What Shall We Do?
by Heidi Mann
Acts 2:37-42
37 Now when [the people] heard [Peter’s proclamation about Jesus], they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” 38 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. 39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” 40 And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Devotion
The Holy Spirit came upon the disciples on Pentecost, prompting them to speak in other languages. This, in turn, prompted some who didn’t understand their words to accuse them of drunkenness. So Peter stood and delivered a long “sermon,” connecting ancient prophecy about God pouring out the Spirit and about the good news of Jesus the Messiah. This is the setting of today’s reading above. Peter’s proclamation about Jesus moves the people so deeply that they respond, “What shall we do?”
If a sermon actually moves one to do something … well, that is a powerful sermon! That said (lest we expect too much of our preachers or ourselves), it’s not the speaker who moves us so much as the Holy Spirit working through them. When something we hear—or read or witness or are confronted with—prompts us to ask what we should do, we’d best pay attention. It’s the Holy Spirit knocking on the door of our heart!
“What shall we do?” the people asked Peter and the other disciples. “Repent and be baptized,” came the reply. Turn your life to follow the Messiah. Receive the gift of baptism and, through it, the Holy Spirit. Let your sins be forgiven. The promise of God is for you—and for all. Listen for, and follow, Jesus’ call.
There was still more to Peter’s answer: “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Ah, now that’s something we can relate to! If ever there was a corrupt generation, we might think, it’s now. But apparently it was so in first-century Jerusalem too. And, really, every generation before and since. There has never been a human generation that was not corrupted by self-centeredness in its many forms. The question is a good one, nonetheless: What shall we do? How do we “save ourselves”—and others—from whatever corruption of God’s justice and goodness is taking place? Specifically, as followers of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, what shall we do when innocent people are unjustly captured and deported from the place that has long been their home? When health and welfare resources are being decimated here and around the world? When the beautiful God-created diversity of human beings is disparaged? When Goliaths are pouncing on little Davids all around the world?
The Holy Spirit will come upon us in different ways and guide each of us uniquely in what we shall do. And to open ourselves to the Spirit’s direction, we follow in the ancient converts’ footsteps: After being baptized and receiving the promises of God, “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” When we don’t know what to do in a tough situation, joining with other believers for prayer, learning, nourishment, and fellowship will, in time, reveal our course of action.
Prayer
God, we are in the midst of a desperate time in the United States and elsewhere in the world. Help us to not be overwhelmed, but to be concerned enough to know we must do something. Lead us to ask of you, “What shall we do?” Then help us discern and heed your call. Amen.
(The above devotion is from Frontline E-devotions, a ministry of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Gaithersburg, MD. If you would like to receive daily Frontline E-Devotions, go to www.GoServe.net/FrontlineDevotions.)
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