It’s Pentecost tomorrow – the time Christians remember the dramatic arrival of the Spirit of God in the lives of the first disciples; a few weeks after the events of Easter.
There are times God shows us there’s something more to life than what we can see plainly. Rarely is it as dramatic as the wind and flames of Pentecost. Sometimes there’s nothing at all. Pentecost is not about meaningless display, though. There is meaning – God is doing something. God is bringing nations together (the different languages are a reversal of the Babel story). God is kick-starting the Christians into action. They will no longer only be gathering – they will also be going out, making difficult journeys, speaking and doing the good news of God’s love in Jesus. It’s God’s doing. Often I wonder just what God is doing now. But it will be something: be ready.
Flames and wind may be a visible sign of God’s invisible love. There may be other signs. Sometimes these signs can be seen in the communal life of Christians (like the sharing we read about soon afterwards in the book of Acts). But beware of the institutional church colonising these ‘sacraments’ and being God’s gatekeepers. The Church is great, but must never behave like God’s gatekeeper – despite what we read about Peter.