The story of Pentecost falls into four parts: a description of the descent of the Holy Spirit (vss. 1-13); an explanatory speech by Peter (vss. 14-36); a description of the effects produced (vss. 37-41); and an account of the beginnings of communal life (vss. 42-47).

It is important to realize that we are not reading about man’s attempt to understand the Holy Spirit. We are reading about the Holy Spirit’s influence on the mind and life of man. In St. John’s Gospel, on the day of the resurrection, Jesus breathed on the disciples and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." Even this was not the first time the disciples felt the influence of the Holy Spirit. Surely it was through the Holy Spirit’s enlightening influence that they reached the conviction that Jesus had risen. The significant difference in the influence of the Holy Spirit this time is that now it was known as power wherein they could begin their active missionary work.

The actual description of the event is believed to be a compilation of what actually happened plus the presumptions, reflection and judgment of the next generation. For example, most scholars believe that glossolalia was experienced as opposed to each apostle speaking in a different language. The Apostles were never reported to have used such a talent in the rest of their ministries. Also, Greek Koine was the common language of commerce at that time and would have been easily understood by all those present. The list of countries was intended to cover every known nation under heaven. Parthians and Medes and Elamites represent Eastern races outside the Roman Empire. They listed all the districts around the eastern Mediterranean including Judea, meaning the Aramaic speaking Palestine and Syria. Cretes and Arabians refer to the West and Southeast extremes. After assuring everyone that what they experienced was not the result of excess new wine, Peter preached Jesus to the crowd. He started with the Old Testament prophet Joel. The rest of his sermon followed the same general pattern of all the speeches in Acts. First, Peter told what Jesus did. He did miracles and wonders and signs that were impossible. Second, Peter told what the people did. Ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain him. Third, Peter told what God did. God hath raised Jesus up, having loosed the pains of death. Fourth, Peter told what they were doing then. We all are witnesses to Jesus Christ. The final point comes when men and brethren asked, "What shall we do." The answer was plain and precise. "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ."

Note the last thing Peter said. "Save yourselves from this untoward generation." Today, we would probably say, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." That statement raises one of the most important questions that contemporary Christianity has to face. What is the appropriate relationship between the Church and the generation or the civilization in which it lives? In our Roundtable discussions over the summer, we had some rather serious discussions about what the Church should be doing to "save this corrupted generation." What should Christians do about the conditions in our world? Should they withdraw from the world and live in spiritual seclusion as much as possible?

A modern congregation would expect to hear a slightly different statement from the pulpit – like "Save this corrupt generation." But Peter had a different strategy. His approach was that the civilization was too far gone to be saved. The most pragmatic approach was to get the people into a new order of society that God has established among us. Jesus, who was crucified and is now alive, is the center of it. When a man becomes a part of it he is changed from a self-centered, self-seeking human being into a self-forgetting one, from one who is anxious and fearful into one who is full of courage and hope. That order of society has its roots in reality. It is independent of anything that can happen in the political arena of international events, and it reached clear beyond the horizon and over it to where death has no dominion whatsoever.

The Christians of Peter’s time acted on that strategy. They had no choice but to live in the world. They could not avoid its influence on their lives but they lived in a new world. They laid hold on Christ. They cultivated the inner life of the new order in which all men were the sons of God. The risen life and power of Jesus was released into the world through their excess of vitality and joy. There was never a mention of a significant Christ reform party. They did not protest against the social evil of slavery and yet they saved the world by indirection. The surplus of their spiritual life was so great that it built hospitals for the sick, schools for the ignorant, and cathedrals for the glory of God.

This is not as applicable to today’s Christians. The situation is quite different today. Christianity is no longer a small struggling minority group. It is more than a faithful remnant. There is some reason to believe and to hope that it can exert an effective influence upon the life of our civilization. But we must remember that the Christian contribution to civilization is not a reformed system but reborn men. In other words, the Christian’s task is to keep alive that order of society which is centered in the activity of God coming into the life of man in the person of Jesus Christ. That society is necessarily in the world. Yet, it is independent of the world, having at its heart a life of its own by which men and women are enabled to transcend the misfortunes of life and to resist the influences which are currently degrading life.

This is a message likely to be misunderstood in today’s world. It does not mean that Christianity has no interest in and anything to do with the world. That would betray everything in the Gospels. When Paul wrote to the Philippians he offered moral advice and then closed with the following. "That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world: holding forth the word of life". (Philippians 2:15-16a). The first Christians kept their eyes fixed on the light that is in Christ, not on the darkness of the world, and quite unwittingly the light began to shine in them and from them, and penetrate the darkest corners of the world which was going to pieces.

The effect of the descent of the Holy Spirit and Peter’s sermon is covered in just two verses. They tell of about three thousand souls happily receiving the word of Christ, being baptized, and continuing steadfastly in the apostles, doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. Today, certain intellectuals are accepting Christianity as an explanation of life. It is clear from these verses that Christianity has always been a way of life. There is serious danger in assuming that Christian explanations make sense apart from a Christian way of life.

The last part of this Chapter tells about the beginning of a communal way of life. And all that believed were together. With a communal way of life there was no intellectual snobbery, social superiority, racial intolerance or temperamental privileges. They were all together, bound into a fellowship by the same ideas (the Apostles’ teaching), by the same practices (the breaking of bread), by the same religious habits (prayers) and the same economic rights and responsibilities. They sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. Scholars believe that they sold such permanent fixtures as real estate and divided the proceeds. Personal possessions were simply distributed among the needy.

There is no doubt that a sense of joy accompanies belonging to a community. But the situation is different today. We are not a small suffering minority. We are part of a semi-Christian civilization. How can we retain the sense of community enjoyed by the early Christians? Look at the bonds of fellowship they enjoyed – the Apostles’ teaching, the breaking of bread and prayers. We can retain the sense of community in the same way they did. We must make the church the center of our community life. We must perpetuate the Apostles’ teaching. We must celebrate our rituals as habits in our daily lives. We must pray constantly both together and separately. When we accomplish this, joy and gladness will once again radiate from the Christian Community.