Sent for

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

SENT FOR

And showing up

Acts 10:27-29

27 Talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. 28 He said to them: "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?"

NIV

Surely Peter was not clueless as to the reason he was sent for, but then maybe all he knew was that God had told him to go with the men that came to get him, even if they were gentiles. We can learn something here about our relationships with those who have not been saved yet. It is for certain Peter did not call them a bunch of gentiles, a bunch of sinners in need of salvation, in fact, he did just the opposite. When he was invited inside to meet all the people, he told them God had showed him that he should not consider anyone impure or unclean. He started off with establishing the fact all men are created equal, the God sees all mankind in the same way, for we all are his creation. Now that is not to say some men have turned their backs on God and have become the very definition of evil, filling their hearts with evil itself. Yet, it is not for us to judge them clean or unclean as that is the right of God and God alone. Yet in our relationships with those who have yet to accept Jesus Christ we should not start our conversation with words like, “first you need to admit you’re a sinner”. In other words perhaps we should not be telling them the four spiritual laws, right away. Maybe it would be better to express the fact the God has shown us that none of us are perfect, and God desires all people to know him personally. Peter did not slam them for being gentiles but encouraged them from the very beginning that God sees them as he sees all men. Sometimes our attitudes toward people who are not saved can be a little judgmental or too critical of their lifestyle which can only cause a greater chasm between us and them. Although we will see that Cornelius sent for Peter to hear what God has told him to say, some men do not want to hear about Jesus and we should not slam them or push Jesus onto them without an invitation. The Spirit of the Lord is at work in the hearts and minds of people and when the time is right for them, when God has broken through their hard hearts, they will send for us to tell them all about Jesus. We might take a lesson from Peter here and simply ask, “Why have you ask for me”? Or “What would you like me to tell you”? Of course that also implies that we are living such a life that others will surely know, that God would surely know, that we are the ones that should be sent for.