Clare drew three ideas from the passage reflecting on the phrase 'stepping into'. For me, Clare's words speak life and have a prophetic tone. So I simply record her words here for rumination:
God steps in and keeps stepping into His church.
These passages are saturated with God at work in His church, building the church, unveiling his plans and showing his goodness, his grace, his power. And we can see so many different ways in these passages that God is stepping in and speaking, (through times of prayer, in a trance and in visions, through angels, through the Holy Spirit, through Aeneas physical healing, through Peter’s teaching, through Cornelius and his family receiving forgiveness and the Holy Spirit). God is fulfilling promises recorded in Genesis, Psalms, Isaiah that salvation will come to all people, to all nations. That all believers can be accepted into faith and community.
Maybe we should stop there this morning and just say: Thank you God that through Christ we are accepted into faith and community with you. For this is the greatest miracle we will ever read of in the Bible. This remains the greatest miracle that God’s church can offer the world. As jaw dropping as the healing of Aeneas or the resurrection of Tabitha, it is the simple fact that the sin that keeps people, kept us, from knowing our Father God can be forgiven in Christ.
For us, if ours is a God who steps in then where is God at work now? There is much we long for but still this is not a barren season if we look for God at work, each day, even if they feel particularly challenging at the moment, is an opportunity to see God at work - the God of Psalm 139 who goes before us, is all about us, who tells us where to stop and rest. Digital services can leave us frustrated but they have provided a wider door than maybe our church buildings ever could into a worshipping community. Have we overcomplicated this message, have we lost confidence in the power of this miracle that is the churches gift to the world. Jesus really does save – not just a select few but anyone who calls on him.
Stepping into what Jesus has called us to do
There’s a rhythm in these passages – people look to God in prayer, they hear from God, they follow what he calls them to do and other people are impacted and they choose to step into a life with God. If as a church we want to do the things that Jesus has called us to we need to keep listening, to persist in prayer, to say yes to God. And he may call us to do things as a whole body but we see here he also calls each of us to be listening and stepping in right where we are. After all it wasn’t all the church leaders who were called to Cornelius’s house and saw the Holy Spirit being given to the gentiles – it was Peter and a few other disciples. You can read on to see how the other church leaders initially react to what has happened. And we’re not all like Peter with such a public ministry, from what we know of Tabitha’s life she practically cared for the poor around her, in this case, widows.
Today, what is Jesus calling you to do? Who is Jesus calling you to? Are we encouraged to hear others in the church stepping into God’s call?
Stepping into the unknown
Peter is the leader of the leaders of the church. Jesus told him he was the rock on which his church would be built. Peter sees a vision and Peter is confused. Peter doesn’t know it all, He can only go on what God has revealed to him. God gives him enough to take next step. I’ve heard a lot of people on the radio this month talking about how they want leaders, those in government to provide a plan, to look to the future and explain how we will navigate it. Quite often I’ve felt like that too – I like to have enough knowledge or understanding about something before I progress, I want a route forward because it seems to make some order out of the changing world around us. But there is much that is unknowable about the future. These passages remind us that even the rock of the church, Peter who walked with Jesus, who we’ve just read is party to raising Tabitha from the dead, is fully reliant on God. To go with men sent by a centurion – he had to trust God, to step into a gentile’s house – an action that could tarnish Jewish believer’s view of church leadership or stir up more persecution, he had to trust God. God revealed the truth of what he doing as Peter trusted Him and stepped into the unknown.
Do we demand more knowledge, more answers, more understanding before were willing to step into something we feel God may be calling us? Do we demand this of others – especially in leadership – are we so focused on wanting a clear route out of our present situation, that we’ve become distracted from the one who is the Alpha and Omega – our God who knows the beginning from the End.
Our journey with God is one of repeatedly stepping into a relationship with him, depending on him, acknowledging over and over the simple truths that he is powerful, in control, that he steps into our lives. To develop trust we must keep relying on him - through prayer, through listening, through reading his word, meeting with his people and then keep onto stepping in wherever he is leading us. We may have no idea of what God is about to do – we’re not expected to know and understand it all. But if God is calling you or the church to something, something that doesn’t make sense, that even seems out of step with some of the current ‘traditions’ of the church – be encouraged! Step into the next thing God is calling you to. In Ch 10 VS 34 Peter says ‘I now realise..’ – It takes Peter stepping into a new direction with God before he can begin to grasp what God is doing.
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