“We are out of milk,” Melanie told me as I headed out the door. It seems like we run out of a lot of things as we live life. On a few occasions, I have run out of gas. What have you run out of? Enthusiasm? Hope? Courage? Excitement? We know when we are running on empty.
Luke often emphasized the unity of the early church. On Pentecost Sunday, the disciples were all together in one place. They did not miss the moment when Jesus kept his promise by sending the Holy Spirit. As Thomas could attest, there is a danger in not being together with the people of God. He missed the moment when the risen Christ returned to his people. Thankfully, Jesus later returned when Thomas was there.
What did the disciples experience that day? God engaged his people with a multi-sensory manifestation of his presence. First, came a sudden sound like a tornado. The sound filled the house where the early disciples were sitting. Then they saw flames of fire descending on the heads of the people. Our children at Tallowood have drawn pictures of Pentecost. When our Children’s Minister, Lisa, shared them with me, I noticed that the children had beautifully depicted tongues of fire on the heads of God’s people.
Luke is trying to use finite images to depict infinite realities. Words may fall short. It was like a wind. There seemed to be tongues of fire. What was God doing that day? Our infinite God fills things. He filled the room with sound. He filled the believers with the Holy Spirit. Could he fill us?
Our God fills the universe in every way. “Earth is crammed with heaven,” wrote Elizabeth Barrett Browning. We have to fill our lives and our time with something. Why not God? Why not now? When God fills us with his Spirit, we will never be empty again. No wonder Paul said, “Be filled with the Spirit.” We may run out of many things. But we will never run out of God’s presence and power.
