Filled with the Spirit
Commentary
Christians did not start the day of Pentecost. The day had its origin, rather, as a harvest festival of the Jewish people. We read a key text regarding its institution almost exactly three months ago on the First Sunday in Lent (Deuteronomy 26:1-11). Since "harvest" became an easy metaphor for mission in Christian circles (see John 4:35-38), the giving of the Spirit that would empower such mission seemed especially appropriate for that day.
Another sense might be added to this. The harvest festival of Pentecost became also a day for the Jewish people to celebrate God's gift of the law to Moses on Sinai, in effect a day for observing the covenant. Some Lukan scholars think that Luke means to present the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost as the institution of the new covenant. The law was the gift of God; the Spirit is an even greater gift, fulfilling the intention of the former. The only problem with this interpretation is that we cannot be certain Pentecost was being observed as a Sinai festival at the time Acts was written.
Acts 2:1-21
This rather long lesson (some churches shorten it to vv. 1-11) presents one of the most dramatic and best-known narratives in the book of Acts, the account that gives rise to Christian observation of Pentecost. It is magnificently told. The details of the rushing wind and the "tongues of fire" capture the imagination every bit as much as the miracle of glossolalia. The sneering interpretation that the disciples are "filled with new wine" and the ironic defense that it is only nine o' clock in the morning offer a touch of humor. The long list of hard-to-pronounce place names (vv. 8-11) -- a bane of lectors everywhere -- emphasizes the early church's cultural diversity in a way that must have seemed exotic and appealing.
There are so many worthy points for preaching. Where do we begin?
The Spirit comes as the fulfillment of promise. The Spirit may indeed be called "the promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4). The Spirit was promised by Jesus (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8) and before that by John the Baptist (Luke 3:16). But now Peter says the promise goes back further still. "This is what was spoken through the prophet Joel ..." (v. 16).
There is some connection here to the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. There, the confusion of language symbolized the disunity of humanity that came as a result of people trying to glorify themselves. Here, we have the reversal. People from many nations all hear and understand the mighty acts of God proclaimed. Thus, humanity is united again and language symbolizes the new unity. Furthermore it is proclamation of God's actions that forms the basis for the recovery of this unity in the same way that preoccupation with human achievements accounted for its dissolution. The mirror image, however, is not exact. The people do not speak the same language again, nor do they even understand the same language. Instead, the text emphasizes that each nationality hears and understands in its own language. The unity of humanity transcends differences while preserving diversity. The goal is not a common tongue but for those of different tongues all to understand.
The main point of the text, of course, is cross-cultural evangelism. That, above all, is what the miracle of tongues signifies. God wants all people on earth to hear the gospel and to hear it in their own idiom, in ways that are meaningful to them within their own cultural setting. Although this is a great day to preach about global mission, one hardly has to reference other nations to find applicable illustrations for the need of such cross-cultural communication in the church today. The Spirit is given specifically to enable such witnessing. On this, and on the content of what that witness should be, see the comments on the first and third lessons for May 24 (Ascension). If those texts presented the "what" and the "why" of Spirit-inspired witness, the story today offers the "how": with a cacophony of languages so apparently incongruous as to appear foolish to any who don't have a clue as to what God is about. Today, when a congregation proposes some risky venture to spread the gospel in innovative ways, someone almost always complains, "What will people think ... ?" Biblical answer: they might think you're a bunch of drunks. So what else is new?
For churches that read all 21 verses, the concern for inclusive, boundary-crossing mission to all cultures is accented also in the words of Joel that Peter applies to his situation. The Spirit is poured out on all flesh and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Young and old, men and women, are specifically referenced as belonging to God's diverse Spirit-filled family.
Romans 8:14-17
The lectionary committee thought this text appropriate for Pentecost because, hey, it does talk about the Holy Spirit, even if what it says has few connections with the Lukan perspective in Acts. It offers good preparation for next week (Trinity Sunday) since the role of the Spirit is described here in relation to that of the Father and of Christ.
The Spirit here is not so much the force that empowers mission as the seal of our relationship with God. The Spirit enables us to call God "Abba," as Jesus did. So we, through the Spirit, are brought into an intimacy with God analogous to that experienced by Jesus himself. We become not only children but heirs, and not only heirs but joint heirs with Christ. We receive what he received: suffering and glory.
The lesson does offer a nice contrast to the view of the Spirit in Acts and may give balance to that view. First, whereas Luke presents the Spirit as present in power, Paul says it is present in suffering, too Luke would agree. The apostles upon whom the Spirit falls must suffer much on the Lord's account, but there is little indication of that in the lesson for today.
Second, Paul describes the Spirit as inspiring witness, with a twist. For Luke, the thought is clearly that of witness to an unbelieving world. Here, the Spirit bears "witness with our spirit that we are children of God." There are two possibilities here. Perhaps Paul means that the Holy Spirit witnesses to us, assuring us of our status with God when we are fainthearted or prone to doubt. Or, perhaps he means that the Holy Spirit testifies to God on our behalf, adding its own strong voice in agreement to the claims that our poor spirits wish to make. In either case, Paul seems here to present the Spirit as a Helper or Advocate, almost as a Paraclete in the Johannine sense.
John 14:8-17 (25-27)
The bracketed verses here reprise ones that appeared in our lesson two weeks ago (May 17, Easter 6). I tried there to offer a description of the rich term, "Paraclete," which is also used in verse 16 of today's reading.
The central concern in John 14-16 is the situation of Jesus' disciples during the (long) interval between Easter and the parousia. Jesus announces that he is going away. He realizes that this may cause his followers to be troubled but offers several reasons why it should not. For instance, he tells them that the reason he is going is to prepare a place for them (14:2). But most important by far is his assurance that the disciples will not simply be left to fend for themselves. The Holy Spirit will come. Actually, this Spirit is already with them in some sense, but will be in them (v. 17). The existential difference between "with" and "in" is a little difficult to understand or explain, but clearly the disciples are to recognize an intensification of the Spirit's role in their lives after Easter.
Here, the Spirit is called "the Spirit of Truth" (v. 17) and the claim is made that only Jesus' followers know this Spirit. It seems arrogant today to claim that only Christians know "the truth," but of course, as the Johannine Pilate knows (18:38), there are different kinds of truth. John does not think that Christians are necessarily smarter or wiser than anyone else, but he does insist that the type of truth that is definitive of Christianity (that is, "the gospel") is a unique message. Christianity does not simply present platitudes of worldly wisdom or recycle various philosophical ideas or psychological insights. There is something unique that we have to offer. What is it? I go back to the first occurrence of the word "truth" in John's Gospel, where it is paired with "grace" (1:14): a revelation of steadfast, though undeserved, love that overcomes the world. In its essence, I think that message is unique among religions, philosophies, psychologies, and the like. The world never has and still doesn't know what to make of such a "truth." In my experience, very few people who are not Christians even know that this is what Christians believe. It isn't that they reject the message. They haven't comprehended it to the point that acceptance or rejection are live options. They just don't get it. That's what I think John means when he says "the world neither sees him (the Spirit of Truth) nor knows him."
This brings us back, of course, to the need for those who do know this truth to be witnesses to the ends of the earth, proclaiming the mighty acts of God in every language for every culture. Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing!
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
Acts 2:1-21
In our Old Testament lesson for last Sunday, just before his ascension into heaven, the risen Christ commanded his disciples to remain in Jerusalem and to wait until they were clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49) by the gift of the Holy Spirit to them (Acts 1:8). Only then would the disciples be equipped with the power and ability to be Christ's "witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Our text for this Sunday now records the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon them.
We often make the mistake of speaking of God's Spirit as a beautiful, ethereal feeling that is given to us in quietness and peace. But if you have ever heard Bach's presentation of the Holy Spirit in his B-minor Mass, you know that the Spirit comes with great energy. Bach's chorus is full of rapid, staccato notes that sweep on toward their climax in powerful sounds. The Holy Spirit of God is no quiet ghost. It is power, energy, transforming might from the almighty God of the resurrection.
So it is too in our text for the morning. The Spirit rushes upon the gathered disciples like a mighty wind that whirls about in the whole room (v. 2). It brings with it flames of fire -- always a symbol of God's presence in the Scriptures -- that divide and rest on the head of each of the disciples. It transforms their speech, so that suddenly they can speak in the language of Mesopotamia and Palestine, Asia Minor and Egypt, Rome and Crete, and Arabia. And it prompts the disciples to tell of "the mighty works of God," in all of those languages (v. 11), so that travelers from all those lands can understand what is being said.
Several major themes thrust out at us from this text. First of all, it is clear that God keeps his promises. His Christ had promised the disciples at the Last Supper that he would not leave them desolate, but that he would come to them in the Person of the Holy Spirit as their Advocate, Counselor, and Teacher (John 14-16). Further, the risen Christ had promised the apostles that they would be clothed with the power of the Spirit from on high. Here now, at Pentecost, the Son of God keeps those promises, as he always keeps his promises. We can count on that. We modern Christian disciples of our Lord are never left on our own, dependent on our own abilities and power to spread the Gospel. Rather, God in Christ grants us the gift of himself in the third person of the Trinity, in the Person of the Holy Spirit, and he is with us to the end of the age, as he promises he would be (Matthew 28:20), empowering us also to be his witnesses to the end of the earth.
Where do we receive that Spirit of Christ? Usually not in a pentecostal experience like that given to the first disciples. Rather, the Holy Spirit is granted to us first in our baptisms, and then repeatedly it is poured out upon us through the sacrament of the Lord's Supper and through the Word of the Gospel when that is truly preached from the pulpit. Every Christian is a recipient of the Holy Spirit. That is the gift that has made us Christians, and apart from that Spirit, we cannot lead a Christian life or be Christ's faithful disciples. "Apart from me, you can do nothing," Jesus taught us (John 15:5), and he comes to us in the Spirit.
Second, in the whole sweep of the Bible's history, it is clear that when the disciples are enabled to speak in the languages of all their Mediterranean world, the judgment that fell on all nations at the Tower of Babel has been reversed. In the story of Babel, in Genesis 11, which is actually the story of us all, God confessed the languages of all peoples and scattered them abroad on the earth, as a judgment on their pride and attempts to run their own lives. In short, all forms of human community became impossible, because there was no understanding any more between husband and wife, brother and brother, society and society, nation and nation (the story of Genesis 3-11). And that is true, isn't it? We can't get along with one another any more. We are constantly at odds with one another, in our homes or in our communities or in the world at large, filling our lives with angers and violence, misunderstandings and wars.
But now, suddenly at Pentecost, all the various people understand one another. Their language is no more confused. They hear as one company the mighty acts of God. And it is the gift of the Holy Spirit that makes that understanding possible.
Is that not the story of the Christian mission -- that wherever the Gospel is told in the love and power of the Spirit, controversies are healed, barriers of race and gender and nationality are overcome, and persons are enabled to live in harmony and peace with one another? Certainly that Spirit has healed many broken marriages and united many disrupted communities and enabled black and white and red and yellow to be bound together in "one great fellowship of love" in the church "throughout the whole wide earth." The Holy Spirit is a power to heal all of our broken relationships.
Third, in his sermon explaining what is happening to the gathered company at Pentecost, Peter quotes in verses 17-21 the words of the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-32). Back in the fifth century B.C., Joel had declared what would happen "in the last days," that is, at the time when God would come to put down his enemies and to usher in his kingdom over all the earth. Shortly before that time, Joel proclaimed, there would be a mighty outpouring of the Spirit "on all flesh," so that all ranks of persons would be able to speak the Word of God, as the prophets of old had spoken it. That was what was happening there in that room at Pentecost, Peter explained. The Spirit was being given to all.
In short, a new age was beginning. The coming of the Kingdom of God was being prepared. Jesus Christ had embodied in his person the powers of that kingdom (cf. Mark 1:15; Luke 11:20), and now by the gift of his Spirit to the disciples, that power was spreading through all the world. God was beginning to usher in his final rule over all the earth. His final coming would be ushered in by "wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth beneath" (v. 19), but before that time, the Gospel was to be preached, so that all who believed and called on the name of the Lord would be saved, in the final judgment, for eternal life in the Kingdom of God (v. 21).
Can you believe that -- that there is now the power of the Kingdom of God let loose in this world by his Spirit, that you and I stand at the beginning of the new age of the kingdom, and that by our words and living we can spread a Gospel that can bring eternal life to every person on earth? That's our situation, good Christians. God's kingdom is coming on earth, even as it is in heaven. You and I have been granted his Holy Spirit to empower us to spread the Word. And our mission, given us by the Spirit, can mean eternal life or death to everyone who observes our living or who hears our words from God. Pentecost has been called the birthday of the church. But it is not like every other birthday party. It is our call to be the witnesses of God's new age, that all persons whom he loves, and whom we are to love, may become participants in his everlasting kingdom.
Another sense might be added to this. The harvest festival of Pentecost became also a day for the Jewish people to celebrate God's gift of the law to Moses on Sinai, in effect a day for observing the covenant. Some Lukan scholars think that Luke means to present the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost as the institution of the new covenant. The law was the gift of God; the Spirit is an even greater gift, fulfilling the intention of the former. The only problem with this interpretation is that we cannot be certain Pentecost was being observed as a Sinai festival at the time Acts was written.
Acts 2:1-21
This rather long lesson (some churches shorten it to vv. 1-11) presents one of the most dramatic and best-known narratives in the book of Acts, the account that gives rise to Christian observation of Pentecost. It is magnificently told. The details of the rushing wind and the "tongues of fire" capture the imagination every bit as much as the miracle of glossolalia. The sneering interpretation that the disciples are "filled with new wine" and the ironic defense that it is only nine o' clock in the morning offer a touch of humor. The long list of hard-to-pronounce place names (vv. 8-11) -- a bane of lectors everywhere -- emphasizes the early church's cultural diversity in a way that must have seemed exotic and appealing.
There are so many worthy points for preaching. Where do we begin?
The Spirit comes as the fulfillment of promise. The Spirit may indeed be called "the promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4). The Spirit was promised by Jesus (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8) and before that by John the Baptist (Luke 3:16). But now Peter says the promise goes back further still. "This is what was spoken through the prophet Joel ..." (v. 16).
There is some connection here to the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. There, the confusion of language symbolized the disunity of humanity that came as a result of people trying to glorify themselves. Here, we have the reversal. People from many nations all hear and understand the mighty acts of God proclaimed. Thus, humanity is united again and language symbolizes the new unity. Furthermore it is proclamation of God's actions that forms the basis for the recovery of this unity in the same way that preoccupation with human achievements accounted for its dissolution. The mirror image, however, is not exact. The people do not speak the same language again, nor do they even understand the same language. Instead, the text emphasizes that each nationality hears and understands in its own language. The unity of humanity transcends differences while preserving diversity. The goal is not a common tongue but for those of different tongues all to understand.
The main point of the text, of course, is cross-cultural evangelism. That, above all, is what the miracle of tongues signifies. God wants all people on earth to hear the gospel and to hear it in their own idiom, in ways that are meaningful to them within their own cultural setting. Although this is a great day to preach about global mission, one hardly has to reference other nations to find applicable illustrations for the need of such cross-cultural communication in the church today. The Spirit is given specifically to enable such witnessing. On this, and on the content of what that witness should be, see the comments on the first and third lessons for May 24 (Ascension). If those texts presented the "what" and the "why" of Spirit-inspired witness, the story today offers the "how": with a cacophony of languages so apparently incongruous as to appear foolish to any who don't have a clue as to what God is about. Today, when a congregation proposes some risky venture to spread the gospel in innovative ways, someone almost always complains, "What will people think ... ?" Biblical answer: they might think you're a bunch of drunks. So what else is new?
For churches that read all 21 verses, the concern for inclusive, boundary-crossing mission to all cultures is accented also in the words of Joel that Peter applies to his situation. The Spirit is poured out on all flesh and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Young and old, men and women, are specifically referenced as belonging to God's diverse Spirit-filled family.
Romans 8:14-17
The lectionary committee thought this text appropriate for Pentecost because, hey, it does talk about the Holy Spirit, even if what it says has few connections with the Lukan perspective in Acts. It offers good preparation for next week (Trinity Sunday) since the role of the Spirit is described here in relation to that of the Father and of Christ.
The Spirit here is not so much the force that empowers mission as the seal of our relationship with God. The Spirit enables us to call God "Abba," as Jesus did. So we, through the Spirit, are brought into an intimacy with God analogous to that experienced by Jesus himself. We become not only children but heirs, and not only heirs but joint heirs with Christ. We receive what he received: suffering and glory.
The lesson does offer a nice contrast to the view of the Spirit in Acts and may give balance to that view. First, whereas Luke presents the Spirit as present in power, Paul says it is present in suffering, too Luke would agree. The apostles upon whom the Spirit falls must suffer much on the Lord's account, but there is little indication of that in the lesson for today.
Second, Paul describes the Spirit as inspiring witness, with a twist. For Luke, the thought is clearly that of witness to an unbelieving world. Here, the Spirit bears "witness with our spirit that we are children of God." There are two possibilities here. Perhaps Paul means that the Holy Spirit witnesses to us, assuring us of our status with God when we are fainthearted or prone to doubt. Or, perhaps he means that the Holy Spirit testifies to God on our behalf, adding its own strong voice in agreement to the claims that our poor spirits wish to make. In either case, Paul seems here to present the Spirit as a Helper or Advocate, almost as a Paraclete in the Johannine sense.
John 14:8-17 (25-27)
The bracketed verses here reprise ones that appeared in our lesson two weeks ago (May 17, Easter 6). I tried there to offer a description of the rich term, "Paraclete," which is also used in verse 16 of today's reading.
The central concern in John 14-16 is the situation of Jesus' disciples during the (long) interval between Easter and the parousia. Jesus announces that he is going away. He realizes that this may cause his followers to be troubled but offers several reasons why it should not. For instance, he tells them that the reason he is going is to prepare a place for them (14:2). But most important by far is his assurance that the disciples will not simply be left to fend for themselves. The Holy Spirit will come. Actually, this Spirit is already with them in some sense, but will be in them (v. 17). The existential difference between "with" and "in" is a little difficult to understand or explain, but clearly the disciples are to recognize an intensification of the Spirit's role in their lives after Easter.
Here, the Spirit is called "the Spirit of Truth" (v. 17) and the claim is made that only Jesus' followers know this Spirit. It seems arrogant today to claim that only Christians know "the truth," but of course, as the Johannine Pilate knows (18:38), there are different kinds of truth. John does not think that Christians are necessarily smarter or wiser than anyone else, but he does insist that the type of truth that is definitive of Christianity (that is, "the gospel") is a unique message. Christianity does not simply present platitudes of worldly wisdom or recycle various philosophical ideas or psychological insights. There is something unique that we have to offer. What is it? I go back to the first occurrence of the word "truth" in John's Gospel, where it is paired with "grace" (1:14): a revelation of steadfast, though undeserved, love that overcomes the world. In its essence, I think that message is unique among religions, philosophies, psychologies, and the like. The world never has and still doesn't know what to make of such a "truth." In my experience, very few people who are not Christians even know that this is what Christians believe. It isn't that they reject the message. They haven't comprehended it to the point that acceptance or rejection are live options. They just don't get it. That's what I think John means when he says "the world neither sees him (the Spirit of Truth) nor knows him."
This brings us back, of course, to the need for those who do know this truth to be witnesses to the ends of the earth, proclaiming the mighty acts of God in every language for every culture. Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing!
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
Acts 2:1-21
In our Old Testament lesson for last Sunday, just before his ascension into heaven, the risen Christ commanded his disciples to remain in Jerusalem and to wait until they were clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49) by the gift of the Holy Spirit to them (Acts 1:8). Only then would the disciples be equipped with the power and ability to be Christ's "witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Our text for this Sunday now records the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon them.
We often make the mistake of speaking of God's Spirit as a beautiful, ethereal feeling that is given to us in quietness and peace. But if you have ever heard Bach's presentation of the Holy Spirit in his B-minor Mass, you know that the Spirit comes with great energy. Bach's chorus is full of rapid, staccato notes that sweep on toward their climax in powerful sounds. The Holy Spirit of God is no quiet ghost. It is power, energy, transforming might from the almighty God of the resurrection.
So it is too in our text for the morning. The Spirit rushes upon the gathered disciples like a mighty wind that whirls about in the whole room (v. 2). It brings with it flames of fire -- always a symbol of God's presence in the Scriptures -- that divide and rest on the head of each of the disciples. It transforms their speech, so that suddenly they can speak in the language of Mesopotamia and Palestine, Asia Minor and Egypt, Rome and Crete, and Arabia. And it prompts the disciples to tell of "the mighty works of God," in all of those languages (v. 11), so that travelers from all those lands can understand what is being said.
Several major themes thrust out at us from this text. First of all, it is clear that God keeps his promises. His Christ had promised the disciples at the Last Supper that he would not leave them desolate, but that he would come to them in the Person of the Holy Spirit as their Advocate, Counselor, and Teacher (John 14-16). Further, the risen Christ had promised the apostles that they would be clothed with the power of the Spirit from on high. Here now, at Pentecost, the Son of God keeps those promises, as he always keeps his promises. We can count on that. We modern Christian disciples of our Lord are never left on our own, dependent on our own abilities and power to spread the Gospel. Rather, God in Christ grants us the gift of himself in the third person of the Trinity, in the Person of the Holy Spirit, and he is with us to the end of the age, as he promises he would be (Matthew 28:20), empowering us also to be his witnesses to the end of the earth.
Where do we receive that Spirit of Christ? Usually not in a pentecostal experience like that given to the first disciples. Rather, the Holy Spirit is granted to us first in our baptisms, and then repeatedly it is poured out upon us through the sacrament of the Lord's Supper and through the Word of the Gospel when that is truly preached from the pulpit. Every Christian is a recipient of the Holy Spirit. That is the gift that has made us Christians, and apart from that Spirit, we cannot lead a Christian life or be Christ's faithful disciples. "Apart from me, you can do nothing," Jesus taught us (John 15:5), and he comes to us in the Spirit.
Second, in the whole sweep of the Bible's history, it is clear that when the disciples are enabled to speak in the languages of all their Mediterranean world, the judgment that fell on all nations at the Tower of Babel has been reversed. In the story of Babel, in Genesis 11, which is actually the story of us all, God confessed the languages of all peoples and scattered them abroad on the earth, as a judgment on their pride and attempts to run their own lives. In short, all forms of human community became impossible, because there was no understanding any more between husband and wife, brother and brother, society and society, nation and nation (the story of Genesis 3-11). And that is true, isn't it? We can't get along with one another any more. We are constantly at odds with one another, in our homes or in our communities or in the world at large, filling our lives with angers and violence, misunderstandings and wars.
But now, suddenly at Pentecost, all the various people understand one another. Their language is no more confused. They hear as one company the mighty acts of God. And it is the gift of the Holy Spirit that makes that understanding possible.
Is that not the story of the Christian mission -- that wherever the Gospel is told in the love and power of the Spirit, controversies are healed, barriers of race and gender and nationality are overcome, and persons are enabled to live in harmony and peace with one another? Certainly that Spirit has healed many broken marriages and united many disrupted communities and enabled black and white and red and yellow to be bound together in "one great fellowship of love" in the church "throughout the whole wide earth." The Holy Spirit is a power to heal all of our broken relationships.
Third, in his sermon explaining what is happening to the gathered company at Pentecost, Peter quotes in verses 17-21 the words of the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-32). Back in the fifth century B.C., Joel had declared what would happen "in the last days," that is, at the time when God would come to put down his enemies and to usher in his kingdom over all the earth. Shortly before that time, Joel proclaimed, there would be a mighty outpouring of the Spirit "on all flesh," so that all ranks of persons would be able to speak the Word of God, as the prophets of old had spoken it. That was what was happening there in that room at Pentecost, Peter explained. The Spirit was being given to all.
In short, a new age was beginning. The coming of the Kingdom of God was being prepared. Jesus Christ had embodied in his person the powers of that kingdom (cf. Mark 1:15; Luke 11:20), and now by the gift of his Spirit to the disciples, that power was spreading through all the world. God was beginning to usher in his final rule over all the earth. His final coming would be ushered in by "wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth beneath" (v. 19), but before that time, the Gospel was to be preached, so that all who believed and called on the name of the Lord would be saved, in the final judgment, for eternal life in the Kingdom of God (v. 21).
Can you believe that -- that there is now the power of the Kingdom of God let loose in this world by his Spirit, that you and I stand at the beginning of the new age of the kingdom, and that by our words and living we can spread a Gospel that can bring eternal life to every person on earth? That's our situation, good Christians. God's kingdom is coming on earth, even as it is in heaven. You and I have been granted his Holy Spirit to empower us to spread the Word. And our mission, given us by the Spirit, can mean eternal life or death to everyone who observes our living or who hears our words from God. Pentecost has been called the birthday of the church. But it is not like every other birthday party. It is our call to be the witnesses of God's new age, that all persons whom he loves, and whom we are to love, may become participants in his everlasting kingdom.
