Acts 1:8 “ But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” This episode talks about Pentecost and the power of the Holy Spirit. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The Power of The Spirit
Acts 1:8 “ But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”
Yesterday we talked about when Jesus told his disciples that He would be leaving but that He would send the Advocate to be with them and to guide them. Jesus said He would be sending the Spirt of truth to them and that this Spirit would guide them to all truths. Today’s verse is telling them that they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them. I wonder if they knew what this meant. I wonder if they could possibly have imagined what power was going to be bestowed on them.
Have you read the story of Pentecost? In Acts 2 it describes what it was like for the night that the Holy Spirit came down to be with them. Acts 2:1-4, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.”
I can’t imagine any of them were expecting what occurred that night. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for them. I wonder if they were scared when it happened? I wonder if they were scared when they heard the noise like the blowing of a violent wind? I can’t even picture what they must have thought when they saw tongues of fire over each of their heads. Yes, you heard that correctly, tongues of fire. That must have been remarkable. Then they were each filled with the Holy Spirit and they began to speak in other tongues. I wonder if this was completely new to them or if they had heard Christ do it before? Did they know what this was? This is one of those times when I wish I was a Bible scholar. There are people that spend a lot of time studying the Bible, and the history around it. Those people amaze me. They would definitely know whether or not the apostles would have been familiar with the idea of talking in tongues or not.
However, even if they were familiar with the concept or the idea of it, actually doing it for themselves I am sure was a whole new and strange phenomena. Talking in tongues was not the only power that they received that evening. They also received a holy boldness. Before Pentecost they were morning in the upper room, but they were also hiding. They were frightened to go out and proclaim the Good Word. Their leader had been crucified and their were people that wanted all those that followed Christ to die the same way Christ died.
However, once the Holy Spirit came down upon them, they all had the courage to go out and proclaim the gospel of the Lord. They were no longer afraid. On the day of Pentecost, Jerusalem was filled with God fearing Jews from all over the place. When the Apostles came out of the upper room and began to spread the Good News about Jesus, each of these people could hear what they were saying in their own language. The apostles all spoke the same language, and yet when these other people were listening to them they could understand what they were saying. This is definitely a power from above.
The gift of tongues and a holy boldness were not the only two powers that were bestowed on the apostles when the Holy Spirt cam down. It says in Acts 2:43, “Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.” Can you imagine what it must have been like during that time? I can’t imagine being there, present in the moment following Pentacost. It must have been incredible. There must have been so much energy floating around the apostles. Have you ever been around someone like that before? Have you ever been in a situation where you could just feel the presence of the Holy Spirit? It is almost like an electric feeling.
There is nothing that comes close to the feeling you get when you are with someone that is filled with the Holy Spirit. You might not even know that is why they are different, but you can tell something is definitely different. When someone is filled with the Holy Spirit, they have this peace about them that they can’t explain. Its almost as if they know everything will be ok. They don’t know how or why but they know it will all work out. They have an unwavering faith that the Lord will take care of everything.
When someone is filled with the Holy Spirit they are also filled with an unexplainable love for others and for themselves. They don’t know why, or what happened but they just love everyone in that moment. They see the good in people and they don’t see the bad. They don’t judge themselves and wonder what others think of them. They are confident in their love from the Father. They show others love in a way that is unconditional. They have this way of making you feel like you are a gift to them. Have you ever known anyone like this?
The only way I can describe being in a situation where you can feel the Holy Spirit is a similar feeling you might get when you came downstairs on Christmas Day when you were still young enough to experience Christmas with all the awe and wonder of a child. You know that feeling you get when you have so much excitement and you just can’t contain it. You want to jump up and down and shout for joy. You wish that everyone could feel the way you feel in that moment. This is probably a fraction of what the apostles felt. Even just reading about the account of what happened you can feel the excitement that they had.
Have you ever been around people that were so excited about something that you got excited too? Maybe you don’t even like football, but if you go to a football game with someone who loves football, you will take on their feelings by the end. If their team is winning you will be so excited because you just can’t help but be excited when those around you are excited. The day of Pentecost, guess how many people were baptized? You may already know as I am sure this passage is read each year on Pentacost Sunday probably. Three thousand people accepted Jesus as their savior that day.
Three thousand, do you know what makes that Teven more remarkable? Shortly before this 3,000 were baptized Jesus was sentenced to death. It may have been the pharasees that condemned Jesus to death, but there were not a lot of people sticking up for him. Where were these 3,000 when Jesus was being put to death? Why were they not there? What is the difference now?
The difference is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit can give them the holy boldness that they didn’t have before. The Holy Spirit can give them power that they didn’t have before. The apostles were full of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit not only gave them power, but they also received the truth. They could understand things in a way that they could not before and they shared this new understanding with the crowd. The verse above says that the apostles are to be the witnesses of Jesus to the surrounding towns and also to the ends of the earth. I think they definitely followed through with this. Even in that one day they witnessed to Jews from all over the earth, and then those people probably went home and told their friends about all that they saw.
Father Mike is always saying during his talks on the Bible in a Year podcast, that the Bible was not just talking to the people way back when. He says that it is also talking to us. In this verse Jesus was not just talking to the apostles that were there on the day of the original Pentecost. He is talking to us as well. We are all called to be witnesses. We are called to spread the word to others about how Jesus is moving in our lives. We are called to witness the ways the Holy Spirit is talking to us. God is doing things in all of our lives. We are being called to pay attention to those ways, and then tell others about them. Are you answering this call? Can you witness at least one thing to someone this week? If you can’t think of what to say, then share with them something you learned at mass, or from a sermon this week. Or, maybe you share God’s love with someone. When you show someone compassion you are showing the Jesus’ light shining through you. Be a witness of God’s love, the world could use more of it!
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we are so very thankful that you sent the Holy Spirit down to be with us. We thank you not only for the Spirit of truth, but the gifts and the power that we receive when we accept the Holy Spirit. Lord, we ask that you give us the same holy boldness you gave the apostles and that you help us answer your call to be a witness to our neighbors and to the end of the earth. We love you Lord, you are amazing. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.