I'm not sure I actually figured out what was at the heart of this portion of the "ministry of members," but I did end up with a sermon!
“A New Worldview” Acts 10:23-44; SAPC, Denton; July 24, 2022; Richard B. Culp
The next day he got up and went with them, and some of the believers from Joppa accompanied him. 24The following day they came to Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25On Peter’s arrival Cornelius met him, and falling at his feet, worshipped him. 26But Peter made him get up, saying, ‘Stand up; I am only a mortal.’ 27And as he talked with him, he went in and found that many had assembled; 28and he said to them, ‘You yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile; but God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean. 29So when I was sent for, I came without objection. Now may I ask why you sent for me?’
30 Cornelius replied, ‘Four days ago at this very hour, at three o’clock, I was praying in my house when suddenly a man in dazzling clothes stood before me. 31He said, “Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. 32Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon, who is called Peter; he is staying in the home of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.” 33Therefore I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. So now all of us are here in the presence of God to listen to all that the Lord has commanded you to say.’
34 Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, 35but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. 37That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; 40but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, 41not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’
44 While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. 45The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, 46for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, 47‘Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’ 48So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.
Introduction: We continue reflecting on what the Book of Order calls, the “ministry of members,” remembering that the expectations we have of members reflect what it means to be a disciple of Christ and a member of the body of Christ.
In other words, anyone listening in or here in person, not just members of St. Andrew, is invited to explore how we all can grow in our discipleship.
This week, we reflect on how we demonstrate “a new quality of life within and through the church, " (G-1.0304, Book of Order).
this story in Acts gives us two examples of people — Cornelius and Peter - who are called to a new quality of life. As we explore their stories, perhaps we can gain some insights into our own lives and the work of the church.
Move 1: Two people have come to a new understanding of what they should do with their lives.
a. Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort,
1. A centurion was commander of a company of one hundred men in the Roman army, responsible for their discipline, both on the field of battle and in camp.
Cornelius was a centurion in the Italian Cohort, the Cohors II Italica Civium Romanorum, a cohort of the Roman army formed of citizens from the province of Italy.
Cornelius was a military career man, well-paid, and generally noted for courage and competence. (https://forallsaints.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/cornelius-the-centurion-5/
In other words, Cornelius was a foreigner, a man of authority, used to commanding people.
2. Cornelius was also a Roman citizen, with all its privileges
3. in his religious life, he was not a Jew, but he had come to believe in the God of the Jews.
4. He gave his offering back to God.
5. Cornelius was a well-respected, religious man.
6. But he was not a follower of Christ; he had not come to believe in the resurrected christ whom Peter preached.
b. then there is Peter.
1. One of Jesus’ closest disciples.
2. He was the one Jesus said would be the “rock on which the church would be built”
he was the one who betrayed Jesus three times
he was the one the resurrected Christ told to “feed my sheep”
And he had been doing that. His whole life was committed to sharing with others about the resurrected Christ.
3. If the others were Jewish.
He came out of the Jewish tradition and understood Jesus as the Messiah who had come to save the Jews.
4. Gentiles were not part of the target group.
they were outsiders, meant to be left on the outside.
c. Two men, at pretty good places in their lives.
1. They had it together and knew what they were supposed to do.
2. Until, until God decides they need to change.
They were being called to reflect the new quality of life that came with following the resurrected Christ.
3. For Cornelius, it meant not just saying he believed in the God of the Jews, but in giving his life over to following the Risen Christ.
4. For Peter, it meant giving up his whole understanding of who God sent Christ to save and opening up the possibilities to include Gentiles.
Transformation in the works!
Move 2: What can we learn from Cornelius and Peter being called a new quality of life
a big shift
1. I do not want to be overly dramatic, but the new worldviews Cornelius and Peter adopt reveal significant shifts.
2. Not just a surface change, but changing their whole understanding of who they are and what God is calling them to be and do.
3. I had a friend who approached banking a bit differently than most. this was back in the days before online banking, automatic withdrawals, Quicken, and Venmo. Back when most people painstakingly balanced their checkbooks each month after receiving a statement from the bank in the mail.
My friend either wasn’t very good at balancing the bank account, or she just didn’t want to do it. So she began this pattern of banking - For a few months after opening her account, she would be able to make some sense of her bank statements, but each month a few more unreconciled problems became part of her bank statement. Apparently, at about six months these past mistakes would become too cumbersome to handle so she would...close the account and move to a new bank. this went on for For four years of undergraduate and three years of law school - roughly 14 banks - a good thing Austin had lots of banks!
this was surface change - she moved banks, but never changed how she did things.
Peter and Cornelius are being called not to just make surface changes but to actually redirect how they lived their lives and how they understood their relationship with God.
2. I love how Ann Lamott describes God coming into our lives and calling us to be new creations. She writes ann Lamott, Bird by Bird, p. 167: “When you ask God into your life, you think God is going to come into your psychic house, look around and see that just need new floor or better furniture, or that everything needs a little bit of cleaning, so you go along for the first six months thinking how nice life is not that God is there. Then you look out the window one day and you see there is a wrecking ball outside. It turns out that God actually thinks your whole foundation is shot and you’re going to have to start all over.”
3. Many of us hear this message today after working on our lives of discipleship for many years.
4. it is hard to hear and comprehend this message of taking on a new quality of life.
5. We think - "I've already done that!"
6. So here’s my challenge - if you look to God and ask for God’s guidance, and all you hear is God saying do exactly what you have been doing, maybe look and listen again.
And, if you still need help, ask a prayer partner or someone in your small group what they are seeing.
7. The God of resurrection is not done with you or God’s work through you in the world.
8. If you read or hear the news and think, “Wow, there are a lot of challenges in this world,” then you better be ready for God to call you to new understandings in order to use your o deal with those challenges.
9. Discipleship is not standing pat.
Discipleship is moving forward following God’s call, which seldom is to do the same old thing.
b. We also notice that this new quality of life involves ongoing transformation.
1. Cornelius - Roman soldier; a believer in the god of the Jews; alms giver; now he’s being called to be a disciple of the resurrected Christ.
Tradition has it that Cornelius would later travel with Peter to share the gospel and then become the second bishop of Caesarea.
not just one change in life but a life of ongoing change.
2. Peter - fisherman; disciple; betrayer; evangelizer of Jews; now being called to recognize God’s desire for all people to come to know and follow the resurrected Christ.
Not just one change in life, but a life of ongoing change.
4. discipleship is not a world of one and done - one change, and we are done.
5. Discipleship is about discovering that new quality of life, and rediscovering it, and then doing it again.
Move 3: Notice that the ministry of members ties this new quality of life to our work as the church.
We are called to demonstrate a new quality of life “Within and through” the church
a. In other words, the church is both the place of change and the vehicle for change.
1. that changing worldview we hear God call us to have is reflected in our work as the church.
2. St. Andrew, or any other church that makes up the body of Christ, cannot just hang on to who we were.
3. God demands we change in order to do our work in the world as the body of Christ.
b. Sometimes the change is thrust upon us.
1. Our Daily Bread is leaving our campus for a wonderful new facility on the Loop.
2. Does that mean that now St. Andrew can relax and say, “Wow, that was g great thing we did for 20+years?”
3. No, it means we need to be exploring the new life to which God is calling us.
4. New ways of engaging the community that reveal God’s presence and love.
c. As the world changes and faces new challenges, God has sent us to meet those challenges.
1. It will probably involve a new understanding of our calling in the particular place.
2. It may mean discovering new insights about the God whom we proclaim.
3. It undoubtedly means being changed ourselves.
d. No easy task.
1. But like Peter, we turn to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and follow where the Spirit sends us.
2. Always, always in the name and by the power of the resurrected Christ.
Conclusion:
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