Friday: No, Lord; for I Have Never . . .
WEEK 10
FRIDAY
NO, LORD; FOR I HAVE NEVER . . .
Acts 10:17-20
We have seen the racial background of the disciples before the coming of the Holy Spirit. Then something happened. The Holy Spirit actually came upon the Gentiles at the house of Cornelius, a Roman! That simple fact knocked into a cocked hat all their lingering race prejudices.
But it was not accomplished without a struggle. God let down the sheet with clean and so-called unclean animals in it and bade Peter kill and eat. And Peter protested, “Absolutely not Lord! I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” And the reply: “Never consider unclean what God has made pure” (Acts 10:14, 15). This was repeated three times as a gentle reminder of Peter’s three-time denial of Jesus, thus hitting a blow at his self-righteous pride.
Peter reluctantly went to the house of Cornelius, and began patronizingly, “You all realize that it is forbidden for a Jew to associate or to visit with outsiders” (v. 28)—and I hope you appreciate what I am doing! But he began to preach his gospel and was carried away by it, and used a word beyond his own attitudes: “everyone” (v. 43). The account says, “While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell on everyone who heard the word” (v. 44).
While Peter was still saying this—“everyone”—the Holy Spirit fell. The moment he took the attitude of “everyone” instead of “some,” the Spirit fell. God could approve of the attitude expressed in that word, and gave the Holy Spirit as a seal of that approval. The account adds, “The circumcised believers . . . were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles” (v. 45). At Jerusalem, when Peter was called to task, he repeated, “‘If God gave them the same gift he gave us . . . , then who am I? Could I stand in God’s way?’ Once the apostles and other believers heard this, they calmed down. They praised God and concluded, ‘So then God has enabled the Gentiles to change their hearts and lives so that they might have new life’” (11:17-18).
Their race prejudices were knocked in the head by a simple fact; God gave his highest gift to the Gentiles on the same basis as the Jews. The wall of partition had fallen before their astonished eyes. Humankind was one.
O Divine Redeemer, you are redeeming us from our narrowness and our prejudice; and in redeeming us from them, you are redeeming us. We thank you. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: When I look at Jesus and then at a person, I see that person differently.