Scripture reading: Acts 10:1-8
10In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort, as it was called. 2He was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God. 3One afternoon at about three o’clock he had a vision in which he clearly saw an angel of God coming in and saying to him, ‘Cornelius.’ 4He stared at him in terror and said, ‘What is it, Lord?’ He answered, ‘Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. 5Now send men to Joppa for a certain Simon who is called Peter; 6he is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside.’ 7When the angel who spoke to him had left, he called two of his slaves and a devout soldier from the ranks of those who served him, 8and after telling them everything, he sent them to Joppa.
Sermon Title: "A SURPRISING ROLE MODEL?" Sunday, April 13, 2008
PASTOR HUDSON: Today let's talk about
what might be a surprising role model. I think Luke understood
that there
would be some surprise at the story of Cornelius being
included in the Book of Acts.
Remember, this was early days after the
resurrection of Christ, and there was still a very
significant mind-set that presupposed that this new
church was going to be significantly, if not
exclusively, Jewish in nature.
You would either be a native-born Hebrew
Israelite, or if not that, you would have at least
gone through all the ritual procedures to become a
good, observant Jew. That was the standard way of
thinking at this time. So some of these stories that
Luke includes in the Book of Acts fly in the face of
the common notion.
Why was it that Cornelius became a marvelous role model for you
and I? The first
reason is simply this, Cornelius wanted God more than
anything else in the world. The word that Luke uses
to describe Cornelius was that he was a God-fearer.
The term described somebody who was seriously engaged in a
quest to know
God. Is there a God? Will this God hear me?
Will he answer my prayers? I am not satisfied with
anything else except an intimate personal relationship
with this God.
Historically, we've seen a number of individuals
like that. The historic Martin Luther, 500 hundred plus years ago,
Martin Luther was very much a person
like that. He wanted to know God more than anything
else. When he began his early church life, he did not
have within himself that deep, heartfelt personal
relationship that he really quested for.
The story about Martin Luther is that he put himself
through all kinds of spiritual gymnastics to try and deepen his
relationship with God. He made a pilgrimage to Rome
and performed rituals—all in a quest to know God.
Similarly, Cornelius was a person who was seeking God by
devotion, study, prayer, and giving.
Now what stimulates this kind of hunger for God?
Some of us in this sanctuary today
have that kind of a hunger for God's touch in our
life. You really are hungry for God, but you have yet
to have that kind of earth-shaking dramatic encounter
that becomes a literal touchstone for you, a place
that you can go back to and tell someone about the
time and the place where you first really knew that
God loved you.
Others, perhaps even in this very congregation,
are sitting there and really don't have that hunger
yet. They may be a very faithful church attendee, but
somehow the relationship between themselves and God is
still largely dormant.
What causes one person to be passionately hungry
for God and another person to be quiescent? I think
sometimes there is no single answer, but,
sometimes part of it has to do with the life
experience that is shaping the person. Sometimes it's
because crisis or tragedy has stepped into our life,
or there has been a very difficult situation that's
driven us to our knees.
As C.S. Lewis put it back in the very early '60s,
God whispers to us in our conscience but shouts to us
in our pains. The pains of life send us to
our knees, and we say, God, help me make sense out of
all of this.
For others, it's a sense of their own limited
nature, their mortality. Maybe there is nothing
particular going on in their life that's a crisis, but
they look at all the horrible things that happen in
the world and struggle with it. They're asking the
fundamental question of how can there be a God with so
much suffering. They go to their knees saying, God,
can you help me make sense out of all this? Whatever
it is, something triggers within the life of an
individual a desire and a hunger for God.
The role model element of Cornelius was he was
first humble. Cornelius had every reason in the world
not to be humble. The basic Roman mentality was to be
arrogant, as if, I'm the one who has the pedigree.
I'm a part of the greatest thing that's ever happened
in the world—the Roman empire.
There were all kinds of reasons for Cornelius to
be arrogant, but he wasn't. He found it within
himself to be humble in his search for God, to truly
find the place where he could go to his knees and seek
for a Hebrew God and search for the answer that would satisfy his
soul.
Secondly, Cornelius was obedient. Instead of
Cornelius sending for somebody who was prestigious and
very significant, the spirit of God told Cornelius to
send for Peter, the fisherman, who is residing in the
house of Simon, the tanner. Cornelius didn't say
you're asking me to send for someone who
intellectually and socially is not on my level to come
speak to me about I'm not even sure what. There is no
indication whatsoever that Cornelius hesitated. He
delegated servants to make the journey and call Peter
to him.
Let me share with you an experience I had as a
young man, a teenager. You know how teenagers are.
We've all been teenagers. When I was a teenager, I
had a fairly high opinion of my understanding of the
world. We had revivals back then, and I remember
going to a revival service.
This evangelist who was preaching was one of
those kind that would go right on down the aisle. I
was a young red-head sitting in a pew. As he went
preaching down the aisle, he looked at me and just
stopped, and he said, Come here, little red-headed
boy, I want to pray for you.
He reached out his hand, pulled me to my feet,
and he prayed for me right there. That moment was one of the
most powerful experiences in my life. What
was powerful about it was, number one, he actually
cared for me and ministered to me. Number two, I connected with God
through him.
By being obedient, I had a powerful moment in
God. When the revival first started, do you know what
my attitude was? Look at that old person up there,
you know, what could he possibly know that I need to
hear?
Sometimes we're that way. He just seemed like
the typical redneck country-bumpkin
preacher, and yet that night the ministry that he
brought in the life of one young person was very
powerful. I would have missed that if I hadn't been
willing to stand up when he said I want to pray for
you.
You see, Cornelius was obedient, and he said,
Yes, Lord, I know he's a fisherman, but I'm going to
send for him, and I'm going to let you take care of
the rest.
Number three, because of humility, because of
obedience, Cornelius was rewarded. Cornelius kept on
giving alms. He kept on praying and seeking God and
reading the word until his heart was ripe to receive
the message that God had for him. Jesus said, Draw
near to me and I will draw near to you.
Would you like Jesus to draw near to you today?
For this not to be just one more Sunday with one more
element of whatever it is that happens at Wesley on
Sunday morning? Can you picture in your mind Christ
in our aisles saying, Come here, I want to pray for
you? What a tremendous moment that would be for us.
In my opinion, for any believer, any church,
there can be no more important priority than to have
the spirit of God moving in our midst. I hope the
spirit will tug on a heart or two and help us to do
exactly what Cornelius did, keep seeking until God
answers prayer.
In the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy
Spirit, amen.