Jump Start # 1473

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 and prayed to God continually.”

Today is Veteran’s Day—the day this country honors those who served in our military. It was on this day, November 11th, at 11 o’clock, that a treaty was signed to end WW I. That war, it was said, was the war to end all wars. We know that didn’t happen. It is the courage and service of so many in our country that keeps us safe and allows our freedoms to continue on.

Our passage today is about a soldier from the first century. Cornelius was an officer in the Roman Empire. This chapter of Acts is devoted to his conversion to Jesus Christ. Cornelius was a gentile. It took a series of visions before Peter would be convinced to go and preach Christ to him.

There are a few things we see in our verse today.

First, it is easy to stereotype people. It’s easy to assume everyone is like this or that. This is true of military folks. The expression, “cussing like a sailor” implies that all sailors cuss. Not true. To assume that all military are a rough and mean bunch is not true. Even way back, look at Cornelius. Godly. Generous. Caring. And part of that powerful Roman Empire that crushed the world. A lot of stereotypical comments are just a step away from prejudice. Many of them are made in ignorance without knowing a person specifically. The same could be said of athletes, especially professionals. Can’t lump them all together. Can’t assume that they are all worldly, ungodly, beer drinking party animals. Some are Christians. Generalizing is easy but much too often unfair. We can do that for regions of the country. “Well, everyone knows about those people in California.” Really? Or, people from the South…be careful. This crosses over to religious generalizations. We can lump folks together and assume nobody is reading their Bibles today. Really? Why then has there been over 100 million downloads of Youversion—the online Bible app? One hundred million! Someone is reading. All Catholics believe…be careful.

Cornelius wasn’t the only centurion that seemed to have a heart that leaned toward God. Remember the centurion at the cross? Remember the one who came to Jesus and wanted the Lord to heal his crippled servant? He asked Jesus to just say the word. He understood authority. Soldiers with faith. It is possible.

Second, Cornelius was doing a lot of great things before he knew about Jesus. That is another thought some can’t seem to understand. Christians are not the only ones who do good deeds. Cornelius was giving, praying and serious about his faith. Yet he did not know Jesus. Peter is sent. Peter is sent because Cornelius is not saved. Praying alone will not save a person. The “Sinner’s Prayer,” is not in the Bible. Just being nice is not enough for salvation. Giving is important but that alone will not save a person. Cornelius needed Jesus. Peter came. Peter preached. Cornelius was baptized. Cornelius became a Christian.

I expect it’s hard for some to think that this man as described to us in our verse today was not already a Christian. It’s hard to think that the sweet grandma down the street is not a Christian.  The helpful neighbor, the kind co-worker, the generous boss, are all good people. They may listen to your woes. They may come when you need a helping hand. They show up at the funeral home. They may bring food when you are sick. They ask about your family. They really seem to care. It’s off the charts to think that these people are not Christians. This misunderstanding comes from how one defines a Christian. If your definition is nothing more than someone who is nice to you then you’ll see the world as filled with a lot of Christians. However, if you use the exclusive Biblical definition, where the word comes from, it means one who belongs to Christ. Such a person will through their faith obey the gospel of Jesus. They will have humbled themselves, repented of their sins, confessed Christ and been immersed for the remission of sins. That’s the thought of the great commission. That’s the result of Peter’s first gospel sermon in Acts 2. That’s what happens here to Cornelius. Good Cornelius became a Christian. Without Jesus, a person is not a Christian. Being nice, being generous, even praying, all illustrated by Cornelius, shows that one may still be outside of Christ and in their sins. We are buried with Christ in baptism is what the Romans were told. Saul was told to be baptized to wash away his sins. In Revelation, Jesus is introduced as one who washes away sins by His blood.

Our sins are not counter balanced by good deeds. Baking cookies for a friend doesn’t remove sins. It’s not living with the idea of doing more good than bad. God doesn’t have a heavenly scale that balances our good verses our bad. That’s a common idea. Doing more good than bad will get one into Heaven, is a thought that many have. First, that’s salvation by works. Second, that assumes bad is ok, just as long as I have more good than bad. That’s faulty. Bad is never ok. Third, that assumes the good deeds take care of the bad deeds. They don’t. Only the blood of Christ can forgive sins. Fourth, that lessens the seriousness of sin. The wages of sin is death, the Romans were told.

So, good ole’ Cornelius, who gave and prayed and feared God, had to obey Christ to be a Christian.

Hats off on this day to the many who have served the military in the past and are doing so now. Thank You! Hats off to those who have bowed their hearts to Jesus and have become a New Testament Christian.

Thanks, most of all to our Jesus. Without Him, we would be all in trouble.

Roger

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