Daily Devotional • August 2
A Reading from Acts 2:1-21
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every people under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Fellow Jews and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit,
and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Meditation
A lot goes on in these fourteen verses, and the passage ends with a cliffhanger. The summary of Jesus’ many resurrection appearances concludes with his order that the apostles are not to leave Jerusalem, for “not many days from now” they were to be “baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
The apostles’ question about whether Jesus is now going to “restore the kingdom to Israel” shows that they still haven’t quite got it. Then we have the Ascension with the promise from “two men in white robes” that Jesus will return “in the same way as they saw him go into heaven.” The apostles then go back to Jerusalem and wait in the upper room for whatever God will do next. Note that Jesus does not explain about the kingdom nor the time of its coming, and does not explain what the “baptism with the Holy Spirit” is. He doesn’t tell them when that will happen other than it will be “not many days from now.”
There is a lot left unclear, but three things are definite: they are not to leave Jerusalem; they will receive power; and they will be witnesses. And even then, only one of these is plain: they are to go back to Jerusalem, stay there, and wait. Now, why wouldn’t they receive the Holy Spirit as soon as they got back? What was God’s purpose for the waiting? Well, surely in that in-between time they did a lot of thinking and talking energetically about what it all meant — but especially, “all these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer.” Think about it. Waiting is a major facet of the Christian life, from Advent, Lent, personal events like graduating, getting married, and dying, and the Second Coming. May we devote ourselves to prayer which deepens faith and trust in God.
David Baumann served for nearly 50 years as an Episcopal priest in the Dioceses of Los Angeles and Springfield. He has published nonfiction, science fiction, and short stories. Two exuberant small daughters make sure he never gets any rest.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of the Horn of Africa – The Episcopal / Anglican Province of Alexandria
Christ Church, Oyster Bay, New York