Meditation

“What may be described as the first multinational worship service in the New Testament took place on the day of Pentecost. However, the worship of God brought confusion before it brought clarity. It was a scene like none other. All of the disciples, presumably the 120 mentioned in Acts 1:15, are together in the house. The day of Pentecost has come. This is the day that Jesus told them to wait for, the day that they would be clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8). As they are gathered, still devoted to prayer (Acts 1:14), the Holy Spirit arrives in dramatic fashion. A sound like the mighty driving of the wind fills the entire house. Individual tongues like fire appear resting on each of them. Luke says that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, which resulted in their speaking other languages.

The coming of the Holy Spirit was not a private matter. It was a public declaration to the nations that the kingdom of God has come. How large was the crowd in Jerusalem? Luke doesn’t say, but the delegation of international representatives is unmatched: “Parthians and Medes and 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 Arabians” (Acts 2:9–11). What did they hear? The sound of the disciples declaring the mighty works of God. What they experienced left them confused, astonished, amazed, and perplexed. It left them either utterly confused or certain the disciples were drunk (Acts 2:12–13). To bring clarity, conviction, and resolve, Peter rises to preach (2:14–36).

The message that these people from every nation needed to understand was that the end had come, the end that marked a new beginning. That new beginning was the lavish pouring out of the Spirit of God. Peter tells them that what they see might be new, but it’s not unexpected. He explains to his multinational audience that all of what they witnessed was rooted in God’s promise through the prophet Joel (2:17–21). The coming of the Holy Spirit was a public declaration that the kingdom of God had come. God would fill his people with his Spirit for the purpose of kingdom mission—to reverse the tragic effects of Babel. The expression of unity in humanity would be for the praise and glory of God, not for the establishment of people’s own kingdom in rebellion against his rule.

The fall destroyed union and unity with God and each other. Reunion is the story of scripture. These words we find throughout God’s word—“renewed,” “reconciled,” “united”—are the reversal of the fractures, divides, breaks, and partitions of life in this world and before God that were and are so desperately needed. We are truly stamped from the beginning for unity and union, for wholeness and shalom, for beauty. God himself is committed to knitting the human race back together in Jesus Christ. This is why, in spite of the inherent instability of the pursuit, in spite of the frustrating feeling of running hard and getting nowhere, we still press on toward the vision.

Exploration

The story of Pentecost is one of culmination where those who were previously fractured by ethnicity, language, and a host of other divisions were united again through the power of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost gives us hope and endurance to seek that unity continuously till Jesus returns. Consider the following practices to help aid in the pursuit of beautiful community: 

1. Join a community group or start a group and read a book together on unity and racial reconciliation. It can be difficult to generate conversations around reconciliation, so having a text in common helps spark and facilitate such discussions. The Beautiful Community is an excellent place to begin.
2. Simplify your calendar and schedules to make margin for community. When our days, weeks, and months are filled to the brim, we can go years without making significant progress toward fostering healthy community. Where can you make space to invite others into your home? Could you start a weekly or monthly gathering at a local spot or park? Hospitality and community always come together, but hospitality can happen anywhere.
3. Pray together when gathering in community. Unity demands difficult requirements for each of us, regardless of our own ethnic background. Renewal and reconciliation presuppose confession, repentance, and forgiveness, and without prayer, each of those evade us. Make your requests known to God together and pray for unity in diversity to be true of your community as it is of our Triune God.by Israel, will always serve as currency for our continued and increasing faith in the economy of God’s redemptive mercy.

Meditation adapted from The Beautiful Community by Irwyn L. Ince Jr. Copyright © 2020 by Irwyn L. Ince Jr. Published by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL. www.ivpress.com.