Seeing Cornelius and his house receive the Spirit may have surprised Peter, but it didn’t surprise God. In fact, it was just the next step in His redemptive plan.
 
Long before we read this story in Acts 10, Isaiah spoke of a day when people who assumed they were far beyond the rescue of redemption would be welcomed with love and dignity as the covenant people of God.
 
In his writing, Isaiah specifically addresses the foreigner and the eunuch. The foreigner expressed a fear of exclusion because of where he was from, and the eunuch feared exclusion due to a profound sense of loss from a future without children. But God speaks directly to those fears and encourages us to never assume we have no place in the family of God.
 
There’s something remarkable about the Lord’s promise being to those who hold fast in his covenant. Their reward will not be exclusion, but a lasting name. Foreigners are brought to His holy mountain, and He receives their worship, making His house a house of prayer for all the nations.
 
God presents Himself here as the One who gathers, the One who collects the dispersed of Israel and promises to include people from around the world... and it’s not a new idea; it’s been part of the plan from the very beginning.
 
The promise God gave Abraham was that all the families of the world would be blessed through him and his lineage. The choosing of Israel wasn’t about Him having His fill of the nations, but reveals His intent to bless the nations of the world through this one people. Over and over again the prophets speak of their hope that the nations would come together with them to worship the Lord.
 
Sometimes its easy, especially for us today, to imagine the church primarily in terms of people who know our songs, share our customs, speak our language, and fit comfortably inside our expectations and sensibilities. Just the other day I saw a meme of the Statue of Liberty bemoaning being asked to accept and tolerate the cultures of others over and above our own. I understand having strong opinions about immigration and public policy, but if we find ourselves with a general aversion to other cultures, I fear eternity will be a very long and arduous process for those who cultivate an unhealthy dislike for people and cultures different than their own. There will be a vast array of cultures and personalities present in the New Heavens and the New Earth. In fact, there are many cultures and differences in God’s family right now.

Belonging to God’s family doesn’t mean everyone must belong to our version of Christian culture, and Isaiah helps us remember that.
 
“The house” belongs to God, and He intends to fill it with the nations and make it a house of prayer. The same God who calls people to covenant faithfulness is the same God who gathers those who have historically resided outside of His presence.
 
Acts 10 is not God changing His mind, it’s God writing another chapter in the story He began so long ago.

Where might you be tempted to confuse your own Christian culture, be it national, regional, or denominational, with the hard and fast boundaries of belonging to God’s Kingdom? Be honest with this one. Allow the Spirit to probe your heart and root out any hint of these feelings.
How does seeing God as the One who gathers change, or at least influence, the way you view people who are culturally and/or socially different from you?

Father, You are the God who gathers the nations. Guard my heart from making Your family smaller than You have made it. Teach me to love Your holiness and your covenant faithfulness to the nations. Make Your church a faithful and loving witness to welcome those who are found to be in You. Amen. 

 “God’s family is bigger than my assumptions because __________________.”