Acts 2:14-41 ~ a cautionary tale
A modern parable about loosing touch and the call to repent and come back to who we are and what we’re here to do.
Once, there was a man with a vision—a deep compassion for the people in his world and a desire to help them. He poured himself into the work, but soon realized that the task was far greater than he could accomplish alone. So, he decided to form a family business. Through the wealth he built and the family he raised, he hoped to multiply his efforts, creating a legacy that could extend his mission to help the world.
For a time, the family thrived. Yet, as the generations passed, the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren began to lose sight of the original purpose. They became consumed by the wealth they had amassed, distracted by petty jealousies and rivalries, and entangled in pursuits that pulled them further from the mission their forefather had envisioned.
The preaching of Peter to the Jews after the resurrection of Jesus mirrors this moment in the story of the family. It’s as if the descendants were confronted with how far they had drifted from their original purpose. Peter’s call to repentance was like a call to this family: to abandon the distractions, the divisions, and the self-serving pursuits and to return to their true purpose. It was a call to remember why the family business was formed—to use the good they had been given to bring benefit and blessing to the world—and to get back to work fulfilling that vision.
Is this a first-century Jewish problem? I think it is a “people of God” in every generation problem. As followers of Jesus and members of the household of God, we are as susceptible to wandering off mission as the ancient children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Peter’s sermon echoes to each generation of God’s family that we were gathered for a purpose and we do well to stay close to our Father and to the responsibility this family carries.