Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.” Acts 2:5-13
We’ve all seen the jokes about change and the Church. My favorite – for obvious reasons – How many Lutherans does it take to change a lightbulb? “Change???”
Which is actually pretty weird, isn’t it? How much sense does it make to be a “change averse” people when we belong to a faith that begins with the commanding invitation of our Leader and Lord, “Repent and believe in the good news.”? Answer: It doesn’t make any sense at all.
Unless we practice selective hearing and we hear only what we want to hear. Which is what we do. So we focus on the Great Commandment and feel good about what a difference we make in the community with our clothing drives, our food drives and our Habitat for Humanity projects (all of which are wonderful and appropriate), but then we shrug our shoulders when asked how we are responding to the Great Commission in walking with new people toward newfound faith in Jesus. Selective listening.
We talk until we are blue in the face about believing and the gracious love of God poured out in the good news….but we hardly give a thought to repentance, to turning around, to changing our direction and our minds and our actions. Selective listening.
I know why. It is easier. On our own, we can do good works. On our own, we can say all the right theological things. But we can’t repent on our own and we can’t conjure up faith on our own. For that we need the power of the Spirit and we need the movement of God which we cannot control or contain. So we fudge on the hard stuff and focus on the easy stuff and we’re not alone in that.
The crowd gathered outside the room did the same thing. That so many were gathered inside wasn’t new. That so many languages were spoken at once wasn’t new. But the understanding, the wonder, the joy – all of that was as new as new could get. But those sneering at the door couldn’t handle it. They symbolize the change averse, God-unconscious parts of all of us. They don’t understand it so they put it down. They dismiss it. They sneer just as the crowds below the cross sneered at Jesus.
Show me a man who has come to a real faith in Jesus and I’ll show you a man who has changed. He doesn’t think the same way anymore. He is profoundly grateful and just as profoundly aware of the brokenness of his life from which he is being saved.
If I didn’t believe in the power of change, I don’t see much sense in the message of Jesus.
Let us pray: Gracious Lord, keep us open-minded to the power of your Spirit working newness into our lives and the life of the world. Soften the hardness of our hearts and open our ears and eyes to new possibilities of life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Daily Devotions 
Leave a comment