One of my favorite memories as a child was playing hide and seek with all the neighborhood kids.
One person was
designated to be “it.” It was their job to search for the other players who
were hiding, and if found, “tagging” them which would prevent them from reaching
“home base” where it was “safe.”
When the
person seeking had exhausted all efforts in finding the last few unfound hiders,
they would call out, “ALL-E, ALL-E IN COME FREE.” This signaled those who were hiding nearby
and those who were hiding far away that it was safe to come out.
They were all invited to come home “free.”
Today’s
scripture brought this memory back to me in living color. In the beginning of Acts chapter 2, the Holy
Spirit had descended on the disciples in the form of tongues of fire. This caused the witnesses, many God-fearing Jews,
to feel uncomfortable, questioning what this was all about. Some belittled
the disciples saying they were drunk.
Peter
boldly addresses the crowd. He tells them that Jesus had been handed over to
wicked men and put to death. But death
could not hold Him, and that He indeed WAS the Messiah.
He pointedly
tells them, “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this
Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
With
this, many of the witnessing Jews were cut to the heart and asked, “What shall
we do?”
Peter replies these words from Acts 2.
He called out to all those
who were full of pride, thinking they were nearer to God than others due to
their lineage. He called out to all those who were far
off, those who were outsiders, or feeling overwhelmed by guilt, shame and
regret.
Peter
invited them, all of them, to come home to the forgiving, waiting arms of the One
they had crucified.
“ALL-E, ALL-E
IN COME FREE!!”
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