Tag: Cornelius

Reprove me not in Your wrath

*Joshua 23-24

*Psalms 38

*Acts 10                                 

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)

            Today’s readings have such important, landmark verses and concepts in them that we’ll be bouncing around in all of them.  First, let’s talk about discipline.  I grew up (many years ago) in an age that believed in physical discipline; in a time that folks believed that if you lacked proper direction then a firm impetus on the posterior would propel you properly towards the direction of righteousness.  I was personally propelled towards righteousness on a number of occasions, but I have to confess that it was always deserved and always administered fairly.  Even so, when I was younger I did my absolute best to avoid being punished: I shoved books down the back of my pants once, I remember hiding my father’s belts on at least one occasion, and I took long extended walks to the river hoping that the extra time would cause my offenses to be forgotten.  It was rather silly, really, the foolishness of a selfish child.    Thinking back to some of those instances really made the Psalms reading today resonate within me.

            In our Psalms reading, it says in 38:1: “…O Yahweh, reprove me not in Your wrath, And discipline me not in Your burning anger. ” (LSB).  This is David asking for a “cool off” time, for correction with justice rather than wrath which could destroy him; not an avoidance of punishment but temperance in it’s administration.  In v3-8 he freely confesses his sin, and is asking God to correct him, but in a manner which allows growth.  This sentiment  is echoed beautifully in Jeremiah 10:24, when the prophet says “Discipline me, O Yahweh, but with justice; Not with Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing. ” (LSB).  The purpose of discipline is to correct behavior, but know also that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10) is not an idle statement.  If you believe that your heavenly Father loves you, you will understand that the expression of that love is to correct your behavior at times before you continue in a course that will lead you to destruction. 

            Hebrews 12:6 says “FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE FLOGS EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” (LSB).  It is the expectation that our heavenly Father will correct His children, in love, to prevent us from engaging in activities that will lead to our destruction.  That’s just what a good dad does.  The discipline of God can come in many forms; a painful conscience, an unrest in our soul when we know that we’ve done wrong, or even a more tangible and physical discipline.  Is it going to always be comfortable, and in a manner that we prefer?  Usually not.  If we are NOT receiving that corrective discipline though, we should be very concerned and ask ourself “why?”.  I’ve heard it said that God usually gently guides his children, but I can tell you truly that sometimes he picks them up by the throat and the short hairs (as in my case) until they listen.  Do not run from, or dread, the life saving corrective discipline from our Father in heaven who loves you.  Embrace it, and take to heart the lesson He is trying to teach. 

            When the Israelites, in our last chapters of Joshua reading this morning, are getting their last instructions and guidance from their leader Joshua before he dies they are reminded of all of the blessings that God has given them, and then warned of this very thing in Joshua 23 “…15 And it will be that just as all the good words which Yahweh your God spoke to you have come upon you, so Yahweh will bring upon you all the calamitous words, until He has destroyed you from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you. 16 When you trespass against the covenant of Yahweh your God, which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of Yahweh will burn against you, and you will perish quickly from off the good land which He has given you.”  (LSB).

            Then, Joshua tells the children of Israel that they have a choice, but clarifies his choice in one of the most beautiful (and most quoted) verses in the Bible, located in Joshua 24:15: “If it is evil in your sight to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.”  (LSB).

            In our reading of Acts 10 today, there is a landmark moment, a fulfillment of prophecy so huge that to give it proper scale of importance this entire chapter should be in huge bold font with giant exclamation points at the beginning and the end of the chapter.  Every time you turn to this section in the Bible, you should hear the trumpets of angels sounding in your head, it’s that important.  For the first time in recorded history, in this chapter, salvation is offered to the gentiles!  That’s the majority of us, unless you’ve got some remote biological link to Abraham.  This is in a direct fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 49:6 where it is written: “He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to cause the preserved ones of Israel to return; I will also give You as a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.‘” (LSB).

            I will point out something that most folks conveniently overlook.  This guy Cornelius, in addition to being a gentile (a Roman centurion, specifically), was “a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the people and prayed to God continually” (Acts 10:2, LSB).  He was a devout man, he practiced tzedakah (look it up, please!) and enacted God’s justice to the people, and prayed constantly.  This is what got God’s attention, because God sees the heart of a man.  This was not a random choice.  In Acts 10:4 the angel of God says “Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God.”  This is a guy who put his money where his mouth was, and his wallet where his heart was.  We should emulate his actions to the best of our abilities, if we desire to please our God.

            After the events detailed earlier in the chapter, Peter goes on to say at the beginning of what could be considered his 4th recorded sermon in  Acts 10:34 “I most truly comprehend now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the one who fears him and does righteousness is welcome to Him.” (LSB).  He then finishes this sermon, as the holy spirit falls upon all those listening to his words, as the Jewish believers who came with him were astounded that gentiles had received the gift of the holy spirit, by asking “Can anyone refuse water for these to be baptized who have received the holy spirit just as we did?”

            Today, with the overwhelming number of gentiles who profess to be Christians, we kind of take it for granted, but before THIS SPECIFIC MOMENT in history: salvation was for the Jewish people alone, the chosen people of God.  This was the exact moment in time when God clarified for all humanity: it’s not who your father was (genealogically), but who your Father is (in your heart) that matters.  This is what God has been saying from the beginning, in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, but now the gift of salvation is being offered up to all the nations, to all those who fear God and do righteousness (again, please go look up tzedakah for a clarification on this), to those who seek and accept the discipline of our Father.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

Did you ever try to avoid being disciplined (by God or men), and what were the results?

Think of a time when you received divine discipline.  What was the result?

Have your alms ascended as a memorial to God, or are they stacked up in your bank as a memorial to your own greed?

PRAYER

Father God, please discipline me gently and allow me to receive the instruction that is offered through it.  Correct me when my course goes astray, and forgive me of my many shortcomings.  Help me to reflect your love and character to all of Your creation.  Thank you for all of the blessings, and especially for sending us Jesus and his words of instruction.  In his name, Amen.

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Love Your Enemy

2 Samuel 1-2 and Acts 10

How do you treat people you don’t understand, people who are different than you, people who have hurt you, people you feel threatened by, people who are troubled, those who have become your enemy?

Both our Old Testament and our New Testament reading today offers some options.

The relationship between King Saul and David began back in 1st Samuel 16. “Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.” (vs 14 – NIV). His advisors had heard of a fine young man who spoke well, played the harp well and bravely fought well. David was brought to the king and Saul liked him very much. It began as a helpful, mutually beneficial relationship. The shepherd boy David received a royal position as armor-bearer and musician. And Saul received relief from the evil spirit when David played his soothing music. It was a win-win – until the little harp-playing armor-bearer bested the Philistine giant and EVERYONE in Israel went gaga for the good-looking brave young hero. Saul became jealous and it isn’t long before Saul is pursuing and trying to kill David. How does David respond? He could have very likely led a successful revolt right from the start. He had many faithful followers at a time when Saul’s popularity was greatly declining. He also had many strong and logical reasons to oust the king. Wouldn’t the whole country of Israel be better off if led by a hero favored by the Lord rather than a has-been tormented by an evil spirit? He even had the support of the king’s son Jonathan. How long can you be loyal to a mentally unstable person who is trying to kill you?

But David, who made a practice of inquiring of the Lord, would not respond as so many others would have. Even when given the opportunity (at least twice) to kill Saul, he instead protected his life. David saw and respected Saul as God’s anointed king and so it didn’t matter how Saul treated him, he would not harm Saul. Revenge was not even in his vocabulary. He placed God’s desire above his own, even when it was hard and didn’t make sense to the rest of the world.

In 2nd Samuel 1 the Amalekite brings word that Saul and Jonathan are dead. He even takes credit for ending the life of the severely wounded king (even though this isn’t mentioned in the passage of Saul’s death in 2nd Samuel 31). But whether he did or he didn’t, he took the crown that had been on Saul’s head and brought it to David, the logical new king. I am sure he was expecting to be rewarded. It seems a logical thing to expect. It seems David would now be relieved, he didn’t have to kill the king personally, but it was done and he no longer had to hide and fear for his life. He could now become king. What good news!

But, no. His loyalty had been no act. He sincerely loved and cared for and wanted what was best for the tormented king, regardless of how he had been treated personally. The peaceful reconciliation he had hoped for had not come. David was in deep grief for his faithful friend Jonathan and for the troubled king who had been the Lord’s anointed. Rather than doing what had been expected of him long ago – killing the king – he now had the messenger who took credit for killing the king killed. And, in his grief he turned again to music, writing a lament to teach Israel to grief the deaths as he did.

In Acts 10 we see a different kind of fractured relationship – one that had never been allowed to develop – because Jews had always seen Gentiles as unclean. Jews and Gentiles had different upbringings, different religions, different nationalities, different goals, different understandings. God had been sanctifying the Jews – removing them from their worldly surroundings to keep them the holy, chosen people of God, untainted by others. And, so there had been many Jewish rules about not associating with Gentiles and with good reason at the time. But times were changing…and God was about to show what entering the new covenant was going to look like. The grace, love, and spirit of God was now going to be poured out on all who believed and followed Jesus, the perfect lamb and Son of God sacrificed for all regardless of whether they were a physical descendent of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob (a Jew) or not (a Gentile).

It is hard to overcome centuries of isolation and distrust. Different is different and too often it becomes a barrier to compassion, understanding, brotherhood, and working together for a common goal – sharing Jesus with the world. It took the good Jewish Peter 3 visions from God and a perfectly timed God-ordained appointment with the devout and God-fearing Gentile Cornelius to be willing to accept that God indeed wanted him to change his view of Gentiles and reach out to them with the saving news of Jesus as well.

How are you doing in your view of those different from you? Do you see their need for Jesus and what you can do to bring Jesus to them? Do you react with compassion, eager to share the good news of Jesus to all, not full of judgement and isolation? How do you react to those you might have once considered impure or unclean? Do you want what is best for those who have hurt you or misjudged you? Does God’s desire and love for the troubled and lost motivate you to put off selfish desires and rise above what others expect of you? How are you doing at loving your enemies?

-Marcia Railton

Today’s Bible reading passages can be read or listened to at BibleGateway here – 2 Samuel 1-2 and Acts 10

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Listen and Obey

Acts 10

acts 10 34 35

“Do not call anything unclean that God has made pure.”
In Acts 10 Peter went up to his roof and closed his eyes, and God opened them with this vision. For those of us who do not come from a Jewish heritage, this is one of the most important stories in the Bible.  In this story, the disciples come to realize that salvation through Christ is available to everybody everywhere, not only to the Jewish people.   And God has given to us part of the job of spreading His good news.  That can be a frightening challenge but remember that He will first do the hard part Himself. In these verses God prepared Cornelius’ heart to be ready to hear the news before He had him talk with Peter; and He is preparing the hearts of people in your life to hear the gospel from you.  Maybe it is your school friend whom you study with, your brother who has grown steadily away from the church, or your coworker you’ve been working alongside for years.  Nobody is “out-of-bounds” – the Lord wants a relationship with each of His children.
“The Lord is patient, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 Father, please open my eyes today and reveal the people in my life who You have prepared to hear the gospel.
“…if we want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open.”  Acts 10:35 (Message) Most of us agree we want God.  But are we ready to do as He says?  In this chapter of Acts, Cornelius, a Gentile, is told by God in a vision to send for Peter – a foreigner – a Jew.  God gives no reason; Cornelius asks no questions – he just does it.  And then waits.    And when Peter comes, Cornelius invites him in and waits again, “ready to listen to whatever the Master put in your heart to tell us.”  Do we trust God enough to simply do what he asks and then wait for Him to reveal what it means?  We are a generation of questioners, of action. I’ve always been full of questions and NOT good about waiting.  How hard it is for me to just listen to God without questioning and then wait – wait for God to reveal His plans, Himself.  But the times I manage to do this; when I usually ignore my natural instincts to do things my way, to “make it happen.” But the times I actually listen to that voice in my heart that says, “wait and listen for God’s direction”, those times are ALWAYS better.    Father God, thank you for knowing what’s best for us.  Help us to learn to wait and listen for your Word. This week, try to quiet your heart so you can hear what your Father is saying. And then do it!
-Andy Cisneros