Acts 2: The Holy Spirit- Part 2

I don’t want to look silly!

Christians today have been labeled. The label? Well, we’re weird. The people who label us weird are the same people who believe that billions upon billions of years ago life spontaneously generated itself out of nothingness, blew up with a big bang and scattered itself throughout the universe. Then, after billions upon billions of years and an innumerable amount of beneficial mutations a fish gave birth to a male and female lizard who survived, reproduced, and millions of years later, their descendants gave birth to a male and female bird who survived, reproduced and gave birth to a male and female dog who gave birth to a giraffe who gave birth to a monkey who gave birth to your great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather who…oh wait…I think according to their theory that’s where it ends…until of course one of your descendants give birth to a human-like being who can swim better. The same people who believe that drivel call us weird because we believe that God created the heavens and the earth.

But the label has stuck and we as emotional beings don’t want to be labeled and mocked as weird so we hide our beliefs and we try and blend into society. We (and I include myself in this) change and adapt to our culture and behave with caution, not drawing attention to our erroneously labeled weird beliefs. We don’t want to be mocked so we are silent. The early church here in Acts Chapter 2 had a different attitude towards societal conformity.

It was during the feast of Pentecost and many Jews from all around the world had gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate. Jesus had ascended into Heaven and His followers where gathered, hanging out…side bar…I’m in no way opposed to church buildings as meeting places, but I love how the early church just gathered wherever they could and hung out singing and praying…end of side bar… The people were hanging out and suddenly a rushing wind and tongues of fire (Acts 2:1-4) came upon them and they began to speak in other languages. There must have been a loud noise associated with this wind and/or flaming tongues because we then read the following:

“Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God." And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" But others mocking said, "They are filled with new wine.”” Acts 2:5-13

Picture the scene and put yourself in the shoes of the early church. You’re sitting there minding your business when the wind picks up dramatically, tongues of fire shoot out of nowhere and you begin to talk in an unfamiliar language. I’m sorry, but if I, without notice, start speaking Hungarian, I’d freak out! Now, some time had to have elapsed between when the crowd heard the noise and when they arrived at the room where the church was meeting…I’d bet that most of us would have used that time to compose ourselves, quiet the room down and come up with a plausible explanation for the noise; then when the crowd got there we’d try to explain to them, in our native tongue that all is good…“nothing here to see…move on.” But that’s not what the early church did…they kept speaking, not knowing what they were saying they just kept saying it. They weren’t concerned about what it must have looked like…they weren’t concerned that they might be mocked…they just surrendered to what God was doing and they were used by God in an amazing way to get His message out.

But you might say: “I’ve never experienced anything like that. I’ve never felt compelled to start a conversation about Jesus in Cantonese. Since I’ve never been put into that situation, I’d have no idea how I’d react.” But in reality you have…all Christians have been put into that situation. That neighbor or co-worker or gas station attendant that you see daily needs the Lord. But we don’t say anything because we don’t think we know the words to say. “I don’t know the Bible well enough. I’ve only been a Christian for a couple of months and might say something wrong. I can’t say that Jesus, the Creator of the universe, wants to have a relationship with you because the person I say that to might ask me about the practice of transubstantiation, and I don’t know anything about that.” Our fear of being embarrassed paralyzes us. Jesus taught us in John 14 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (v. 25-27) You see, it’s part of the Holy Spirit’s job to “teach you all things” and “bring to your remembrance” all that you’ve been taught. God is not going to put you into a situation where He can use you to communicate His love to others without preparing you in advance to say exactly what you need to say. He’ll bring to your remembrance a verse you never memorized. He’ll give you such incredible confidence in your speech that you’ll be amazed that you can speak with such assurance. He’ll put the absolute perfect words in your mouth…the exact words that the person you are talking to needs to hear. You may be speaking in a language you are familiar with but you’ll be using words that you’ve never strung together before. And afterwards, you’ll walk away astonished about what He accomplished through you. All you have to be is available and willing to be used. Yes, just like the early church, you may be mocked…“what, are you one of those goody-two-shoes”… well, maybe not goody-two-shoes…but there is a good chance you’ll be mocked. But remember, the mocking is coming from someone who earnestly believes that if given enough time and the right mutations, your dog will eventually give birth to a cat…so ignore their mocking and put your eyes on Jesus the author and finisher of your faith…He will give you the words to speak…trust Him…believe Him.

This is part two of a series of teachings in Acts Chapter 2 about the Holy Spirit. Join us next week as we discover more insight in how the Holy Spirit works in our lives.