When I read today's passage, I was struck by the inclusivity of of God's love. I'm pretty sure I've not witnessed anything like what happened when Peter spoke to the crowd in this reading, but I did witness something similar at CreationFest at the end of last month.

CreationFest is a Christian Woodstock in rural Central Pennsylvania. I explained to one parent whose son went with us that I'm not sure how it all works, but it does. I was referring to the fact that there are about 75,000 people who attend, all camping on a large farm. These people are from every walk of life. They all come to hear to music and the speakers. It's hot and muggy and, for the most part, everyone is unshowered and unkept for 5 days. Yet, like I said, it all works.

Most of the people who attend CreationFest are teenagers. Youth groups from all over the eastern portion of the U.S. and Canada descend on this farm and make it a bustling city for 5 days in June. As you can imagine, there are all kinds of folks there. In the times I have been there, I've never seen a fight. I've never heard profane or ugly talk. I've seen lots of tatoos and body piercings, but no nudity or under-dressed people.

That's astonishing when you think about it. 75,000 people coming together. The only thing in common is a love of the Lord and the music that celebrates that love. I'm reminded of a line from a song that was very popular for weddings in the 80's - "...for whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name there is love." Now I'm pretty sure that all of those 75,000 weren't trying extra hard to get along, although that may have been the case for some. I'm thinking that, like the gathering in today's reading, it just happens. God's love is there. It is palpable. You can feel it.

I want to put myself in those situations more often. It's a wonderful atmosphere and feeling knowing that no matter who I am, what my issues are, or whether or not I smell nice. God is there and He loves us all.

You will remember that today’s reading comes after Peter’s vision of unclean food descending from heaven accompanied by the command, “Rise and eat!” In the verses for today, we find Peter trying to figure out what to make of this vision.

We are told that he was “wondering” what it meant; the NRSV says that Peter was “puzzled” by it. Just a couple verses further we see that he was “still thinking about the vision”; turning it over and over in his head.

Two thousand years later, we might well think the message was obvious, and wonder ourselves why he struggled so with its meaning. Yet what God was asking Peter to do was so far out of the box that it never even entered Peter’s mind.

So, while Peter was pondering, God was acting. He brings the answer right to Peter’s door in the form of three men and an invitation. Suddenly Peter gets it; “God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean.”

I wonder how many times this scenario has been repeated in the lives of God’s people and the church they constitute. How many times are we wondering about a word from God when God is already acting?

Is it really so hard to see what God is doing in the world, and what He expects of you and of me? And yet so often our life as individuals, and the life of the larger church to which we belong, is marked more by inactivity than bold initiatives to proclaim God’s love for all the world to hear. Too often we’re not very good at getting beyond the church walls, or even making God’s love known to everybody within them.

Might I be so audacious as to ask you if you are clear about God’s vision for you? I’m not talking about some general and diffuse understanding that amounts to no more than comfortable life as usual. Do you know what He wants you to be doing right here and right now?

And then perhaps the tougher question still:

Are you doing it?

In today's reading, Luke provides us with two stories. The first is the story of Cornelius calling for Peter and the second is Peter's vision. Let's have a quick look at both of these stories and attempt to understand why Luke shared them with us.

A common question regarding salvation is, what will happen to the people who have never heard about Christ? In today's first story, we are told about a man named Cornelius. Cornelius was not a follower of Christ - in fact he may never have heard of Jesus Christ. However, Cornelius was seeking God as we are told in verse 2, "He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly." As a result, God sends Peter to Cornelius to tell him and his household about Christ. Cornelius is an example of someone who found God by sincerely seeking Him. This story illustrates that God will answer the sincere prayers of those who seek Him by sending the right person, or the right information, to the seeker at the right time. This goes for a Roman soldier or for any of us today.

The second story in today's reading has to do with a vision God gave to Peter. During the time when Peter lived, Jewish law contained strict dietary rules. These rules made it difficult for Jews to eat with Gentiles without risking defilement. In fact, along the vein of you are what you eat, Jews often thought of Gentiles as being unclean. But verse 15 clearly countermands this perception, "... Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." This vision showed Peter that he should not look upon Gentiles as inferior people whom God would not save. This vision cleared Peter's conscience and made him realize that he not only could go into a Gentile's home to preach the Gospel, but that he should go in.

So in today's reading we have two stories. The first corroborating the old saying, seek and ye shall find, and the second telling us that God made everything and everyone and thus there is no place we should fear going to spread the Word.

It's always so amazing to me to read these stories of healing and resurrection. I can't even imagine them happening. While so many in our world suffer terribly from disease and poverty and so many lose loved ones to death, it is nice to think that healing can happen instantly and that resurrection does happen - maybe somewhere for someone. While when reading the Bible these things seem almost commonplace, for us, life just doesn't happen like that. Healing doesn't happen like that.

Some believe that healings and being raised from the dead do happen today. I believe they can, but for some reason, they don't. After all God is God and God can do anything. Why he doesn't do more, will always remain a question for the ages. My guess is that God is active in the world and just as active as He always has been, we just don't see it or don't notice it. We might not recognize that God is still healing, still delivering and still raising the dead. Maybe now it isn't always a physical death, maybe it's more spiritual now. Maybe we've been raised and don't even realize we were ever dead in the first place -I wonder if those who physically die are aware of it?

I think the answer must be for us to pay attention in order to realize what's happening and how God is working in the world and in our lives in particular. If we hear God call us by name and tell us to get up and go about our everyday work, do we even realize He's called us? Or do we somehow, all of the sudden lose those things that have been dragging on us, those bad habits, those doubts, those fears, those things which separate us from God and then one day just wake up and realize that those things are gone and we've been resurrected? The answer must be to listen and watch and see how God is in our lives and what God is calling us to leave behind and what He is calling us to get up and do.

The first thing that hit me about this reading is how passionate Saul is. He welcomed his heart to the Lord and three days later he was preaching valiantly in the churches around Damascus. It really makes me wonder what we could accomplish is everyone had the same sort of spirit that Saul has. Image what the world would be like if all of us could love the Lord so completely and so unconditionally.
I also find it interesting that the other disciples didn’t trust Saul. After everything they had seen the Jesus do (bring people back from the dead, turn water in to wine, even rise from his own grave) they couldn’t believe that a non-believer would turn to God and so suddenly be next to them preaching like an old friend. However, I think there is a lot to be said for Saul. I’ve been a Christian for quite some time now and I was still terrified to write this devotional today. Talking to other people about my Jesus is something that does not come naturally to me. And maybe it’s because I have had such a “comfortable” relationship with Jesus for such a long time that I can’t image anything else. Whereas Saul, who was brought to the Lord in an act of awesome power, pain, and fear, knows what it’s like to live without Jesus. And now that he has this new chance at life with Jesus, he is psyched about it! In my copy of The Remix Bible, the terminology they use in Acts 9:22 is that he “plows straight into the opposition, disarming the Damascus Jews and trying to show them that his Jesus was the Messiah.” Plows through the opposition. That’s fire. That’s passion. I think we could all learn a thing or two from this newbie.
Lastly, as doubtful as they were at first, the disciples had Saul’s back when the going got tough. In Acts 9:28-31 they saved him from the death threats in Damascus and got him safely out of the area. The disciples gave up their own questions and their own insecurities about Saul and instead put their whole trust in the Lord. Before, they were not sure if he could be trusted, but the Lord works in wonderful ways and brought Barnabas into the picture. Barnabas told the disciples that Saul was to be trusted, and, although they might have questioned it for themselves, they trusted in what God had to say. What a beautiful thing. I think we could all make our lives a little more like this chapter in Acts by giving thanks to God just one extra time a day, and letting Jesus take the wheel (FIGURATIVELY OF COURSE!!) instead of making all of the decisions for ourselves.

The conversion of Saul is such an inspiring and awesome story. In the "World According to Vicki" story, which is constantly written and rewritten, and is my own account of just about everything, I believe God chose Saul deliberately. What a perfect example of hate turned to love and of what God can do in a person's life. It was also one of the first very public displays of God's miraculous love after the death of Jesus.

But, I also believe that God chooses each and every one of us deliberately as well. God doesn't say "I love you because I am God and I have to love everyone." We aren't a nameless, faceless person in His family. Scriptures say that He knows each of us by name. He knew us when we were still in the womb.

I can only imagine that Paul's conversion was all the more impressive to Paul in that God would have chosen him, given his life's work thus far was to persecute new Christians. For some of us, our conversion stories barely feel like a real conversion. In my case, for example, I feel as if I was always a Christian and was never really converted. God has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.

In some ways, this makes it harder for me to feel part of God's chosen. I have felt incredibly blessed in my life and I know He is with me all the time, forever. But did He choose me or did I choose Him? Since it all sort of just happened over time, this relationship with God that is, there was no one event that I can point to and say "Ah hah! See, God chose me and I am His."

I submit to you that it works both ways. God knew me in the womb. Therefore, He knows me better than I know myself. But, it takes two to make a relationship. God knows that better than anyone. He is patiently waiting for each of us to reach out to Him. He doesn't need to reach out - He's right next to you and me. Always. We don't need a conversion moment to grasp His hand, to talk with Him and listen to his comforting words. He was walking next to Paul for a long time before light from heaven flashed around him and Jesus spoke to him. But, Paul had built such a wall between himself and God that there was no other way for God to get through but to punch a large hole and yell "Saul, you dummy, I've been here all along?"

Maybe that's where we are with God right now. You don't need a conversion moment. But you may need to start tearing down any wall you've built. Remember, God is right there, waiting.