Peter and the Promise of Prophesy – June 16
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 119:97-120; PM Psalm 81, 82; 1 Samuel 2:12-26; Acts 2:1-21; Luke 20:27-40
I have a friend named Doug who will say, “You’re just full of blue butter beans!” – which is a simultaneously silly and curious thing to say as a retort to someone’s statement. I have no idea where that phrase came from…it sounds like a very Southern aphorism, but this friend lives in California. He is a beloved middle school teacher in the Los Angeles area, skilled at the art of saying inane yet true messages of wisdom to young people (who are at an age when they are thirsting for acceptance, independence, and understanding). I do not know how teenagers respond to Doug in the classroom when he blurts out the blue butter bean line, but I know that the first time he hurled that alliteration my way, I stopped short, looked quizzically his way, and laughed in the absurdity.
While reading Acts 2, today I am struck not by the coming of the Holy Spirit, but by the responses around the experience: “…in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’” (Acts 2:11b-13) I wonder, would an equivalent of the dismissive interpretation in more recent yore be, “They are filled with Boone’s Farm!” or “They are filled with Zima!”? (Perhaps you have other saccharine intoxicants that you, as rowdy youth, smuggled into dance halls, beach trips, or pasture parties.) After a jaunt down memory lane, I am drawn back to the real question, striving to understanding something that wholly does not make sense: What does this – the coming of the Holy Spirit – mean?
Peter stands up with his friends and helps interpret the rushing wind and the subsequent cacophony of voices that are distinguishable as mother tongues, rather than confusing noise. Quoting part of the prophetic proclamation of the ancient Hebrew prophet Joel, Peter says:
“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.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy…” (Acts 2:17-18)
He goes on a bit further in today’s readings, and it spills over into Thursday’s reading from Acts, too. What sticks out in this reaction highlighting the meaning of the Holy Spirit coming down in “divided tongues, as of fire” (Acts 2:3), is that this promise is an old one – from the 7th century BCE. Not just a promise of the Spirit coming upon all flesh, but that sons and daughters would be opened to the gift of prophecy. Men and women would open the eyes of others to God’s truth today and God’s promise for tomorrow. Visions and dreams would come to people of all ages. And even slaves – male and female – would be swept into this gift of interaction and communication with the Lord. The apostle Paul, following in a similar vein, writes in the letter to the Galatians that in Christ there is no Jew or Gentile, no slave or freed person.
In short: y’all come. All. All manners of people are touched by this humbling, transformative power of God. We are all made one in the uniting love of God. That declaration was a confirmation of the prophetic message long before.
Whoever you are, lift your voice and sing. Share your story of resurrection and hope in the power of Jesus. Invite others to tell their stories, too.
-- Katherine+
Questions for Reflection
What difference or divide in your life feels unfixable? How could the Holy Spirit bring about reconciliation and inspiration?
Daily Challenge
Take a few minutes to listen to this TED talk about the poem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and hear this powerful poem set to music. It is known today as the Black National Anthem.