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.”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, May 31, 2020
by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: Discerning voices from God and voices from others can be challenging.
Early Christians lived in a world filled with ideas, ideologies, religions, and cultural practices. Like today, it would have been difficult to discern which voices to listen to, and which to ignore or deny. In Paul’s day, people were practicing what we now call, “spiritual gifts.” Some could perform miracles. Others could prophesy. Some spoke in tongues, and others interpreted their words. With the prevalence of other-worldly practices, Paul helped early Christians learn to discern between the voices and actions.
Up to this point, people were largely identified by the cultural and religious background—for Israel, these were one and the same. But now, Gentiles and Jews alike were being brought together under one Spirit. They would have to find other ways to distinguish the voices of Christ from all others.
Paul made it clear that no one speaking on behalf of God would be able to curse the name of Jesus. Likewise, only those speaking on behalf of God could proclaim Jesus as Lord. All others were imposters or pagans.
With all the voices speaking, shouting, and screaming to be heard, we also face the challenge of discerning which voices belong to God, and which do not. Some are easy to discern. Voices that silence others, voices that preach hatred instead of love—these are not voices of the Spirit. Other voices are harder to discern. In the current political landscape, the issues facing us have polarized us, and we have become stubborn in our unwillingness to listen for voices on the other side of the aisle. Can it be true that all the voices we like are right, and all the voices we dislike are wrong? Unlikely. It’s most likely all the voices have grains of truth and grains of untruth. This is where our willingness to listen and learn, and to pray for wisdom in discernment can be helpful. We need to be willing to be wrong. Only then can we open ourselves to the possibility that some of the voices we don’t want to hear might be speaking words of God.
Lord God, open my heart to the fire of your Spirit. Amen.
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