Staying Too Long

There is no story like the wind and fire story in the second chapter of Acts.  Perhaps, there might be a parallel in the Old Testament story of the Valley of the Dry Bones in terms of imagery, but the experience of Ezekiel speaks of vision while the wind and fire narrative speaks of reality.  Who among us can imagine what it was like to stand in that brief moment when the wind and fire of the Holy Spirit burst into the room and overwhelmed it?  While we may have tried to imagine such a moment in our times of meditation, all our efforts surely fall short.

 

Like the moment of creation, there was a brief moment when the church was pure, only empowered by the Holy Spirit, and unsullied by human flaws and hearts determined on their own way.  How long did it take for those who were there to begin to think about what was going to happen in the future?  How long did it take for some of them to start thinking about human plans for this new thing which would be known as the church?  How long did it take for someone to start resenting the authority or the plans of another?  How long did it take for those who were its leaders to take it down a road away from the influence of the Holy Spirit?  How long did it take for the church to become more about the people who thought they were now in charge?  Probably, not as long as one might think.

 

What we know is that the church got settled into its life there in Jerusalem.  The mandate of Jesus to go into all the world seems to have gotten put on the back burner all too soon.  As we read into the book of Acts, we come to the story of Stephen and the persecution which fell upon the church after his death.  It was not the conviction of these new Apostles which drove the church out into the world to share the message of Christ,  but the power of persecution.  And even then, the Apostles still seemed content to stay in Jerusalem.  They got the part about staying in Jerusalem right.  They just stayed too long.