Pastor John Wright

We thought that we'd look at the whole of Acts 2 tonight in order to catch the full narrative flow and implications. This gives some definite advantages, but also does not allow us to spend time on specificities.

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Pentecost has been read in the evangelical tradition, one that has spread worldwide, as a manifestation of divine power in the Spirit. We see in the Pentecost narrative, from this perspective, the overwhelming power of God to overcome humanity according to God's will. The Spirit is a "divine force" in relationship to humanity that Pentecost "democratizes" for everyone. It is seen as a repeatable event in which you too may experience the ecstatic power of the Force (oops, I mean, the Spirit).

Yet we have been reading this narrative as placing ourselves within the story of God's restoration of Israel through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. What we see in Pentecost is the outpouring of the Spirit upon all of Israel, gathered together in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost.

Let's divide the passage into five sections:

(1) vv. 1-4: Who is "they"? How do "they" relate to "us", the members of the body of Christ gathered to read and talk about this text?

(2) vv. 5-12: Who gathers are the crowd to hear "them"? What draws this group together? Where are they from? What is happening as a result of the gift of the Spirit upon "them"?

(3) vv. 14-36: What is the underlying story of Peter to the crowd? Who is his sermon about? What is it exactly that Peter says that Jesus has done (don't miss v. 33!). Who is the Spirit the Spirit of and to whom does the Spirit witness?

(4) vv. 37-40: What is the response of the crowd and what does Peter tell them to do? Why?

(5) vv. 41-47: What is the result of the gift of the Spirit given at Pentecost? What is happening to Israel? What is the relationship between the gift of the Spirit and the life of those who believe in the resurrected Jesus?

Now, after this, what does the gift of the Spirit empower? Is the Spirit a divine force, a blind manifestation of God's unchecked, sovereign will? What is it to "live in the Spirit" today?

Enjoy your discussion!! You might want to talk about gathering food for the hungry, especially those in our congregations, our neighborhood, and those trying to sustain life by custodial care of buildings who might not have enough food right now as a result of the refusal of the owners of their company to pay wages and benefits that allow one to sustain a good life here.