Third time’s the charm
Blog post by Emma McCoy
4 minute read
Most of my friends and family know me well enough to be aware of what I’m good at and what I’m not. That’s one of the joys of community: you are known, loved, and cared for in your strengths and weaknesses.
The weakness that I get (playfully) made fun of the most often is my complete and utter lack of direction. My nickname is “North Star” and unlike the North Star, I can’t guide anyone. I once got lost on a race course that was only two kilometers long, with no turns. My friends one time blindfolded me and marched me into a forest with a map and a compass to see if I could find my way out. It took me thirty minutes to realize that cardinal directions don’t change based on which way I’m facing. Yesterday, a freshman on campus asked me where a particular building was, and we walked right past it during my attempt to orient him.
I could go on for an embarrassingly long time. I don’t get it.
Jack is leading our story this week, which is the story of Peter and Cornelius, a gentile man who is following the ways of God. I wasn’t familiar with this passage of Scripture (shocking for a Pastor’s kid, I know), and as I read through Matt’s translation, I found myself hung up on Peter’s shock at the end of the story. The Holy Spirit was in that place, moving through the people, and making miracles happen. And Peter is absolutely gobsmacked. This is the man who was probably present for all the miracles we’ve visited so far in this season, and he was most certainly present for Pentecost. So why is he surprised? Is he just now understanding how powerful God is? How many times will someone explain the directions to him before he gets it?
For this story, like all stories, a little bit of context is important. The Holy Spirit speaks to both Cornelius and Peter, giving them each different instructions. Peter receives a vision so vivid it makes the poet inside me wriggle with delight. The Scripture is tackling hard questions of the Law, diet, and if kosher still matters. We get presented with differences in race, culture, and religious practices. And through all of these different elements, the Holy Spirit comes in, makes a fuss, and turns everything upside down.
I could address any of these elements of the story, and write an entire book on it. But what captures my imagination is still Peter’s surprise when the Holy Spirit comes on Cornelius and his family. He’s not surprised that the Holy Spirit is present, no, he’s more shocked that the miracles were happening to Cornelius’ group. They weren’t Jews, they were gentiles. But still Peter asks, “Do I hear any objections to baptizing these friends with water? They’ve received the Holy Spirit exactly as we did.” Hearing no objections, he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (v 46-48).
It’s at this point I want to stand up and shout, weren’t you paying attention? Weren’t you at Pentecost, weren’t you with the woman at the well? Did you pay attention when Jesus healed the Centurion’s servant? Were you listening when Jesus said to that Centurion, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel” (Luke 7:9)?
Of course, if I were to demand such precision from Peter, I would run the risk of being hypocritical. Not run the risk, I would be a hypocrite. I don’t listen to my parents the first time, I ignore my friends even when they need my help, and when someone tries telling me how to get to their house, I need three repetitions. Maybe four. And then Google Maps.
But I think that’s what makes God so amazingly consistent, even as we aren’t. Peter, although he was there for so many amazing miracles, denied Jesus three times. Even though he watched Jesus become unexpected friends with every kind of person, he was still shocked every time it happened. And although he was present at Pentecost, he looked at Cornelius and his family and acted as though it had never been done before.
God gave Peter all of those opportunities. More than I would say he deserved, even as I need just as many, or more. God still looked at Peter and found such amazing value. He was willing to say it over and over again, and, I suspect, if Peter hadn’t gotten the point with Cornelius, God would have said it again. And again.
This Sunday Jack is going to ask the question, Have you ever had to learn something more than once in order to understand it? He’s going to follow it up with, Did you have to give up something in order to re-learn the lesson? Did you have to receive something?
For Peter, he had to give up two things (mentioned in the story). He had to give up his idea of the Law, and eating what is “clean.” He also had to put aside his cultural understandings of race and what separated the Jews from everyone else. Then he could bring others to baptism.
Although the example I’ve given, my lack of direction, isn’t as high-stakes, it’s still something I’ve had to learn multiple times in order to get it. I could apply that to many relationships I have, where I have to put aside my prejudices, my defensiveness, or my old hurts, in order to see what God has put in front of me.
In a Scripture so rich with meaning and application, it’s impossible to explore it all in one blog. But the takeaway is this: Even when you don’t get it the first time, God will continue to love you, and bring you to it again and again.
Join us this Sunday for Jack’s message, and to dive into what it means for the Holy Spirit to change not only your relationships, but the way you see the world.
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