The Book of Acts: Salvation for All

This week’s devotional was written by J.D. Walt and is entitled, When the Holy Spirit Does Something Not In The Bulletin. J.D. is the Executive Director of Seedbed.com. We hope this devotion encourages you this week.

ACTS 2:14–21 (NIV)

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

“‘In the last days, God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your young men will see visions,

your old men will dream dreams.

Even on my servants, both men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days,

and they will prophesy.

I will show wonders in the heavens above

and signs on the earth below,

blood and fire and billows of smoke.

The sun will be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood

before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

And everyone who calls

on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

CONSIDER THIS

Our movement, (aka the church Jesus is building,) began with phenomenology: tornadic sounding winds, tongues of fire descending on people, men and women speaking in foreign languages they could not themselves understand. This was not a pre-scripted ceremony as one might expect at say, a Passover celebration. This was live reality television. Things were happening that were not in the bulletin. The Holy Spirit did not come with an announcement of his arrival. He just arrived.

Note the two very divergent responses from those present.

1. Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

2. Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

As it was then, so it is now. When the boundaries of one’s experience with God are stretched, it reveals two basic responses: self-abandonment or self-protection. The former marvels in stunned awe. The latter mocks with sarcastic antagonism.

To be sure, much of what gets passed off as Holy Spirit phenomenology these days may be dramatic expressions of human personality, but how we respond says much more about us than it does about them.

Years ago when I was in seminary a traveling revival descended upon our town. They had come from a Vineyard church called the Toronto Airport Fellowship in Canada. Never before or since have I witnessed the kinds of apparently supernatural phenomenology occurring in those meetings. Fireworks abounded, but so did miracles. And yes, it split our community into two groups; those who marveled and those who mocked. It always does.

At one of the evening services I approached one of my seminary professors and asked his take on what was unfolding. I will always remember his response. In a spirit of awed humility he said, “J.D., there’s a lot happening here that is clearly of the Spirit, and yes, there are some things happening that are clearly being driven by human personality. Don’t be afraid of this. Lean into it with discernment.”

Let me close today with a few simple rules of engagement when it comes to spiritual phenomenology outside our comfort zone.

1. Never make fun, belittle, or mock another’s experience of the Holy Spirit.

2. Resist the compulsion to be a spiritual thrill seeker. I call them storm chasers. (Oops! I think I just broke rule #1.)

3. Suspend your initial need to make a snap judgment, lean into the possibilities, and instead ask the question of true spiritual discernment, “What does this mean?”

4. Live a scripture-saturated life. Everything always comes back to the governing story of our lives. We will say more tomorrow, but that is exactly what Peter is doing here with his recounting of the prophecy of Joel. 

THE PRAYER

Lord Jesus, I am your witness. 

I receive your righteousness and release my sin. 
I receive your wholeness and release my brokenness.
I receive your fullness and release my emptiness.
I receive your creativity and release my chaos.
I receive your healing and release my sickness. 
I receive your joy and release my despair.
I receive your rest and release my striving. 

Come Holy Spirit transform my heart, mind, soul, and strength that my consecration becomes your demonstration; that our lives become your sanctuary. For the glory of God our Father, amen. 

THE QUESTION

When it comes to the phenomena surrounding the Holy Spirit do you tend to be one who responds with abandonment and awe or with skepticism or suspicion or even cynicism and sarcasm? What is it about you that makes you respond in this way? Remember any such encounters in your Wake-Up Call Journal.