On the Day of Pentecost, when the famous tongues of fire were poured out, how many men were gathered there?
According to the Scriptures (Acts 1:15; 2:1-4), there were about 120 people in the upper room. But, if you look carefully at Acts 1:14, you discover that women were there among the men. You might be surprised by that observation, so I’ll include the verse in its entirety: “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” Acts 2:1 records that “they were all together in one place.”
Just in case you’re interested, I’ve included here a photograph of just a small portion of the exquisite “Window of the Pentecost” – dating back to 1848 – at Germany’s Cologne Cathedral. It allows us to see one artist’s rendering of a significant event in church history.
“All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer.” That’s where I want to focus today.
Allow me please to review the historical context. Jesus had clearly promised this miraculous outpouring of His Spirit (Acts 1:8): “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” After appearing to more than 500 eyewitnesses over a period of forty days (Acts 1:3; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8) – and giving to us the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) – the risen Jesus ascended to heaven.
So Christ’s faithful followers have been waiting. Not waiting passively, but waiting actively. They’ve been praying. In fact, they’re praying when this scene erupts.
They haven’t been strategizing.
They haven’t been planning.
They haven’t been studying market trends.
They’ve been praying. And God has used their prayers to bring all of them together– despite their undeniable differences – to an exceptionally powerful place of unity in Jesus Christ. It’s an unmistakable unity in Christ which comes only from Him!
It’s a unity that can unite men and women – in Christ! It’s a unity that can unite people who don’t speak the same language – in Christ! It’s unity that can unite Jews and Gentiles – in Christ! It’s a unity that can unite enemies – in Christ! The perfect testimony of the Bible will validate each of these realities.
The unity of Pentecost is the very unity that the Church needs today.
We need a supernatural unity that enables us to practice unstoppable love – a love that the world can’t understand. Even when people seem impossible to love, we must embody the grace of the longsuffering Christ who loved even the rich young man who walked away unhappy and unmoved. Spirit-born love is our uniquely defining characteristic in every generation.
We need a supernatural unity that helps all of us overcome our sin – sins both personal and shared. “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16). It’s a profound victory when our remaining sin leads us to practical holiness – together.
We need a supernatural unity that enables us to die to self, that we might live in harmony with each other – sharing from an open heart what we’ve been given freely. Such generosity is impossible without the Spirit, but it’s yours and mine for the asking. There’s simply no iceberg of human pride, sin, selfishness, or stubbornness that can’t be melted by God’s sun.
We need a supernatural unity that produces supernatural community. A community that will see us through the persecutions of this life – whenever and however they come – because we share a vision of our life beyond this one. A life marked by infinite resurrection and limitless joy! In Christ, we have passports already stamped by the highest ambassador of that kingdom.
There is a way for a body of believers to stay faithful to the Scriptures in regard to obvious gender distinctions, while encouraging women and men to pursue with passion their God-given gifts for ministry. But it requires gracious humility on the part of everybody. Everybody!
I call it the unity of love.
I’m blessed to serve such a congregation, so I know it can happen, and this is not to my credit. For this unity of love, I give God all the glory.
Pastor Charles
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