The story of Pentecost is so well-known to many Christians, it is difficult to come up with anything new to focus on within it. For me, today, Peter’s allusion to the words of the prophet Joel at the end of the reading really stand out:
“…everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
That’s all there is to it. With the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost we can be confident that Jesus’ words “I will be with you always, even to the end of the age” have come to fruition. The filling of the disciples, and 3000 new converts with the Holy Spirit on this day is the signing and sealing of our life in God and promised future hope. As this experience happened to them, so, today it continues to happen to those who call on the name of the Lord and are saved. Whatever you are going through today, however you feel, whatever the situation, call on the name of the Lord. You might not be saved from the situation or the circumstance, but you can be sure and confident that God will hear your cry and bring you to salvation. Being saved, here, means being brought to fulness of life, eternally, with God, in to the life and hope that we were made and always meant for. The Christian life is not meant to be easy or devoid of difficulties. In fact it can often be quite the opposite, but if we take the step of faith and trust and call on the name of the Lord, we will find that our greatest fears no longer have any power and instead our deepest longings will be realised.