Peter was summoned by a man named Cornelius. God Himself told him to go. God told Cornelius to send for him. And Peter had arrived.
Cornelius was not Jewish. Up to this point, all of the followers of Jesus had been Jewish (except for the folks in Samaria, who were half-breeds). This posed a dilemma for Peter. Would he go inside Cornelius’s house? That would be a big deal. Jewish people weren’t supposed to go inside a Gentile’s house. They weren’t supposed to eat together or have extended conversations.
What’s a good Jewish boy to do?
What would you do?
We still have our dividing lines. We may not always divide along the lines of ethnicity — although skin colour is still a big deal in a lot of places. We may divide along the lines of religious affiliation or political ideologies. We may draw our lines with socioeconomic markers or even theological positions.
You may think, I can’t talk to them, they’re Mac users! They’re Calvinists! They’re Democrats!
Peter could have launched into a diatribe about the things that divided them. He could have preached a good, old-fashioned “Turn or burn!” sermon. But he didn’t. Instead, look what he did, “Talking with him, Peter went inside” (Ac 10.27).
Perhaps the most important phrase in this story is simply this, “Talking with him.”
Peter didn’t talk to Cornelius. Peter didn’t talk at him. Peter talked with him.
And look what he said: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean” (v. 28). Cornelius and his friends were from the wrong religious and ethnic background, but Peter knew now not to call anyone impure or unclean.
Truth is, everyone is impure and unclean — Jew and Gentile alike — Christian and non-Christian. But no one gets called impure or unclean. Not Gentiles. Not lepers. Not women. Not AIDS patients. Not Republicans. Not Democrats. Not feminists. Not New Agers. Not Muslims.
No one gets called impure or unclean.
There was a time when simple conversations, steeped in humility (“I’m a man just like you”) and couched in the context of acceptance could persuade. It was through conversations like Peter had with Cornelius that the world was changed. Later in his life, Peter would write, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Pet 3.15).
Do we even know how to have conversations like that anymore — with gentleness and respect? Can we stop talking past others, talking at others, talking down to others long enough to talk with them?
The power of a simple conversation, the give-and-take and exchange of ideas without name-calling is a marvellous thing. It’s how the Early Church spread. It’s how the Church would spread today if we’d give it a chance.
Prayer
Lord, we have always lived in cultures that erect barriers between people. Social, economic, racial, gender, political and worldview barriers divide us and make us feel either arrogant or inferior. I thank You for the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus, who broke through these artificial boundaries in His love, acceptance, forgiveness and service to the last, the least and the lonely. And I give thanks for the way Your followers, according to the book of Acts, were willing to carry the Good News from the Jews to the Samaritans, and on to the Gentiles. Teach me to treasure all the people I encounter and to love them enough to seek their greatest good. I want to be gracious and kind when I share my faith, not talking at people, but with them. May I build redemptive bridges of friendship based on common ground with people who do not yet know Jesus.
In Jesus’s name, Amen
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