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Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.’” Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning!”
Acts 2:13-15 (NIV)  One hundred and twenty men, gathered together at Pentecost, men who know and follow Jesus, are filled with the Holy Spirit and begin suddenly to speak in dozens of different languages. Many are amazed, but there are those in the crowd who aren’t “God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5) and seem to think the speakers are more than a little squiffy.
We’re not blotto. Ridiculous! Preposterous! And yet, as a true and committed Christian who happens to enjoy a cold one now and then, I’m struck by Peter’s answer. “Give heed to my words! These men are not blotto! I mean seriously, it’s nine in the morning!” - (Acts 2:15, Nilsson paraphrase) Not exactly what I expected. I expected indignation, a statement more along the lines of: “Give heed to my words! We are followers of Christ Jesus, and do not partake of such wickedness!” This is Peter, not some new convert who’s aching to slip out for a tipple when nobody’s looking. This is Saint Peter the Rock, hero to all who call themselves Christian and the foundation of our very church! Only human We tend to elevate our heroes (and villains) far beyond who they really are. Through the work of crack publicists and expert Photoshoppery, we’re fed our aspirations in two dimensions; the flavour of the month, the artist of the century, the A-List. Drama sells. The rise sells, and so does the fall. All that in-between human stuff just clouds the picture. How fortunate that the Bible gives us its heroes in three dimensions, complete and unfiltered. It acclaims the flawed human, because flawed is the only flavour humans come in. We need to read the Book and trust the Book, because the second we look up from it and into the world we see its heroes painted, sculpted, praised and glorified until they’ve lost their humanity. They become so much better than us that we lose hope in ever becoming as desirable in the eyes of God. A word, if I may? Saint Peter the Rock. He didn’t stand up and say he was better. He stood up as a brother to everybody in that crowd and spoke as one human being to another. Whether Peter was looking to have a sip or two later is irrelevant. His statement showed humanity, that he was a man like any other, and he followed that statement with the truth of Scripture, offering the gift of Jesus to his equals, to his brothers and sisters. Three thousand souls came to Christ that day.
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