Pentecost

Acts 2

            In Acts 2, the early church is empowered to engage the mission of God through the gift of the Holy Spirit. There are a lot of things we could talk about, but let’s just highlight the gift of different languages, miraculously given. That day, people from all over the world were gathered in Jerusalem, and the earliest believers could tell them all about Jesus. In the second half of the book, they were sent to the ends of the earth. Again, the message is clear: the Gospel is for all people.

            The end of Peter’s sermon is of particular significance for Lutherans. Peter calls the crowd to repent (a plural verb; you, as a group, repent). It seems that Peter’s call for repentance isn’t exactly what we usually think of as repentance, which is personal sorrow over and turning away from sin. The plural seems to indicate that Peter is calling collective Israel to turn and follow the One who is really their Messiah. On the other hand, the call to be baptized is singular. The point is that opponents of infant baptism will often appeal to this passage as a way of saying that some kind of prior, self-conscious repentance is necessary before someone can be baptized. But the shift from plural to singular undermines that position. Further, the promise in verse 39, that the promise is for them and for their children, is the closest we come to an outright command to baptize babies. Certainly it tells us that babies are meant to be included in God’s saving works.