Pentecost

Preparation

Please begin by reading Acts 2:1-21 in your Bible. If you do not have one at hand, we have provided the text for you at the end of this reflection.

Reflection--Happy Birthday!

Today’s story from the New Testament book of Acts tells the story of the day of Pentecost, joyfully celebrated by Christians as the birthday of the church.

Pentecost was (and still is) a day of celebration for the Jewish people too.  Mentioned in the Hebrew (“Old”) Testament as “the Feast of Weeks,” it was originally an agricultural festival, a time to give thanks to God for the harvest.  It came to be celebrated 50 days after Passover. (The word Pentecost comes from a Greek word for “fiftieth.”)  Later, it developed into a day of thanksgiving for God’s gift of the Torah on Mount Sinai.

Christians see the events of the first Pentecost after Jesus’ death and resurrection, described in this passage, as the beginning of the church.  It is a dramatic moment, full of the power and fire of the Holy Spirit.  It is the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise at Acts 1:8: “But 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.”

The Holy Spirit transformed the followers of Jesus, dispirited by their loss, filling them with new life.  With the power of the Holy Spirit flowing through them, they were able to begin the work of building the church, the community of people around the globe who are followers of Christ. 

From the very beginning, a primary work of the church is clear—to tell the “good news” to a world hungry to hear it.  God empowered the disciples through the Holy Spirit to say things in many languages that God wanted people gathered from many places to hear.  We learn later in Acts 2 that as a result of these events 3,000 persons were added to the just born church!  As it was so long ago, Pentecost is a celebration of new beginnings, of the empowerment of God's people to carry out God’s work on earth. 

Pentecost is also a time of celebration of the way that the Holy Spirit builds community out of diversity.  Notice that the good news of God was for people “of every nation under heaven.”  Peter explains the events by drawing on the marvelous prophecy of the prophet Joel.  It is a vision of God’s Spirit poured out on men and women, young and old.  Even the most marginalized, the slaves, are not excluded.  There is the promise of a time when “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  No matter who you are or where you are, the good news of God's love is for you too!

revclay

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Acts 2:1-21

 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.”

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “People 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.’”

 [NRSV]