The Sixth Sunday of Easter

Earlier in the tenth chapter of Acts, Peter saw three times, a vision of both clean and unclean animals being lowered from heaven with the command, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat,” implying that Peter must not call unclean (Gentiles, as we shall soon see) what the Lord has called clean. The Gentile centurion, Cornelius, also had a vision telling him to summon Peter to his house. Both men obey, and now Peter has finally understood that the Good News is for the Gentiles, too. In today’s reading, Peter was preaching at the house of the centurion, Cornelius, when the Holy Spirit interrupted his sermon to pour out his love and wisdom on the Gentiles in attendance, that is, they became believers in Jesus as the Christ. They were baptized, showing that they were fully accepted into the community of believers of The Way.

In several places in Psalm 98, as well as throughout the Old Testament, it is declared that salvation is extended to “all the ends of the earth.” A tell that a person is a believer is that he or she will want to follow God’s commandments that are found everywhere throughout the Bible. The great composer, Igor Stravinsky, said that the more restrictions he put upon himself when composing, the more freedom he found that he had. We also find that, when following God’s commands, we indeed have more freedom and joy and are not enslaved to sin, a wily trap that will ruin our lives and our relationships.

— David Littrell