Daily Scripture:
Joel 3:1(2:28) “After this, I will pour out
my Spirit on all humanity.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions; (Complete Jewish Bible).
Acts 2:14 Then Kefa stood up with the Eleven and raised his voice to address them: “You Judeans, and all of you staying here in Yerushalayim! Let me tell you what this means! Listen carefully to me!
15 “These people ar en’t drunk, as you suppose — it’s only nine in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken about through the prophet Yo’el:
17 ‘Adonai says:
“In the Last Days,
I will pour out from my Spirit upon everyone.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my slaves, both men and women,
will I pour out from my Spirit in those days;
and they will prophesy. (Complete Jewish Bible).
Reflection Questions:
We often talk about God calling Abraham or Moses when they were elderly. It’s certainly true that God relates to age differently than our youth-obsessed culture. But the prophet Joel, quoted by the apostle Peter in his sermon on the day of Pentecost, made it clear that God called people of all ages to important kingdom work. “Many Jewish people, especially among the educated and the elite, believed that prophets no longer existed in their day in the same manner that they did in the past…. Peter, however, cites the prophetic promise that all God’s people would be empowered by the prophetic Spirit to hear from God.”*
- So where do you fall on the age spectrum? Do you still, at least at times, think of yourself as a child? As a young person? As an adult? Do you, maybe a bit regretfully, acknowledge having reached middle age? Does the dreaded word “old” nudge at the edges of your consciousness? Or has the calendar, and maybe a health issue or two, firmly planted you in the “senior” category? No matter what your answer(s), are you ever tempted to respond to God’s call with “I’m too young,” “I’m too busy” or “I’m too old”? Spend as much time as you need to in prayer, until “I will pour out my spirit upon everyone” is a divine promise that includes you wherever you are in life’s trajectory.
Family Activity:
Love is one of the many fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23. This week, discover verses on love in Scripture and find Bible stories about God’s love. Share God’s love with one another and your community with your word and actions. Remember growing love doesn’t have to be practiced in big, fancy ways. Find small, yet meaningful ways to share God’s love with others. When we are open to God growing us through the Holy Spirit, everyday acts will help produce love! Pray daily, asking God to grow love in your heart and lives!
* HarperCollins Christian Publishing. NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, eBook: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture (Kindle Locations 247907-247909). Zondervan. Kindle Edition (emphasis supplied).
Joshua serves as one of the Congregational Care Pastors at Church of the Resurrection. He is a competitive runner, and because he grew up in Seattle, drinks a lot of coffee.
"Jesus' kingdom is for young and old alike"
It used to be when I was growing up that to be a nerd was something to be avoided. A nerd faced fear, rejection, or bullying. These things can be painful. Popular culture often provided an image of what a nerd is, and most tried to avoid being a nerd. I certainly tried. Then, in the fifth grade I realized I could no longer see or hit the baseball, and so I received glasses. My first pair of glasses signified that I made it to nerd status. It was then that I reluctantly embraced the fact that I was a nerd. A nerdier way of saying this is that one key principle of the Kingdom of God is to become a lifelong learner in our schooling, work, family, faith, and life.
But how does one become a lifelong learner? For those who dislike reading books, becoming a lifelong learner doesn’t sound exciting. For those who could never get assignments turned in on time, becoming a lifelong learner doesn’t sound engaging. For those who love podcasts, well, you might be in luck, but becoming a lifelong learner is much more than a download on iTunes.
To be a lifelong learner means that we must constantly reframe how we think, and even more, not get stuck in one way of thinking about ourselves and our world. Jesus asks us to reframe our thinking according to his kingdom values.
When Peter met Jesus, he became a lifelong learner. He was the original Jesus nerd. Peter had to be as one of Jesus' first disciples. He grew up with assumptions about God and how the world worked. Then Jesus entered his life and suddenly Peter’s only response could be to leave his work as a fisherman to follow into some great unknown, uncertain future that would become the church. Jesus reframed Peter’s thinking and life according to the kingdom of God.
Peter was so compelled that his learning couldn’t be contained. He helped other people become lifelong learners the day he stood to teach to an audience that to outside observers appeared drunk. He told them, “Listen carefully to my words!” Peter reframed for them, using Joel’s vision from the Hebrew Scriptures, what was happening. Young people and old people, Jews and Gentiles, women and men--they were all learning to learn from Jesus. The Greek word used in the New Testament for Jesus’ disciples is matheteswhich means to be a learner. That day, thousands became disciples, or learners, of Jesus. And they were so caught by the Holy Spirit and the joy of Jesus that they couldn’t help but sing and dance and shout. Peter encouraged them, and us, to learn from Jesus. This kind of learning is not something only for the mind, rather it’s for the heart.
When we learn our hearts grow. Our minds grow too. But when our hearts grow, we spill joy and light into our world to bring about more clearly the Kingdom of God.
This past week I’ve been in a classroom in Southern California learning with other adult learners about how to be better leaders in the church and the world. I love learning. I am definitely a nerd--the glasses give it away. There are old learners and young learners; but what unites us is a desire to grow in faithfulness to the call Jesus has given us to follow him.
It’s okay to be a nerd, or a lifelong learner. In fact, it’s Jesus' call to us as we follow him.
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- “He blessed the children”
- Inheritors of God’s kingdom
- Or download this week's printable GPS.
©2017 Church of the Resurrection. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
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