Some, however, made fun of them and said, 'They have had too much win.' (Acts 2:13)
The Holy Spirit fuelled disciples were the subject of both wonder and mirth. Their very public and demonstrative worship of God provoked a response. Their display of passionate, strange worship grabbed people's attention. Like the Pentecost disciples, King David found himself ridiculed by others for this public worship of God. His wife, Michal, rebuked him for 'dishonoring' his name and her reputation by 'losing it' in front of thousands. David replied, 'I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. (2 Samuel 6:22)
How humiliated am I prepared to be to be a public witness to God's love and grace? This is a sobering question, as I know my capacity to play to the crowd; to seek their approval. But in the end I have an audience of only One that matters. My life's 'performance' is for his pleasure and honor only.
And how prepared are we as a church to publicly witness for God? Out corporate worship is predominantly behind the walls of our church buildings. By and large, most contemporary Australians are ignorant of our life because we keep to a very private liturgy. But Jesus calls us to take it to the streets - because it is in the public places that the lost sheep he loves need to hear his voice.
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