City Life Starter

Written by Bebe Thomas

The Word

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, ² a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. ³ About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” ⁴ And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. ⁵ And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. ⁶ He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” ⁷ When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, ⁸ and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

⁹ The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. ¹⁰ And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance ¹¹ and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. ¹² In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. ¹³ And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” ¹⁴ But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” ¹⁵ And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” ¹⁶ This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

¹⁷ Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood at the gate ¹⁸ and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. ¹⁹ And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. ²⁰ Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.” ²¹ And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?” ²² And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.” ²³ So he invited them in to be his guests.

-Acts 10:1–23a

Reflection

Caesarea was a Roman seat of power. The historian Josephus describes it as a provincial capital, filled mostly with gentiles. Cornelius lived there as a centurion in the Roman army. Scripture tells us several things about his character. He is a devout man who fears God, he is prayerful, gives generously, and he is obedient. In fact, finishing his daily prayer, Cornelius obeys God immediately when the angel tells him to send for Simon Peter.

This is where the tension rises. Peter walked so closely with Jesus that, as John Mark Comer says, the “dust of his Rabbi covered him.” Yet Peter was still deeply shaped by his Jewish culture. His heart was not ready to enter Caesarea, dine with gentiles, and it was not ready to see God move outside the boundaries he had known since childhood.

God had to intervene and He gave Peter a vision so overwhelming that it essentially rendered him unconscious. God showed him animals that were considered unclean in his culture and told him to eat. God broke through Peter’s cultural walls so Peter could walk into God’s mission.

Reflection Questions

Am I holding onto culture in ways that limit God’s mission? Where might God be inviting me to release old boundaries? How can I walk toward people I once kept at a distance?

Application

I felt this tension of cultural walls myself. PJ and I attended a Jewish school for a class called Decoding the Talmud. The cultural differences were striking, and I struggled not to touch the Rabbi. In Jewish culture, my touch as a gentile would render the Rabbi unclean. I felt the weight of distance and the reality that no matter what I did, I could never come too close.

Peter lived inside that same world. Imagine if God never broke those walls. Imagine if the disciples never crossed cultural boundaries. Imagine where we would be as a community of believers.

God breaks cultural walls so His gospel can reach every person. If culture could cling so tightly to someone that walked with Christ, imagine how fiercely it clings to us.

God invites us to release cultural barriers so we can participate fully in His mission to reach every kind of person.

Prayer

Lord, open my heart to Your voice, break down every cultural wall I hold onto, and lead me into the kind of obedience that makes room for Your mission in my life. Amen.