We know that the Spirit has the power to work miracles, to give us dreams and visions, to inspire prophesy, to use us to spread the Gospel.
When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples 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. . .
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. “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.’”
We know that the Holy Spirit’s power is always ready and available to us. We know that the Spirit has the power to work miracles, to give us dreams and visions, to inspire prophesy, to use us to spread the Gospel. If we don’t find our Christian communities alive with the joy and the possibility of doing those things, it’s not the Holy Spirit’s fault.
I had trouble today not simply sharing the entire Acts 2:1-21 passage above. It’s such a dramatic and—in Peter’s insistence that none of the disciples are drunk—even funny story.
Here in Acts 2, in the gathered Christian community, miracles start happening. People see tongues of fire above each other’s heads. The crowd hears the disciples speaking and each hearer understands the preaching in their own language. It’s clearly, and explicitly, marked as the fulfillment of prophecy from Joel 2.
At the beginning of Joel 2 the prophet Joel, faced with a locust plague, commanded his hearers to blow the trumpet in Zion (Joel 2:1) and return to the Lord with fasting, weeping, and mourning (Joel 2:12)—verses dear to the heart of many of us who hear them in church every Ash Wednesday. Here in Acts 2, we revisit the end of Joel 2 and hear God’s response—a beautiful restoration of everything that has been taken away by the plague of locusts (Joel 2:25), a restoration that culminates in the pouring out of God’s Spirit.
I could just stop here and let us wonder and amaze.
We know from this story in Acts that the Holy Spirit’s power is always ready and available to us. We know that the Spirit has the power to work miracles, to give us dreams and visions, to inspire prophesy, to use us to spread the Gospel. If we don’t find our Christian communities alive with the joy and the possibility of doing those things, it’s not the Holy Spirit’s fault.
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