First I want to address the second half of verse 17 in the Acts text. It says, “your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” As cool as that is, I need to point out that it doesn’t mention young and old women. Women are included in prophesying and in receiving the outpouring of the Spirit, which sandwiches this text, but they’re not included here. Why aren’t women included in the dreams and visions. Maybe it’s because that’s something women already did, so it’s not extraordinary. Maybe it was a typo. I could guess all day long why women aren’t included in the dreaming and visioning. I’m not sure it would help us. The bottom line is that they weren’t included. But what helped me was remembering something I read in the Gospel of Thomas. Number 22 in Thomas says this:
Jesus saw some infants being nursed and said to his disciples, “These children are like those who enter the kingdom.”
They said to him, “If we are children shall we enter the kingdom?”
Jesus said to them, “When you make the two one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make the male and the female into a single one, so that the male is not male and the female not female, when you make eyes in the place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, and an image in place of an image, then you shall enter the kingdom.”
According to this, entering the Kingdom requires us to get beyond normal definitions and boundaries of thought and action. It requires us to be like infants – not knowing these distinctions. At least that seems like part of it to me. To this end, I think, Peter explains the craziness of the followers of Jesus in terms of Joel’s prophesy – not only will prophets prophesy, but regular people will too. It won’t just be the men who experience the pouring out of the spirit, it will be women too. Not just the old, but the young; or not just the young, but the old. All flesh – all mortals – everyone will experience the pouring out of the Spirit. And everyone will have something to say.
You may not feel like you are called to be a “Prophet.” Maybe you feel like you don’t have the “gift” of prophesy. That doesn’t mean that you might not get a word. How many things do you do in a day that you aren’t “called” to do or that you don’ have a “gifting” for? I don’t have a particular gifting in, say, doing the dishes – but I’m certainly called upon sometimes to them. I don’t have a particular gifting to teach Sunday School, but I’ve found myself called upon to do it.
The Spirit is poured out on you!! That’s the bottom line that I get from this. Jesus was a big mouth. He said things he shouldn’t have oughta said. But he said them regardless. He is counted by most religious folks as a prophet. John the Baptist said things he shouldn’t have oughta said too. Joel also had a big mouth. No, we’re not all called to speak to groups of people – but we may all sometimes be called upon to do so.
The story in Acts is not a story of folks teaching and preaching. They are praising their Divine Beloved. It says in verse 4 that the Holy Spirit gave them utterance and then in verse 8 that the people who were around them overhearing them were impacted by what they said. It’s here that the teaching starts. Peter then tells the story of Jesus. In verse 36 Peter wraps up his teaching about what is going on. The result is that many of the crowd “received his words gladly and were baptized.” (verse 41) It was a good day for Peter. But it wasn’t an account of Peter – it all started with the people lifting up their voices because the Spirit was poured out on them.
There are many examples of public speakers who have received a portion of the pouring out of the Spirit. Two days ago was the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination. Dr. King was drenched with the outpouring of the Spirit and he had a gifting and a calling to have a big mouth. John Lennon had a big mouth too. The Dalai Lama has big mouth and is saying things to the people in power he shouldn’t oughta say. Frankly, I'm starting to get real worried for him. Those are people with a special gifting. What about us? We are the normal everyday people who are receive the outpouring of the Spirit.
I believe in the prophethood of all believers! Joel and Peter announced that everyone – women and men, young and old, rich and poor, owners of companies and workers who don’t make enough to make ends meet – everyone would have the outpouring of the Spirit and words to speak. Not only would they have the words to speak, but by implication they should all be listened to. You, friends, have words to speak. You should be listened to.
The Spirit of The Holy is poured out on you. Words come to you at various times in various places. Speak the words. Not everyone in the Acts story listened, but many did. You should be listened to. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you wear, the color of your skin, who you love, how much money you don’t have … The Spirit is poured out on you!!
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