Sermon for October 26, 2025: Who Will Speak Well of You? based on Acts 10: 1-17, 34-35

Acts 10:1-17, 34-35 (New International Version)
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Cornelius Calls for Peter 

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”

Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.

The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”

When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.

Peter’s Vision

About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
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While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate.

​Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.

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     There weren’t really cops in ancient Rome. There were Roman soldiers, tasked with keeping the kind of peace Rome wanted, by any violent means necessary. Well trained in Roman military strategy and usually well equipped with weapons and armor, they were imposing forces in every place that Rome stationed them to control the local population. It is rare that any people being occupied speaks well of their occupier. That is as true of the earliest of Jesus’ disciples as it is of anyone now who resents the presence of soldiers they did not call and who do not necessarily have their well-being at the forefront of their minds.

     Centurions were soldiers with command responsibility over one hundred soldiers in a Roman legion. Each legion would be between 5,400 and 6,000 soldiers, as well as additional auxiliary troops recruited from the people Rome was occupying. Centurions within a legion might also be of lesser or higher rank, with the highest-ranking Centurion being a kind of “knight” among Roman nobility. Men who achieved this rank were a part of a small but prestigious group of military leaders. According to the research I read in writing this sermon, the highest-ranking centurions could retire with quite the pension. Their wealth and the power that came from their station as respected agents of Rome would mean that in many towns, they would be considered among the “notable” citizens.

     Cornelius isn’t the only “good” Centurion that pops up in the Gospels. In Luke 7, a centurion desperate to save the life of a person he enslaved reached out to Jesus for help. That Centurion had Jewish elders who would vouch for him. They said, “He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people. And, it is he who build our synagogue.” The fact that the elders feel the need to vouch for him tells us something about a typical Centurion/Israelite relationship. Usually, there would not have been much trust there. But, there was here.

     The Centurion, himself speaks with great humility towards Jesus, sending friends to Jesus in his stead, sharing that he believes himself unworthy of speaking to Jesus in person, but still he hopes that Jesus will heal the person he has enslaved and trusts that Jesus can with just one word. Jesus is amazed by the centurion’s faith, saying, “not even in Israel have I found such faith.” When the friends returned to the centurion’s home, the enslaved person is once again in good health.

     There is also a centurion at the crucifixion in both Mark and Luke. In Luke, the centurion who had supervised the soldier who had treated Jesus so cruelly and thrown lots for his clothes, still managed to be moved when Jesus breathed his last breath, saying “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” That centurion praised God (and we are to understand that this is the God of the Jewish people, not one of the Roman pantheons), and said “Certainly this man was innocent.” Acts, the book today’s reading came from, is the sequel to Luke. Luke may have been priming us to understand that even the agents of the empire could use their power for good. Even the agents of the empire could craft a faith that brought healing.

     Everyone in this room is a descendant of Cornelius. Ruthanna B. Hooke points that out in her commentary. Many scholars argue that this story of Peter’s Spirit-inspired change of heart that allows him to be in relationship with Cornelius is the turning point of the entire book of Acts, and probably the turning point of the early church. I’ve talked before about how one of the most contentious arguments within the first generation of the church was whether one had to follow Jewish religious laws in order to follow Jesus. Religious restrictions around food, both what you eat and with whom you share it, were particularly contentious in a religious community that centered itself around a meal shared in memory of Jesus.

     If you’ve spent your whole life building communal identity through one set of shared ritual obligations, it can feel threatening to be told that you don’t have to follow them the same way anymore. When you’ve cultivated a sense of safety by being leery of agents of an empire who happily help crucify you, it can feel threatening to imagine building relationships with citizens of that empire. It is no small thing that the Spirit led the early leaders of the church to find ways to welcome Gentiles into full fellowship. Nearly everyone here is a part of the church 2000 years later because Peter and Paul were led to do this. Today’s scripture is Peter’s story. We’ve already heard some of Paul’s.

     The earlier centurions of Luke and the Ethiopian Eunuch, another faithful Gentile back in Acts 8, were perhaps foreshadowing for this story. The Good Samaritan might have been a little bit of one, too, though they were in a little different category than Gentiles when it came to matters of ritual purity. The story of Pentecost in Acts 2 including a word that God would “pour out my Spirit on all flesh.” This story is a natural extension of that promise.

     Ruthanna Hooke and Israel Kamudzandu both point out in their commentaries that the inclusion of Gentiles into the church was not something the disciples expected or maybe he wanted to happen. This is all God’s work, moving the Spirit to change the hearts of the leaders of the early church. The Spirit must have already been working on Cornelius, because, while he had not officially become Jewish, he like the Ethiopian before him, prayed steadily to the Jewish God and gave money to people who needed it, a core devotional act for those following this God. God sees him and knows him and wants to welcome him into fellowship. God’s messenger makes that clear, and tells Cornelius how to make his inner commitment to God develop into a full relationship with the followers of the Incarnation. This is only possible because Cornelius had already been walking in faith. Now, the Spirit is directing him to other pilgrims who will join him. Like the first centurion in Luke, he sends trusted people ahead of him, this time to find Peter, instead of Jesus.

     Peter, for his part, will be moved by a wild dream of food he knows he’s not supposed to eat. Remember, this isn’t food he’s allergic to or something. This is food his community has opted not to eat as a demonstrate of their commitment to the covenant with their God. He could not more imagine eating some of these foods than he could imagine turning his back on Christ. And, yet, the Spirit spoke to him and said he was called to do a new thing in faith. “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” This happened three times in the dream. Peter was still trying to figure out what to make of this dream when the group that Cornelius sent shows up at the home where he was staying.

     In his commentary on the text, Andrew Warner notes that tanners had, and still have, a job that many find unsavory. Tanners work with animal carcasses. They cured hides with human urine, aged until in turned into ammonia. All tanners lived with a certain amount of stigma due to their smelly, messy, bloody work. Warner notes that Jewish tanners also risked religious impurity because of their work. In spending time with the tanner, Peter is already showing us Christians, once again, that early Christians spent much time among the outcast and marginalized in a community. We probably shouldn’t be surprised that the Spirit would also move them into relationship with those who might have more power due to their connections to the Roman occupation, but less trust due to the same thing. Christ will find a way to build relationship among those who seek to love their neighbors. And, Cornelius loved his neighbors.

     The Spirit tells Peter to go with the men back to Cornelius’ home. The dream was to show him that God would be ok with it. They describe Cornelius as faithful and “well-spoken of by the whole Jewish nation.” That means his generosity and faithfulness appeared sincere to his neighbors. How a person acts matters. And, Cornelius acted out of generosity demanded in Torah.

     Peter and Cornelius meet. We didn’t hear most of their encounter today, but it is a good one.... good enough to change the whole nature of the church ever more. Peter said “God told me not to call anyone profane or unclean.” And, Cornelius says, “God told me to go find you and listen to what you have to say.” He says that his whole household was ready to hear what good news Peter would bring. Peter starts his good news with these words, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, and in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Then, he goes on to tell him about Jesus.

     In the verses after today’s reading, the Gentiles of Cornelius’s household received Peter’s words and received the Holy Spirit, as the disciples did at Pentecost. They began speaking in tongues they had not known before, because they had to say something about this good news that was made clear to them and the old words they had simply would not suffice. Peter will know this moment is important and will say, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” No one could. So, they baptized the whole Gentile household. And, then they stay together for several days.

     May the Spirit move us to share so much that all will know us by our generosity, just like Cornelius. May we be moved like Peter was to see all people as God’s people. May we speak well of God’s whole creation, and live a life where our neighbors speak well of us. Our generosity will be what helps us find our way to Christ.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
The notes on Centurion in in the HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, revised Edition, ed. Paul J. Achtemeier (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1996).

Ruthanna B. Hooke: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/peters-vision-2/commentary-on-acts-101-17-34-35-3

Israel Kamudzandu: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/peters-vision-2/commentary-on-acts-101-17-34-35-2
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Andrew Warner's Commentary in our stewardship material