“If you took all the people sleeping in church buildings on Sunday morning and laid them end to end, they would be . . . much more comfortable.”

Explanations for falling asleep when the church meets?
1. Inadequate rest.
2. Somnolent surroundings.
3. Boring sermons (if people fall asleep while I’m preaching, wake me up!).
4. Tradition (he always falls asleep there!).

They sure weren’t falling asleep in the beginning! (Well, OK, there was Eutychus. I wonder which excuse he gave Paul.)

WAITING DIRECTION
It’s Pentecost and Jesus’ group is in Jerusalem, awaiting further direction (Acts 1:1-14). They hear tornadic wind, but see nothing blowing. They watch flames engulf them, but feel no discomfort (other than a sudden urge to speak a foreign language!). The Spirit of God has landed (Acts 2:1-4).

Unlike previous arrivals he’s orchestrated (a scrawny shepherd and his brother knocking at Pharaoh’s gate, a long line of people sneaking silently around Jericho’s walls, a baby born in a barn), God goes big with this one! God’s Spirit is moving into his new home, and he does way more than tie balloons to the mailbox! Jews from 14 different countries are awestruck—by the heavenly pyrotechnics and by the incomprehensible fact that the guys announcing God’s greatness in their native tongues are Galileans, usually unable to speak their own language fluently (Acts 2:5-11).

The crowds can’t figure it all out. They don’t even have a good guess. Drunk? Drunkenness doesn’t lead to speaking eloquently in your own language, much less one you’ve never studied before! (Although, that idea might appeal to seminary students cramming for Greek finals!)

It’s at this point that Peter stands up in front of thousands (what a difference spending 40 days with a “not-dead-anymore” friend makes!), and begins to make good on Jesus’ Caesarea Philippi prediction (Matthew 16:13-20). “This is not the result of spirits, but of the Spirit!” Peter says. “Not chardonnay, but what the prophets say!” (Walker paraphrase.) And Peter tells them what Jesus told him, that Joel predicted that when God poured his Spirit on all people, we would be in the last days! That, says Peter, is now! (Acts 2:12-17).

START AT THE BEGINNING
I grew up studying, memorizing, and defending Acts 2—probably more than any other passage. I’m good with baptism as the biblically defined point at which Jesus promises to cover us. I like congregations that start counting at 3,000. I’m in favor of the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer. And our church’s goal is to live such that the Lord adds daily to our number! I’m a big fan of Acts 2.

The latter half.

But you can’t get to the end of Acts 2 without going through the beginning—logically or experientially. I heard Roger Chambers refer to our evangelical neighbors as “soteriological hydrophobiacs”—suffering from a mortal fear of combining salvation and water! My problem? I grew up Holy Spirit phobic.

Yes, I’ve taken the classes; I know the Spirit hovered above the chaos, got a temporary work permit to reside inside Old Testament heroes, gave power to Jesus (even in the grave), undid Babel on Pentecost, inspired God’s Word, regenerated us into new creaturehood. I am aware of, dependent on, and thankful for what God’s Spirit has done, but I wonder. Could we be limiting ourselves by an unspoken belief that the Spirit’s greatest moments are behind him?

When I watch friends who are making a difference today, those I think should be featured in Acts 29, they seem kind of crazy. (In a good way.) “Christians should be doing stuff!” they say. “Commit to produce, and then produce!” When faced with something impossible that needs doing, they say, “OK, I’ll try.” And they have great stories of God delivering through moments of sheer panic.

I want stories like they have, but I don’t want to live on the edge of disaster like they do. I ask, “How do you do that?” They say, “It’s him, not me!”

CREDITING GOD’S SPIRIT
That’s what they said in Acts 2. Jesus’ crew credited God’s Spirit with arranging opportunities, providing needed words, and encouraging success (e.g., Acts 8:29, 10:19, 9:31). With God’s Spirit leading, they changed the world!

Thousands were won in the first century because thousands were taught. Thousands are not being won today (where I live) because thousands are not being taught. So we implement WillowCreekian or Saddlebackian methods to cause teachable moments. Sad truth is, an engineless car can be pushed down a hill and it can go fast, but without a motor, it can’t go up again. And I’ve seen that a group of Jesus followers can be positioned in such a way that they apparently accomplish a lot, but without his power, they won’t be able to go uphill—and kingdom work is mostly uphill.

Might I suggest that it behooves us to let the Spirit out of the box (or the book)? That not only is he capable of doing stuff today, he’s eager to, if we would but ask? And that we should be asking, whatever our doctrinal inclinations.

God said that in the last days he would pour out his Spirit on all people. That, says Peter, be us!

People absolutely open to God’s Spirit, following his lead wherever that may take them, lined up end to end? I bet that would result again in the Lord adding daily to our number! (And maybe to less falling asleep in church assemblies on Sunday mornings!)

* All Scripture quotations are from the New International Version, unless otherwise indicated.