Comingling 101

Steven Spielberg would have been blown away.

The sound of gale-force winds. The appearance of flames licking the tops of the heads of the followers of Jesus. Immediate capacity to speak in foreign languages without formal training.

This all happened during the most popular of the Jewish feasts in ancient Israel in 30 AD. Jewish people from all over the ancient world would have been there for this feast which celebrated the early harvest – lots of food! – and the giving of the Jewish Law. If something amazing happened during that feast, the news of it could be immediately carried to the “ends of the earth” by all those who were visiting Jerusalem.

Of all the amazing things that could have happened, why would God choose wind, flame, and foreign language?

Wind. In both Hebrew and Greek, the same words for Spirit and breath are also used for wind. Look in the Old Testament for accounts of the presence of God, and you’ll see wind referenced. At the beginning of creation, the Spirit (wind) hovered over the waters. How did God cause the sea to part during the exodus? How was God’s presence so powerfully present? Wind blew all night long. How did God indicate that it was time for the people to move on toward the Promised Land? Wind started moving the pillar of cloud that was the symbol of God’s presence before them. What voice did Elijah finally hear God using? Whisper – the wind-talk of God. What was enabling Jesus to walk on water? What did Peter see that freaked him out? Wind. People knew this back then. When they heard the wind, they surely had to have thought about the presence of God.

Fire. What clued Israel into the fact that God was with them through the night as they were camped en route to the Promised Land? A pillar of fire. What came down and devoured the alter with all the water-soaked wood surrounded by gallons of water during the showdown between Elijah and the priests of Baal? Fire. When people saw what looked like tongues of flame hovering over people’s heads, what else would they think? God’s presence.

Language. When all of this took place, their tongues were freed to speak new language that they had otherwise not known. Don’t miss the obvious here: tongues of flame above the head, the sound of wind rushing around, now they can speak in another tongue – the connection for the people experiencing this as well as those witnessing it were the same – God’s Spirit was inhabiting all of these people.

That’s why it was such big news. No longer was the Spirit just for a prophet every century or so, but for everyone. That’s great news for us who long to be touched by the eternal creator. We who want to be empowered to get through tough times as well as make a difference with power greater than our own can celebrate here.

And, this is news to share. God wants to comingle with everybody. Helping people understand this through the teaching of Jesus is the best shot at helping them experience it.

So, how’s your comingling going? Walk with Jesus. Pray for it. Wait for it. Walk in it. Change the world with it.

May you become more and more experienced in your comingling with God, that you might fully live as you help others do the same!