“THE MEMORIAL OFFERING” (Acts 10:4)
Memorial Day Sunday
Rev. Jeremy Stopford, Retired Pastor, May 24, 2015
“There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!” And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, Lord?” So He said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a MEMORIAL before God.” (Acts chapter 10).
INTRODUCTION
The origins of the first “Memorial Day” are varied, but one story stands out: “Memorial Day was started by former slaves on May 1, 1865 in Charleston, SC to honor 257 dead Union Soldiers who had been buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp. They dug up the bodies and worked for 2 weeks to give them a proper burial as gratitude for fighting for their freedom. They then held a parade of 10,000 people led by 2,800 Black children where they marched, sang and celebrated.”
And in 1868, Major General John Logan ordered that the graves of all Civil War dead be decorated (hence, “Decoration Day”) with flowers on May 30. Eventually the last Monday of May was so designated “Memorial Day”.
There are several “memorials” in Scripture. Our passage talks of one which marks a huge transition in Bible times – and perhaps in ours today.
PRAYER
“There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!” And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, Lord?” So He said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a MEMORIAL before God.” (Acts chapter 10).
INTRODUCTION
The origins of the first “Memorial Day” are varied, but one story stands out: “Memorial Day was started by former slaves on May 1, 1865 in Charleston, SC to honor 257 dead Union Soldiers who had been buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp. They dug up the bodies and worked for 2 weeks to give them a proper burial as gratitude for fighting for their freedom. They then held a parade of 10,000 people led by 2,800 Black children where they marched, sang and celebrated.”
And in 1868, Major General John Logan ordered that the graves of all Civil War dead be decorated (hence, “Decoration Day”) with flowers on May 30. Eventually the last Monday of May was so designated “Memorial Day”.
There are several “memorials” in Scripture. Our passage talks of one which marks a huge transition in Bible times – and perhaps in ours today.
PRAYER
#1 CORNELIUS—THE REMEMBERED SAINT (Acts 10:1-8)
What does this brief passage tell us about an obscure man named “Cornelius”?
First of all, he was a Gentile. Even by Acts 10, non-Jews were earmarked even by the church as being “untouchable” and “unreachable”. The church needed a fresh awakening to what God could do in any heart.
Hello !!! Does the church need a fresh awakening today to what God can do in any heart? Is there any heart which you have labeled “untouchable” and “unreachable”? Then you better read on!
He was a “saved” man by our terms. Note verse 2 calls him “devout” (that is, “pious, godly”). He “feared God” (that is, he worshipped the one true God). And he was a giver – he proved his love for God by his outward, but invisible, acts. He was a saved man.
And God noticed! The angel came down especially to Cornelius and said, “your prayers and your alms [which nobody else knew about] have come up for a MEMORIAL before God.”
What did the angel mean by “memorial” or a “memorial offering”? The “memorial offering” is that which keeps alive the memory of someone or something. When Jesus at the first communion said, “do this in REMEMBRANCE of Me”, do you know what He was saying? The very same thing! The first communion was a MEMORIAL before God, done to keep alive the memory of the Lord Jesus!
And isn’t it comforting to know that God never forgets people! In Isaiah 49:15 He says, “I will not forget you.” In Psalm 9:18, the psalmist writes, “God will never forget the needy.” And in Psalm 13:1, David prayed, “How long, O Lord, will You forget me forever?”. David felt free to approach God with his complaint!
BUT GOD DOES FORGET SIN!!! Jeremiah 31:34 says, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more!”. Wow! And He does that for New Testament believers as well! Aren’t you glad?
Cornelius is at a turning point of church history as stated in the ensuing verses of Acts 10 (vs. 5-8). He was no longer “untouchable” or “unreachable”!!! And soon the whole church would know that God saves sinners – whether Jew or non-Jew! He can saved ANYBODY!
POINT: Is there anyone we as a church have forgotten? Is there anyone you have considered as “untouchable”? Is there anyone you have labeled with the horrendous marker, “God can never reach them!”? They may be the turning point of the ministry of our church, of the ministry of the Lord in our entire village!
#2 PETER – THE TEACHABLE JEW (Acts 10:9ff)
Note in these verses that Peter is taken from the known – God’s design seemingly has been just for the Jews, even in the early church – to the unknown, that His design also includes the whole world!
ILLUSTRATION: I have a box. I am in the box. I can only see what is in the box. I cannot see what is outside the box. Perhaps there is a world out there to which I could make a difference. But as long as I am not outside the box, my world is limited. It is NOT limited by God, but it is limited by ME.
Peter’s world was limited, partially by his cultural prejudices, and partially by his vision of the day. He needed a fresh vision – and God gave him one!
CONCLUSION
Why is this section of Scripture about the “memorial offering” important? Because God is taking Peter – and the then known church – to where God designed when He issued the church’s commanding orders. Remember what they are?
“Therefore GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
Who is “outside our box” that we are missing out on reaching for God’s glory today?
CLOSE IN PRAYER