Unlikely – Acts 10:1

Acts 10:1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment.

Blessings often come in very unlikely packages. We look for them in certain places and expect them to enter our lives in particular ways, but then the surprise happens. The blessing comes from a direction you would never expect. Have you noticed this in your life?

Sometimes, the blessing comes from what is seemingly a curse. We get fired, and then we land the perfect job. We get an illness and then during the testing, they find we have cancer, but it is discovered early, so it is easily removed. If it weren’t for the first illness, the cancer would have gone undetected until it was too late. Or you are shopping for a house and your ‘perfect’ house gets scooped up before you have a chance to bid, and then an unexpected gem falls in your lap.

One of the main messages of the Book of Acts is that the LORD is interested in more than Israel, more than the Jews. He has a plan for the whole world. The old categories of people have been abolished and He is reaching, through the Church, people from all backgrounds.

Our text introduces us to one of these unlikely categories. We meet a man in a Roman city. This isn’t like Jerusalem, the city where the LORD’s presence was celebrated. Caesarea was the Roman capital of that province and the home port of the Roman navy. It played an essential role in the control of the subjected population of that region. As a prosperous city, it had great influence.

So in this Roman city there is a man named Cornelius. He is no ordinary man. He is an officer in the Roman Army, a commander of what we would today call a ‘company’ of soldiers, about a hundred strong. From a Jewish perspective he is an agent of the oppressor. He would be hated by the Jews because of his position.

But we find out that he does not fit the stereotype that fits with his position. He is a devout and God-fearing man. Both these terms point to him being a Gentile convert to Judaism. So he is an unlikely candidate because of his position, but someone noticed by the LORD because of his heart. And he lives out his faith by the way he uses his finances and in his prayer life.

So the LORD sees his heart and responds. He sends an angel with a message, a multi-step message, that will bring a leader of the Disciples to a new understanding of the Gospel message, and will bring the Gospel to a new people group. Both things happen at the same time.

The LORD puts in place a series of events that brings an observant Jew to a place where his preconceived ideas about the life of God is confronted and turned right-side up. Peter, who had always followed the strict dietary rules of the day, is told in a vision that he can eat everything. What a strange vision! Peter struggles to understand the vision until some Gentiles show up and reveal that God has also given a vision to an unlikely person, Cornelius.

You see, the LORD isn’t bound by what we think is likely. He is free to use any and every means possible to bring those whose hearts are inclined to Him to faith. We read about those around the world getting supernatural dreams and visions that bring them to faith in Jesus, even where no Gospel witness exists.

What unlikely means has the LORD used in your life? Are you willing to open your spiritual eyes and see what unlikely means the Lord might want to use in the future?