Jump Start # 1311

Acts 10:1-2 “Now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people.”

  Cornelius—the first Gentile convert to Christianity. It took Peter a series of divine visions before he would go and preach to Cornelius. Jews and Gentiles weren’t friendly and they definitely had different ways of worship.

It is easy for us to step in Peter’s shoes concerning someone like Cornelius. Generalizing and type casting people is all too common. Those may be just fancy ways of saying prejudice. Not all prejudice is racial. We can be prejudiced by the way someone looks. A young person with tattoos and pink hair would not be considered by most as someone who is interested in Jesus. That may be the best person. Someone who is a career military officer might be ignored by some because they would conclude such a person wouldn’t be interested in the Gospel. Young people…old people…professional people…those with criminal records…politicians…athletes…musicians…doctors…we can make a long list of those who we feel would not be interested. Like purchasing a house, we can “pre-qualify” or “dis-qualify” who we think might be interested in Jesus. This generally leads us to talking to people who are like us. Stable families. Nice people. About the same age. Same race. Good people who would make good church members.

Cornelius would not fit in that mold. There were several strikes against him.

• He was from Caesarea, not Galilee, like most of the apostles
• He was Gentile, not Jewish, like the apostles
• He was a soldier in the Roman army
• He was a commander in the army
• He was already religious so he probably wouldn’t be interested

I expect had it not been for God driving this, that Peter would have never talked to Cornelius. He didn’t fit the mold. He wasn’t like the rest of “them.” And that’s the very point of the great commission. Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every person. Not just the persons we think would make a good member, but every person, because every person needs Jesus. The drive is salvation, not making a good looking membership roll. Nice, good looking people may be attractive on a membership board, but what God wants are hearts that are ready to bow to Him. He is looking for those who by faith are willing to trust Him, follow Him and obey Him.

And that person might be the nerdy guy at work. It might be the guy who drives the trash truck. It might be your doctor. It might be the kid’s school teacher. It might be your cousin. Every person we see today, every person, including the teenager who gives you your lunch at the fast food place, your boss, the guy who is driving like a jerk, your neighbor and even you, we all need Jesus. How terrible it would have been if someone long ago looked at us and thought, ‘he’d never be interested,’ and then skipped over us. What if no one taught us. What if no one showed us Jesus. We may have found him, but it would have been very difficult.

All around us today are people who need Jesus. Most don’t know it. Some do, and just don’t know where to find Him. All around us are folks who think they have the world by the tail and are doing everything right. Then there are those whose lives are crashing. They are running out of options. They are confused, discouraged and hurting. Everyone needs Jesus.

It is interesting that the first Gentile convert was a Roman soldier. It is interesting that it was someone that already was praying and giving alms. It was someone that could easily be by passed as already a good person and already saved. But he wasn’t. Prayers alone do not save. Just giving money doesn’t save. Thinking nice thoughts doesn’t save. Being good doesn’t save. It takes Jesus. Cornelius didn’t know Jesus. Peter preached, he believed and he was baptized into Christ.

I expect that first Sunday when Cornelius worshipped with some disciples a few folks had second thoughts. They may have thought, ‘what is he doing here?’ Or, ‘I wonder what he wants?’ He wanted what they wanted and that was Christ. Sometimes our whispers, the stares we give people, the expression on our faces speaks louder than the Sunday sermon. We can make some people feel very uncomfortable because we are uncomfortable with them. The problem isn’t them, it’s us. We must open our eyes and our hearts as the Lord did. We must realize that we are not the poster children for Heaven. It’s a wonder that God has anything to do with us. We have disappointed God. We have broken His heart. We have let Him down. We have sinned. Our sins are not those nice little white collar sins that are no big deal. We’ve lied. We’ve gossiped. We’ve been prejudiced. We have not been the best people ourselves. Once we get that, we understand that we are no better than anyone else. We need Jesus and so does everyone else.

Got a Cornelius in your life? Peter did. Try to introduce Jesus to him.

Roger