A dramatic picture, lives changed!

Acts 2 v 1-21

V 2 “Suddenly, a sound like a violently blowing wind came from the sky and filled the whole house where they were staying.”

Suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind filled the entire house where they were sitting.

Suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing and mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they sat.

The same passage in different translations of the bible gives us a slightly different picture. The wind is described as violent, fierce, mighty, and rushing. It came for the sky, from heaven. To the house where they were staying, sitting, meeting or sat.

Recently I watched my daughter in her classroom asking her students of different ages to comment on a painting. What did they see? What do you think happened next? Were the people in the picture happy or sad? Each child responded with a comment about what was important to them in the picture. A parent saying goodbye to a child as they went to school. One said the child was happy, another commented on the lunch in the backpack, (not visible), another on the colors of the clothes the people were wearing.

Can you today imagine the picture that this scripture reading presents? What can you see in this Pentecost picture? All the disciples were gathered, at least 12 people in the one room having a meeting. Other people maybe in different rooms of the house, lingering smells from recent cooking .Where the people frightened by the wind that came into the house? What happened next? The sensation of something entering the house that filled it up. It was a brief but life changing moment. Something that you could feel but not see changed the people in that room. The people then went out and started talking in different languages. All of us since that moment can be changed by the holy spirit. To experience the wonder of being able to do things beyond our expectations. The dawn of a new day.

Prayer: Holy God, as we try and picture the first Pentecost, we pray for the change that the holy spirit brings to our lives and to guide us each day to do your work in the world. Amen.