Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, May 19, 2013 Read – Acts 2:1-13 Jesus had told his followers to remain in the city until they were clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4). The message in those words is that the ministry of Jesus is not accomplished because of the ability of his followers. We can take great comfort in that. Now, the time has come for the empowering. Luke tells us it happened on the Day of Pentecost – an OT festival that happened 50 days after Passover. It was actually a harvest festival when the first fruits of the barley harvest were to be brought to the Temple to honor and thank God for his giving of another crop. What an appropriate day for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the coming “harvest” of believers in Jesus! Luke reminds his readers that the disciples were following Jesus’ instruction to remain in the city until they were clothed with power from on high – they are all still together, apparently once again in that upper room. But this day was different. Luke tells us that there was a rush of a might wind – actually a “violent” wind. It is important for us to know that the same word in both Greek and Hebrew is used to speak about “wind” and “spirit.” To speak of the physical wind, like we experience here in Iowa, we would use the same word as we would to speak of the spirit within a person. Maybe thinking in terms of “breath” is better. We breathe in air (wind) and so we have the breath (spirit) of life. As we listen to Luke’s description of the events we can’t help but be reminded of the story of creation when the “wind” of God was blowing over the face of the waters as chaos is harnessed by God into the creation. Or, when God made a lump of clay and “breathed” into it the wind/sprit of life. Or, when the dry bones in Ezekiel’s vision come to life as the wind/spirit is breathed into them. Luke wants us to be remembering these images. Something new is being created, birthed in the Pentecost event. Not only wind/spirit but tongues of fire accompany the event. John the Baptist had said that he came to baptize with water, but the one who was coming after him would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (Luke 3:16). When the OT writers wanted to talk about the appearance of God they often spoke in terms of the coming of fire – the best example is the story of the burning bush. That is Luke’s point – this is God’s doing, God’s coming, God’s empowering. Jesus’ promise was being fulfilled – they were clothed with power from on high. And the result of the empowering was that they were given the ability to proclaim! They spoke in the languages of those who gathered. Proclamation is the most important function of the followers of Jesus. They will do other wonders and signs – which are most curious to us – but it is primarily a word event. God needs proclaimers of a word, and that is what happened that first Pentecost. To whom were they to proclaim? Luke now lists people from all over the known world. However, it is important for us to notice that Luke is careful to state that they were all Jews, some of the proselytes who are gentiles who have converted to Judaism. None of these first hearers were gentiles! One of Luke’s themes in this gospel and in the book of Acts is to tell his readers that there were Jews who received the Messiah. This is still a fully Jewish event! And like with the experience of Jesus, there are some who respond positively and others who don’t. That pattern will persist throughout the book of Acts – and it persists to this day! But Luke’s point is that there were those who responded positively to what happened. And such an event needed interpretation. The question rings forth, “What does this mean?” Readers of Luke will soon hear the words of Peter. Before we leave the story of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost we need to notice one more thing. Careful readers of the Bible may remember the John also tells of the giving of the Holy Spirit. John’s story is very different from Luke’s. The event in John happens on the evening of Easter day. The disciples are in the upper room when Jesus appears. And during that appearance Jesus breathes upon his disciples and they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 20:22). The gift of the Holy Spirit was a very important theme in John’s gospel – as it is in Luke’s. Jesus had promised that he would give the Holy Spirit to his followers (John 16). John’s story in John 20 is John’s version of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Once again we are confronted with different versions of the same event. We are only troubled by these differences if we insist on a kind of accuracy that the gospel writers were not concerned about. Of course that means that our attempts to reconstruct exactly what happened to Jesus will fall short. But the issue is not about reconstructing the story but about letting the impact of the story influence our lives.