Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.”
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, April 9, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Close your eyes and really imagine this scene. Put yourself in the room. Hear the sound like the rush of a violent wind. Not a wind itself—just the sound. Is it howling? Deafening? Room-shaking? Imagine the thrill of fear coursing through you at it. Your eyes wide and staring around the room. And then… the flames—small and dancing over the heads of all of your friends. You see in their eyes the shock and awe and know that there is a flame over your head, too. Do you feel it? Is it a localized heat warming your scalp? Or is there a fire burning through your whole body, driving you to your feet. Feel the Holy Spirit filling you, your chest aching, heart pounding, limbs firing with adrenaline, a joy so intense you’re suddenly laughing as you’ve never laughed. And then.. do you hear the words coming out of your own mouth? Do you recognize they’re in another language? Do you understand what you’re saying? Or is it all your own native tongue in your mind, and just the response of the onlookers that tells you something miraculous is occurring?
Sometimes I think we gloss over this very short passage way too quickly. Yeah, yeah. Wind. Flames. Languages. Wild, huh? Next. Today, I invite you to really savor it. Go over it again and again as described. Maybe journal about what it might have been like, how we can experience this kind of outpouring in our spiritual lives even today. The Holy Spirit is not gone. This was not a once-and-done occurrence, even if we ourselves haven’t experienced it quite so dramatically. The Holy Spirit was and is and is to come. Open yourself to it today.
When do I most feel connected to the Holy Spirit in my daily life?
