Reading the Lectionary with African American Women Interpreters

Sunday, June 8, 2025

Weekly Lectionary Spotlight: Acts 2:16-18 with Amanda Smith

“Oh, how we need the mighty Holy Ghost power that they had at Pentecost! ‘It was while they all were praying, Andbelieving it would come, Came the power… that Jesus promised should come down.’”

– Amanda Smith

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Bio: Born enslaved in Maryland in 1837, Amanda Smith's story transcends borders. She became a pioneering evangelist and missionary affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and active in the Holiness movement. With little formal education, she taught herself to read, experienced conversion and sanctification through Methodist and Holiness influences, and broke barriers by preaching at revivals across the United States, England, India, and Africa. Her autobiography recounts how the Holy Spirit’s power transformed her life, guiding her from poverty and loss to global ministry and leadership in the AME and Methodist circles. Smith built orphanages, challenged segregation, and embodied the Pentecost promise that God’s Spirit is poured on all people, regardless of race or gender. Her legacy is a living invitation to seek the Spirit’s fire and let it kindle courage, unity, and hope in every generation.

Amanda Smith

(1837-1915)

Bible Passage (NRSVue): “16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 17 ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shallprophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. 18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.” (Acts 2:16-18)

Her Interpretation: Amanda Smith’s cry—“Oh, how we need the mighty Holy Ghost power that they had at Pentecost!”—leaps from the pages of her 1893 memoir, An Autobiography: The Story of the Lord’s Dealings with Mrs. Amanda Smith, not as nostalgia but as a roaring invitation. Here, Pentecost is no mere memory of “cloven tongues like as of fire” (Acts 2:3, KJV) but a living current. The same force propelled her to stand unflinching before hostile mobs in India, her voice a flame melting hatred into awe. Imagine the “rushing mighty wind” of Acts 2:2 (KJV) not as chaos but as the Spirit’s breath fanning her defiance against segregation, turning Southern revival tents into altars where racial barriers crumbled like ash. This is the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, waiting to be unleashed in your sermons. For preachers, this is Pentecost stripped of spectacle: the “tongues of fire” now dance in the courage of those systemically sidelined voices, and the “violent wind” now stirs revolutions in silenced hearts. Smith’s life insists the Spirit’s power never fossilizes—it erupts where the overlooked dare to speak, pray, and burn. Let her words kindle your Pentecost sermon: not a lecture on ancient wonders, but a summons to feel that wind at your back, that fire on your tongue, until chains snap and walls fall, and the world hears the gospel not in your eloquence, but in your unthrottled yes.

Dr. Shively’s Reflection: The Pentecost of Acts 2 is alive with wind, fire, and the press of a crowd—chaos on the edge of becoming something holy. Amanda Smith, in her Autobiography, finds in that holy tumult not confusion but a pattern: she, once enslaved, knelt in the thick of prejudice and felt the Spirit’s fire melt hostility into awe, her prayers and songs steady as any apostle’s. When Acts promises, “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,” Smith lives it out—her voice crossing oceans, her testimony lighting up rooms where others saw only barriers. She teaches us to read Peter’s sermon not as distant history but as an invitation: bring your fears, weariness, and longing for justice, and ask the Spirit to make them blaze with purpose. Pentecost, for Smith, is not a day on the calendar but a living force—God’s answer to every closed door, every cold heart, every gathering that dares to hope for more.

Points for Preaching, Teaching, and Prayer

Pentecost as Living Power

Amanda Smith’s witness shatters the notion that Pentecost is locked in the past. The Spirit’s fire she describes is restless and near, ready to break into today’s ordinary moments and transform them with courage and justice. Her story urges us to pray and preach with expectation—trusting that the same power that moved in Jerusalem’s upper room longs to move among us now.
The Spirit Breaks Barriers, Forges Fellowship

Smith’s journey—crossing continents and confronting prejudice—echoes the wild unity of Acts 2. Pentecost, in her life, is a gathering where no one is left outside the circle, where old boundaries dissolve and new kinship forms in the Spirit’s wind. Her example calls us to build communities that welcome every voice, every story, into the heart of God’s new creation.
Prayer as the Furnace of Fire

For Smith, prayer was not a ritual but the very place where the Spirit’s flame caught hold—where despair turned to hope, and fear to boldness. She teaches us to pray with honesty and persistence, believing the Holy Spirit still answers with light and guidance, still kindles ordinary hearts into vessels of holy fire.

The African American Women Lectionary Series (Easter–Pentecost 2025) is wrapping up, but its impact is just beginning. As we celebrate the voices and wisdom that shaped this journey, we invite you to what’s next.

This fall, join us for the Thurman Workshop—a preview of my upcoming book—where Howard Thurman’s legacy meets the vision of African American women and the art of interpretation. Then, experience our Fall 2025 Reading Lectionary Rollout, as dynamic women interpreters bring fresh power to the sacred text. I’d love to hear your insights and experiences—look for the sign-up link to connect soon!

Thank you to the Calvin Institute and to everyone who’s traveled with us. The next chapter is almost here—bold, inspiring, and full of grace. Stay tuned.

Pentecost Questions to Ponder

Where in my own life or community do I need to invite the Spirit’s living fire—to break barriers, ignite courage, or kindle hope—just as Amanda Smith did in her ministry?
How might I, like Amanda Smith, become an answer to Pentecost’s promise by letting the Spirit use my voice and story to bring unity, justice, and new creation wherever I am planted?