PETER AND CORNELIUS

PETER AND CORNELIUS

TEXT: Acts 10:9-23

As I thought about Bible passages to use for this series on conflict, I knew I had to use this one about Peter and Cornelius, because this story represents a conflict that was prevented by methods that are unique to people of faith. There are lots of techniques and strategies for getting through the inevitable conflicts in our lives and relationships. But we Christians have some extra help beyond the usual tips and tricks...which is good because we have an extra responsibility. The secular world is trying hard simply not to kill each other...to get along with friends and family and to avoid enemies. The Christian calling is much harder. We are called by Jesus to love our enemies, to actively do good to those who persecute us, to pray for God’s blessings on those who wish us harm.

In other words, the Christian has a direct mandate from Jesus to work through the conflicts in our lives. It is not enough simply to avoid them. We are to turn swords into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks, return good for the evil done to us, and to seek to be peacemakers in a war-torn world. Not a terribly easy job, but Peter and Cornelius show us how. In short, they pray.

Their potential conflict is a variant of the larger early church conflict that we talked about last week. As this Jewish sect of the followers of Jesus spreads the good news of a crucified and risen Messiah, they are having trouble figuring out how to relate their new circumstances to Scripture. The movement is spreading beyond the Jews and these Gentiles want the Jews to share this good news with them. But Scripture forbid the Jews to associate with Gentiles in any sort of intimate way. Jews were not to eat with Gentiles, enter their homes, or allow Gentiles to enter theirs. Gentiles were considered unclean...like certain animals and dead bodies.

In this story, we have a potentially nasty conflict brewing. Cornelius is a Roman centurion. He is a God-Fearer, Scripture tells us, which means he has been investigating the Jewish faith, but he has not converted. He is still a Gentile. But he is a Gentile with authority. Remember that during this period Palestine is a part of the Roman Empire. Cornelius has the authority to command Peter, to arrest Peter, and most probably if he killed Peter for insolence nobody would ask any questions.

Peter, for his part, is quite prone to leap before he looks, to make broad, sweeping statements before thinking them through, and to speak his mind no matter what. The cowardice we saw at Jesus’ arrest vanishes on Pentecost and Peter has since been arrested with the hopes of having him executed.

All of that means that when Cornelius wants Peter to go against Scripture and come to his house there is the potential for fireworks. The day is saved, however, because both Peter and Cornelius are men of prayer. Cornelius decides to contact Peter because while Cornelius is in prayer, God tells him about Peter, tells him where Peter is staying, and tells Cornelius to send for him. In the meantime, Peter is also praying. During Peter’s prayer, God is working hard to answer the prayer of Cornelius.

God’s method is to come at the issue of Gentiles through the example of unclean foods. God gives Peter a vision of a sheet filled with all the foods that Leviticus says Peter should never eat. And God says, “Eat it.” Peter says...in typical Peter fashion...”No!” This happens three times and finally God has to get out the 2x4 to make the point by saying, “Hey, I’m God. If I say it’s clean, it’s clean. Don’t go quoting Leviticus to me!” And Peter wonders what it’s all about. You can imagine that if Peter was willing to say “No” to God three times, he would have had no problems at all saying “No” to Cornelius. And the results could have been tragic.

Those results could have been tragic not just for Peter and Cornelius, but for the entire Christian movement. The Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 is a pivotal point in the formation of the early church. That Council is the reason that we can go home and have pork for supper, work in funeral parlors, and choose whether or not to circumcise our boys. That Council determined that Gentile converts did not have to become card-carrying Jews in order to follow Jesus, and the issue came up because the Gentile mission would not have been successful if those restrictions were imposed.

The reason that the Council was able to reach the radical decision that it did...which enabled the spread of Christianity outside the Jewish community...was because during the course of the Council, Peter remembered his experience with Cornelius and the lesson that God had taught him. That experience made Peter able to resolve his conflict with Paul and made the decision at the Council possible. They could not have gone forward without Peter’s support.

Our own conflicts can also have a ripple effect beyond our imagining...either a positive or a negative effect, depending on our actions and attitudes. The best way to ensure that your life has fewer conflicts and that the conflicts you do have are dealt with positively is to become a person of prayer. The better your relationship with God, the better your chances of dealing well with conflict in your life. Why? Because God will direct you. Maybe with visions, maybe not. But God will actively help you navigate the rough places in your life.

We are a culture that wants instant, easy solutions. We want the weight loss program that lets us eat all we want of whatever we want without diet or exercise. We want to buy a stock in the morning and be rich by evening...or at least by tomorrow...with no risk. We want the seven easy steps to a conflict-free life. And that attitude spills into our faith. We tend to want all of the benefits that a life with God can offer without ever really engaging the relationship.

Our relationship with God is the foundation for all other relationships in our lives, and yet so few take a real relationship with God seriously. Relationship with God, like any other relationship, takes work. You are not going to have it simply by showing up here on a Sunday morning and owning a Bible. More people than I care to think about have the notion that having a Bible is kind of like having a dictionary...that it’s a reference book for how to live your life or sometimes a Chicken Soup book for feeling better during rough times. And so why would you need a relationship with God when you can simply open up the Bible and get the answers to your religious questions?

One of the things that I was trying to say in our discussion last week as well as in the story this week is that Scripture is not a dead, once-for-all document. God did not write the Bible and then go into retirement because nothing more ever needed to be said or done. The Bible is a living document. It is one of the primary ways that God is revealed and the primary point that it makes from beginning to end is that God is actively seeking a loving relationship with us. The Bible was meant to point us to God, not to be a substitute for a relationship with God.

I spend a lot of time on the nature of Scripture because so often in conflicts between religious persons or groups, Scripture is used to prove a point or to bludgeon the other side. It is important to look at what Scripture says about our situation. But unless it is used in conjunction with our own personal relationship with God, we are quite likely to misinterpret or miss what God is saying to us. If Peter had only relied on his knowledge of Scripture, he would have refused the request of Cornelius and the rest of Christian history might have been vastly different. But Peter did more than consider Scripture. Peter prayed. Even before he knew there was a conflict, Peter was praying. This wasn’t Peter rushing to his knees because he was in trouble. This was Peter doing what he naturally did every day...engaging his relationship with his God through prayer.

And because that was a natural part of his life...and a natural part of Cornelius’ life, the conflict was averted and the world is a different place.

Christianity is not about memorizing the rules and living accordingly. Christianity is about having a personal and loving relationship with the God of the universe, made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is a relationship that is built slowly over a lifetime, but even at the very beginning of it, you will notice a qualitative difference in your life. God is the ingredient that turns mere existence into life...the thing that makes the Word flesh. But God is not a performer who invites us simply to come watch the show and God is not a lawmaker who simply invites us to turn to page 106 to find the answer. God is the lover waiting to bring out the very best in us so that we can in turn bring out the best in others.

Don’t wait to begin the relationship...talk to God today and ask for help in getting it started. Cornelius may right now be on his way to your house to ask a question you are not prepared to answer. Amen.

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