Cornelius from Italy

For many years, people have wondered how such nice people, ended up with such incredibly long names. Some years ago Neil was given an award at a conference for having the longest name of anyone present. This is one of the chief reasons he goes by "Neil". We were in fact, engaged, before I realized his full name was Cornelius.

My family in Italy has often asked yet in Acts chapter 10, we read about the outpouring of God's Spirit on the household of Cornelius, the commander of the Italian Regiment. I just finished revising that chapter of Acts this morning and it was a joy to read.

Many things come to mind about the character of God when we read the story of Cornelius.

1. Cornelius was a generous, praying man, who feared God. He was not, however, a Jew.
2. Peter was a generous, praying man, who feared God, and was not a Gentile.
3. Peter needed God to speak supernaturally to him before he would "lower" himself to go to the home of Cornelius.
4. Cornelius thought that Peter was his better. Peter may still have had some ideas like that since rather than humbling greeting Cornelius he restated his old prejudices and how God had changed his mind.
5. God poured out His Spirit on the house of Cornelius and that experience transformed not only the converts but the onlookers so that Peter was now a defender of those he might once have shunned. (They should be baptised, who can object?)

The thing that struck me once again is the Loving Unity that occurs when God enters the picture. That is not remotely like uniformity nor agreeing in all matters. Cornelius was still uncircumcised and served in an army that was politically opposed to the convictions of Peter's countryman. Peter was not about to join the ranks of the military to show solidarity with Peter. According to the laws of the land at that time, Cornelius, from man's perspective, would have been one to have authority over Peter. From the perspective of the spiritual, Peter had God-given authority to BLESS Cornelius.

As we translate the New Testament we spend hours on passages we would normally read in moments. This can be a wonderful gift as we have the chance to meditate on what the Word contains. When we do meditate, we see how petty is the human heart, and how magnificent is the nature of God.

God grant us the strength, the prayer support, the courage, to speedily deliver this Good News to the Mesem.