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Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost
August 26, 2022
Invitatory
Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: Come let us adore him.
Reading - Acts: 10:42-48
“He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who hear the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, ‘Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’ So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.”
Meditation - Winnie Smith
The word “evangelism” seems to send a chill up a lot of peoples’ spines. It’s a word that, for many, represents an act of force, the imposition of one’s faith on another, and on the often false distinction between a right and a wrong system of belief. Frequently Christian evangelism creates a sort of elite private club: either you are in, because you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, or you’re out. That is not what evangelism is. Or, at least, it is not what it should be. Evangelism is, most importantly, part of our duty as the baptized. In the service of Holy Baptism, we promise to “proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.” In the Catechism, our duties as Christians include “working, praying, and giving for the spread of the kingdom of God.” While Episcopalians do not typically describe themselves as Evangelicals, evangelism is part of the life of any Christian.
Today’s appointed reading from the Book of Acts deals with this topic. In it, we hear a portion of Peter’s sermon at Caesarea, where he has been summoned by a man named Cornelius, a Roman army officer and a Gentile. Peter’s sermon includes recounting very briefly the life of Jesus, and ends with the first paragraph quoted above. “He” - God - “commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead.” Right there is the call for evangelism.
What Christians often get wrong about evangelism is thinking they are the agents of change. That they are somehow bringing God to whomever they are trying to evangelize. That is not our job, nor are we capable of it. God is already in the lives of those to whom the evangelist speaks. The work of evangelism is to help a person see that God is there, that God’s power is at work, to point out that it is God who is behind the good that is happening in their life. In the reading from Acts, while Peter speaks, the Holy Spirit falls upon those to whom he is speaking. All the people assembled, regardless of the language they speak and understand, comprehend Peter’s message. That is God’s power and that is the act of evangelism - the Holy Spirit does the work; Peter is merely the person there at the time, helping people recognize what God is doing. Let us all find moments to be evangelists. To be like Peter and to help spread the kingdom - however that possibility presents itself - in our own lives.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
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