“GETTING CLOSER TO A LOSER”
ACTS 2:1-21
2:1 When the day of Pentecost had
come, they were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly from heaven there came
a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared
among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.
4 All of them were filled with the
Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5 Now there were devout Jews from
every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.
6 And at this sound the crowd gathered
and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.
7 Amazed and astonished, they asked,
"Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
8 And how is it that we hear, each
of us, in our own native language?
9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and
residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
10 Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the parts of Libya
belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome,
both Jews and proselytes,
11 Cretans and Arabs--in our own languages
we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power."
12 All were amazed and perplexed,
saying to one another, "What does this mean?"
13 But others sneered and said, "They
are filled with new wine."
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven,
raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem,
let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.
15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as
you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning.
16 No, this is what was spoken through
the prophet Joel:
17 '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.
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and
women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
Nobody wants to be labeled
a loser. That’s why a father began to worry as his son. The father was an old school Southern Baptist preacher. The
son, who was about to graduate from high school, still didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. So, one day the father decided to conduct an experiment. He
went into his son’s room and placed four objects on his desk. The
objects included a Bible, a silver dollar, a bottle of whiskey and a racy magazine with lots of pictures of scantily clad
women in it. “Now,” the father said, “I’ll just hide
behind this door and when he comes home from school I’ll see which object he picks up.
If it’s the Bible I’ll know he’s going to be a preacher just like me.
And oh what a joy that would be! If he picks up the silver dollar I’ll
know he’s going to be a businessman and I guess that would be okay too. But
if he picks up the bottle of whiskey then I’ll know he’s going to be a drinker and a drunkard. And worst of all, if he picks up that magazine, I’ll know he’s going to be a shirt-chasing
loser!” Well, it wasn’t very long before the son came home from school
and walked into the room. After he tossed his books onto the bed he noticed the objects on the desk. The father watched with great interest as the son walked over to the desk and looked closely at each of
the objects. Finally, he picked the Bible up and put it under his arm. Then he picked up the silver dollar and put it in his pocket. After that he pulled the cork off the bottle
and took a big swig of whiskey as he admired the centerfold in the magazine. “Lord
have mercy,” the father gasped. “He’s gonna be a Congressman!”
