Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.”
NL Daily Devotion for Friday, April 23, 2021
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
What? THOSE people received the Holy Spirit? For generations upon generations, being Jewish was kind of like a club, a special in-crowd. God’s chosen people. So when God’s promised messiah came, and after him, God’s Holy Spirit, well, of course it was for the people in the club. They’d earned it, hadn’t they? They’d been waiting for this for half a millennium at least! And now these upstarts…these non-Jews…these uncircumcised people got the benefit of the whole thing? What gives, God?!?
Are there places in our lives where we get maybe just a wee bit resentful when God seems to be pouring out blessings on other people when we’ve been so good for so long? You know, like the older brother in the Prodigal Son parable who’s irritated that his no-good waste-of-life brother gets thrown a party when he himself has been nothing be good and faithful and obedient? I know I have.
But that assumes that the Holy Spirit is somehow finite. That if everyone can receive the Holy Spirit it means I’ll get less of the Holy Spirit. Um. It’s not pie. The Holy Spirit is everything everywhere, boundless, all-encompassing, all-embracing. If we want it, all we have to do is ask. And if others receive, we can be grateful for the unfathomable generosity that is God.
Where do I find a fear of scarcity limiting my sense of connection to God?
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