Pentecost, power and purity

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:1-4

I always look forward to Whit Sunday, the day the church remembers how the Holy Spirit was poured out on the first believers in Jerusalem. Though I am neither Pentecostal in denomination nor “charismatic” in doctrine (these are the groups generally reckoned to focus especially on the Holy Spirit) I find it hard to read Acts 2 without a real sense of excitement.

I’d like to share just a couple of reasons for my enthusiasm.

First, it’s simply a wonderful, exciting story.

We’ve recently had the agony of Good Friday, followed by the ecstasy of Easter Sunday, then the seeming anti-climax of the Ascension. And now we have the sheer drama of Pentecost…

Jesus’ disciples, obeying his instructions, have gathered in Jerusalem waiting for – well, they don’t really know what. Certainly, the words of Jesus were clear enough: “… John baptised with water, but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:5). But what did those words mean? What form was this “baptising with the Holy Spirit” going to take?

Well, they were soon to find out!

They heard the sound of a gale-force wind… they saw “tongues of fire” settling on each of them… they felt the Spirit of God entering them as never before… they found themselves speaking in languages they had never learned…

Can you imagine how they looked at one another? – in amazement, wonder, confusion, quite likely even in fear. What was going on! Ah – so this is what Jesus meant!

They come tumbling out of the house where they are staying. The people around, many of them fellow-Jews on pilgrimage from far away, look on shaking their heads. Then they find that they can understand what they are hearing: these “tongues” are recognisable to them. (Mind you, there are also some sceptics and cynics around: “Huh, they’re drunk!” I suppose that shouldn’t surprise us…)

You might think that’s excitement enough. But it’s only the beginning.

Simon Peter – the man who just weeks before had cursed and sworn and denied having anything to do with Jesus, the man who ended up weeping and broken in spirit – stands up and addresses the crowd. He tells them about Jesus, of course, about his death and his rising again; and he explains that what is happening before their eyes is the promised outpouring of the Spirit predicted by the prophet Joel (see Joel chapter 2).

His hearers can’t resist the power of his message. They break down and cry out for God’s mercy. They get baptised right there and then – three thousand of them! Miracles happen, wonderful healings. And a whole new community – truly a family – is born that day: total strangers eating together and sharing their property with one another.

How can anybody read this chapter and not be excited? Is there anything more exciting in the whole Bible? This is a chapter, first and foremost, to be savoured and to be inspired by; it isn’t a quarry to be mined for doctrine. Just imagine for a moment if it wasn’t in the Bible. How much we would miss…

The second reason for my enthusiasm is this: the chapter whets my appetite for more of God.

I find this in two respects.

First, in relation to the church as the body of Christ on earth.

If Acts 2 is about anything, it’s about power. In the Bible the Holy Spirit makes himself known in various ways: he is our comforter, companion  and peace-giver; he is our teacher; he is our enabler and inspirer; he is nothing less than the very life and energy of God within us. Yes, all that and more: but in Acts 2 the emphasis is all upon power.

And how we as churches need that power today, in our troubled, soiled and suffering world! Even at our strongest we are often weak and ineffective. I may be neither Pentecostal nor charismatic, but I feel not the slightest hesitation about praying, “Oh God, baptise us afresh with your Holy Spirit! Give us a mini-Pentecost! Do an Acts 2 in our day!”

Second, as well as the need of the church, there is also of course the need of each of us as individuals.

The New Testament tells us to be “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). Being filled with the Spirit isn’t a one-off event like Pentecost – though no doubt individuals can and do experience remarkable anointings of the Spirit – but a constant state: we are called to be always “full of the Spirit”.

But how can that be? Putting it in a nutshell, it’s a matter of living, every day, a life of serious faith, humble trust and determined obedience. Not that we are ever perfect, of course, but that, little by little, we are making progress in that direction. We are growing in purity.

The empowering of the church – and the transforming of the individual. These are the prospects held out to us by Acts 2.

Aren’t they good reasons to be excited?

Come, Lord Jesus, come, Lord Jesus,/ Pour out your Spirit we pray./ Come, Lord Jesus, come, Lord Jesus,/ Pour out your Spirit on us today. Amen! (Gerald Coates and Noel Richards)