Variety: Acts 2v14-21
But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, ‘Fellow Jews and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
‘In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit,
and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ (Acts 2:14-21)
Some days, I wonder if I’m living in The Bourne Identity. I wake up. Who am I? What am I meant to be doing? And who, exactly, is attacking me?
I’m not even out of bed.
The assault turns out to be a fluffy dog licking my toes. The clock radio piles on the global headlines. My mind sprints straight into the day’s to-do list.
Not quite a blockbuster, just the waking confusion of my Monday morning. And I imagine Pentecost had something of the same energy: bewilderment, noise, a scene begging for someone to make sense of it – which the crowd did, brilliantly: ‘Too much wine!’
But one voice refuses the easy explanation.
Without claiming to know everything God is doing, without predicting dates, mapping geopolitics, or making himself the centre, Peter explains how this moment is part of Scripture’s bigger story.
How does an ‘unschooled and ordinary’ fisherman do that? Peter has listened to his world, attentive to what was happening – the wind, the fire, the languages, and their question, ‘What does this mean?’ (2:12). He’s also been listening to God’s word – reaching back to the prophet Joel for Scripture that gives meaning, shape, and hope to the scene – knowing it points to Jesus.
When we wake up feeling overwhelmed and confused, when culture’s shifting faster than we can keep up, when our families and workplaces are in upheaval, when we sense holy ground beneath our feet but dread misreading the moment, when we want to be faithful but the path seems foggy – we’re not in the midst of dramatic scenes, just ordinary moments where we need clarity most.
In such times, Peter’s method can become our method – even before we’ve made it out of bed. Armed with the ability to ‘double listen’ to the world around us and the Bible, we can begin to reframe our experience through Scripture’s story.
New questions emerge. How does this news item stir my longing for a saviour to put this world right? Is there a personal priority to let go of, a work decision to pause, a kind invite to offer a friend? How might I help my neighbour see their day through God’s eyes?
The Spirit who helped an ordinary fisherman make sense of chaos still helps ‘unschooled and ordinary’ people like us to do the same. And not only does he help us see what God’s doing – he shows us how we can faithfully, and confidently, join in.
Tim Yearsley