Thought for the day – Saturday 16th May 2020
Based on the Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2 verses 1 – 13
I woke up and thought, “Another day in lockdown until we can escape from Jerusalem.” When will we be able to safely go out from this place and not expect one of the Roman soldiers to stop and arrest us? We have been waiting for ages and still there is no sign of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised. We are all feeling a bit fed up with the waiting.
But it was not going to be another day when nothing happened – in fact it was just the opposite, it proved to be a day of great excitement. We were all together in the upper room. Nobody had tried to go out on that particular morning; it was just as if we all had a premonition of something stirring. Yes, it was the Day of Pentecost, a day of great importance in the life of the Jewish Church, because it is when we celebrated the gathering in of the harvest. We had been able to celebrate in our own uncertain time, but it was not as we would have wished. Be that as it may, what happened next was at the same time frightening and wonderful.
We first became aware of the sound of wind whistling through the building, but then it became louder and more violent. I don’t mind telling you that I was really afraid of what was happening, and some of the women cried out in fear. There was no place that we could escape the noise and vibration as it filled the whole house. I was afraid the place would collapse about us and where would we be then? Then, after the sound of the wind had died down I became aware of fire, like tongues of flame sitting on each persons head. As I looked around me, I could see there was a flame on each person, – no one had been missed out, and again there was fear written on many faces as we wondered what it was all about.
Then I had the feeling of something strange within me, like nothing I had experienced before and I just wanted to stand up and praise God and sing songs of happiness. Then I realised that the whole room was standing up and shouting “Praise God for his goodness.” Gradually we came together and embraced one another in great joy, and we went on shouting and singing God’s praises. I think we must have made a tremendous noise, because people from outside came in to find out what was happening. They said that we were causing quite a disturbance and everyone was asking what was the cause of the celebration.
Gradually people from the upper room moved out onto the road, and they began to speak to strangers, and although many were obviously strangers to Jerusalem, they seemed to understand what was being said. After a while we started to drift back inside, still full of excitement, and it was difficult to talk of anything else. We began to realise that what Jesus had promised to his disciples, the gift of the Holy Spirit, had come upon us without any other warning. We felt as if we could now conquer the world, and that this was the beginning of the new life we had been expecting. We could now begin the work that he had called on us to do – to go out into the world and win people for Christ, the work that still continues today, and for ever will. Allelujah.
Prayer Holy Spirit, you are the fire in our hearts. Into a troubled world speak your word of calm; may your voice be heard in these disturbing days, so that many will want to find the source of all peace and calm.