No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.’   (Acts 2:16-17)

I will never forget when my grandmother told me that I had gone to the wrong drinking fountain.  She pointed to the sign that hung over it:  “Coloreds Only.” I had just learned to read and the message was very confusing.  I was thirsty and here was a water fountain.  What was the problem?  She then pointed to the sign above the drinking fountain where I was supposed to drink: “Whites Only.”

One of my saddest moments in high school involved a friend named Shaw.  I invited him to my neighborhood to play ball, but that day didn’t go well.  He invited me to his neighborhood to do the same, with the same result.  Things were awkward in both neighborhoods because we had different color skin.  After two failed attempts to cross the color lines, the friendship withered.

All the prejudice that exists between the colors, the genders, the races, breaks God’s heart.  God delights when we sing “Jesus loves the little children, all the little children of the world.  Red and yellow, black and white, they are all precious in his sight.” God delights even more when we live the song by our actions.

Today’s reading comes from the Day of Pentecost.  This was the day when the Holy Spirit poured out upon the disciples.  After the tongues of fire danced upon their heads, Peter said that God’s Spirit is now being poured out on “all flesh.”  Not just some flesh, but black, white, brown, red, and yellow flesh.  Woman flesh and man flesh.  Old flesh and new flesh.

It’s painful to acknowledge we’re a long way from living into Peter’s prophecy.  We have undoubtedly made progress from the days of different drinking fountains for different colors, but there’s still so much work to be done.

I encourage us to pray that the fire of the Holy Spirit will burn away all divisions, all inequalities, all prejudice.  May we pray until the Pentecost prophesy is fulfilled for all flesh.

Reflection Questions:

1. Do you need the fire of the Holy Spirit to burn away any divisions, inequalities, and prejudices that you may have? If so, how?

2. Can you remember an early moment in your life when someone put up a boundary between you and another race?  How did you respond then? How do you respond now to such boundaries?

3. God grieves when He sees us indulge in prejudices against others.  God delights when He sees us renounce them.  What is your plan to not grieve but to delight God’s heart?

Click here to watch this video –>  “Here’s My Heart, Lord” by Lauren Daigle