Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. 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 Thursday, May 23, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
I wonder about the astonishment of the “circumcised believers”. I wonder if was based in jealousy at first, in a sense of unfairness. So many of us have experienced situations in which we feel we have earned something by our own merit, only to find that others are rewarded similarly without having to have done all that we did. Jesus was fully cognizant of this idea when he told the parable of the vineyard workers, in which those who arrived at that last hour of the day were paid the same as those who arrived first thing in the morning. It’s quite possible the “circumcised believers” were frustrated that they who had been following God’s laws all their lives, or who had even recently converted to Judaism including circumcision, were counted as no better than the average Joe Gentile. The Jewish believers might have thought that the Holy Spirit was reserved for them, and yet here the Spirit claimed those they might have considered inferior in some way.
But even ancient prophecies in the Jewish scriptures made it clear that one day the Gentiles would be included in God’s family. And Jesus, whom these early Christians so ardently followed, was also open about breaking down the boundaries between people.
Maybe the astonishment of the “circumcised believers” was more like joy in seeing these prophecies and sayings of Jesus come to pass. Maybe they celebrated to see the boundaries shattered, and the radical inclusiveness of the Holy Spirit. Maybe we, as Christians, can rejoice in the same way when the folks we don’t like seem to experience God’s abundant grace and mercy in their lives.
Do I feel I deserve special treatment by God based on my faith? Why or why not?
