Devotion - Thursday, September 9

The vision, recounted in Acts 10, is followed up with action. After Peter hears God’s admonition “What God has cleansed, you must not call common,” he hears the messengers from Cornelius knocking at the door. He greets them, welcomes them into his home for the evening, and the next day he goes with them to their home.

The vision, the insight, the expanded awareness is followed by action. Peter puts into practice what it is that God has revealed to him.

No doubt you have heard of the plans of some in Gainesville, FL, to burn copies of the Koran on September 11. There has been a great deal of outrage. The Lutheran Campus Pastor at University of Florida has written a pastoral response which I would happily share with you. This, certainly, is action. And, the person instigating this event says he is doing so in response to what God has said to him.

I will not speak for God, or for another of God’s servants. It is a matter of prayer and discernment as to how I am to relate the message I have received from God when I realize how starkly it contrasts with the message others claim to have received. As that is sorted out, I must not fall silent, allowing my silence to imply that those with a differing message are the only message.

The revelation received from God must result in action, in changes in behavior, alterations in what I say.

It would be petty to turn this into an issue of how many support the planned burnings in Gainesville (let’s not thing of “Gainesville” as the only place such plans are hatched, it is merely the most recent and/or the most visible) and those who would rally around a cry of tolerance. God does not operate by opinion polls or popularity; God has a differing standard in mind. Avoiding taking sides, we can speak of the vision God has given us. We can share what is it that God has placed in our hearts and in our minds.

Re-read Acts 10. Think about its instruction for us. Then actively look for opportunities to engage your friends and classmates in discussions about Christian-Muslim relations. Talk it through with those around you. Arrive at conclusions as to the word that God has placed in your heart and let that word flow from your lips.