This is a different text than the one we usually encounter on
Pentecost Sunday. It is an account of a dream that Peter had and the
implications of that dream for the inclusivity of God’s people.
Those early believers had a disagreement about something (Gentile
believers), so they got together to talk about it. It turned out
that the gift of the Holy Spirit was not limited to the circumcised
Jewish community. Their conclusion (v. 18) was “Then God has given
even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”
In these verses, Peter tells about a vision he had that led him to
conclude that God did not divide folks into clean and unclean in the
way some were doing (v. 9). This got me to thinking about how God
might try to reach me with some truth I needed to hear. Would I hear
it if it came from an unexpected source? Peter heard God speak in an
unexpected way—a vision. Would I hear God speak if God spoke through
someone with whom I disagreed? Would I hear God speak if God spoke in
a political voice for whom I did not vote? Would I hear God speak if
God spoke in a novel I had decided to read for relaxation? Would I
hear God speak if God spoke in the words of a coach being interviewed
after losing a game?
Of course, every unusual experience is not the voice of God, but I am
encouraged by this week’s study text to be open to God when God speaks
in an unusual way, in an unexpected way. Peter’s summary of the
situation comes in verse 17: “If then God gave them the same gift that
he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I
could hinder God?” In the Eugene H. Peterson paraphrase of the New
Testament (The Message, Navpress), Petersen has used these headings
for these accounts in chapters 10 ands 11 of Acts: “God Plays No
Favorites” and “God Has Broken Through.” Amen!
On this Pentecost Sunday, we recognize and celebrate the coming of the
Holy Spirit. Our usual study text for Pentecost is the account in the
second chapter of Acts. Remember how the Holy Spirit blasted into
their gathering with a violent wind and folks began to talk in all
kinds of languages. Now, in this week’s study verses, there is no
violent wind and there is no mention of voices in all the languages of
the world. But what these two Pentecost stories have in common is
that the Holy Spirit spoke what needed to be heard. If we wait for
the Spirit to come in mighty winds and strange tongues, we may miss
the Spirit who comes as the Spirit did with Peter simply in a time of
private prayer. I guess the bottom line for this Pentecost lesson is
“Don’t limit on where, when, and to whom the Spirit may come.”
What Someone Else Has Said:
In his book, When the Church Woke,
William Lawrence has said: “The miracle of Pentecost is understanding
others who are ethnically, socially, culturally, and linguistically
separated: ‘We can hear them.’”
Prayer:
As you prepare this lesson, let your prayer begin: “Come, Holy
Spirit...”
