Acts 2:37-47

“Congratulations, Dad, you have a healthy baby boy!” Now, those were the days when delivering babies was a private activity—an experienced doctor, a couple of assisting nurses, and a waiting room with old hand-me-down magazines for distraction. Oh, and free coffee! They had whisked her away through those double doors and the expectant father simply looked for things to occupy him while he waited.

Four years later—same setting, same room, maybe even same magazines! Whisked away behind the double doors, same attending doctor. And free coffee. Not long after the departure the gowned delivery specialist steps into the compact waiting room and announces, “Congratulation, Dad, you have a beautiful baby girl!”

Travel forward six more years. What a difference a ½ decade can make! “You step in here and put these garments on over your clothes, these covers over your shoes, this mask over your nose and mouth, then scrub your hands like this.” What?! How am I supposed to catch up on all those out-of-date magazines? What about that free coffee? I am actually part of the “delivery team?” Finally, after literally hours of trial and tribulation (probably hard on Linda too, but the suffering of the father can’t be made light of! ☺), they handed me a dark-complexioned and black haired baby girl. This time it was MY job to go to the waiting room and announce, “We have a beautiful and healthy baby girl!” Ah...that’s the EASY part.

After just a few days they pack up all your stuff, take the burrito-wrapped infant and place it securely in the car-seat, congratulate you one more time, and send you home. No owner’s manual, no step-by-step detailed operator’s guide, no professional to stand beside—just proud parents and a totally dependent baby. NOW what?! When do we feed it? How do we hold it? Is it really breakable? Can the brother and sister hold it? Definitely not while standing up but what about if they are safely seated on the sofa? Oh, and what about that horrible odor? Really? We have to change those? What about our rest? Really? We have to answer the midnight call? We have a baby in the house, NOW what?!

“So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand (3000) souls.” Acts 2:41

As Paul reflected back upon the birth of his “spiritual children” in Thessalonica he wrote, “But we were gentle among you, LIKE A NURSING MOTHER taking care of her own children…for you know how, LIKE A FATHER with his children…” 1 Thessalonians 2

What an exciting day it must have been when 3000 brand new baby Christians were delivered in Jerusalem! But then the real work began. “And they DEVOTED themselves…” Acts 2:42 The call of the Church is the spiritual nurturing of baby Christians into fully mature family members. It’s exciting. It’s scary. It’s demanding. It’s costly. It’s exhausting. It’s Church!

“Congratulations, Peter. You have 3000 baby Christians! You might want to grab one last cup of coffee!”

See you Sunday, Church!
Pastor Tom