Holy God, you call us to operate beyond our comfort level, to face challenges that cause our faith to rise to new heights and overcome obstacles that become stepping stones over rough waters.
Thank you for your grace, and your promise never to leave nor to forsake us.
Your words give us the confidence to act in faith to bring into the present the ‘not yet’ as though it were already done.
You are great in all your ways, and we trust in your name. Amen
Please Read Acts 10
Reflection
At the very beginning of the Church, the new believers faced a huge question – should the Jesus movement be for Jews only, or were Gentiles to be included as well? While there were plenty of Gentiles around in Palestine, observant Jews kept themselves separate and did not visit or eat with them. At the same time, many Gentiles were attracted to the religion of the Jews, with its strict morality and spiritual depth.
Peter’s vision of a sheet let down from heaven containing clean and unclean animals was sign to him that in God’s kingdom those old barriers were breaking down. Cornelius, the ‘God-fearing’ Roman centurion, could be a brother in Christ, and Gentiles could receive the Holy Spirit.
Christians are still prone to worry about associating with the ‘wrong’ people or going to the ‘wrong’ places. There can be a sense that to be really holy, we have to avoid getting our hands dirty by avoiding people who don’t share our faith or our opinions. This is the opposite of what Jesus did, or what Peter was taught. If we mingle with people who aren’t like us, we should be less concerned about them infecting us with sin, and more concerned about infecting them with grace.
Prayer
Father in heaven, we are friends to one another, not because we are so lovable and endearing, or because we choose to be with people who are like ourselves, but because you want us, as your children, to reach out with the best for other people, whoever they are and whatever their characteristics. You want your friends to enjoy a rich and healthy diet of love and joy, peace and patience, kindness and goodness. Thank you for making us your friends, and friends to one another.
By your Holy Spirit, feed our faith on Jesus the Christ so that we grow stronger in our loving concern for other people. Strengthen our faith so that Christ may live in us, so that we may live to please you, rather than try to please the world, and so that our priorities are yours, and not the greedy and selfish priorities of our society.
Give your wisdom to those who govern us so that we can live in peace and safety.
We marvel how your Spirit takes Jesus to the outsiders, those who belong to small or rejected groups in our society. May we welcome them as one with us. Lovingly wash us all clean and sow the risen Christ like a new seed, to sprout and grow in our lives.
We thank you for hearing us, through Jesus our risen Lord.
Amen.
Blessing
Let us listen, God, to the gentle stirrings your word creates in us, let us dare to take the risk to move beyond expectations.
Let us step forward together and give us the courage to share the invitation with all your people.
Amen.
Suggested Listening
All over the world the Spirit is moving – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQeAm4Yu_YY
He’s got the whole world in his hands – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqb3NSiSwoc
Wa Wa Wa Emimimo (Come O Holy Spirit – Nigerian Song) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yn98ri6OBU
