By Richard Vinson
I’m writing this devotion on Nov. 22, 50 years after John F. Kennedy’s assassination. All day long voices on the radio have taken me back to that day, made me recall where I was, what I was doing. Maybe each generation has its moment like that: Pearl Harbor Day, the day the Challenger exploded, or 9/11.
But these communal memories don’t have to be tragic to be powerful. I think of the liturgy for Passover, where after the youngest person at the table asks the four questions, the leader (or all the people at table) says, “We were slaves in Egypt, and God brought us out with a strong hand and an outstretched arm.” It happened to our ancestors, sure, but it’s our story, too.
On Pentecost, Peter read some old promises from Joel: God will pour out the Spirit — the living, pulsing, presence of God — on everyone, men and women, slaves and free, young and old. The Spirit not only brings God near, but is the one who gives us a sense of what God wants us to do, and is the one who helps us speak what God needs us to say. That promise, said Peter, is for you, for your children, and for anyone in the whole world who will call on God’s name.
What a gift! Previously, prophets and seers had the Spirit, but throughout Acts, any-old-body can be filled with God’s presence and power. The Spirit opens the way for people of any ethnicity to worship freely together (Acts 8, 11). The Spirit changes the hearts of enemies and persecutors (Acts 9). Through the Spirit, the early believers healed the sick, raised the dead, preached the good news, and bravely faced death.
Well, guess what? This promise is for you! It’s as real for you as if you were present on Pentecost and were one of the 3,000 baptized.
- In verses 22-24, Peter introduced Jesus by connecting him to the experiences of the audience. How would you introduce Jesus to a group you might talk to?
- In verse 32, Peter emphasized how he and the rest of the early believers were witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection. What would you say about your experience of Jesus to a non-believer?
- What other details did you notice in today’s reading?
Prayer: O God of Israel, thank you for sending your son to bring good news to us and to all of the world. Thank you for witnesses to carry the story until it reached us. Now help us to take our place in the chain of testimony. Amen.
