Today, I lift up the question, “What if the church today was the way it was in the beginning? Outbound. Unbound. Active.” How are we at Oakland Chinese Community United Methodist Church living as the body of Christ and the reflection of God’s kingdom within our community? What can we do better?I invite you to re-read Acts Chapter 2 as you will re-discover the witness of the early pilgrims on the day of Pentecost. For openers, what are you usually doing at 9:00 in the morning on a Saturday? On Sunday? Midweek? On the day of Pentecost referred to, “God-fearing Jews were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” This was the first recording of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The people were both amazed and perplexed. The text continues. When the people heard the apostle Peter recount what was prophesized by the prophet Joel, they asked, “What should we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” [It is noted that those who heard and accepted Peter’s message numbered 3,000.]
But the story does not stop here, for we read, “Awe came upon everyone, be-cause many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”
And just like with that first Pentecost, it all starts with connecting our baptism to reaching out across the places where we live and have our being. We need to take the message out of our church and into the streets… to the neighborhoods and coffee shops, parks and homes and businesses around us. We need to take our faith from the inside of our church to the outside. We have a world out there that needs to hear about Jesus and be transformed by our Jesus. It may take a spiritual fire to make it happen, and for that, we pray that Pentecost will come again and again. What will you do this week to be better prepared for God’s use? Amen.
-Contributed by Burt Yin