The 4^th Midweek Lenten Meditation

SERMON

Text: Acts 10:36-43

"The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all things, which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins."

In Christ Jesus, whose cross has become the symbol of Christianity—a symbol rich in meaning, dear fellow redeemed:

Today I would like to take you away for twenty minutes to another time and another place. I would like to give you another identity, another life, another family, and at first another faith. You are now a Roman citizen—a soldier by trade, a man named Cornelius. You grew up in Rome believing in the Roman gods: Jupiter, the king of heaven—powerful, distant, uninvolved and uninterested in your life; Juno, his consort, the queen of heaven—fickle, vengeful, supposedly a good friend, but an even worse enemy; Mars, the god of war; and Venus, the goddess of love.

In time, however, doubts and disappointments entered your mind concerning your childhood gods. They seemed so much like human beings, with all their frailties and failures. They took no interest in you and your service to them was motivated for the most part by fear. Overall, they seemed too small and you desired more.

You began to dabble a bit in Greek philosophy, when you were stationed in the East. The ideas of the Stoics appealed to you. A world governed by unvarying natural law seemed to fit reality more than the gods, who supposedly inhabited Olympus. The striving after virtue—the control of emotions fit your lifestyle, but after a time this godless religion too lost its appeal.

Something inside of you longed to know the God you knew must be there—the God responsible for creating the laws of nature, the God you assumed ultimately responsible for creating you. You longed for a personal relationship with what must be this infinite Creator God.

It was at about this time that you were stationed in Ceasarea—the royal capital of the Roman province of Judea. This was not in your mind a plum assignment, but yours was not to question, but to obey. It was not long after you arrived that you began hearing things about the strange God of the Jews—a God so unlike any other in the empire. At first you dismissed the information, for after all the Jews were a strange and troublesome lot. In time, however, as you and your family members came to know some of the Jews in Caesarea, it became apparent that their teachings concerning God met the needs you had been feeling in your heart. They spoke of one, true God—the LORD! He had created the world and all within the world were responsible to Him. Beyond this, their God had promised to send a Savior into the world to redeem it from all of the evil so evident in this life. Oh, you didn’t really believe all of the things your Jewish acquaintances were saying about this Savior, they called the Christ, or Messiah. After all, it seemed inconceivable to you that any Jewish leader would throw off the yoke of Rome. But the idea of an almighty and personal "Prince of Peace" appealed to you (cf. Isaiah 9:6). The more you heard, the more you became convinced. Finally, you and the members of your household embraced this Jewish faith. You remained somewhat of an outsider, for these Jewish were funny that way, but nonetheless you embraced their God and dedicated yourself to Him and His worship.

It was while you were fasting one day that a wonderful thing happened. An angelic creature appeared to you and informed you, "Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms are remembered in the sight of God" (Acts 10:31). The angel went on to tell you to send servants down to Joppa to the home of one Simon the tanner, where they would find a certain Peter, whom they were to invite to return with them to your house. You sent the men and waited impatiently for their return. Would they indeed find this man called Peter? Would he consent to come back with them? After all, it would be rather strange for someone to come to the home of someone else he did not know and had never met.

As you pondered these things, your servants arrived home. With them was indeed the man, Peter. What would he say, you wondered? You explained to him what had happened four days before. You told him about the angel and his message and informed him that your family and you were eager to hear anything that he had to say. What you heard was a most amazing thing!

Peter began by assuring you that "God shows no partiality" when it comes to men, but rather that He accepts all, who "fear Him and work righteousness" (Acts 10:34-35). Your heart was delighted by this most joyous news. He then began to speak about "Jesus Christ," and you knew immediately that he must be referring to the promised Messiah, for he called him "the Lord of all." He said that God was sending His followers out into the world to proclaim "peace" for men, women, and children through this Jesus. He described for you the wonderful life of "Jesus Christ." God the Father had "anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power." He had spent His ministry doing good thing—healing those who were sick and afflicted by Satan, God’s enemy. These were not myths like those surrounding the false gods of Olympus, which you had already as a youth suspected of being lies. No, the man Peter assured you that he and others were "witnesses of all things, which He did."

You were struck with horror, however, when Peter informed you that Jesus’ own people had "killed" Him by "hanging (Him) on a tree"—the cross. How could this have happened you wondered? How could the Jews who believed in the coming Messiah-Christ kill Him when He finally arrived? What wickedness this was, you thought!

But then you were struck by wonder as this Peter described how "God raised (Him) up on the third day and showed Him openly!" This was wonderful—almost beyond belief, but it was true for many witnesses had seen Him. Peter claimed that he and others had eaten and drunk with Him. Certainly, you thought, this man had much for His followers to say and to do, and you were right. Peter stated, "He commanded us to preach to the people, to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead."

Those final words of Peter struck your ears like thunderbolts. You became sick to your stomach. Was this then the ultimate message—the meaning of the cross? Was your fate sealed before an angry Christ—raised from the dead after having been killed—only to come back as a judge? Who could stand before such a judge? You surely couldn’t, nor could your family members. It was all too obvious in spite of your best efforts that your lives were stained by sin and deserving of condemnation. Was this to be your end—standing before and being condemned by Jesus Christ? But then you heard Peter go on, "To Him all the prophets witness that, through his name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins." What was that, you thought—the cross doesn’t mean condemnation? Could you have possibly heard Peter correctly? The cross means remission of sins for all who believe in Jesus? The cross means forgiveness? That is what Peter indeed said to you that day. THE CROSS MEANS FORGIVENESS! It brought joy to your heart and to the hearts of your family members. You now knew what alone could bring you peace of mind and heart. You now understood the full extent of God’s grace and mercy. You now by faith rejoiced in the fact that because the cross means forgiveness you were and would remain God’s child and an heir of eternal salvation! What a relief and what joy for you—a Roman soldier living in the first century! What a relief and what joy for you—a believer living in the twenty-first century! Yes, you are not Cornelius, but just as for Cornelius and his family, the cross does not mean our judgment, but rather the full and complete forgiveness of our every sin for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting