Read: Acts 2:1-21

Reflect: Imagine: Jewish pilgrims from all over the known world making their way to Jerusalem for the festival celebrating the beginning of the wheat harvest. Imagine the crowding. Imagine the noise of people speaking in their own native languages, each group louder than their nearest neighbors. Now imagine the sound of rushing wind disrupting these conversations and focusing the crowd’s attention on a small group of apostles who begin to proclaim the good news of Jesus crucified and risen. Imagine hearing this message in a language that you can understand, even though you’ve never been to Jerusalem before: eastern Iranian, Egyptian, Roman Latin, Greek, Hebrew/Aramaic, Persian, or Indo-European.

The good news of Jesus united all these various peoples and groups on that Day of Pentecost. May the good news of Jesus continue to unite us and guide us as we navigate our current political and economic differences, and cultural and social distinctions.

Prayer: Eternal God, your Word brought forth creation, and your Spirit brings order out of chaos and confusion. You breathe upon us, and we are able to hear one another with language we can understand. Pour out your Spirit upon us now, that even when we disagree on the way forward, we may remain united in Jesus Christ, in whom we are known and accepted with a single love. Amen. (from All Creation Sings, p. 50. ©2020 Augsburg Fortress, used by permission.)