Monday, May 7, 2012

Monday, May 7, 2012

One for All and All for One

Scripture: Acts 10:44-48
The first non-Jew to embrace the gospel was Cornelius, a Roman centurion stationed at Palestinian Caesarea. God gave visions to Cornelius and Peter to set the stage for their meeting. The old folks used to say “God has a way that is mighty sweet.” God has prepared both men to have an experience that they will never forget!
Peter stayed with a tanner. A tanner by reason of their profession had to handle dead animals, Jewish belief and custom rendered a person unclean. For Peter to have stayed with this man, meant that Peter had become a little more tolerant, but not enough. God knew Peter’s strengths and his weaknesses. Peter had issues regarding people who were different from him.
God is gradually teaching Peter that Gentiles are equal to the Jews. Judging people by their ethnicity has been one of the down falls of America. For years this country has had a race relation problem, but we say that “Jesus is Lord”. How can we proclaim that Jesus is Lord, but fail to practice being Christian?
Once Peter and Cornelius met, they both shared their experience with God, uh common grounds. Peter was convicted of his prejudices and understood clearly that God shows no partiality. He was equipped to preach a powerful and anointing message.
If we ask ourselves the question: who is less than welcome at our church this Sunday? Many of us would say all are welcome. We would like to think that all are welcome; however, the reality is there are some barriers that exist. Think about what barriers you have witnessed and some you may have put up yourself. Then think and pray about ways you can remove those barriers? Do your part to identify prejudice against the people in your community who look different.  Think about people who are at a different social location is different from you.
Prayer:  God help us to practice being a Christian in our daily walk with you.

The Reverend Betty A. Brown

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http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/