Acts 2:1-13
1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues x as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, d 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.” [1]
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What is always fascinating to me in this passage is verse 13, that some were making fun of the disciples and accusing them of being drunk. For me it’s a reminder that there will always be people who misunderstand what’s going on in your life, and in fact put the worst possible explanation on it.
It’s really rather amazing. This is one of the high points in God’s entire mission plan, the sending of the Holy Spirit to empower the church for the mission. This event is entirely God. The Spirit is the one who filled the disciples and moved them to start preaching in public in languages they had never learned. There is not a shred of criticism that can be leveled at the disciples that they should have done things differently, because the entire event was orchestrated and carried along by the Holy Spirit.
And still some people completely misinterpreted what was happening and made fun of the disciples. This is God’s mission that is being mocked. This is the work of the Spirit that is being ridiculed.
So what’s the take away from this? It’s about having realistic expectations about being God’s partner in His mission. We might do everything right, and the work for God that we’re engaged in may be carried out exactly in accord with God’s will. And still some people will reject it, ridicule it and make fun of it. Our motives may be questioned, our sanity doubted, our character attacked.
But this shouldn’t surprise us. What did Jesus do wrong in His ministry? And He ended up on a cross.
So this passage reminds me that the approval that I seek above all is my Lord’s approval. I pray that I may not be led astray from His will in pursuit of approval from others. My prayer instead is that I serve Him daily faithfully, even when others misunderstand, misinterpret, and ridicule.
What is the Word leading you to pray about today?
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[1] The New International Version. 2011 (Ac 2:1–13). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
