The Holy Spirit is Poured Out Upon the Gentiles

This meditation is based on a passage for August 27, 2010 in the Daily Lectionary Year 2 from the Book of Common Worship for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (1993).

Text: Acts 10:34-38

Reflection and Question: Peter shares the Gospel message about Jesus with Cornelius and his family. The Holy Spirit falls upon them just as it fell on the disciples on Pentecost. Peter baptizes these Gentiles, whom Jews condemn as unclean. And Peter’s summary of this experience in the early church is that God does not show favoritism but “in every nation anyone who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him.” Judgments about “doing what is right” can be the sticking point for the church — we sometimes disagree about what is right. For me, the blessings of the Holy Spirit exist wherever there is love, just as much between Vikki and Deb, Doug and Anthony, as between me and my husband. How do you understand what is “right”?

Prayer: Dearest Jesus, end our quarreling over what is right, we beg You. As it threatened to do in Peter’s time, such strife threatens to injure Your body, the church in the world, in our time. Yours is to judge, ours is to love. Help us do it. Amen.