Cornelius

Acts 10:1-8 (TNIV) -

1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment.2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.

3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”

4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.
The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.

6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”
7 When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants.

8 He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.

My thoughts -

Sometimes I wonder how we think of the most "Godly" among us. Are they the ones that are in church all the time? Are they the ones that are always cheerful and pleasant? Are they the ones that don't drink, smoke, or cuss? Are they the ones you could never imagine sleeping around? Are they the ones that always have something "religious" to say on Twitter, Facebook, or their blog?

There's nothing wrong with any of those things, but when I look at how the Godly are described in the Bible (and most particularly throughout Acts as I'm studying it now) what constantly comes up has nothing to do with individual piety. Maybe those things are understood. I don't know. But what I see most is what is said of Cornelius here. He is Godly, and you know this because of his gifts to the poor.

Cornelius being so good to the poor is seen by God as an offering to God and as such, helps to pave the way for gentiles to be included and accepted in the early church (see the rest of Acts 10 and most of Acts 11 for that part of the story). It's such a big deal that 2000 years after the fact I'm reading about it today. If I know nothing else about Cornelius I know that he was Godly and I know this because of his generosity to the poor. That's a powerful thing.