Acts 2:1-13
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs–we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"
Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."
As you read this what are the first things that come to your mind?
Other questions for you:
- What in this text strikes you as remarkable?
- Why is there is so much drama associated with the Spirit’s coming?
- Who is filled with the Spirit and speaks with other tongues? [Hint: verse 7]
- Why is it significant that there people "from every nation under heaven" in Jerusalem for this event?
- What are the two responses to the Spirit’s outpouring? [see verses 12 & 13]
- What do these responses indicate about the people’s hearts?
- What from this text does our congregation need to hear?
What else is on your mind this week?
21 comments:
Wow, what a beautiful day! I just got back from two reminders of earthly mortality. I attended Leslie B's mother's memorial service, and then I went to the funeral home for Junior's grandmother.
I’ve been reading a Find God in a Tangled World - Thoughts and Proverbs translated by one of Lester’s professors. It contains some thoughts, wisdom, and philosophy. Here are a couple of thoughts for you.
Jesus decided to walk the earth again. He climbed down from the crucifix, put on ordinary clothes, and knocked at the door of a certain pastor.
“I am Jesus,” he said.
“You can’t be,” the pastor answered. “Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father.”
“That is true,” Jesus continued, “but I decided to come take a look at life on earth.”
“But Jesus will come in glory with all his angels,” the pastor said emphatically.
“True,” Jesus said, “but on that occasion there will be no time to talk with me.”
“But I have nothing to say to you,” the pastor replied. “I know all about you already.”
“That’s a pity!” Jesus replied, and he returned to his cross.
Here’s another:
When God walked the earth in Jesus, people reproached Jesus for acting like God.
One more:
Jesus lived. “I will have nothing more to say about myself,” God said.
We admit and laugh about our short term memories in our daily, worldly lives: lost keys, forgotten names (or the wrong one called to one of our shildren). Maybe we would be better off to admit our short term memory about the power of Jesus' example on earth. That's the gospel. Maybe we need to admit that we need to re-learn Him again and again. The one thing He did that has spoken to me the loudest was the act of washing His disciples' feet. Any of us COULD do that.
Have we ever made fun of someone for what they have seen happen in their lives owing it to God alone, or questioned the validity. Have we ever been made fun of for the same? How many 'angels unaware' have we not taken seriously, I wonder. In our rush with daily life, do we take the time to be puzzled and amazed at what is around us. The miricle of the ability for all there to hear in their own language what the Galileans were saying enabled the entire world to hear the Gospel. How amazing God is and what great wonders he presents to us. Sherron
Allen, Your quote from the book you are reading was really disturbing! How could anyone be talking to Jesus and have nothing to say?? I have so many questions I want to ask Him........there is always something in the Scriptures that I don't understand. Am I that different from everyone else?
As for this weeks text........isn't it referring to how He will return? Everyone will know it at the same time, right? That is how we will know to avoid false prophets? Maybe I misunderstand it, what does everyone else think?
Diane
I think that little story was a great example for all of us. Don't think you know so much that it closes you off from the opportunity of a life time, Jesus standing right before you and you miss it. It goes along with the text so well as in the scoffers. Always leave yourself open to learn. Those who have ears..listen, they couldn't hear because their ears were closed...these scriptures always made an impression on me.
Sometimes I look around at all the really knowledgeable people at our church, life smart and book smart. They are humble people. They don't lord their knowledge over others they share it, and leave themselves open to learn more. Its such a beautiful thing, our church family. A great place to be a student.
Annette
I take from the little “crucifix story” the point that sometimes we think we have Jesus all figured out; got him in a neat, sealed box. “Don’t need to learn no more!”
When he came the first time he was rejected by the religious leaders because he did not fit their preconceived ideas. I wonder how we would fare, if he were to show up today? We have to be very careful with Jesus, I think. If we are not, then he becomes like a Rorschach Test for us, i.e. we tend to see him the way we are, projecting our personality on to him. Then we tend to dismiss other ideas and views of Jesus. This is why I find Matthew 25:31-46 disturbing and instructive.
I love this old Scottish hospitality prayer:
Christ in the Stranger's Guise
I met a stranger yest're'een;
I put food in the eating place,
Drink in the drinking place,
Music in the listening place;
And, in the sacred name of the Triune,
He blessed myself and my house.
My cattle and my dear ones,
And the lark said in her song,
Often, often, often,
Goes the Christ in the stanger's guise;
Often, often, often,
Goes the Christ in the stranger's guise.
I’ve doing a lot of work back by my pond, so we have been spending a lot of time back there. The boys like to fire my old Remington Nylon 66 Apache Black semi-automatic .22 rifle at things (mostly non-living things). Anyway, they ran out of shells other day, so Ben asked Kedra to take him to the sporting goods section in Wal-Mart to get some more. He “coached” her through the process, since he is only 11 and not old enough to buy them himself. After the successful purchase, Ben looked at Kedra and said, with some surprise, “They didn’t even make you prove you were old enough to buy those.” I think it made Kedra’s day.
On a related note, one of my favorite memories from last week was watching Kedra and Ben lying on our little dock watching for turtles. They were perfectly quiet and prone for quite a while, soaking up warm sunshine. I found it touching and wished for it to be a moment frozen in time.
I was in a rush last time I was writing and didnt have the chance to finish saying what I wanted to say. I was being sarcastic with the last blog because I have met a lot of people who find reading romantic books and drama books more interested then the bible. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with reading other materials but if you are only reading the bible on Sunday and the other books seven days a week, don't you think something is wrong with that picture.
Well last Wednesday I got the chance to talk to a lady who could not find it in her heart to forgive her sister boyfriend who had strangled her sister to death. We had a nice long talk about forgiveness. She wanted to know how was I able to forgive my mother and I told her that it was not easy and that it did take eight years before I forgave her. I told her that it took so long to forgive her because when my mother had asked me the first time to forgive her and I told her no, I saw how it hurt her and I wanted her to hurt as bad as she hurt me, but when I saw that she was no longer the person she once was, I had to forgive her. I even forgave my stepdad but it took a few months before I did that. I was told by my chaplain in Los Angeles that if I didnt forgive him, that God would not forgive me and like I told her what he told me, we cannot make excuses to why we wont forgive people, we just have to do it. She thanked me for telling her my struggles and blessings but she refuse to forgive this guy. I ended by telling her that I would pray for her and that if she needed to talk to me, she could always find me at the store.
Thursday, second day in a row that I got to witness to someone and this time it was someone that Allen taught in class. Keli P. she comes down to the store at least once a week bringing a donation or buying something. well this week she came down and wanted to know if I could come and pick up some stuff from her house. I followed her to the house and we stood out on the porch talking about my coming to Mitchell. We talked for about 30 minutes and I had to leave and told her that I would be back later on to finish or conversation. Her, her son and I sat in the living room talking about Christ and how I got saved. Both her and her son asked me a lot of questions. She had inform me that she was mad at God. I told her how I was mad at God for 18 years and once I got saved and start to understand things, I was no longer mad at him. I told her that I was mad at God because I did not understand the plan that God had planned for me. She was mad at God because the guy she was dating left her for another woman and she wanted the relationship to work and when God did not answer her prayer, she got mad. I asked her was he saved. she said by his mouth, he claim to be but by his walk, you couldnt tell. I smiled and told her about my last three relationships and how unequally joke (yoke) they were. We had a laugh out of that talk. I saw Keli yesterday while I was sitting on the stoop at the regenaration and she told me that she prayed like I told her to and she said that she forgave and hold no hate toward the guy who left her and that she apologize to God in her prayer. She said that she was very thankful that I came by and talked to her because she knew that it was wrong to be mad at God but she just needed someone to talk too. It was great to see Keli smile especially smiling for the Lord.
Hey Allen I have a question for you. Will God forgive someone who chose not to do what He told them to do? intentional disobedient.
You may have not paid much attention to it, but three Christians were murdered in Turkey last week. You can read more about it Here. Erin E. spent considerable time in Turkey and has some good friends over there working with a church, and I hope to go there for about month next year, if Eli Lilly is good to me. Turkey is a country in an awkward spot. It stands between Asia and Europe and is officially a secular country, although most of its population is Islamic. It is trying to gain admission to the European Union.
I am intrigued by Turkey. I even read the Turkey Daily News on a daily basis. But much more than its present political situation, I am intrigued by its past. It is so rich in biblical history; so much of early church history plays out there. I hope you will join me in praying for the country, that peace will prevail, which will create an environment for the Prince of Peace to be known.
I heard Laura B. was upset with my sermon on Sunday, specifically about the story of the young man I picked up in my van. Why was she upset? Because I missed a great chance to say “my line.” When the man got in my van he was smoking. A few moments later he said, “You don’t smoke do you?” I said, “No.” I SHOULD HAVE SAID, “No, I don’t but my van does.” Yet another missed opportunity. Along these lines, Wayne says that I should have few mosquitoes at my place this summer, thanks to the van. Funny.
Sitting here at my desk today, in a very perplexed mood and state. Last night I was given the luxury of a new workstation ( computer). great, however, in the process it appears they lost all my storage folders that were emails. i cant even begin to explain to you what that means!
anyway, i leaned back and just happened to notice my starbucks coffee cup from this morning. on the back it has "the way i see it"
here is what this one says; " Heaven is totally overrated. It seems boring. Clouds, listening to people play harp. It should be somewhere you cant wait to go, like a luxury hotel. Maybe blue skies and soft music were enough to keep people in line in the 17th century, but heaven has to step it up a bit. They're basically getting by because they only have to be better than hell." Joel Stein; LA Times.
Wow, how many people actually feel that way? Kind of scary and very sad, but I think very true for a lot. Heaven to them is only better than hell.
RR
Oh no, Ryan! I can’t imagine the difficulty in losing those files. Maybe they will be found; here’s hoping so.
I have said for a long time that we have made heaven boring. It really is amazing to me how reluctant people, even people of great faith, are to embrace death. I THINK that probably comes, in part, from a flawed view of heaven. We would rather live here than go to heaven. How can we revision heaven in a more appealing way? I like the great feast concept presented in Isaiah 25:6-9. What ideas do you guys have?
Christianity, I think for some, is a sort of fire insurance–a way to escape hell. And maybe that is a starting place? But you would like to see people move beyond that to embrace the idea that we can live in the presence of God without all the “fallenness” of this world.
There are many days that I just wish Jesus would come back and usher in the new heaven and the new earth. Ah, Paradise restored! I look at so many things, so many problems and really see no solution. People are stuck in poverty (“the poor you will always have with you”) and in other messes, and I just don’t know what to do, a lot it seems. I have a great deal of difficulty in ignoring these things, and they drag me down. Not sure what to do, really. “Come, Lord Jesus.”
My view on heaven has come to be this: if I long for it "here," it's probably a part life "there." What I long for most on earth is the luxury to have all of the friends I have made--from all over the country--nearby, with time to visit and laugh and cry and work together. I only really named this desire for myself recently. When I did, I realized that this is what heaven will be. I think the scriptures even point to it--there will be no parting there. That's also when I KNEW (you know how you say you know and you think you know, and then one day all of sudden you REALLY know) that all of my desires boil down to things God has already thought of, things He and His Son are getting ready for me. They're taking care of it. And I'm looking forward to it.
I agree with what Jillena said. As usual :o). I do believe that Heaven will be whatever I want it to be and is individualized.... say one person thinks golfing all day is heaven but another finds that to be a different place :o). I think they used the context of "streets of gold" because in that time that is what people thought of as "the best life" and today we have other wants like just peace and quiet and time to spend with those you love. In other words whatever you think is the greatest situation you can be in, thats heaven. Whatever is the lowest, worst situation you can be in, thats hell. Where would you rather be? No contest, right?
Did anyone else hear the great news that Rosie O'Donnell will no longer be ruining The View and harrassing Elisabeth Hasselbeck because of her conservative Christian values? What a happy day this is!! Answered prayers!! God is good!!
Diane
Some very heavenly comments, or in the case of one of them: a heck of a comment. Yes, that was another poor attempt at humor. On the golf in heaven thing, if it is a perfect place of paradise, then wouldn’t you shoot a hole in one every time? Would that be any fun? Just a thought.
I think you are right on track with the thoughts on relationships. The older I get the more I see that that is really what it’s all about. Hmmm. I guess that would kinda fit with the love God and love your neighbor idea, wouldn’t it? God is always way ahead of us. He wants us to practice heavenly ways on earth, so our prayer is, “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven.” That should be our goal presently, but of course we are fallen sinners and we constantly get in the way of having pure relationships.
My favorite moments in life are now when my family of 6 is together. Easter weekend was glorious for us. I doubt the kids even noticed it, but Kedra and I commented repeatedly how nice it was. The kids all got along great, and everyone just really seemed to enjoy being together. Am I getting old or wise?
The descriptions of heaven found in Revelation are truly awesome. Of course they were originally written and intended for those familiar with apocalyptic language. If we can cut through some of that, then we can still get a glimpse of how glorious it will be to be in the presence of God. The descriptions that include no night, no tears, no pain, etc. are pretty appealing.
I think all this is related to this week’s thought, “What does this mean?” The pouring out of the Spirit enables, empowers us to show a little heaven on earth by the way we live and treat each other. That’s why it is so tragic when there are problems and divisions. These are a taste of hell.
Rosie. She tests my ability to love all unconditionally. Ha ha. I could hardly believe what she did at a banquet honoring 2000+ women the other night. She was rude and crude and obscene, using the “f-bomb” a couple of times. In the audience were several high school girls who were receiving scholarships. Afterwards someone asked her about it, and she said, “It’s no big deal.” I do see this approach and attitude more frequently, and it bothers me. Maybe I’m just getting old.
What I have to think about Rosie is this: she is created in the image of God; she is loved by God; she needs to be loved by you and me. I have to separate her actions from who she is meant to be. It’s hard.
Back to Heaven. What about the idea of a new heaven and a new earth? Makes me wonder about what happens when Jesus returns. Is this earth going to be refurbished? Will it be returned to an Eden-like paradise? Can you imagine the beauty of that? Look at these passages:
2 Peter 3:10-13
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
Revelation 21:1-4
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
It sounds pretty good to me.
"Eye has not seen, nor has ear heard, nor has entered the heart of man, that which God has prepared for those who love Him..." I think I've got that right.If I weren't so lazy, I'd look that up. But, I asked my pastor many moons ago, when I was just a young'un, what that meant, as well as the reference to a new heaven and new earth. He said, God is using language we understand to explain something we can't understand. The best we can imagine is a perfect earth, so that's what God describes. I suspect he was right. We speculate, but we do so referencing material, earthly things we enjoy. I suspect that heaven is simply enjoying close proximity to God, and hell is suffering complete separation from God.
Donna
Did anyone see the Indianapolis Star today? Did you see the article and picture on the front page? Two very disturbing things. 1) the billboard pictured and the message it is trying to send 2) that someone with an opposing view ( to be interpreted as the right wing Christians) would react in that manner.
How can someone read Matt 8:5-13 and think that Christ is affirming a gay couple? (For you that don't quickly recognize this scripture, it is in most Bibles labeled; "Faith of the Centurion")
Very strange and disturbing subject manner.
thoughts or comments.
RR
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