Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Who Will Go For Us?

Acts 10:1-16
According to Acts 10, a certain centurion named Cornelius was visited by an angel from God. The angel told him look for a man named Simon Peter. “When the angel who spoke to him had left,” we read, “(Cornelius) 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” (Acts 10:7-8). Clearly neither the angel, nor the slaves, nor the soldier are central to this story, and yet without them there is no story. They are the ones who carry the message and who seek to convey the word from one place to another. To a degree, this is what it means to be missionaries or evangelists.

Few if any of us will be remembered as significant in the life of the Church. For every Mother Theresa there are hundreds of millions of people who go unnoted by the world despite their faithfulness. No matter. All of us have a role to play, and quite often that role is to carry the message of the gospel from one place to another, or to share in the search for the truth that is Jesus Christ. When we play our part, when we carry the message or convey the word, we bring the story to life. Cornelius and Peter might never have met were it not for the angel, the slaves, and the soldier. Whose life might we touch today with the good news? Who might we help in their search for the truth? How might we further the spread of the gospel? These are questions worth asking, for while Cornelius and Peter are the ones we remember, there were others who had to play a part if the story was to move ahead. We, too, need to play our part. We, too, need to move the story along.

Prayer: Gracious God, help us to serve you by serving others, and give us the courage we need to share the good news. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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