The Holy Spirit

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 as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Acts 2:1-6

Can you imagine that the collective experience of a congregation was one that held both wind, fire, and the ability to speak another language that they had not studied? In this grand theophany, what is perhaps most profound is that the disciples were given precisely what they needed to tell the stories of God’s mighty acts so that others who were nearby could understand. The Holy Spirit has not changed, and we should expect the Holy Spirit’s power to move in the same way for us, now. The gift of translation, of understanding, in proximity is what is so important. How many of us wish we had the words, the wherewithal, or the gumption to say something at just the right time and to say it in such a way to be truly heard by the person near us? Often the words come after the fact, and we are left wishing we were better at saying the right thing at the right time. My prayer is that the lag time of right thought to speech gets shorter and we grow in boldness as the Holy Spirit’s power within us gets stronger. 

In Christ,
Rev. Elyse Milligan Nielsen