Apr 23 - Acts 2:2-4

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.

Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them,

and a tongue rested on each of them.

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit

and began to speak in other languages,

as the Spirit gave them ability.

Acts 2:2-4

Today, we hear the story of Pentecost! But to hear it more fully, we need to go back a chapter first.

In my current Bible Study, the first verse I was asked to read about the Holy Spirit was Acts 1:8. And two themes jumped out …

1. The Spirit brings power! Jesus promised his followers, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” As I said yesterday, I want more power! I want my life to be unexplainable except by the movement of the Spirit!

2. What will this power, acting in us, enable us to do? In other places, scripture will talk about other gifts of power given to us – the power of healing, the power of prayer, the power of faith, etc.

But the first gift of power, given to Jesus’ followers, was the power of boldness, the power of proclamation, and the power of evangelism. Acts 1:8 concludes: ““You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

That’s what happens in today’s lesson too. On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit came in wind and fire and a rush of power. And what did it enable Jesus’ followers to do? Speak in other languages. Why? So that they might boldly proclaim the Good News to all the peoples in Jerusalem that day – including people from a dozen different language-groups gathered in Jerusalem for the festival that day.

“Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs” (Acts 2:9-11).

What’s our first reason for receiving the Gospel? Think about it.

•  The moment we believe is the moment when the Spirit comes into us.
•  Thus, from the moment we believe, we’ve already been transferred, eternally, from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.
•  So the first gift of the Spirit – boldness and proclamation – equips us to help others make this eternal transfer too!

Eventually, the Spirit will give us other gifts too! These gifts will help us live life in the meantime – in a painful, broken world and amid all the corrupt desires of our still mortal flesh. But the very first power? To be bold. To not worry what the world thinks. To tell the story of Jesus’ saving work with power and grace.

Do you do this? (Most of us shrink at this one.)

Again, this is not an occasion for guilt. It’s an occasion to say, “Yield my heart, O God, because as I open myself to this calling to witness, I will open myself to all the other gifts of the Spirit too.”

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who want to explain

his encroaching baldness

by the fire of the Spirit

resting on my head!