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14 October 2007
Theme for this week: The Sign of Jonah
Acts 11:11-18
Peter said, "Right then three men who were sent to me from Caesarea came to the house where I was staying. The Spirit told me to go with them without doubting. These six believers here also went with me, and we entered the house of Cornelius. He told us about the angel he saw standing in his house. The angel said to him, 'Send some men to Joppa and invite Simon Peter to come. By the words he will say to you, you and all your family will be saved.' When I began my speech, the Holy Spirit came on them just as he came on us at the beginning. Then I remembered the words of the Lord. He said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' Since God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I stop the work of God?" When the Jewish believers heard this, they stopped arguing. They praised God and said, "So God is allowing even those who are not Jewish to turn to him and live."
Have you ever been completely surprised? The kind of surprise that comes along so completely out of the blue that you couldn't have anticipated or foreseen it. Perhaps you look back on your journey and it looks like it all fits in. The twists and the turns in the road so far might make sense looking backward. Remember though, how confusing those corners and turns looked at the time. This episode from the earliest days of the Church tells such a story.
Peter is invited to go beyond every previous understanding of what it meant to be a follower of Jesus. The Spirit of Jesus leads Peter and the Church over the threshold of a new way of being to begin to discover how wide, how high and how deep Christ's love is (Ephesians 3:18).
As the Church later looked back at these twists and turns, another milestone on the same road may have helped them make sense of the journey so far and the way ahead.
When Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his followers, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They answered, "Some say you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Elijah, and still others say you are Jeremiah or one of the prophets." Then Jesus asked them, "And who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus answered, "You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because no person taught you that. My Father in heaven showed you who I am. (Matthew 16:13-17)
Holy Spirit, show me Jesus.
Not the 'Jesus' I've made safe,
Squeezed into a box and left on one side.
But the living Jesus who is always ahead,
Calling me by name to leave everything behind and follow him.
And when I hear that call,
Let my heart respond with a 'Yes' that will change my whole life.
Amen
Written by Pete Sandford of FaithMatters
Theme for this week: The Sign of Jonah
Acts 11:11-18
Peter said, "Right then three men who were sent to me from Caesarea came to the house where I was staying. The Spirit told me to go with them without doubting. These six believers here also went with me, and we entered the house of Cornelius. He told us about the angel he saw standing in his house. The angel said to him, 'Send some men to Joppa and invite Simon Peter to come. By the words he will say to you, you and all your family will be saved.' When I began my speech, the Holy Spirit came on them just as he came on us at the beginning. Then I remembered the words of the Lord. He said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' Since God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I stop the work of God?" When the Jewish believers heard this, they stopped arguing. They praised God and said, "So God is allowing even those who are not Jewish to turn to him and live."
Have you ever been completely surprised? The kind of surprise that comes along so completely out of the blue that you couldn't have anticipated or foreseen it. Perhaps you look back on your journey and it looks like it all fits in. The twists and the turns in the road so far might make sense looking backward. Remember though, how confusing those corners and turns looked at the time. This episode from the earliest days of the Church tells such a story.
Peter is invited to go beyond every previous understanding of what it meant to be a follower of Jesus. The Spirit of Jesus leads Peter and the Church over the threshold of a new way of being to begin to discover how wide, how high and how deep Christ's love is (Ephesians 3:18).
As the Church later looked back at these twists and turns, another milestone on the same road may have helped them make sense of the journey so far and the way ahead.
When Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his followers, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They answered, "Some say you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Elijah, and still others say you are Jeremiah or one of the prophets." Then Jesus asked them, "And who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus answered, "You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because no person taught you that. My Father in heaven showed you who I am. (Matthew 16:13-17)
Holy Spirit, show me Jesus.
Not the 'Jesus' I've made safe,
Squeezed into a box and left on one side.
But the living Jesus who is always ahead,
Calling me by name to leave everything behind and follow him.
And when I hear that call,
Let my heart respond with a 'Yes' that will change my whole life.
Amen
Written by Pete Sandford of FaithMatters
