Acts 2:1-21 (NRSV)
Read Acts 2:1-21 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 2When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. Verse 2And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Verse 3Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. Verse 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Verse 5Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. Verse 6And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Verse 7Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? Verse 8And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Verse 9Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Verse 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Verse 11Cretans and Arabs-in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." Verse 12All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" Verse 13But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."
Verse 14But 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. Verse 15Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. Verse 16No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: Verse 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. Verse 18Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. Verse 19And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. Verse 20The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day. Verse 21Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'
Devotion
I have been in some terrible storms on big lakes in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of northeastern Minnesota, and in a tornado that hit Fridley, MN, in my senior year at Luther Seminary. Like the disciples of Jesus, when we feel the wind blow, we instinctively want to huddle together in a place of shelter. Even when the wind of the Spirit blows we may feel afraid.
Yet this Pentecost wind is no wind of destruction; it is a dynamic wind of God—it blows where it will and fires up people with faith and spiritual power. I have experienced such spiritual power in Pentecostal experiences when the spiritual power of God landed among us—as energy (fire) and breath (wind) through preaching or music or many languages. People who have been freed from slavery and addiction know about that mighty power that can move mountains. Many find the Holy Spirit in the powerful African American freedom songs. I also know the spiritual experience of listening to God in the silence of the wilderness or in the simple chanting of prayer together with people of many languages and tongues. Then with the prophet Joel, I believe that God will pour out the Spirit upon all flesh.
Prayer
We lift our hands and pray together:
Spirit of the living God fall afresh on me;
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me,
Spirit of the living God fall afresh on me. Amen.