Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. – Acts 2:2

Today's Scripture Reading (February 27, 2024): Acts 2

William Young, author of "The Shack," recalls a family story. The story predates him; it is the story of his mother, a nursing student in the 1940s. And the story involves the night that a premature baby was born. The baby was just over a pound in weight, and as tough as it is now for a baby who is that premature to live, in the 40s, there was no way that a child like this could live.

On this night, the mother gave birth to a child that no one expected to live. As the Doctor removed the baby (a boy) from the mother, the Doctor quickly handed the child off to a student nurse standing close by with the words, "Dispose of this." An incinerator that was used to eliminate tissue waste was standing close by. The mother would be told that the boy was born, but it was just much too early for the fetus to be viable. And so the fetus is handed off to a student nurse while the Doctor busied himself with mom.

But there was a problem with the baby; it was still alive. One of the last things to develop in a child is the lungs; it is the reason that premature babies have to be kept on ventilators. The lungs don't develop until between the 34^th and the 37^th week. This baby was younger than that. And yet -.

The nurse couldn't bear to throw a living baby into the incinerator, so she sat down with the baby, wrapped it in a towel, and waited for him to die. An hour passed, then two, and then three; the nurse seemed to have been forgotten. Finally, she decided that someone had to be told. She went and found a nurse who contacted the Doctor (by this time, he was resting at home), and the Doctor returned to the hospital and was unhappy. Why couldn't people learn to do what they were told? But now they had a problem. Mother and Father, a pastor and his wife, had already been informed that the baby had died at birth, and there was no doubt that it would die, but the hospital was also now obligated to take care of this young life until he did. The decision was made that they would not tell the parents; they would place the baby into an incubator and wait.

One day passed, then two days, and finally, on the third day of the baby's life, they decided that they needed to tell the parents about their child. He shouldn't be alive, and there was no doubt that he would die in the coming week. If, by some miracle, he survived, he would be developmentally disabled and have a host of other medical problems. But on this day, two parents rejoiced over a son who was alive, even though they thought he had died.

Many years later, the student nurse, now a head nurse, read an obituary. A bishop in the city had died, and he shared the same last name with the pastor whose child she had held for hours years earlier. She found someone who knew the family and started to ask questions. Did they have any children? Just one, a boy. Was the boy okay? Oh yes, he is a weird freak of nature; he graduated from university at fifteen.

He wasn't supposed to live, but he not only lived, he had excelled.

It was the informed opinion that this Christian sect had infected Judea. Those in power had decided that something had to be done. So, they had killed the leader, and now the movement would simply die. It is precisely what a Pharisee and honored teacher named Gamaliel told the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of Israel.

"Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail." (Acts 5:35-38)  

Life was not expected, but it existed anyway. And God was about to move in a way that few understood. In fact, God would move in a way that few really understand today. It is the reason why we get into so much trouble. The Holy Spirit was about to give the church unexpected life and move her in an unanticipated direction. No longer would the religious movement be driven by men of ambition willing to walk over whoever was in their way. It would be a revolution of love.

On this day, as the church was born, nothing was expected. A violent wind from heaven blew through the house. Tongues of fire fell and rested on people. This wasn't normal, and it wasn't expected. Two thousand years later, we are still alive, and that life is still unexpected, yet we keep on going. However, there is some evidence that we need that holy wind to blow once more through our lives and Christ's church.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Acts 3