As it is Pentecost this week, I thought I should probably look at the episode in Acts where God gifts God’s Holy Spirit to the church. Who knows, maybe this Christmas I will talk about the birth of Jesus! Last week at the Ascension, Jesus told the disciples that they would be required to go out and witness to the whole world that Jesus was king. Before the went they were to await the gift of the Spirit that would empower them to do this. This happens during that first Pentecost when the Spirit is gifted to those assembled who, despite being from many different foreign lands, immediately start speaking to one another and are understood. The first gift of the Spirit appears to be the ability to create unity in diversity. Sadly, they are accused of being drunk so Peter addresses the crowd to set them straight.
Peter claims that this is simply the fulfillment of the words spoken by the prophet Joel who stated that in the days to come before the final day of the Lord, God would pour out God’s Spirit on all people and all people who called on the name of the Lord would be saved. Peter ends his sermon by saying that this has happened now. As far as Peter is concerned, we are now in these last days and the church needs to be getting on with the mission Jesus gave them, to go out into the world and witness to this world about all that has happened. It is this gift of the Spirit that empowers the church to begin their mission to all people in all lands.
If Peter is correct that what has happened here is because of Joel’s prophesy, the church needs to take heed of this. The first effect of the Spirit was to bring together all these people from all their different places and unify them in the Spirit. We saw last week how God intends for heaven and earth to be united and that it is Christ’s will to reconcile all creation together. The church must be a similarly dedicated to reconciliation and unity, not division. Joel said that God’s Spirit would be poured out on all people and all who call on the name of the Lord can be saved, not just some people. If God does not discriminate who is to be graced, then neither can God’s church. If a church is exclusive to any degree, if a church deprives ministry to some category of people, if a church creates divisions or disunity, can it still be called church? I think both Joel and Peter would say no. May we strive to be agents of God’s grace to all we meet. May we be agents of reconciliation to everyone, not just those we consider to be just like us.