In Acts 10, we hear the story of Cornelius and Peter as each was prepared by God to be a part of proclaiming God’s peace in a changing world. The story expounds the glory of the gospel in its inclusiveness. It tells how God removed a significant barrier so that the two men could come together within God’s love to the world through the saving work of Jesus Christ and the sacrament of baptism.
The story is based on two visions, both given by God. It takes two visions, two halves of a whole, to eliminate historically significant barriers. This story can be a model for the elimination of all “isms” in our world today. The fact that there was misunderstanding on both sides concerning what each vision meant did not prevent God’s will from happening and people’s lives from being changed.
This message was excerpted from “The story of Peter & Cornelius,” a 2016 Women of the ELCA resource, written by Inez Torres Davis. Today we commemorate Olavus Petri, priest, 1552; Laurentius Petri, Bishop of Uppsala, 1573; renewers of the church.
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