Turning Outward – Acts 2:1-21

A text – Acts 2:1-21

2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
2:2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
2:3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.
2:4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
2:5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.
2:6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.
2:7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
2:8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?
2:9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
2:11 Cretans and Arabs–in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”
2:12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
2:13 But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”
2:14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.
2:15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.
2:16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
2:17 ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
2:18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
2:19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
2:20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
2:21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

A reflection:

Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, is a Jewish holiday seven weeks after Passover, in celebration of the first fruits of the harvest and also the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. Since the New Testament was written in Greek, we use the Greek word for that holiday, Pentecost, which means 50^th. For Shavuot, a lot of people came to Jerusalem from many parts of the world, and they celebrated the holiday together. Of course they spoke many languages.

Jesus knew, I’m sure, that his ascension and leaving of the disciples would shortly be followed by the coming of the Holy Spirit into their lives. There would be no better demonstration of the Spirit’s presence than by the rush of a wind (the Hebrew word for Spirit is ru-ach, meaning breath or wind) and the disciples’ ability to speak and the crowd’s ability to hear the words they spoke each in their own language. It was a community miracle, an unforgettable moment in the life of God and humans, and one that glorified God in all three of the persons of the Trinity and added mightily to the numbers of people who knew and believed the stories of Jesus.

Jesus had promised his disciples they would be given the gift of the Holy Spirit, making them an ever more exclusive sort of a group empowered to do God’s mission. But when the gift arrived, it wasn’t about being more exclusive, more privileged by God. Instead it turned them outward and threw them toward people whose languages they did not know or speak, from places they had not yet visited. It was a gift given to them to push them and the story of Jesus outward to even more people. Our celebration of Pentecost reminds us that gifts from God for us are to be used for others, to make their lives as rich as our lives have been by the power of God. Look outward. Share outward. Give out joy!

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for giving us gifts for the work of your kingdom. Thank you for inviting us to use them. Help us to remember that someone needs your love and hope, and we are gifted to bring it today.      Amen.