Grow Guide | June 5, 2022
Life In His Name
Pentecost - Acts 2:1-21
Connecting Questions
Close your eyes and imagine yourself in a large crowd and everyone is speaking a language that you don’t understand. How does this make you feel. If you have actually experienced something like this, share the story.
Now, imagine that same scenario, and suddenly you hear a lone voice speaking in your language. How do you feel? What do you do?
Context
We continue our series Life in His Name this week by jumping out of Paul’s letter to the Philippians and going back in time to Acts chapter 2. We do this because it is a special day on the liturgical calendar: Pentecost. This was originally a Jewish harvest festival that happened fifty days after Passover (Pente = fifty). Jews that had been scattered across the Roman Empire would gather in Jerusalem for this festival and give thanks to God for the harvest.
Peter and the other disciples were in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Remember, it has only been fifty days since Jesus was executed, buried, and came back from the dead. Jesus hung out with the disciples for forty days. Then he told them to wait in Jerusalem (Acts 1:4-5). He promised that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. They had no idea what was about to happen and how it would change their lives, and the world, forever.
Look at the Book
Read Acts 2:1-4.
Try to imagine this scene happening to you. What do you hear, what do you see, how do you feel?
The word translated “tongue” in verse 3 and “languages” in verse 4 is the same Greek word: glossa. What do you think is happening to the disciples?
Read Acts 2:5-13.
What did each person in the crowd hear (verse 6)?
How is the crowd described (where are they from)? Why might this be important?
How did the crowd respond to this event?
Read Acts 2:14-21.
Peter frames his speech with words from the prophet Joel in Joel 2:28-32. Take a moment to read that passage.
Note: The message of Joel was spoken to the people of Judah centuries before Peter lived. Judah had experienced a horrible infestation of locusts that destroyed their crops and an invading nation that destroyed and enslaved their people. Joel calls Judah to repentance and promises that God would restore them. Now the day has come for that restoration to occur, according to Peter.
According to Joel’s prophesy, what will happen to people when the Spirit of God is poured out on them? How would this be different from the conditions most humans were experiencing in those days?
Joel (and Peter) says, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” This begs two questions:
what is the name of the Lord?
saved from what?
Peter continues his speech to answer these questions in Acts 2:22-36. Our reading for worship ends in verse 21. If you have time, you might want to read the whole speech to be able to discuss these two important questions.
Taking it Home
Have you ever tried to learn another language? What was that experience like for you? What does it take for an adult to truly learn another language and become fluent in it?
Dr. Willie Jennings comments about the process of learning a language. He says, “An adult in the slow and often arduous efforts of pronunciation may be reduced to a child, and a child at home in that language may become the teacher of an adult.”1 How might humility be an important aspect of sharing ones faith with another person?
To become fluent in a language is not just to learn words, but to learn a people and a place, to submit in humility to those people and that culture. In other words, to be fluent is to speak people, not a language. Jennings says, “God speaks people, fluently. And God, with all the urgency that is with the Holy Spirit, wants the disciples of his only begotten Son to speak people fluently too.” What might it take for us to learn how to “speak people fluently?”
Pastor Megan Torgerson says, “Stereotypically, Lutherans are uncomfortable with this passage because it talks explicitly about the Spirit and encourages declarations of faith. First, that’s not true for Lutherans globally. Second, when we know and trust that this is part of who God calls us to be, we can be more comfortable with the reality of sharing faith and listening for the Spirit.”
In what ways might you feel more encouraged to speak to another person, on their terms, about your authentic relationship with the risen Christ this week?
1 Jennings, Willie James, Acts (Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible) (pp. 29-30). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.