Wild Spirit – Acts 2:1-21

A text – Acts 2:1-21

2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 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. ³ Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

⁵ Now there were devout Jews from every people under heaven living in Jerusalem. ⁶ And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. ⁷ Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? ⁹ Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹ Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” ¹² All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³ But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Fellow Jews and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. ¹⁵ Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. ¹⁶ No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

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.
¹⁸ Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
¹⁹ And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
²⁰ The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
²¹ Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

A reflection:

As usual, St. Luke, the author of both the book of Luke and the book of Acts, is a very detailed storyteller. So we should pay attention to the details he has chosen to include. First, the strange happening: a violent wind in the house, “tongues” of fire appearing among the disciples (and probably others) and resting upon them, and each one speaking in languages unknown to them but understandable to the gathering crowd.

Second, the makeup of the crowd: devout Jews from every corner of the world who were living in Jerusalem at that time – so, immigrants. Also among them were tourists from Rome. People from each country mentioned and probably more as well, who, at the sound of the violent wind had come out of fear and confusion to find out what was going on, they heard God’s deeds of power being spoken about in their own language. This must have gone on for long enough to provoke jokes about being drunk.

Third, Peter’s response: Start with a gentle warm-up to a frightened group. The disciples are not drunk. Then pull out a familiar prophesy from scripture and say how it is coming true in their presence – God is  pouring out the Holy Spirit upon sons and daughters who are prophesying. Peter’s sermon goes on for some time after the end of this reading. He preaches about Jesus, and thousands believe him. But imagine now that each person who believed that day told even one relative back home about it. The spread of the faith from this incident on this particular day in Jerusalem went far and wide before any of the apostles even left town. The Spirit was on the loose and blowing wherever it willed. That seems to be the way with the Spirit of God. We don’t control who gets it. God knows where it is needed and where it can spark even more belief and growth and goodness. It doesn’t behave to our specifications. The wildness in this story alone should remind us that God is God, no matter what, and that God is generous in pouring out truth and blessing.

A prayer:

Lord God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for the day your poured out your Spirit on the disciples and even on the crowd who believed. Help us ot know that you can give the Spirit to us, too, whenever we need it. Amen.