Two People of Prayer

Acts 10:1-17, 34-48

Cornelius was a Centurion, a Roman citizen from Caesarea, a bustling seaport on the Mediterranean coast. He would have been known as a God fearer, a Gentile who worshipped God, but had not undergone the necessary procedure to properly become a Jew. We are told he, his family and his whole household worshipped the Lord and he gave generously to those in need. He was a faithful devout believer in God in all ways. And we are told he prayed constantly. He was truly a man of God.

As our story begins today, he is praying in the afternoon. As he is praying the Lord speaks to him. God has heard his prayers. God sees his faithfulness. God knows his devotion. He is told his prayers and generosity has ascended to the Lord. The image given is as if his prayers and his generosity are received in the same manner as sacrifices to the Lord. They have risen to the Lord, as the smoke from a burnt sacrifice and are pleasing to the Lord, in the same way temple offering are. This is another way of saying, “You have done well, my good and faithful servant.” Not only does the narrative tell us that Cornelius is a faithful believer, but God is telling him that he is a good and faithful believer.

God then tells him to send men to Joppa, another coastal town a little more than a day’s journey South of Caesarea. There they will find Peter who is visiting a tanner named Simon who lives along the seaside. Immediately, Cornelius does what the Lord has told him to do. He calls another devout believer among his men and sends him to Joppa to find Peter. 

The next day, at about noon, Peter is praying on the roof. As he is praying he becomes hungry, but before anyone brings him the food they are preparing for lunch, God sends him a vision of a cloth coming down from the heavens and upon it are all kinds of creatures of the earth; animals, reptiles and even some birds. And God instructs him to kill and eat. Now, Peter is a faithful Jewish man. He knows the difference between the creatures of the earth and sky God has given for them to eat and the creatures which God has forbidden and many of the animals he sees before him are not for eating, so he refuse to kill them and eat them, telling God, never has he allowed himself to eat that which is profane or unclean. And God simply says, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” Three times this happens. After the third time, the cloth is taken away. And while Peter is still puzzling about this, the men sent by Cornelius arrive asking for Peter.

They tell Peter about Cornelius and the message from God, so the next day, Peter and several other believers from Joppa go up to Caesarea with these men and when he arrives Peter begins to tell them about Jesus and the good news of the Gospel and how we all might come to know God and be forgiven through him.

While Peter is speaking the Holy Spirit comes and fills all those to whom he was speaking. And all the Jewish believers, who are with Peter, are amazed because God has given the Holy Spirit to not just to the Jews but also to the Gentiles. It was then that Peter understood what God had been telling him, that none whom the Lord has made clean should ever be treated as profane. Jesus had come to bring salvation to the gentiles, as well as the Jews. All who believe are saved, all who come to the Lord are made holy, no matter who they are, or where they are from. So Peter baptizes them all.

Peter baptizes the first Gentile believers that day and we are here today. The church is full of Gentile believers, loved and accepted by God, the Church, and the body of Christ, loved by God, accepted by Jesus. Together, Jews and Gentiles, we are believers, made holy as Jesus Christ himself was holy. Before the faithful actions of Cornelius and the faithful response of Peter, the Church was made up sole of Jewish believers, but from this time forward Jews and Gentiles both worship Jesus, both are accepted as children of God, both make up the body of Christ and this diversity is expounded upon and extended up to this very day. The diversity we know in the Church today was begun here in Caesarea. Because of the events we see in this passage the Church changed forever. Because these two people prayed the Church is never the same.

Cornelius prayed, he heard from God and sent people to Peter in Joppa. Peter prayed, he knew he needed to go with these men from Caesarea; he was able to share the good news of Jesus Christ with these God fearers. Because Cornelius prayed he and his household were faithful believers, ready to listen and hear the direction from God, to receive the Spirit when it came. Because Peter prayed, he was able to see God at work in these lives of these people, he was able to recognize the Holy Spirit when it came, he was able to see that God was already at work, and in the life of another man who prayed, his family, and his household. Because he prayed, Peter could see what God was already doing among these believers and what able to see God was teaching him.  Because they were praying the lives of these people, Peter, Cornelius, his family and his household was changed forever. Because they prayed the whole Church was transformed.

This is what happens when devout men and women of God pray; people are changed, the Church is transformed and the world is able to see God at work among us. When the people of God pray amazing things happen. All that we see happening in this passage, happens because both of these people of God were praying.

The events in this passage do not happen because people prayed once, or twice. God does not speak to these two because they prayed beautiful or eloquent prayers. Their lives are not turned upside down simply because they called upon God occasionally or periodically. These two prayed, often, multiple times a day. The passage mentions Cornelius praying at 3 and Peter at noon, before lunch is even thought about, so that we know that this is a middle of the prayer not a perfunctory prayed to prepare us for the coming day, said before getting out of bed to recognizing that God’s grace goes before us into the day. Neither is it a rote prayer, prayed just prior to a meal thanking God for all that went into the preparation and the bringing of small the common but power gift of substance, in all its forms. This is not simply a bed time prayer said out of thankfulness at the end of the day giving glory to a God who has brought us through to the end of yet another day. This is a midday prayer, a prayer said by one who prays first thing in the morning, each time sustenance is found, at the closing of each day, as well as set times throughout the day. They prayed and their lives were changed because they made it a habit to pray; because they prayed faithfully, habitually the mission and trajectory of the entire Church was changed, forever. It is not just prayer that changes things, but it is the habit of prayer that moves mountains and transforms the Church.

When we pray, God does amazing things. But we need to pray. Our lives can be changed; the Church can be transformed, the brokenness of the World can be made whole, but first the people of God must be a praying people. Prayer changes things, it changes us, it prepares us, it allows us to see God, to hear the world of the Lord, to recognize God at work and to go and do the things Christ would have us go and do. But first we must pray.

And this is not just about praying when we gather together. It is easy to pray on Sundays. We set aside time for that. We pray at the beginning of service, we pray at set times throughout the service and we pray before we go. And as a church we pray about all sorts of things. We pray as we enter into God’s presence. We pray when we offer ourselves and our gifts up to God. We bring our hurts and our concerns to God. We pray that we have heard, understood and are able to take the Word of God with us into the mundane parts of our lives. We pray that God will use us as we go into the world, as God body of Christ gathered, as well as when we are scattered.

How we pray here is the model of prayer for our lives. We pray at start of each day, as well as at its close. As well as set time throughout. We pray because we are thankful, we pray that we may be used, we pray for others and for ourselves. We pray for our hurts and our concerns. We pray that God will go with us into all the mundane parts of our lives and will use us. We pray for that we might hear God’s word and take into all parts of our daily lives.

Prayer is not just about us, and hurt and our concerns. It is not just praying when we are hurting or need something from God. It is about praying daily, praying often, and praying habitually. It is about bathing all parts of our day, all out activities in prayer. It is about making prayer a constant and consistent part of our day.

It is also about praying without expectations; to pray ready and willing to hear from God; to pray in such a way that you are open and ready to listen to what God has to say. To do what God is directing you to do; to go where God calls you to go, to give what God calls you to give and to do what God instructs you to do (or not do – as the case may be). Neither Cornelius nor Peter got what they were expecting when they set to praying. Both of their lives were changed in unexpected ways because they prayed, and the listened to what God was telling them.

God can changes the world through us, when we pray, but we have to be ready to listen, ready to go, ready to do, ready to be stretched, ready for God to change what we believe, what we think to be true, ready to allow God to transform us so that through us the world in turn can be transformed. But first we must pray, we must be praying people; people who pray fervently, people who pray faithfully, throughout our days. Prayer has to become a constant in our lives. God will changed us, God will move the Church, and transform the world, in us, through us, but first we must be praying people.