Peter fairly exploded with his good news: “It’s God’s own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites! It makes no difference who you are or where you’re from—if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open. The Message he sent to the children of Israel—that through Jesus Christ everything is being put together again—well, he’s doing it everywhere, among everyone.

Acts 10:34ff

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language, by Eugene Peterson

Dear Friends,

The above passage was our first lesson for Easter Sunday. If we want to begin to see the full implication of resurrection, of Christ’s victory over death, this passage is an excellent place to start. In this passage we see a new people coming into being. We see the people of God being raised to a new life. Things are radically different in this new life.

How different are they?

Peter had been brought to the home of Cornelius under protest. God sent for him to take the good news of Christ to this Gentile home. But Peter was a Jew. As a “good” Jew, Peter wanted to stay with the “chosen” people. But God wanted Peter to hear Cornelius’ story. God wanted Peter to hear how God had been revealed to this Gentile person. And when Peter heard this story he burst forth with his sermon of inclusiveness. What is quoted above is an excerpt from that sermon.

Here we have the power of resurrection. There are no more insiders and outsiders when it comes to God’s people. This community of the risen Christ is open to all. This is a new life we are living. In this new life God is calling us to visit the home of Cornelius to proclaim the Gospel. And when we see or hear that phrase, “the home of Cornelius,” let us entertain a picture of the home of someone who is not like us: someone who may not yet know that this Christian community is called to be an open community.

Christ has been raised! This means that resurrection is also our destiny. Certainly that promise is made to us in regard to our own individual mortality. But that promise means so much more than that. It means that new life is a gift to Christ’s Church. We are not called to raise ourselves. We have been raised from a dead exclusive people to a living inclusive community. Let us ask God to bless our efforts to live as the people we are.

See you in worship!

Love,

Pastor Kriesel      

  Read one of Pastor Kriesel's sermons ...