Crossing Boundaries with the Spirit
For Meditation (Corey Widmer)
This Sunday we come to one of the most important turning points in the book of Acts: Peter’s encounter with Cornelius in Acts 10.
At first glance, it may seem like a simple story about one man sharing the gospel with another. But beneath the surface, something much larger is happening. Peter is being forced to wrestle with boundaries that had shaped the people of God for centuries.
What makes this story so striking is that these were not merely human prejudices or social customs. The distinctions between Jew and Gentile were deeply tied to Israel’s covenant identity and holiness. Peter was not trying to resist God; in many ways, he was trying to be faithful to everything he had been taught.
And yet, through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and through the surprising work of the Holy Spirit , God is opening the door wider than Peter ever imagined possible. Again and again throughout Acts, the Spirit pushes the church outward: beyond Jerusalem, beyond comfort, beyond fear, and beyond the categories that once defined who belonged and who did not.
The church’s calling was never to abandon holiness, but to discover that in Christ, holiness is no longer guarded through separation from others, but expressed through the boundary-crossing love of Jesus.
As we continue our “Growing Small” series through Acts, we’ll explore what it means to become the kind of people who are open to the surprising wideness of God’s grace.
Questions for Reflection and Discussion:
What kinds of boundaries most commonly divide people today (political, social, racial, generational, ideological, etc.)? Which ones do you feel most strongly in your own life?
In Acts 10, Peter discovers that God is already at work in Cornelius’s life before Peter arrives. Where might God already be at work in people or places you normally overlook?
Peter had to confront not only the boundaries around him, but also the boundaries within him. What fears, assumptions, habits, or prejudices can keep us from moving toward others?
Who is someone in your life that may be different from you — culturally, politically, socially, spiritually, or personally — toward whom God may be inviting you to move with greater openness, curiosity, or hospitality?
What might it look like for our church or Parish Group to embody the “boundary-crossing” love of Jesus in Richmond right now?
Acts 10:27-48
While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”
Cornelius answered: “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’ So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”
Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 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.
“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.
Then Peter said, “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.