Acts 2:1-21

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 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.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 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—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

Peter Addresses the Crowd

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. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 
“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. 
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
   in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
     and they shall prophesy. 
And I will show portents in the heaven above
   and signs on the earth below,
     blood, and fire, and smoky mist. 
The sun shall be turned to darkness
   and the moon to blood,
     before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. 
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” 

Chapter two of Luke’s Gospel tells the story of the birth of Jesus. Chapter two of Acts – Luke’s second volume – tells the story of the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Jesus came as flesh and blood. The Holy Spirit came as wind and fire.

The first gift of the Spirit was to enable the apostles to speak in tongues. Some Christians today can speak in a spiritual language that is not one of the many native languages and dialects spoken around the world. Saint Paul writes about this in his first letter to the Corinthians.

The apostles at Pentecost (originally a Jewish festival celebrated fifty days after Passover) were enabled by the Holy Spirit to speak in the varied mother tongues of the cosmopolitan population of Jerusalem. All of them were able to hear about God’s deeds of power in their own language.

The same challenge applies to all of us. How can we communicate the nature of our faith to people in our local community who are not familiar with our church language? How can we tell the story of God in words that they will understand? Metaphors like ‘wind’ and ‘fire’ are probably more helpful to people than ‘Holy Spirit’ – at least as a starting point.

The Methodist Church is enriched by the various fellowship groups that offer pastoral support and opportunities to worship in their own style and language for our sisters and brothers whose roots are in another part of the world. If you have never been to one of these gatherings, I encourage you to go. You may not understand what is being sung or said, but you will nevertheless know that the Holy Spirit is present and active!

Blessings as we praise God for being alive today in our church in the person of the Holy Spirit.  Be safe!  Be well!  He is Risen!

      To Ponder:

• How can we communicate the nature of our faith to people in our local community who are not familiar with our church language?
• What words have been used in church which you did not understand?