Is This You God?

In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort, as it was called. He was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God.

One afternoon at about three o'clock he had a vision in which he clearly saw an angel of God coming in and saying to him, "Cornelius."

He stared at him in terror and said, "What is it, Lord?" He answered, "Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa for a certain Simon who is called Peter; he is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside."

When the angel who spoke to him had left, he called two of his slaves and a devout soldier from the ranks of those who served him, and after telling them everything, he sent them to Joppa.

About noon the next 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 it was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners. In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air.

Then he heard a voice saying, "Get up, Peter; kill and eat."

But Peter said, "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean."

The voice said to him again, a second time, "What God has made clean, you must not call profane."

This happened three times, and the thing was suddenly taken up to heaven.

Now while Peter was greatly puzzled about what to make of the vision that he had seen, suddenly the men sent by Cornelius appeared. They were asking for Simon's house and were standing by the gate. They called out to ask whether Simon, who was called Peter, was staying there.

While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Look, three men are searching for you. Now get up, go down, and go with them without hesitation; for I have sent them."

So Peter went down to the men and said, "I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for your coming?"

They answered, "Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say."

So Peter invited them in and gave them lodging. The next day he got up and went with them, and some of the believers from Joppa accompanied him.

This summer I have been speaking about our transaction with God. This fact, and especially the sermon last week on the Call of God, makes spiritual discernment crucial. How do we recognize God’s communication?

During the week I ran across this story.

A boy was watching his father, a pastor, write a sermon. "How do you know what to say?" he asked. "Why, God tells me." "Oh, then why do you keep crossing things out?")

The scripture I have selected is a narrative of double discernment. Cornelius is discerning God’s direction and Peter is discerning God’s call. A friend of mine said that if I would tell you what I am going to say, you could follow it better. So, this morning I will review this narrative with you, point out the few principles of discernment embedded in it, and illustrate those ideas with a personal account.

To cast this narrative in the proper light, I invite you to give attention to a few salient points that could easily be overlooked. This is story describes an event that could be as important to us as the death and resurrection of Jesus. The outcome of this story actually determines whether you and I would be sitting here together or not. The incident described here is the bridge between Jewish Christianity and World Christianity; it is about the gospel passing from the Jews to the Gentiles. If either Cornelius or Peter had missed the direction of the Lord, the story of Christianity would have been remarkably different.

Furthermore, this is also an account of the experiences of two devout men. Both were godly men and sought the mind and will of God. I hasten to say that men are not the only ones who are devout and seek God. We could name Mary, the mother of Jesus or Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist. Then there would also be later persons like Hildegarde of Bingham, Julian of Norwich, and Teresa of Avila.

This story relates a divine disclosure; it is about God revealing godself to human beings. And, this is of great interest to us – how we recognize God in the events of our lives! A couple of words are used in this report that could be off-putting to the modern mind – trance and vision. Cornelius had a vision of a messenger of God before him; Peter fell into a trance and then had a vision.

The mention of vision reminds me of Ernie. Early in my time in Atlanta I heard about the spiritual awakening in his church. One Sunday I visited the congregation and the pastor introduced me to Ernie who had had a spiritual awakening. He was telling me about the change in his life when he began describing his vision experience. He had gone to bed and couldn’t go right to sleep. He opened his eyes and here were the light flashing around his head. First on one side, and then on the other. He said to his wife, “Annie, wake up, wake up. I haven’t been a Christian but 3 months and I’m having my vision already!” Annie, awoke, looked around and said, “Ernie, you’re not having a vision, those are lightening bugs that got out of Linda’s Jar where she caught them.”

I don’t want you to hear “trance” and “vision” in this superficial context. These are not cheap, superficial, and symptomatic words. Trance refers to a state of suspended animation, a state in which your inner world has your attention, and it is often a prelude to ecstasy. In a trance the mind sinks below rational control; it becomes to stimuli beyond itself. Trance often issues in visions.

Trances often fade into visions. Vision suggests something being seen. . It is a supernatural appearance that conveys a new revelation. A Vision is the appearance of images in your mind – dreams at night or seeing with the “eyes of the heart” or sensing intuitions of the future Generally, visions are quite compelling. I hope you feel something of the seriousness of these human transactions with the holy.

The revelation put both men at risk! Both were pushed out of their comfort zones. Cornelius was directed to send messengers to fetch a man named Simon Peter from Simon the Tanner’s house. If there was not Peter at Simon’s, he suffered embarrassment for a wild imagination. Peter was commanded to kill and eat animals that all his life had been forbidden. He was told to break the law and when he resisted, the command was reinforced. “Don’t call common and unclean what God has made clean!”

The question that naturally arises for both of these men is quite simply, “God is this you?” Are you telling me to send servants to bring Peter to my house? God, are you telling me to enter a Gentile’s house and speak with them? Everything hinged on whether this was a directive of God or the warped imagination of two fools!

This is always our question! God, are you speaking to me? God, are you showing me the way you wish me to go? God, is this you or merely my distorted imagination? With regard to the issue of discernment, the most frequent question that I am asked is this: “How do we distinguish the Voice of God from our own?” A careful look at this incident will not answer completely this question, but it will provide a context and a direction for our discernment.

Let us suppose that you have had an encounter with God that has caused you to wonder, “God is this You?” I invite you to note the principles of discernment inherent in this narrative. First, the principle of surprise. These events occurred quite unexpectedly. Neither was looking for a vision or even direction from God. Both came spontaneously. This experience of God’s intervention in our lives is never something that we plan on.

Second, the principle of prayer. The visions emerged in an atmosphere of prayer—Peter on the rooftop and Cornelius in his prayer corner at home. Prayer is often the setting or environment in which the Spirit of God speaks. In prayer we get quiet enough to listen. In prayer we open ourselves to the depth of the Spirit. Deep prayer creates the environment where trance and vision are not strangers.

Third, the principle of conviction. By conviction I mean the inner persuasion of the heart. These experiences grasped these men’s consciousness and created a conviction that compelled them to act. In spite of the risks involved, both of them did the unthinkable.

The Voice of God or the Call of God frequently challenges our common sense approach. Why should a man renounce his security to follow a Voice? Why would a woman add another task to her life? Why would comfortable people be willing to change? Because they are convinced that God has spoken to them. This convictional knowing marks the work of the Spirit.

Fourth, the principle of correlation or congruence. When God speaks, there is a correlation between what God speaks on the inside and what is happening on the outside. Cornelius was call to send for Peter; Peter was being prepared to respond to Cornelius invitation. When we are called to a ministry or a service, God has or is preparing the way for us.

Fifth, the principle of urgency. Whatever God calls us to is always critically important for the fulfillment of God’s will and of our lives. To discover the will of God for your life is the same as finding the meaning of your life. And, I do not believe that any of us will ever be truly happy until we have found this center!

If this sermon has felt too abstract and philosophical for you, let me illustrate it with a story from my own experience. In January of 1978 I was doing what I normally do in January – I was making a list of what I thought God wanted me to do in the New Year. As I prayerfully listened, a list of things flooded into my mind – finish a book, time with the kids, and then a couple of strange ideas: pastor a church and finish your dissertation because one day you may wish to teach. These both were shocking and cause for astonishment. I finished pastoring in 1963 when I left Phenix City, Alabama. I had given up the dissertation and the Ph. D. degree 9 years earlier. No way that I could be readmitted to the program.

These ideas persisted in my mind for a couple of weeks. I submitted myself to the Presbytery and became an interim minister at Salem Presbyterian Church in Lithonia. I requested permission to resurrection after 15 years from my starting date and permission was given.

Two years flew by and I pastored Salem Church and wrote the dissertation. The dissertation that I could not write in four years, I wrote in six months and I was granted the Ph. D. degree from Emory in June of 1980. On a Saturday afternoon Nan and I were eating nachos at El Chico’s at Northlake when I saw Bob Ramey, a fellow Presbyterian minister and a professor at Columbia Theological Seminary, pass by in front of the plate glass window. I dashed to the entrance and invited him to sit with us and rejoice with me that the Ph. D. had been granted.

When he sat down with us, I said, “I’m going to ask your boss for a job (Davison Philips was president of Columbia Seminary at the time).

“What do you want to teach?” Bob asked.

“Evangelism, that is what I have done all my ministry and besides I have just completed a dissertation on the subject.”

Bob inquired, “Have you heard about the grant?”

“What grant?” I asked.

“CTS has received a grant for $150,000 to hire a professor evangelism.”

“What do you want in this professor,” I asked.

“We want someone who has a Ph. D. degree, someone who is coming out of pastoral ministry, and someone who can create programs and resources for the Presbyterian Church.”

At the moment I heard those words, I experienced what Paul Tillich calls a “kairos” moment. It was ecstasy! It was astonishment! It was amazement!

I said, “I’m really interested in applying for the job, how do I do it?”

Bob said, “I am chairman of the search committee.”

Two years earlier when I was least expecting it, I felt an urge to finish my Ph. D. and pastor a church, I was praying about the direction of my life when those two ideas came and they came with persistent conviction that I was compelled to act. And while I was seeking to get in graduate school God was at work in the committee to readmit me and at work in the larger church providing funds for the professorship. And, can you not see how these things have shaped my life and ministry for the past 20 years?

All those events combined to give me 20 years of teaching at CTS, a delight that I never expected but one for which I am truly grateful.

(Copies of these principles of discernment are available as you leave.)

Children’s Worship

(Libby, Something Like This.)

Your cue will be when I say, “Listen…” and I get quiet.

Hello boys and girls of Shallowford Presbyterian Church!

HELLO (back)

Do you like Church?

YES

Do you like to learn about Jesus?

YES

Does Jesus love you today?

YES

(In the 11:00 o’clock service, you ask, “Is Zachary Larson here today?” (yes) Then ask, “Zach, do you know my voice and who I am?) (I will use this to contrast with the boys who recognize their mother’s voice and the other children who may know you because they have been with you.

(Ben to the children. Whose voice was that?)

I don’t know. Or they name you.

Then I ask Will and Trey – who it was. And I talk with them

about how they know your voice.

While I am talking with them about that, why don’t you make make your way down to the front or from behind the screen in the 11:00 o’clock worship. And, I will introduce you.