bible. It would have rocked Peter to his very core...
Caesarea – Part 2
You can sense Peter’s discomfort from his entrance speech: “I’ve never done this before, and the only reason I’m doing it now is because God made me.”
There is very little warmth and hospitality here; in fact, it’s downright rude. Peter was offended by being there.
Have you ever been offended by who God has asked you to love? If not, you might not be listening.
Nevertheless, he listened to Cornelius’ story and decided he might as well preach the Gospel while he was there.
God sent Jesus as an ambassador of shalom
God anointed him with his Spirit and power
God raised him from the dead
God chose witnesses to announce the resurrection and the beginning of a new world
Jesus is the reign Lord of all and judge of the world
Everyone who believes in him receives the forgiveness of sins.
It’s important to note how Peter didn’t take his vision.
He didn’t take it in the way a modern American would take it. Everything is clean. Everything is good. All roads lead to God. Just blanket tolerance. This is not a story about “tolerance”: everyone is alright.
This is a story about grace: everyone is welcome to repent (everyone can be forgiven). Notice the key themes of this story: repentance, forgiveness of sins, and baptism. It is, “Come as you are,” but it is not, “Stay as you are.”
Something I find so interesting here is that Peter preached the forgiveness of sins to Cornelius, a good man.
In other words, his goodness simply showed his receptivity. It did not qualify him for the Kingdom.
His piety simply afford him the opportunity to repent, to be completely changed.
While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell.
The Father rushing to his lost son.
The older son being stunned by the radically extravagant love of the Father (this is as much Peter’s conversion moment as it is Cornelius’, as all of his prejudices came crashing to the ground).
They’re left with no choice but to baptize those whom God has already baptized.
God is on the move
If you’re on the fringes, this Gospel of the Kingdom is for you.
If you’re at the center, move toward the fringes.