Acts 2:11 – “In our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”
This month, we celebrate Pentecost, the day the Holy Spirit descended as tongues of fire on those first disciples and sent them out into the streets of Jerusalem to tell the good news of the Gospel to people from all corners of the known world. As I look at that story, the miracle of Pentecost is not so much that those first disciples were able to speak in so many different languages to the people gathered in the city. The miracle is that everyone who listened to those disciples running out into the streets of Jerusalem heard the disciples’ message as good news. The Gospel of God’s love is universal. The message speaks to everyone and speaks with power. And we as Jesus’ disciples today have the opportunity, like those disciples of old, to share that good news. The question is what stops us?
We know how to share good news. We do it all time. A new child is born into our family, and we will tell everyone we meet. We‘re compelled to do so. When I became a Grandpa, I let the world know. Nothing was going to stop me. Strangers in the grocery store heard about Anna and Evelyn.
However, with the good news of the Gospel, we tend to hold back. Why? For some of us, our experience of the Gospel is a private matter. For some of us, we are still waiting for that transformative experience of the Gospel. We listen to the stories of others, but do not feel we have our own. For some of us, we don’t want to be branded a religious fanatic.
Whatever the reason, we need to listen again to the story of Pentecost. Everyone who heard the Gospel that day heard it as good news. People are longing for good news in their lives and we have good news to share. People need to hear that a God of grace watches over them and walks beside them. People need to hear that they are forgiven and can be set free. People need to hear that God is real and at work in the world. We are the ones who can give voice to God’s promise.
My prayer, in this season of Pentecost, is that we open ourselves to the power of the Holy Spirit that can fill us with grace, send us out into the world, and have us tell the story. The world needs to hear the Gospel. And we, who have known the Gospel in our lives, are the ones to be a witness. May we go and tell.
Peace,
Pastor Summer
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