Submitted by Pastor Donna Fuller, Rock Port & Watson, United Methodist Churches
“On Peter’s arrival Cornelius met him, and falling at his feet, worshiped him. But Peter made him get up, saying, ‘Stand up; I am only a mortal.’” Acts 10:25-26
Cornelius was a centurion in the Roman army living in the Roman provincial capital of Caesarea. Peter was only a fisherman from Galilee. By all the rules of the dominant Roman culture, Cornelius was way above Peter in social status. Cornelius certainly should not be worshiping Peter by those rules. But Peter tells him to stand up, not because Cornelius is a Roman, or because of the power Cornelius has as a military commander, but because they are both only mortals. The meeting between Cornelius and Peter is a significant moment when people often greatly divided by politics, religion and culture come together.
What brings them together is God. Both have visions inviting this meeting. Cornelius, who has already shown a devotion to God, is told to seek out Peter and Peter is told to welcome Cornelius. What results is Peter preaching the gospel to Cornelius and his household. Then the entire household is baptized by Peter. Out of humility on the part of both of them, both grow in faith and in relationship to God and to each other.
We too often look for leaders that we can worship. We too often look to conform to attitudes from our surrounding culture that separate us from others. It can be a temptation to be included in a group that enables us to think we are superior to others. But this story shows us a God that is first of all a God of all creation, loving all of God’s children without regard to the divisions that we create. It then shows us a God inviting us to be humble in seeing that we do not know everything there is to know about another person and to be willing to engage in conversation and learn about that person and their family, their household, even their community. It finally shows us how answering God in this way can help us all to grow together in understanding of God and God’s kingdom.
For God’s kingdom is not a place to be dominant over others, or a place to be fearful of others. It is not a place where some people are to be worshiped while others fall at their feet. God’s kingdom is a place where only God is worshiped and in that worship we do not demean ourselves but only grow into being fully the people we are capable of being, the people God intends us to be.
Do we see the vision that God has for us? Will we answer the call of that vision to seek out those who may be different from us? When it is a vision from God, we can be sure that there is nothing to fear, that only good can come of answering.