Simultaneous translations

After Acts 2:1-13

It is a polyglot of nations

represented, people from

everywhere living

in one place, this city

at this time, people

hearing the wind

thundering and rushing,

a mighty river cascading

down mountains,

a waterfall of sound.

They hear the wind

and come running,

called to see and

called to witness

this event at this time,

what none have seen

before: the languages

of nations pouring forth

from men who know

only own, their own.

Photograph by Zac Ong via Unsplash. Used with permission.

A rushing wind

After Acts 2:1-13

It is the wind we hear,

the rushing sound,

the mighty roar filling

the space around us,

the space inside us.

Tongues of fire appear, 

divide and rest above

each of us, a singularity

translating into tongues

all could understand.

The sound brings men

running to where we are,

shocked to hear languages

flowing from tongues of men

and from tongues of fire.

Before we miss it, though, 

there is a preamble 

to all of this, a presupposition

or possibly even a pre-condition:

we were all together.

Photograph by Mahkeo via Unsplash. Used with permission.

There's a process

After Romans 8:26-30

There’s a process involved,

even if we think it’s all

spontaneity. It begins

with weakness, ours;

weakness so profound

that we’re at a loss

to know even what

to pray for.

But then, and next, 

the groaning,

the groaning too deep

for words, the sign

of intercession,

of help, the sound

of wind and fire

searching, seeking,

ferreting out

the hearts of weakness.

And so: our prayers are made.

And so: our prayers are heard.

Photograph by Suzanne Williams via Unsplash. Used with permission.

“Secret Power” by Dwight Moody

One of best known pitfalls of Christian life, and especially evangelical Christian life, is the reliance upon self. The culture of evangelical Christianity often contributes to this reliance – the often intense focus on a personal relationship with God, the Christian self-help publishing industry and its “10 steps to his” and the “7 steps for that, and the American work ethic of self-reliance. 

While some measure of self is certainly involved and necessary, 19^thcentury evangelist Dwight Moodywould argue that there an older and far more effective source of success, one that has been with us since the founding of the church. In Secret Power: The Secret of Success in Christian Life and Work, he explains what that resource is – the Holy Spirit. Originally published in 1881, Secret Powerhas been updated and reissued as an e-book. 

Arguably the least understood of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit made its first appearance in the New Testament after Jesus’s ascension into heaven. He told his disciples to wait for the helper, and as recorded in the Book of Acts, the helper soon came, and rather dramatically, materializing as a great wind and tongues of fire above each the disciples, enabling them to speak in foreign languages (Acts 2).

In Secret Power, Moody says the Holy Spirit is the source of Christians’ power. He says the Spirit does three essential things: imparts power, inspires hope, and gives liberty. He describes how the Spirit comes, how it manifests itself within the life of a Christian, how it functions, and how it can be hindered. It’s a relatively short work but a plain, powerful one.

Dwight Moody

Dwight Moody (1837-1899) was an evangelist, publisher, educator, writer, church founder, and a number of other things. He founded the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Moody Press, and the Northfield and Mount Hermon schools in Massachusetts. He became an evangelist when he visited Britain in 1872, and his meetings were often attended by thousands of people. One notable event at the Royal Botanic Gardens drew a crowd of between 15,000 and 30,000 people.

Secret Poweris still a solid primer on the Holy Spirit and its work. It may not answer every question, but it provides a good basis of understanding and a platform for further study.

Related: My review of How to Study the Bible by Dwight Moody.

Top photograph by Frank McKenna viaUnsplash. Used with permission.

I didn’t do it my way

Search for the topic of “self-discipline” in books at Amazon, and you will discover more than 100 pages of results. Self-discipline is a subset – a rather large subset – of the general book genre of self-help. For the physical bookstores still left, self-help also was and remains one of the largest selections.

Consider that many business and leadership books are essentially self-help and self-discipline books. Throw in “time management” and you could probably open your own bookstore devoted to these related topics alone.

Self-help and self-discipline are significant topics of interest to our culture.

If we look at the search results on Amazon for Christian self-help and self-discipline, we find another hundred pages of listings. Some of these are undoubtedly meant to encourage and inform, but I have to say the titles suggest there’s little difference between Christian books and secular books on self-help.

And yet it’s right in this area of discipline that we find Christian teaching is countercultural.

What we know, what we have been taught, what we have heard in the pulpit and Sunday School classes and seminars and retreats is this: Faith is not a question of self-discipline, because there are a lot of things the “self” just can’t do.

In fact, the self is the problem. Disciplining the problem is treating the symptoms, not the illness. Some self-discipline is involved, but the story of our journey in faith is not “I did it my way.”

“Discipline is not necessarily a reliance on human effort, or as it is called, ‘a work of the flesh,’” says Jerry Bridges in The Discipline of Grace: God’s Role and Our Role in the Pursuit of Holiness. What he says next is profound.

“We are enabled to do the work.”

It is one of the great mysteries of the Christian faith – how exactly does the Holy Spirit operate. We know Jesus promised a “helper” or a gift (Acts 1:4-5), a gift he called the Holy Spirit. And he told the disciples to wait for the gift.

They didn’t have to wait long – about 50 days (the length of time between the resurrection and Pentecost). But it must have at times seemed like an eternity. In the interim, they chose a disciple to replace Judas, they met together, and they likely shared meals, prayed, encouraged, and taught each other.

But they waited. And when the promised help arrived, there was no mistaking what was going on – a sound like a violent wind; tongues of flame appearing over their heads; suddenly speaking in languages they didn’t know but others in Jerusalem could hear and understand; and a boldness in speaking out to the crowds.

The signs of enablement don’t have to be a loud noise and tongues of fire. But the critical fact is this:

We are enabled to do the work.

Led by Jason Stasyszen and Sarah Salter, we’ve been reading The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges. To see what others had to say on this chapter, “Dependent Discipline,” please visit Sarah at LivingBetween the Lines.

Photograph by Peter Griffin via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.

Waiting

After Acts 2

Together in one place

waiting as told

waiting as instructed

waiting for the help

and leading promised

waiting because it is

what were called to do: wait

the fire comes

with wind and roaring

tongues of fire resting

atop our heads

our voices joined to the roaring

wind and fire speaking

in languages

we did not learn

we do not know

but heard and understood by all

standing before us each

in his own language

the wind roars through our hearts

the spirit arcs in fiery flames

consuming our hearts

Photograph by Linnaea Mallette via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.