Loved, Pursued, Chosen - Acts 10:1-29

Good morning, Southeast family. How is everyone? Wow, what a worship time? Unbelievable what God is doing among us. Hey, I requested the honor of giving this final announcement because I have been on a trip to Turkey being led by my pastor Aaron a teaching tour, and I want to make sure that you get the opportunity to participate in this thing. It's upcoming. GTI has extended the registration date to April 3rd. So if you want to participate, you certainly have time to sign up. But don't wait to sign up. This study that we're doing in the book of Acts, it has so many of the events, the people, the stories. You get to sit and stand where those things happened, and it just enhances the whole thing, and increases the potency of it as you read through books like Acts and Paul's Epistles. So you can sign up through the app. You can also find out more about it through our website. So make sure that you check into that while you still have time.

So, you're in the drive through line at four bucks, and you order a small beverage, which is actually called a tall beverage. I'm not sure how all that works out. But you want to make sure you get the tall because you want to make sure that you're going to stay under the four bucks because you're on a budget. And so they tell you your total, 3.98, and you're like, "Yes, I did it." Please pull forward. And you get up to the window and you reach over to hand your card to the attendant, but the attendant says, "Oh no, no, that's all right. See that car pulling out? They just paid for your beverage." And you're like, "Yes."

But then you realize they probably bought my drink because they know me from church. And they might have mentioned that to the attendant. And then you look down at your WWJD bracelet, and you decide that you'll, again, extend your card to the attendant. And you say, reluctantly, "I'd like to pay for the next person's order." And the attendant looks over at the register and says, "Okay, that'll be 24.50." And he grabs the card out of your hand before you can snatch it back, and so you're kind of stuck there. And that reminds me of this truth. Sometimes representing God well might cost you. In this case, only $15, but by the way, this all happened to somebody that I know.

I am loving our study in the book of Acts, and the pouring out of the spirit that God has been doing in this place this morning, that I've been able to participate in, and this worship time is just evidence of the similarities of what God is doing here at Southeast, and in the church at large, and in the world. And as we look through these stories, we often see that principle at play, right? That sometimes when you want to represent God well, it might cost you something. It might cost you everything. God did something astonishing in the early days of the church, something that is still going on 2000 plus years later. Now you might want to call it revival, but that's a little bit of a misnomer as far as the word goes because he was doing a fresh move, right? A new thing during that time. And by the power of his spirit, he has kept that movement alive. And there have been many revivals and surges along the way, but none so potent as that first move, at least none yet.

Today, Simon Peter is going to be the primary ... one of the primary people in our study of the back half of chapter nine and all of chapter 10. But before we jump into that part of the text, let's go back in time for some background about Simon Peter. He's been bold in the book of Acts so far, right? He preaches at Pentecost, 3,000 people respond to his message and get baptized. And then there's chapter five where the religious leaders, they tell him and the other disciples, "We need you to stop the talking to the people about Jesus." And his response of course is, "Yeah, I know you want us to talk to stop talking about him. That's because you're the ones who had him killed. But who should we listen to, you or God?" That is bold. He's come a long way since he betrayed Jesus. Hasn't he?

So let's go further back to that moment. And you may be thinking, "Wait, Peter, isn't the one who betrayed Jesus. He denied him." I'm not sure I see the difference between those two words. And Peter was out. He was no longer one of the disciples until Jesus reinstated him as an apostle. Remember that moment? It's right before the book of Acts begins. It's in John, chapter 21, and Jesus says to him, "Do you love me, Simon?" And even the fact that he calls him Simon in that moment is significant. We've learned that, right? And Simon Peter says, "Yes, Lord." And Jesus says, "Then feed my sheep." And he asked him again, "Do you love me?" "Yes, Lord." "Then feed my sheep." And he asks him a third time. "Do you love me?" And Peter's kind of exasperated. He's like, "What are you getting at here? You know I love you." And it's like, he's saying, "Jesus, you can see inside me. You know how I feel about you."

There's a section of the Hebrew scriptures that Peter would've been very familiar with. And when Jesus says one more time, "Feed my sheep," it might have come back to him, might have made him think of Ezekiel 34. The word of the Lord came to me, starting in verse one, son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to them, even to the shepherds, thus says the Lord God, ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves, should not shepherds feed the sheep? And he goes on to talk about how the shepherds of Israel were doing a miserable job of shepherding, resulting in the sheep, being lost, and injured, and hungry and at risk in just about every way you could possibly think of.

So let's jump down now to verse 11. For thus says the Lord, God, behold, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd, seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There, they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. Listen to this part, I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the straight, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak.

Simon Peter has seen this chapter, Ezekiel 34, play out right before his very eyes. He's been a disciple of Jesus for the last three years. All that in the context of the corrupt religious leaders and corrupt temple system. He knew what we have learned, that the shepherds of Israel were in it for themselves, and that Jesus, God in the flesh, had come to shepherd the people himself because the appointed shepherds just weren't getting it done. So he pleads with Peter, back to that moment. If you really love me, the proof will be found not in how you say you feel about me, but in whether you step into this role of shepherd that I'm about to vacate, at least physically. Simon Peter, will you take up my cause? Will you be a good shepherd? Will you feed my sheep? I think maybe there's something in there for us.

Okay. We're ready. Let's jump back into the book of Acts. Peter shows up again, as I mentioned earlier in the back half of chapter nine, and he's near the coast in the town called Joppa. Now he's just healed someone in a nearby town, and then raised a young woman named Tabatha from the dead. Talk about following in the footsteps of your rabbi, your shepherd. This is one of the reasons I love Peter so much, because there have been time in my life when I've been the denier and the betrayer. But somehow God was still able to use Peter in some mighty, some powerful ways. So maybe, maybe he can use even me. Let's start reading right at the top of chapter 10. At Caesarea, there was a man named Cornelius, a Centurion of what was known as the Italian cohort. So this is going to give us a lot of context. So let's explore that just a little bit. This opening sentence is packed with it.

So this town Caesarea that he's talking about is one of at least four Caesareas in the Roman empire. So which one are we talking about? Well, this map that we have up here on the screen shows us how close it was to the other town, Joppa. And because of the travel times that happened that we are shown in the context of the story, we know that it was this Caesarea, Caesarea by the sea, they called it. And it's about ... the distance is about like driving down to Colorado Springs. But when you're on foot, that's 26 hours of walking time to go there and back, which is what they do now. Of course, at least you'd have a beautiful view of the ocean. It's kind of like the Pacific Coast Highway, but no Pacific. You've got the Mediterranean there to beautify your trip back and forth between Caesarea to Joppa, and then back. Joppa is on the coastal side of what is now the metropolitan Israeli city of Tel Aviv. So one more thing for you to hang your hat on in terms of just knowing what area we are in.

So now let's move on to the people. Who is Cornelius? Well, he is a Roman officer of some distinction. We're told that he's a centurion and a part of a specific cohort. And you've got to be thinking, "What in the world is a cohort?" Well, I'm glad you asked. Here's a brief overview of what a cohort was. Maybe you're familiar with this term, legion. That was the name given to a division within the Roman army of about 6,000 men. Each legion was divided into 10 cohorts, 600 men each, and each cohort was divided into six centuries. You guessed it, 100 men in each. And the centurion was the commanding officer of that century.

Now there's a more specific designation though, right? The Italian cohort, that informs us that Cornelius is not from around here. He's a true Roman from the motherland. As you can imagine, the way the Roman empire just moved through and assimilated nations, Cornelius could have been from anywhere. But the text wants us to know that he's a gentile through and through, and a part of the oppressive occupying military force that has Israel and just about everybody else during this time period under its thumb. So back to Cornelius. He's a devout man who feared God with all of his household. He gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. Wait a minute. That's kind of a curve ball, right? He believes in God. No, he even worships God. He has an authentic faith that radiates into everybody who's in his household. Before Paul even wrote the words to the Thessalonians, pray without ceasing, Cornelius was living that out.

By all indications, this is not some kind of Roman pantheistic religion. It says he feared and prayed to God, not gods. He believes in the God of the Hebrew Bible. Also, this phrase, gave alms generously to the people, that doesn't make it specific, but the original language and some other translations indicate that it actually is specific, that he's talking about the Jewish people that he's helping with these alms. He's a devout proselyte of the Jewish faith who worships the God of the Hebrews.

Let's keep reading in verse three. About the ninth hour of the day, about three in the afternoon, he saw clearly in a vision, an angel of God, come in and say to him, "Cornelius." And he stared at him in terror and said, "What is it, Lord?" And he said to him, "Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. And now, send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging with one Simon, a Tanner, whose house is by the sea." So we've got Simon Peter staying with Simon Tanner. Simon and Simon. I think they had to open up a law firm.

When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. Now it's been said that spiritual maturity can be measured in the amount of time between you hearing god tell you to do something, and you actually doing that thing. And again, Cornelius shines through. He sets the bar high when it comes to spiritual maturity because he gets right to it.

So the next day as his people, they're on their way, and on their journey, and approaching the city of Joppa, Peter went up on the house top about the sixth hour, which is about noon, to pray. And he became hungry. Well, it's lunchtime. And wanted something to eat. But while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened up, and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the Earth. And it were all kinds of animals, and reptiles, and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat. Rise, kill, and eat." So if you're vegan, I'm sorry, but don't blame me. I'm just the messenger. And it's okay if you're a little bit offended. You should just send an email to Aaron.Couch@Southeastcc.org. Rise, kill, and eat sounds like a slogan for Arby's, doesn't it? Instead of we have the meats, it's rise, kill and eat.

But Peter said, "By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean." And the voice came to him again a second time, "What God has made clean, do not call common or unclean." This happened three times. And then the thing was taken up at once to heaven. Now, while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, and we think, "Well, this seems pretty obvious, doesn't it? It means we can eat any type of meat that we want." And all the men say, "Amen." Yeah. All those dietary restrictions, all that kosher stuff in the old law, it's history.

I'm not saying that's wrong, but I am certain that is not the primary purpose of this vision. But hold on. Peter's about to receive some additional context. And I think we know by now context matters, exclamation point. That's right. The whole, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry at Simon's house, stood at the gate and called out to ask whether Simon, who was called Peter, was lodging there. And while Peter was pondering the vision, the spirit said to him, listen to this, "Behold, three men are looking for you. Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them." And Peter went down to the men and said, "I am the one you're looking for. What is the reason for where you're coming?" We've seen this over and over in the book of Acts, haven't we, as well.

Have you seen this in your life? That's my question. Have you heard the spirit speak? Have you listened and done what the spirit is asking you to do? And they said, "Cornelius," so this is them talking to Peter. They said, "Cornelius, a centurion ..." And I don't know if he recoiled when they said that or what, but they begin to really spice up the sail. "An upright and God fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel." Now how you're going to say no? "To send for you to come to his house, and to hear what you have to say." So he invited them in to be his guests. The next day, he rose and went away with them. And some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. And on the following day, they entered Caesarea.

Cornelius was expecting them, and had called together his relatives and close friends. Got two words for you, life group. Or is that one word? I don't know how we do that. When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, "Stand up. I, too, am a man." And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. So Cornelius is not yet a disciple of Jesus. We think he's on his way there. But before he is even a disciple of Jesus, he's making disciples. That ought to speak to us just a little bit.

And he said to them, to the people that were all gathered in his house, Peter says, "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation." Not exactly in the law, "But God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without objection." God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. Peter now gets it. He understands the vision.

And I imagine Peter to be one of those guys who he just hears Jesus voice, even the sound, the timbre of his voice in his head saying things that Jesus said, like this one from John chapter 10, verse six, starting in verse 16. "I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in, also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock and one shepherd." Or Acts chapter one, verse eight, Jesus is just about to ascend, and he says this. "You will receive power when the holy spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria," remember Samaria from a couple of weeks ago, "and to the ends of the Earth." I'd like to think that Peter, he's going to make this connection as he thought back on that moment. Oh Jesus, wasn't talking about just geographic regions. He was talking about the full-blooded Jews in Judea and Jerusalem, the half breeds, the Samaritans, and the no breeds, everyone else.

The rest of chapter 10 is this beautiful picture of Peter connecting the dots for this household full of people. And when he does, the spirit of God descends, and there's quite a display of the spirit, just like there was for the Jews at Pentecost. And it's like God is putting his seal on this moment. They all receive the truth about Jesus and what he accomplished. And guess what? They immediately get baptized. Another common occurrence that we've seen over and over as we've gone through the book of Acts.

So now let's take a step back for a little bit of a wider view of this story. And there's three things I want us to notice as we do that. God cared so much for Cornelius that he orchestrated away for him to hear the good news of the kingdom. He gave a vision to Cornelius. He gave another one to Peter. He spoke to Peter by the power of the spirit. And then the next thing you know, Cornelius is able to hear and believe in the gospel truth about who Jesus is. You are here today because God did the same thing for you. He gave the blood of his son to save you, but he didn't stop there. As if that wasn't enough, he kept on pursuing you, orchestrating all of the varying circumstances surrounding your life in a way that resulted in you hearing and understanding the gospel truth about Jesus.

Listen to how Paul puts it in Acts chapter 17. "From one man, he made all the nations that they should inhabit the whole Earth, and he marked out their appointed times in history, and the boundaries of their lands, the times and places in which they would live. God did this so that they would seek him, and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though He is not far from any one of us. Maybe you've heard of Erwin McManus. He's a best selling Christian author. He's also the lead pastor of Mosaic Church in Southern California. Years ago when he and his wife Kim moved to Southern California, she kept telling him how she just really wanted to be on the game show The Price is Right. And he's like, "Okay." But then she got actually secured an invitation to go on the show. And so now he wants to support her, so he goes along with her.

Now, maybe you know this, that on that game show, you sit in the audience. It doesn't mean you're a contestant just because you got an invitation. You sit in the audience, and then if your name gets drawn and called, now you get to run down like a crazy person like they do. And guess what? Kim's name got called. So she runs down to the front and leaves Erwin sitting there with a blank seat next to him. But then on the other side of that seat, a young woman. Now, all of this happened about 10 to 15 years ago. And I say that because I'm going to tell you that this person, this woman, was from Russia. And I don't want that to be distraction for you. But she was from Russia, had a really strong accent as Erwin began to develop this conversation with her.

And she asked, or he asks her all of those questions that you ask when you meet someone. Where are you from? And she tells him that she was born and raised in Russia. And then just a handful of years ago, she had ended up moving to New York City. She had the opportunity to do so, and so she did. And then, more circumstances ensued, and she ended up being on the opposite coast. She ended up moving to Southern California, and here she is. And then she begins to turn it around and ask Erwin the same questions. Where are you from, and so on. And Erwin tells her, "I'm from El Salvador, Central America. And at some point my family and I, when I was a kid, we ended up on a boat to Florida. We lived there for a while. I ended up going to college as a young man, and through a campus life program, I got to find out about this person, Jesus, and everything changed for me."

And he begins to light up as he tells her about this Jesus who loves him, and how so many things happened in his college career that were unexplainable, except that God was in them, and in pursuit of him, that not only did he become a follower of Jesus, he became a pastor. And she kind of got this look on her face, and kind of turned a little bit in her seat and said, "Yeah, you know, I don't know if I buy all this truth about Jesus stuff. And anyway, if this God is who you're describing him to be, and if you're saying he loves me, then I would think he would be in pursuit of me. I'd think he'd be going out of his way to make sure that I could hear the truth about who he is."

And Erwin responds like this. "Let's think about this for just a minute. You were born and raised in Russia, and ended up, through various circumstances, moving to New York City, and then more circumstances brought you to Southern California. I was born in El Salvador, ended up on a boat with my family to Florida, ended up in college, meeting Jesus, and he transformed my life. I became a pastor. And now we're sitting next to each other on a game show with some time to kill, and you don't think that Jesus is in pursuit of you. I think he is unavoidably showing his great love for you right now."

Here's the next thing I want us to notice in the story of Cornelius. What was going on at this point in time in the church, as God was trying to unite the full bloods, and the half bloods, and the new bloods into one church was radical. Chrissy described it this way last week. Paul would go to a new town, and he'd gather all these unlikely people and call it the church. And then he'd move to the next town and gather the next group of unlikely people. Unlikely is a little bit of an understatement. Even the term radical that I just used is quite an understatement. Even the term paradigm shift is an understatement for what God was doing, having to try to pull together these polar opposite cultures into one unit called the church that would speak a unified message to the world.

It was a big deal for Peter to associate with and be a guest in the house of Cornelius, a gentile, and a Roman. A big deal to whom, you might ask. The Jews. That gets verified right at the beginning of chapter 11. If you read past chapter 10, you find out that the Jews ... and these are Jews who believe in Jesus. They call Peter on the carpet for hanging out with Cornelius in his home, and sharing a meal with him and his family. See, the Jews misunderstood what it meant to be God's chosen people. Now, make no mistake. They were, they are, God's chosen people. But chosen for what? Chosen to be the people through whom the Messiah would come. Chosen to be a light to the nations. Chosen to represent God's character, his sovereignty, his justice, his righteousness to the world.

Why did the Jewish people miss so badly what it meant to be God's chosen people when clearly and continually God says that they are to welcome the outcast, the outsider, the foreigner, the orphan? All of these people groups were to get a glimpse of the character of their God because they were supposed to be representing him well. That is what their chosen-ness was supposed to mean. Remember, Isaiah chapter 56 from Aaron's message two weeks ago says this. "And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast to my covenant, these I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples, all nations."

However, the spiritual leaders of Israel continue to interpret their scriptures and their chosen-ness in a way that isolates them from everyone else, and subjugates everyone else to them. They choose to look at scripture and chosen-ness in a way that places them above everyone else, instead of in a way that shows God's character. Do you see any similarities, at least in the history of the church, of how it's looked at scripture, how it's chosen to interpret scripture? These two interpretations are opposites. One puts who really ... God really is on display. The other one dishonors his reputation.

As time goes by, Peter comes to understand chosen-ness in deeper and deeper ways. And then he passes that knowledge and that responsibility of chosen-ness on to you and to me. First Peter, chapter two, starting in verse nine, says this. "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation of people of his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. Once, you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once, you had not received mercy. But now you have received mercy." So how will you understand and operate in this truth? You have been chosen by God.

Why is that such an important question? Well, it's because of what we mentioned briefly a moment ago. Historically, the church has also misunderstood chosen-ness in a way that has rendered it powerless. Like the religious leaders of Israel, it is our natural tendency to reinterpret chosen-ness to mean supremacy instead of usability or availability. So one more thing I'd like for us to look at is this question. God can do whatever he wants. So why didn't he just tell Cornelius the gospel directly? The angel could have just told him what he wanted him to know instead of him having to send for Peter. I believe it's because he wanted the transfer to happen relationally and across these deep lines of preexisting prejudice so he could tear them down. What might be preexisting for you? What might be prejudicial in the way that you look at some other people? May God use us in this generation to tear those lines down.

The good news of the gospel of Jesus was on trial. And God was asking Peter to move from the role of judge to the role of witness. I believe that if we will do the same thing, we will faithfully represent the character of our God, and what it really means to be his chosen people. So many implications. I've got four of them for us. Implication one is this. God gave his son for you, but that's not all. He has orchestrated all of the circumstances of your life in such a way to make his love obvious to you. Implication number two, once God has us and he has our will aligned with his, we join him in showing his welcoming love to others. He enlists us in that process of shaping the circumstances of someone else's life so that they can hear and understand the truth about Jesus.

Implication three, when we are attentive, God makes the needs around us clear, though they may challenge our preconceptions. Maybe God, by the power of his spirit moving inside you, maybe that voice that you're hearing when you're with someone and he's prompting you to speak truth about Jesus to them, if we're attentive to that voice, God can move in it, through it, and through us to do work for his kingdom. Implication four, we have historically misunderstood chosen-ness. It is our natural tendency to reinterpret chosen-ness to mean supremacy rather than usability. May God change that. May God turn that around in us, with us, and through us.

We're about to enter into a time of communion. And as we do, I'd like for us to just go back to implication one and review that idea. God gave his son for you, but he didn't stop there. As if that wasn't enough, he continued to pursue you. He orchestrated the circumstances of your life in such a way that made his welcome to you, his intense, his deep love for you, obvious. There's no place in which it's more obvious than at the cross and in the resurrection. The Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And in the same way, he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, whenever you drink it in remembrance of me."

Let's pray. God, you've shown us many things that are challenging to us, if we're honest. And so, God, would you give us your spirit in great abundance? Would you give it to us in such abundance that we learn to listen for that voice, and we learn to make ourselves available to the purpose toward which it calls us? God, as we sing the words to this song, may they not be empty, but instead be our pledge to you and to your kingdom to tear down the walls of prejudice and preexisting judgements. And instead go where you call us, bring the good news to all those who will choose to listen to it. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.