God Shows No Partiality
April 10, 2021
“So Peter opened his mouth and said: ‘Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” - Acts 10:34-38
Our country has been racked by Covid-19 for the past year as well as by racial and political division. It is tragic to see how a people united by love of country, ideals, freedoms, and opportunities turn against one another and harbor bitterness and anger. I am not minimizing the deep-seated problems. There are real issues that must be faced; there are hard conversations of repentance that must be offered; and there are opportunities to offer forgiveness and to walk the road to healing. All of this requires radical grace and love.
Radical grace and love are found in one person – Jesus Christ. He alone is our means of healing and forgiveness. In Jesus, all barriers were broken – the barriers of race, ethnicity, and gender. Jesus welcomed all people to himself. Jesus lifted up the poor, the broken, the oppressed, and the marginalized. Jesus saw beyond externals to who one was made to be.
As Peter preached to the crowd this day, he reminded them of who Jesus was, what he had done on behalf of the people, and how God’s people could be united through the Gospel. Jesus was and is Lord of all people, and he calls his people to recognize the value of one another. Every man and every woman are made in the image of God. They are to be reflections of his glory. Through Christ all are acceptable. As Paul wrote to the church in Rome,
“I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). Instead, through faith in Jesus Christ, the love of God is lavished on us freely.
If sinner can be forgiven by a holy God and restored in relationship, can forgiven sinners be reconciled to one another? If we are a people who have received radical grace and love, can we become people who then show that same radical grace and love? God wants to break through every barrier that separates us. He longs for his people to be united and restored in relationship. Healing starts with God’s people. May we become extravagant in receiving and showing the radical grace and love of God, and may we become the agents of reconciliation that this world desperately needs.
Reflection:Do you realize the incredible gift you have been given through the Son of God – that all your sins would be wiped clean and that you are a child of God? And you are not just a child, but a loved child, a righteous child, a child whom God has entrusted with his Gospel message. How are you acting as an agent of reconciliation or what more is God calling you to do today – repent, forgive, accept, restore?
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