My reading this morning was in Acts 9 - 11. The story of Paul's conversion is followed by the story of Peter and Cornelius. These chapters provide a great deal of life changing drama - heavenly voice, visit from an angel, divine trance, etc. I smiled as I wondered who handled their dramatic life change the best. Each of these men, plus some other Jewish believers experienced things that were far removed from their comfort zones.
I suppose in one sense nothing was as dramatic as Paul's Damascus story. Suddenly, abruptly, his trip of terrible persecution turns into a startling conversion trip. Confronted by Jesus himself; three days of blindness; healed and baptized; told by the Lord that he was to preach to Gentiles, kings, Jews and would himself be persecuted. Amazing!
On the other hand, unlike the well educated, well travelled Paul, Peter was an uneducated Galilean Jew who would have had little - almost no contact with Gentiles. Suddenly while he is waiting for lunch (and praying) he falls into a trance. Food that he has avoided all his life as an observant Jew is presented as declared clean by God. Three times - so that he does not miss the point! Puzzled as to why the vision and (I am guessing) wondering if the OT law has been changed, he is told there are three men (Gentiles!) at the door. He is about to learn the shocking news (to a first century Palestine Jew) that God's Good News and God's Holy Spirit are available directly for Gentiles just as much as for God's OT people, the Jews.
And then there is Gentile Cornelius, friend of Jews; worshipping the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; righteous and devout. Visited by an angel! Commended by an angel! Told that his prayers and gifts to the poor have been noted and appreciated like a sacrifice offering to God! Then visited by the Jewish preacher Peter (with six other Jews) - and amazingly, miraculously, visited by the Holy Spirit with the experience of tongues. How dramatic was his life change!?
I recall one teacher of preachers saying that the worst thing a preacher could do was to make the Bible boring! That must go for all of us who are readers of Scripture as well. If we pay attention - if we stop and identify with Scripture - we will not find it boring! God's Word is alive with dramatic stories and life changing, mind altering truth. God is still changing countless lives by His Spirit through the Word. I hope your life is one of those.
I suppose in one sense nothing was as dramatic as Paul's Damascus story. Suddenly, abruptly, his trip of terrible persecution turns into a startling conversion trip. Confronted by Jesus himself; three days of blindness; healed and baptized; told by the Lord that he was to preach to Gentiles, kings, Jews and would himself be persecuted. Amazing!
On the other hand, unlike the well educated, well travelled Paul, Peter was an uneducated Galilean Jew who would have had little - almost no contact with Gentiles. Suddenly while he is waiting for lunch (and praying) he falls into a trance. Food that he has avoided all his life as an observant Jew is presented as declared clean by God. Three times - so that he does not miss the point! Puzzled as to why the vision and (I am guessing) wondering if the OT law has been changed, he is told there are three men (Gentiles!) at the door. He is about to learn the shocking news (to a first century Palestine Jew) that God's Good News and God's Holy Spirit are available directly for Gentiles just as much as for God's OT people, the Jews.
And then there is Gentile Cornelius, friend of Jews; worshipping the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; righteous and devout. Visited by an angel! Commended by an angel! Told that his prayers and gifts to the poor have been noted and appreciated like a sacrifice offering to God! Then visited by the Jewish preacher Peter (with six other Jews) - and amazingly, miraculously, visited by the Holy Spirit with the experience of tongues. How dramatic was his life change!?
I recall one teacher of preachers saying that the worst thing a preacher could do was to make the Bible boring! That must go for all of us who are readers of Scripture as well. If we pay attention - if we stop and identify with Scripture - we will not find it boring! God's Word is alive with dramatic stories and life changing, mind altering truth. God is still changing countless lives by His Spirit through the Word. I hope your life is one of those.
No comments:
Post a Comment