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 34th and the 37th 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
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