Christ Episcopal Church
	Riverton, New Jersey
	GETTING INTO THE ACTS June 2007 In clearing out some files recently, I encountered an over 25 year old copy of a magazine called Acts 29. Under this masthead there was printed the phrase ‘We are NOW in the continuing Acts of the Holy Spirit’. The periodical’s name is a bit of a subtle insider’s joke. The New Testament book of Acts of the Apostles has only 28 chapters. I remember thinking when I first saw it that the publishers had made a mistake. “How embarrassing, I said to myself, to trumpet for all this time such a glaring error! Then suddenly, I got it. The Acts of the Apostles is the second volume by Luke the evangelist whose purpose was “to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us”. Volume one is the Gospel according to St. Luke, which covers the period from the birth of Christ Jesus through his Ascension. Acts picks up from there. It covers the work of the church at its very beginning and follows the ministries of the earliest followers of Jesus, most especially Peter and Paul. It is there we read of the first Pentecost, when our Lord sent the promised Holy Spirit to the disciples in the form of wind and fire. These same people who had worshipped in locked rooms out of fear joyfully burst forth into the streets of Jerusalem proclaiming Christ’s resurrection. They preach, heal, feed widows, and bring thousands to believe the Good News. Some are persecuted, arrested, roughed up and even killed. Yet even these difficulties barely slow the church down as it continues to grow and spread forth from Judea to the entire Roman world. Through it all, the third person of the Godhead is so prominent that many commentators have suggested the title of the book should really be ‘the Acts of the Holy Spirit’. What the publishers of Acts 29 were (and are) trying to convey was that the power of the Spirit released that first Pentecost, which so powerfully empowered the church, didn’t peter out at the end of the Book of Acts. It continues to this day. It is the very same message the church gives us as we enter the season after the Day of Pentecost, which this year stretches for 27 weeks -- more than half the year. Since Advent we have recounted Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. The promised Spirit has come. Now it is our turn to make a contribution to salvation history! Luke laid down his pen after Acts chapter 28. He had seen the Good News spread from that upper room in Jerusalem, to Judea, Samaria and the ends of the known world. As the apostles’ descendants in faith we continue that which they began, even during the summer months. Luke’s work was completed, but the church is not yet finished. Preaching and healing still need to be done, widows and the poor are still hungry, and there are billions of people who are desperate to hear Good News. We are Jesus’ disciples, the latest participants in Pentecost, the characters and authors of our own chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. See you in church?! Richard+