Until Jesus arrived on the scene, the Israelites had been doing religion the same way for almost 1400 years, since the time
of Moses. After Jesus came, the Jewish
Christ followers experienced a continuous state of surprise with just about
every tradition, law, regulation, doctrine and theology they had known and
lived. Jesus turned the way they believed; all their ceremonial and gotta'-do-it-this-way-every-time
thinking, completely upside down.
In the following passage in the Book of Acts, not only was the Gospel
opened up to the Gentiles, but these 'uncircumcised heathens' also received the
gift of the Holy Spirit immediately, the moment they believed in Jesus, then following,
were baptized in water.
I'm thinking God did that for Peter's sake so he would be convinced the Good News wasn't just for the him and the Jewish
folk, but for all. Reading on to chapter eleven, we see that initially, the
other apostles, leaders and believers back in Judea and Jerusalem had issue
with the Gentile's joining their Christ 'club'. Throughout their nation’s long history,
they were so accustomed to everything of God being about them, that it was difficult for them to let anyone else in.
Acts 10: 44-48 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.
In many church circles we like to think the order of a
person's faith in Christ has to follow a certain path: repent, be water baptized
then filled with the Holy Spirit. We see from this account in Acts that's not
necessarily so. We Christian types like to 'order' so many of our beliefs and often
hang a sign on the door of the building to announce them, so we can be set apart
from (or above?) all the rest who don’t see it our way.
How often do we miss something new and amazing God wants to
do because we're stuck in old patterns and a certain point of view?
When God messes things up, it messes us up. We want to figure
Him out, stuff everything He does into a construct so we can formulate it to
work the same way every time, maintaining a spirituality that is comfy-cozy and doesn't our
rock our proverbial boat too much.
But we can't slot God into an algebraic equation. He is
GOD - Big, Powerful, Sovereign, Redemptive, Creative. He can do a thing one way
today and come up with a zillion other unimaginable ways for it to happen (or
not) the next time.
I don't know about you, but lately I've been asking God to
break down my "It has to be this
way" mindset. I want to put aside preconceived ideas, boring,
stuck-in-a-rut thinking and open my heart and mind to a God who is able to do
and be, far more than I am able to imagine; allowing Him always to surprise me.
I’ve messed myself up plenty. If I'm going to be messed up,
I want to be wrecked for Him, 'cause He's the only one who knows how to mess me
up properly and put me back together completely!
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