In memory of a sky blue, corded wall phone with dial feature

Do you have a cellphone? Well, not just a phone, but a smartphone? Do you know how smart that thing is? Do you know all the incredible capabilities it has? The one I have is several years old, a dinosaur in the techie world. And then there’s me. Not a tech-savvy bone in my aging body. You can guess that there are built-in shortcuts and ‘user friendly’ features I’ve never heard of much less know how to use. Embarrassingly, or maybe pathetically, I don’t even know what questions to ask to find out. And yes, I know it’s a shame, because these perks could make my life so much simpler. I’ve been told I need only ask Google, because ‘Google knows everything.’ Sigh.

For the Pentecosted disciples, there must have been a similar quandary. Never in their lives had they expected to be powerful witnesses to the Gospel, despite Jesus’ words to them. Never had they expected to be emboldened to the extent they could stand before the imposing Jewish High Council and confidently declare the truth of the Council’s guilt in killing Jesus and their refusal to accept the One God sent as their Messiah. Never could they have imagined rejoicing at having been flogged for the name of Jesus!

But here they were! The activity of the Spirit inside them was scary good! Exciting, exhilarating, slightly terrifying (like one’s first rollercoaster ride). In some sense, there was a yearning for all this newness to stop and at one and the same time, there was a stronger hope that this never came to an end. Seeing lives changed was super energizing. And knowing it was all the work of the Spirit through them, brought great amazement and incredulity.

Many of us have lived our lives unaware of this power in residence within us. We’ve tempered our expectations according to the exposure, or lack of, the work of the Spirit from our past. Some have been groomed in early years, in a theology where the work of the Spirit is finished, and so haven’t learned to anticipate Him acting in and through us with the kind of power evidenced in the Book of Acts. And yet! God has not changed. He hasn’t changed His mind. He hasn’t replaced His Spirit with Someone or something else.

Can we picture ourselves in the midst of the same kinds of actions as the First Century apostles, with miracles and signs and wonders and shadow-casting healings and deliverances and conversions to the way of Jesus by the thousands? Can we submit ourselves as completely to the Spirit’s leadings? Can we imagine the unity of spirit and generosity of spirit that those early church days witnessed? Do we want to?  PD

“God, I’ve heard what our ancestors say about you, and I’m stopped in my tracks, down on my knees. Do among us what you did among them. Work among us as you worked among them. And as you bring judgment, as you surely must, remember mercy.” Habakkuk 3:2, MS