This chapter tells one story of the growth of Christianity. Not all growth is measured by numbers. In this case, Christianity took a step outside previously observed bounds. Christianity was born in a Jewish home and is appropriately thankful for the opportunity. But like all offspring, it had to leave home. Judaism was and is the religion of a nation. Christianity is the religion of all nations. Perhaps that is why a republic, based on Judeo-Christian principles, has lasted far beyond what was expected. It is also an argument for us to recapture those principles if we are to perpetuate this nation into the future.

This story is about the first time a Gentile was publicly and officially welcomed into the Christian fellowship without confirming to the requirements of the Jewish law. Christianity is declaring its independence of Judaism. The Italian band or the Italian cohort was a corps composed of freedmen from Italy that was stationed in Syria by A.D. 69. The fact that Cornelius lived in Caesarea would indicate that he probably retired and settled there. The phrase "who feared God" is usually used as a description of Gentiles who had accepted the truth of the Jewish religion and attended on the fringes of the synagogue without being circumcised or becoming full proselytes. You will note that even from the fringes, Cornelius gave alms to the people and prayed always.

It is interesting to note the differences between Peter and Cornelius. Cornelius was a Gentile, a high-ranking officer in the Roman army, a man of the world and a professional man. Peter was a Jew, the follower of a country carpenter, with little or no experience outside of Galilee and a laboring man. Even considering Cornelius’ devout practices, these two would not have come together in the normal course of events. Thus an angel of the Lord prompted Cornelius to initiate the meeting. And Peter was given a new understanding of the importance of outsiders.

The key message in his vision was "What God has cleaned, we should not call common." Peter still doubted himself about its meaning. But the Spirit told him to accompany the men seeking him and he did so. The significance of these words refers to our tendency to separate things and call some secular and others sacred. The ceremonial law of their religion was a dividing line between clean things on one side and unclean things on the other. It is appropriate to separate secular and sacred things to keep them from being confused. Without separation, they would begin to look alike and we would lose any distinctions between the two.

The warning in the Peter’s vision concerns the basis on which we separate them. The true division is between the sacred and the profane. The sacred are those things that are centered upon God. The profane are those which are not centered upon God and are treated with abuse, irreverence or contempt. We, like the Jews, tend to associate things occurring in a church as sacred and those things outside as profane. If our minds are on what we will be doing tomorrow at work, the sacred aspect of a service takes on a profane nature. On the other hand, if we are sitting in the garage with an overwhelming desire to pray, the usually profane environment is overwhelmed by the sacred activity.

Peter said he perceived that God is no respecter of persons. God shows no partiality. God has no favorites. This is quite a change from the Jewish notion that they are a chosen people. Granted, they were a people chosen to show God’s revelations to the world. They eventually came to believe that their chosen status meant they possessed a priority in the eyes of God. This story begins to change that notion. This story is beginning to show the universal character of Christianity.

Jesus did not travel far and wide but he became universal. He so touched the very core of human life that He can be translated into every language without serious losses of meaning. He spans all cultural differences. The Cross can be understood by the most cultured and the most ignorant. His way of life rises above the way of political systems. Loyalty to him stands far above loyalty to any particular nation. The disciples were beginning to see that the fences they built around ceremonial law had no divine sanction. God had no favorites and there were no superior races. There were no chosen people in the sense of people who had priority above and beyond all others. The Jewish ceremonial law left the Gentiles on the secular side of the fence. They were amazed that God had poured out his spirit upon the Gentiles. It was a shock to them to realize that God cared as much about the Gentiles as he did about them.

Our approach has changed very little to this day. If we examine the place of ceremonial law in religion, we find it is indeed necessary. We cannot have religion without ceremonial law any more than we can have a great feast without certain rules of etiquette and ritual of table arrangement and serving. Remember the images we have of great feasts during the Middle Ages? The total chaos of that scene tells us we could not possibly hear the small still voice of God in that environment. In spite of our protestations, we humans operate best within guidelines and rules. Nonetheless, ceremonial law is fraught with danger. One of the hardest lessons the early Jewish Christians had to learn was that the ceremonial law always took second place to the law of love. It is like our first commandment is to Love God with all our hearts, all our souls, and with all our minds. Only after we love God are we able to fully love our neighbor as ourselves. We can only fully enjoy our ceremonial law after we learn to love.

It is very hard for people to step outside the limits of their own ceremonial law. For some it is natural to believe that unless a person is baptized in a certain way, he is not baptized at all. We all know groups who re-baptize Christians even though we are taught there is only one baptism. If a person does not receive Communion in a certain form and manner, some think he does not receive it at all. We do have ceremonial rules for how we receive communion, but we do not consider the violation of those rules to invalidate the sacrament. If a person dunks their own wafer into the common chalice, we think it inappropriate but not necessarily invalid. We maintain those ceremonial rules to encourage a receptive, spirit-inspired heart in those receiving communion.

If a person is not ordained according to a certain formula and by certain authorized people, some think he is not ordained of God at all. Again, it is important to have standards to encourage only the spirit driven person to seek ordination. It is important to insure their education and formation allows them to administer all the sacraments. At the same time, we cannot say that a man who has not met our standards is not ordained of God. Many of our historical biblical characters would fail that particular test. Jesus made himself unmistakably clear on the issue when he said, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." In other words, ceremonial law is entirely secondary to something larger and more inclusive and of greater importance. Ceremonial law is secondary to love of God.

Note the sequence of events at the end of this chapter. This could be the beginning of a pattern of Christian practice for all times. First, the Spirit fell upon Cornelius and all his family and friends. That was the big thing, the real thing. Next, they were baptized. We require our things of the Spirit to become articulate in some tangible form. That is why all our sacraments have an outward visible sign of the inward and spiritual grace given unto us. Finally, they asked Peter to remain for some days. Even after the great inner experience of the Spirit and after the expression of that Spirit in the outward and visible sign, there remain lessons to be learned, habits to be formed and prayers to be prayed.

If there were not such a need, we would not have weekly services where we can share our love of God and help others bolster their faith. Without the services, we would miss the opportunity to show others how much we care for them and how willing we are to pray for them. Throughout history, arguments about how frequently to receive communion have remained without concurrence. Those who promote infrequent communion cite the uniqueness and special thanksgiving for the sacrament seldom enjoyed. Those who promote frequent communion cite the grace received in the sacrament as necessary to maintaining their prayerful existence. On the other hand, we cannot deny the need to share our hearts and love with other Christians as frequently as possible.