Read: Acts 2:14-21
We have become used to having a mobile phone within reach for much of the time. When I was growing up it was decided that ‘we children’ needed to learn to use the telephone, in case of an emergency. Making a call involved going to a different room, dialling a number and waiting for an answer. There was no voicemail option, no last number redial facility and certainly no speed dial. The only constant through my life has been the need to wait for an answer but even that is ameliorated by voicemail.
I was not a confident telephone user until I started work and even then, I remember sometimes hoping that there would be no answer so I could put off the ensuing conversation as it was awkward. Forty-five years later I wish people spoke on the phone more and typed less. What is it about human communication that makes it less challenging to type than to speak when we know that it is more effective to speak than to type?
The prophet Joel prophesied that one day the Spirit of God would come and enable people to have visions and dreams. On the day of Pentecost to Spirit made Jesus’s followers fluent communicators, not just in their own languages but they were comprehensible to people with other languages too. The crowd was shocked and accused them of drunkenness.
In explaining, defending even, Peter reminded the crowd of Joel’s prophesy.
Just as I used to hope the phone would not be answered, so it seems that the crowd was not really up for God to do anything. Why were they so taken aback? Suprise or shame that people they knew could behave out of character. Then again, it can be shocking, surprise or shame inducing when someone we know well does something unexpected.
Fortunately, I never had to make that emergency call – I would have been terrified that someone would answer and I would have to speak coherently.
A Prayer
Lord, we talk a lot about nothing much, but when it comes to matters of substance, we can be reticent. We witter on to the people we meet but forget to call you. Help me not to be surprised that you are listening, nor ashamed of what I may say. May I hear you greeting daily: ‘I love you.’ Amen.