Acts 2:14-21
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea 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.’ ”
15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.
When I was looking at this text with my study group, I commented that I long for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit now that would be as unmistakable as Pentecost. As I read through the text again, I realized that, even that unmistakable event was mistaken. Instead of accepting what they were seeing and hearing, the people tried to explain the miracle away by blaming it on drunken shenanigans.
Why are we so afraid of genuine manifestations of the Holy Spirit? Why do we stop short, or shy away, when we start to feel the nearness of the Holy Spirit? Why do we shush the children’s expressions of joy and freeze adults who get too excited into silence? What are we afraid of?
Maybe my prayer isn’t so much for the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, who is already hard at work among us. Maybe my prayer is for a release from the rigid social norms and suffocating traditions that quench the Spirit and dull the soul.
Prayer: Come Holy Spirit and draw me into your dance. AMEN