Your Daughters Will Prophesy

 

                                  Huibing He (Chinese, 1954–), Days of Pentecost: Coming of the Holy Spirit,

 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Fellow Jews and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.  No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

 ‘In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
    and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
    and your old men shall dream dreams.

Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit,
        and they shall prophesy.

Acts 2: 14-18 NRSVue

Can there be too much Pentecost reflection? This is my third and final blog on the subject of the Christian festival of Pentecost -- for this year. at least. 

I came upon a thoughtful piece by Diana Butler Bass in which she posits that the story of the first Pentecost including the sermon by Peter was an an anti-imperial statement:

It is far more than a miracle, a conversion sermon, and a mass baptism (the baptism occurs at the end of the chapter — not part of today’s reading). It is a political dagger aimed at the Roman Empire, a threat of a new provincial rebellion, an uprising empowered by the risen Jesus, fueled with spiritual fire. The sermon ends (in vv. 34-36, again not in today’s reading) with Peter recalling King David, “The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.

https://dianabutlerbass.substack.com/p/uprising-unleashed-against-the-empire?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true

This is a perspective I hadn't considered before -- it is fresh and provocative. Then it occurred to me that the three pieces to which I've made reference over this weekend have been written by women, a Lutheran, a Pentecostal, and an Episcopalian. Is this not a fulfillment of the Pentecost promise in itself? 

God pours out God's Spirit so that daughters will prophesy and challenge us into new perspectives on being followers of the Risen Christ. Thanks be to God.