After the casting of lots

After Acts 2:1-7 

The sat quietly, talking

among themselves, murmurs

rising and falling until the time

came to replace the betrayer.

They cast lots; the lot falls

to the successor. And they continue

to meet, talking quietly, murmurs

rising and falling, waiting

for the promised helper to show

the way.

 

The twelve and others are

together that day, that

day of the wind and 

tongues of flame, rushing

wind roaring with the voice

of heaven, the flaming

tongues resting on each

of them, filling them and

prompting a cacophony 

of languages, each speaking

a tongue, flame filing voice,

empowering speech and

understanding, pulling

multitudes towards them,

amazing and astonishing

all with hearing speech

in their own tongue, not

just any speech but 

the story of what was,

the story of what is, and

the story of what is to come.

 

Photograph by James Owen via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Men Have Forgotten God – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn at The Imaginative Conservative.

 

Persecution: A Right Response? – Lee Hutchings at Gentle Reformation.

 

Zombie Paganism – Spencer Kalvan at The New Jerusalem.

 

We Stopped Catechising – T.M. Suffield at Nuakh. 

 

Flannery’s Last Day – poem by Angela Alaimo O’Donnell at Rabbit Room Poetry.

What the early days were like

After Matthew 2:38-47 

What was it like,

those early days when

every morning was new

and every season was spring,

and they woke each say and

looked at each other as

newborn children,

because they were?

From the light shining

within themselves

they devoted themselves

to teaching

to fellowship

to bread breaking

(which assumes bread making)

to prayers

together and holding

all things in common

to serving each other

often at great cost

which was no cost

to worshipping together

to praising together.

Their song was head

over and over, and

the voices grew.

Photograph by Rob Schulz via Unsplash. Used with permission.

They heard the words

After Acts 2:38-47

They heard the words

as he moved among

the crows, simple words

from a complex history,

words they understand

in their own languages,

their own tongues of fire.

What do we do? they ask.

He walks among them,

following the example set

before him, and he says

repent, and he says

be baptized, and he says

the spirit will come, and he says

you will receive it, and he says

the promise for you, and he says,

and for your children, and he says

and for those far away, and he says

for all who are called.

And 12 became 3,000.

Photograph by Erika Giraud via Unsplash. Used with permission.

The power of speech

After Acts 2:38-47

A few words, a single speech,

spoken as the crowd grows,

the curious and the mocking,

wondering at the noise

and tongues of fire

and fishermen speaking

languages they do not know,

a few words spoken

by the one who denied him

three times.

They listen, they hear,

they recognize the truth

about themselves, the truth

that wields a sword, the truth

that cuts hearts in two.

Reeling, they say ok, but

what now? what next?

When hearts are split

open, what do we do?

Photograph by Miguel Henriques via Unsplash. Used with permission.

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.

The wind rushed

After Acts 2:1-8

The wind rushed in violence,

a scouring, dust flying and blinding

our eyes, pouring over us like

blood invisible but heard, the sound

of filling and the sound of fear, and awe.

As it flowed around and into,

as it streamed within to without,

a pouring of voices, words, languages

erupting from an inner unknown,

strange words and sounds pouring

over those assembled in expectation,

over those told to wait,

but never expecting this wind,

this rushing, this violence, this flame,

this transformation.

Photograph by Luca Zanon via Unsplash. Used with permission.

To walk into a room

After Acts 2

To walk into a room

full of people

of another language

another culture

another world

and be told to speak

and be told to encourage

and to teach

with no forethought

with no preparation

with no understanding

to feel the beginnings of sweat

the beginnings of fear

the desire to flee

and then to stand in hope

to stand and to speak

this is called idiocy

this is called trust

this is called faith

Photograph by Circe Denyer via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.