Pentecost: Second Reading, Acts 2:1-21                       

Acts 2:1-21

Have you spent any time reading the wonderful account of Pentecost in the book of Acts? Pentecost is not new. It’s been celebrated for centuries by this time by all God’s people. But there is no doubt this Pentecost offers a new variation on an old theme. The Holy Spirit is given in fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy and the words of Jesus, too. And the power the Spirit of the Lord brings to us is wondrous to behold. The called out people of God have also existed for centuries and Lutherans are not opposed to referring to the Old Testament people of God as the Church. But there is a special “Birthday-like” quality to this particular celebration welcoming a new phase in the long continuity of God’s good plan.

God’s people from every nation are gathered  in Jerusalem and when the Spirit falls on those waiting, it binds them together in the fulfillment of what God has directed all along. The flood couldn’t drown it. Babel couldn’t confuse it. And all the bad choices of God’s people could not put a final stop to what God desired. A people for his name called out from all people to go to all people. The fire that fell that Pentecost morning empowered them and still empowers us with the gospel today. May his fire burn in us all the days he gives us.