Title If you stand before God...
Contents
If you stand before God... (Acts 10:23-33)
On March 31, 1889, in Paris, France, the Eiffel Tower was erected to commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution. However, before the tower was erected, when the construction plans and blueprints were announced, the artists and citizens of Paris were said to be decisively opposed to the tower construction. Citizens said they thought that the huge iron structure would completely ruin the atmosphere of old-fashioned Paris. The poet [Bedleine] did not even go near the Eiffel Tower because he hated seeing the ugly Eiffel Tower, and [Mopassant] even turned his back so that his statue in Monceau Park could not see the Eiffel Tower. It was also announced for the Eiffel Tower to be demolished.
But now, the Eiffel Tower is no longer a vulgar abomination, but a Parisian landmark that the French are most proud of. It has become an attractive structure that attracts thousands of tourists from all over the world. If you look at why this happened, the citizens of Paris had to see the majestic tower when they opened their eyes. So it's called
Advertising is probably the area that is making the best use of this effect and is currently using it. If you see or hear the same advertisement over and over again, you will hum without knowing it and follow it, and you are aiming for the effect of making you prefer the product. Oddly enough, it's only 15 seconds, but when you see an advertisement on TV that even newborns pay attention to, don't you know how great the effect is?
In any case, yes. When an object is repeatedly exposed, people gradually develop a favorable response to the object. If you are not satisfied with your life, you should first look at your relationship again. I have to look at how many people I have friendly relationships with through constant encounters in my relationships. In particular, we need to think about whether we are meeting God enough to be unfamiliar with God.
Ladies and gentlemen, if we are unfamiliar with God or we are awkward with God, isn't this usually a problem? So, the life of faith is a continuous encounter with God. But let me think of one thing. There are also many encounters. There are people I really like to meet. There is a proverb that sees people like this, and they say, “It is a barley dog cake in a heavenly relationship.” It means that no matter how lowly, everyone has a mate and lives a good life even if they eat barley dog rice cakes. Wouldn't it be great if all people could meet like this and live like this? But there are many who do not. I've met someone who doesn't suit me at all. Surprisingly, there are many people who wonder, 'How did those two meet and become a married couple?'
Now that I have to say, there are a couple of couples in the church who were surprised when I first met them. But now that I look at them, they are people who want to say, 'After all, these two met well.' Do you know why? At first, I saw it with a worldly eye. When I saw it with a very human eye, I could only evaluate it that way. However, I gradually changed my eyes. Seeing them through the eyes of faith and faith, they can't help but get along so well. There are people who wonder, ‘What would have happened if those two hadn’t met’. That's right.
Ladies and gentlemen, there is a mystery that an awkward couple who didn't fit in the world when they looked at them only from a normal and extremely human side seemed to be the most beautiful couple in the world when they saw it through spiritual eyes, religious eyes, and faith. This is an encounter with God. This is what people look like before God. In the presence of God, any encounter becomes a precious and meaningful encounter. No, you have to try to do that.
If you look at today's Bible text, there is a really awkward meeting between two people. Two people who probably shouldn't have met. No, I have met people I wish I would never have met in my lifetime. One is a Roman soldier named Cornelius, who is now in Judea. What's the situation? Rome has occupied Judea, and [Cornelius] is a centurion officer in the occupying army. But who, as a Jewish subject, would like this occupying force officer? Aren't you the kind of person you'd like to not meet at all costs and please disappear?
And the other is a poor fisherman and commoner of the occupied land called [Peter]. In terms of social status, [Cornelius] and [Peter] cannot be compared. That's why I don't have a reason to meet, and maybe I don't want to see each other for the rest of my life. But today, these two meet. At that time, Jews had a unique sense of religious superiority. Although it was difficult politically, economically and culturally, he had a sense of superiority enough to despise strangers religiously. ‘Even though we are going through such a difficult path, we are people who serve God. There was a sense of religious superiority that was qualitatively different from people who worship idols like you. Now, these two different people are meeting in the text today. How could this be? It is a strange thing that could never have happened at the time, but the meeting is taking place. However, if you look closely, there is a decisive moment for these two to meet. There are several things the two have in common.
First, they both fear God.
Look at verse 25. As soon as Peter entered his house, he fell on his face and bowed. Why would you? It is not seen as a human Peter, but as a person sent by God. He saw God behind Peter. This fact can be seen from the words of Peter, who quickly got up Cornelius from his face and said, “I am also a man.”
But, in conclusion, folks, this is it. These are people who believe in God and pray, those who have received answers to their prayers, and those who obey the answers they receive. As a result, you will meet people you will never meet in your lifetime, and people you should not have met. You will meet in God's will and open your heart. This is a very important statement in today's text.
Religious character is being before God. We live with the consciousness of God's presence, we see God, we see people. Even though I am listening to people, I think I am listening to God. A person who is invisible but receives prayer answers and lives today is a religious person. A person who lives by what he holds in his hand or who lives by what he sees would be an average person. But a special person sees what no one else sees. I hear sounds that no one else can hear. A person who lives by catching things that no one else can catch. This person is right before God.
Saints! Please don't abstract your faith too much. The faith of [Cornelius] today shows what a faith that takes shape. To receive Peter is to receive the Lord. I thought that listening to Peter was listening to the word of God. It is the belief that obeying Peter is obedience to God. This is the face of concrete faith. For now, you should learn enough theoretically and think about what you should do now, rather than if you lose face because you are old.
I have to think about what I am going to do today. This is a problem that people who stand before God should really ponder. If I am standing before God right now, I need an attitude to think about what I will do in this concrete and very realistic position.