Day of Pentecost

Fulfilment of Prophecy

Morning Ps. 87 As they dance; Evening Ps. 67 God bless us, 133 Anointing; Joel 2:21—32 I will pour out my spirit; Acts 2:14—21 [22—38] Fulfilment of prophecy; Gospel at Holy Communion: Luke 24:44—53 Power from on high

'Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: "In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. "' Acts 2:15—17a

What happened to Peter?

What happened to St Peter and the rest? What came over them? At first the crowd thought they were all drunk. They must have been behaving in a very peculiar way. Then Peter stood up and said that something had happened to them that was far more powerful than alcohol; they were fulfilling prophecy. Perhaps there was a bit of nervous giggling at first. What on earth was Peter talking about? Was he joking? Then as Peter went on quoting from the Hebrew Scriptures, the crowd sobered up and all went quiet.

‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.'

What the crowd had seen happen before their very eyes, said Peter, was the fulfilment of this prophecy.

What did Joel mean?

Those words were quoted from the prophet Joel. He was one of the last of the Jewish prophets, speaking after the Jewish refugees had returned from their deportation to Babylon. Prophecy was pretty rare in those days; perhaps it had never been common, just a few gifted individuals. In the early days there had been groups of them attached to various sanctuaries. Maybe the prophets occasionally foretold the future. Usually they just spoke out on behalf of God, to tell the people what God thought of how they were behaving here and now: ‘Thus saith the Lord' — the prophets can't have been popular, but they were respected. ‘But in the last days', prophesied Joel, everyone will prophesy. When Peter quoted these words and applied them to what had just happened, the crowd realized that the ‘last days' had already come. No more waiting; God wasn't hanging about, he'd already come to earth. Later, they put it this way: first God the Father had come to earth in the person of God the Son; now they were both coming in the person of God the Holy Spirit. The last days were here and now. Now everyone will prophesy.

What's that to do with me?

But, you may well ask, what's that got to do with me? Well, the answer is, you're going to become a prophet. Hold on a moment, you say, I didn't sign up to be a prophet, I don't want people thinking I'm drunk! No, of course not, my dears. But God will speak through you, even you, if you let him. When you first realize that God can speak through you it's a pretty staggering experience, a bit like being drunk. Not with wine, but with spirit – the Spirit of God. But it soon settles down. God may not want you to foretell the future.

Speaking for God

No, you'll be not so much foretelling the future, as forth-telling what God has to say about the present. God does have an opinion, on everything that happens. If you read your Bible carefully, you'll know what God thought about things that happened in the past, so you can easily work out what he thinks about what people are doing here and now. Where God wants society to care more for the underprivileged, you've got to speak up for God. You may do it in conversations with your friends, or letters to the newspaper, or organizing petitions, or by going into politics. Some years ago the yearbook of the USPG missionary society defined their policy as a holistic mission which helps people

• to grow spiritually,

• to thrive physically,

• and to have a voice in an unjust world.

Perhaps that's what God's calling you to do, as his prophet, speaking up for God's point of view. God wants you to help people

• to grow spiritually,

• to thrive physically,

• and to have a voice in an unjust world.

The power to do it

Don't worry. As St Peter said, we all have the power to speak for God, as Joel foretold: young and old, men and women, slaves and free, God's poured his Spirit on you, in fulfilment of the prophecy. Each one of us has the power to be a spokesperson for God, calling for unselfishness and care for the needy.

Suggested hymns

Breathe on me, breath of God; Come down, 0 love divine; God's Spirit is in my heart; 0 thou, who camest from above.