It seems we can handle almost anything in life if we know why it happened, or what it means. For example, undiagnosed physical symptoms are far more difficult to handle than a physical problem for which we can find a name. As a pastor, how often I’ve heard the words, “If I knew what to call it, I could deal with it. It’s the not knowing that’s killing me.
We humans have always asked the “why” question. On the fiftieth day after Easter, the promised Holy Spirit descended upon believers in Jesus Christ, with “a sound like the rush of a violent wind … Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them … devout Jews from every nation under heaven … heard them speaking in the native language of each.” Luke, the author of ACTS, tells us that they were utterly amazed and astonished. People from every nation under heaven were hearing God’s Word in their own language. As they got over their amazement, they asked each other, “What does this mean?” Listen to the audio file as we learn more about the meaning of Pentecost, the birthday of the church.