34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does
not show favoritism 35 but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do
what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling
the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know
what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that
John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and
power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the
power of the devil, because God was with him.
- Acts 10:34-38, The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.
In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:
Not counting weddings and funerals, this is my sixty-seventh sermon at St. John’s. During the past two and a half years I have had the privilege to preach for all sorts of occasions: Christmas, New Year’s, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Pentecost, graduations, confirmations, etc. But I don’t think I ever spent more time on a single sermon or anguished over any of them as much as I did my first sermon.
A pastor wants to be a faithful messenger of God’s Word every time he steps into the pulpit, but the first time a pastor preaches to his congregation is a unique challenge. You don’t really know the people sitting in the pew. You want to make a good first impression. Your heart rate tells you that you are excited. Your palms let you know that you are nervous.
If you can imagine what that experience feels like, you might also be able to understand how Peter was feeling in our text. In two days, he had gone from a rooftop in Joppa to the house of Cornelius in Caesarea. He was led into a room filled with people, people he didn’t know, people he was addressing for the first time.
If Peter had any questions about why the Lord had brought him there, his host gave him the answer. Cornelius said: “We are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us” (Acts 10:33). The room was quiet. All eyes were fixed on him. The people were eager to hear what Peter had to say.
Maybe he was nervous. Maybe he wished he had been given more time to prepare. Maybe he was just thankful for the opportunity to share God’s Word with so many people. Whatever Peter was feeling on the inside, his message came out loud and clear. Without hesitation, Peter preached Jesus Christ. With confidence, Peter proclaimed that Jesus Christ is Lord of all.
That is one preaching formula that never fails, no matter what the occasion is. Whether we are speaking to a church filled with people or talking one-on-one to a person across the table, whether it is Christmas Eve or Easter morning or the first Sunday after Epiphany or Tuesday, our message is the same...
Jesus
Is Lord Of All
I.
He saves us by grace
II.
He rules us in peace
III.
He protects us with power
Most sermons begin with an introduction. The purpose of the introduction is to engage the listener. One of my seminary professors said that the first sentence is the most important sentence in a sermon because it can either capture or lose the listener’s attention.
Maybe Peter didn’t have that in mind when he began to speak,
but his opening words certainly got people’s attention: “I now realize how
true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation
who fear him and do what is right” (10:34,35).
Many Jews believed that God did show favoritism, and in a sense he did. Out of all the families in the world, God chose Abraham’s to be family line of the Savior. God blessed Abraham’s family and eventually it became a great nation, the nation we call Israel. The Jews were proud of their heritage. The Jews were proud of their special status before God. The Jews made much of the fact that they were “children of Abraham.”
But then God’s promises were fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus was a descendant of Abraham. Jesus was born under the Jewish law. Jesus obeyed the Jewish law. Jesus removed the need for the Jewish law. But for many faithful Jews, including Peter, that was hard to accept. Their system of laws, with its “dos and don’t dos,” helped define them as a people. From early on, it had been woven into the fabric of their being.
That is why God appeared to Peter in a powerful vision only two days before. That is why God encouraged him in that vision to go ahead and eat things that had previously been considered unclean. That is why God said: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean” (Acts 10:15). Peter understood that his vision was about more than just food. If God declared that unclean foods were no longer impure, it also meant that unclean people were no longer impure.
Normally a god-fearing Jew would not even enter the house of a Gentile, much less associate with one. But when Peter came to the house of the Gentile Cornelius, he marched right in. Why the change of heart? Peter had come to the realization that God does not show favoritism. Peter understood that heaven is not an exclusive club reserved only for Jews. The Lord led Peter to believe that “God accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”
Do not misunderstand Peter.
He wasn’t saying that God accepts everyone no matter what they
believe. And he wasn’t telling the
people what they needed to do to get right with God. If we allow Scripture to interpret Scripture,
we will remember that “the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it
do so” (Romans 8:7). We will
remember that “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews
11:6). We will remember that
salvation is “the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast”
(Ephesians 2:8,9).
Good works can never make a person a believer, but a believer will produce good works.
If the Jews couldn’t boast in their special status as God’s chosen people, if the Gentiles couldn’t rely on their native ability to please God, then the question of the hour in Caesarea was: How can a person be saved? The first verse of the last hymn gives us the answer: “Salvation unto us has come by God’s free grace and favor. Good works cannot avert our doom; They help and save us never. Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone, who did for all the world atone; He is the one Redeemer” (CW 390:1). Jesus is the Lord of all, both Jew and Gentile, and he saves people by grace.
A pastor will be careful to include both law and gospel when he preaches. This is a challenge because no two people are the same. As Peter looked around the room, he couldn’t read the minds of his listeners. But he probably saw people who were struggling with sins from their past. He saw those who were wondering how God could possibly forgive them for what they had done. He saw some who believed that they were safe because they weren’t as bad as the person in the next seat. He saw those who were comfortable with their sinful lifestyle and had no desire to change.
The comfortable need to be roused from their spiritual apathy. Those who are happy to compare themselves with others need to measure themselves against God’s perfect standard. This is the purpose of God’s law. The law exposes sin. The law shows us that we fall short. The law condemns.
The gospel serves a very different purpose. It lifts up the downtrodden. It gives hope to the despairing. It strengthens the weak. It was Peter’s privilege to share the gospel with the house of Cornelius: “You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ” (10:36).
Cornelius was a Roman centurion. He knew better than anyone that Judea was not a peaceful place. He had been stationed there for that very reason. Peace meant control. Peace meant a strong military presence to discourage any thoughts of rebellion.
The peace that Peter was offering through Jesus was not that kind of peace. Jesus’ peace was a peaceful peace, a change of heart not forced upon the unwilling. His peace was a lasting peace, a security that is not under the constant threat of being broken. His peace was an inner peace, a freedom from uncertainty about what will happen to me when I die.
One of the churches in Wauwatosa recently displayed a message on its sign that read: “Pray for peace in the new year.” I assume that this was in reference to the political tensions and conflicts around the world. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that kind of prayer. Some people in our congregation have loved ones who have been called to serve overseas, and we want peace. We want God to bring them home safely.
As we ask God to give us peace in the new year, we can also say a prayer of thanksgiving because we already have peace through Jesus Christ. We are thankful because Jesus has washed way our sins in baptism. We are grateful because the Lord forgives our sins in his holy Supper. We give thanks because he has gone to prepare our places in heaven. No matter what is happening in the world, Jesus is the Lord of all and he rules us with his peace.
To make a sermon come alive, preachers often use illustrations. And Peter was no exception. Illustrations usually come in the form of stories or examples or hypothetical situations. Peter had a unique advantage when he addressed Cornelius and his friends because his illustrations were based on real-life experiences.
He said: “You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached—“ (10:37). How did they know what had happened? Jesus was there with them. They were able to see him. And even if some of them had never seen Jesus, they heard the reports about what he was doing.
They knew “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the
Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who
were under the power of the devil” (10:38).
Jesus revealed who he was by what he said, but he also revealed himself by what he did. He healed the sick. He raised the dead. He fed the hungry. He drove out demons. He stilled storms. All of Jesus’ miracles demonstrate/illustrate his power.
Jesus was able to do these things “because God was with
him” (10:38b). The perfect example came
at Jesus’ baptism. Jesus came up out of
the water. The Holy Spirit descended on
Jesus like a dove. And the Father’s
voice came down from heaven: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am
well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).
During Epiphany, Jesus reveals himself to us by his teachings and his miracles. His powerful words and powerful deeds make Epiphany a season of hope. As strong as the devil is, Jesus is stronger. As great as our sin is, Jesus’ love is greater. As difficult as our problems are, Jesus provides a divine solution. Epiphany reminds us that Jesus is the Lord of all, and he protects us with his almighty power.
A good sermon will also include application. A preacher wants his people to understand and appreciate what Gods’ Word says, but he also wants them to apply that Word to their lives. So what did Peter want his listeners to come away with? And what does God want us to learn from this ancient text?
Peter’s sermon made it clear to Cornelius that God wants all people to be saved. That means the Gentiles are included. That means we are included. But we are not just the beneficiaries of this good news. We are also the bearer’s of this good news.
God wants us to follow Peter’s example. We follow his example when we serve in Africa like our members Bill and Cathy Meier and when we volunteer with the Chinese Fellowship across the street. We follow his example when we canvass a neighborhood and when we review memory work with our children. We follow his example when we give offerings to support mission work and when we pray for missionaries around the world.
Peter’s sermon also assures us that the Lord of all is my Lord. Cornelius was aware of what Jesus had been doing, but he did not know who Jesus was. It was Peter’s privilege to tell him. Jesus is true man and true God in one person, our Savior. He died on the cross to pay for our sins, and rose again to demonstrate his power, power over death itself. And the same Lord who defeated sin and death and the devil remains a powerful and guiding force in the lives of his people.
Finally, every sermon ends with a conclusion. Peter’s inspired words can lead us to only one conclusion. Jesus is Lord of all. He saves us by grace. He rules us in peace. He protects us with power. Amen.