Acts 2: 1-21 In 1951 a linguist by the name of Richard Pitman produced a list he called an “ethnologue”. This simple, mimeographed list identified 46 languages that were known to exist on the planet. The 15th edition of this publication now documents 7,299 languages. Of course they all existed back in 1951 but weren’t known to Mr Pitman, (which is something like Christopher Columbus
discovering America – the native peoples of America knew they were here all along! )
(Apparently, 497 of these languages are considered “endangered” because they have fewer than 50 speakers. Imagine, speaking only one language and having only 49 other people you could talk with! ) Language is a fascinating thing - in its spoken or written forms it is the major way we communicate with one another. Language can also be a massive barrier to communication.
Remember George Jefferson? He was
Archie Bunker’s neighbour on “All in the Family” and then there was a show about him and his wife, living in their “duluxe apartment in the sky”. Next door lived “Bentley”. I believe he worked at the UN as a translator. He was always coming over with fascinating tidbits about words and phrases from foreign languages. Bentley’s job was to translate both the words and the nuances so that the UN delegates could truly understand one another.
Unfortunately, language can be used as
a weapon of war, cultural genocide and domination. When the residential schools were in operation in Canada, part of what made them so destructive was the usual prohibition against the students speaking their own language. The schools thought that they were doing the right thing but what happened was that when the young people lost their language they lost their ability to communicate with their elders and they were distanced from their culture. Some native communities are beginning to
recover their language and the heritage that goes with it.
Resistance to linguistic domination can
be a source of pride in occupied countries and among oppressed peoples.
In Europe it is much more common than in North America for people to speak more than one language and to understand several others.
In today’s passage from the book of Acts we read of a very powerful experience of the Holy Spirit in which the particular
manifestation of the Spirit was the hearing of the message in many languages.
I’ve seen pictures, in Bible story books of Pentecost. Everyone in the room looks like a little candle: each has a little flame coming out of the centre of his or her head. I’ve always thought the pictures looked kind of silly. However, I would contend that this is not really the point of the passage and to emphasize solely the flames and fire is to skew the meaning of the passage for us today. If we are hoping for the Spirit to do
that for us, I am afraid we will be waiting a long time, and be missing out on so much more.
What I think the real miracle of Pentecost was, was the miracle of understanding. The pages of what we usually call the “Old Testament” and a great deal of more recent history are full of stories of tribal and ethnic differences and misunderstandings which result in death and destruction. Early in the book of Genesis the story of the Tower of Babel attempts to
explain why it is that there are many different languages and cultures when
humankind has a common ancestor. Now, at Pentecost, this is reversed. One can talk to another and be understood. The implication is that they can now work together and live together in peace.
I believe it is a miracle of love which has come to us through the Spirit and the love of Jesus, the Christ. French Jesuit priest, paleontologist and philosopher, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's once said
"Some day, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity we shall harness the energies of love. Then,
for the second time, we will have discovered fire."
The question for us at Pentecost is:
“How does the power of the Spirit help us to
harness the energies of love?
I think of a statement made by the professor of preaching, Fred Craddock, “
To be Christian is to cease saying, "Where the Messiah is
there is no misery" and to begin to say "Where there is
misery there is the Messiah." The former statement makes
no demands; the latter is an assignment.”
As people of faith we may look at the
abject poverty of people in a one place or another and we may wonder where God is.
What we are called to do is to be God’s messengers in that situation. We don’t bring God with us when we go, but rather we because that is what the love of God in Christ compels us to do when we become aware of a need. We respond in a way that treats the other with love and respect> We
respond because we can do no other. Excuses that seek to draw divisions between “us” and “them” will simply not hold water.
We are called to reach out to the other as to a brother or sister, for this IS what they
really and truly are.
Someone once said, “Pentecost people don’t ask God to change the world, Pentecost people ask God to change them”. When people have been changed, the world will follow.
We gather together around the
Communion table today and we remember that we are part of a wider fellowship of believers, who have many differences in culture and in language, but we gather as those who break the bread and share the cup. We gather as a people who rejoice in the presence of the Risen Christ. We gather because we feel compelled to celebrate and rejoice together, whether we be with the twos or threes or the dozens or the hundreds.
I feel a profound sadness when I realize that not even all of those who call upon the name of Christ can gather at the same table. We are still divided by labels of Catholic and Protestant and Orthodox and by labels that signify other denominational barriers. I think that this inability to truly “hear” one another speak of the Spirit of love and celebrate that at table is an offence to the Spirit who inhabits us and seeks to enliven us. The ecumenical movement has certainly done great things toward mutual understanding but it is clearly
a work that will never be finished, a journey with only temporary rest stops. We have not arrived. We have more work to do.
The miracle of Pentecost was the Spirit enabled real communication between people who may, or may not, have had their
Judaism in common, but who were divided by language - an obvious obstacle to meaningful communication and real community. This Spirit enabled a level of understanding that was otherwise impossible. It enabled the gospel to take hold and spread.
It seems to me that harnessing the energies of love is about overcoming barriers; its not about making everyone the same and it’s certainly not about making everyone be like us - for you will notice that the crowd did not hear in the language of the disciples, but the people heard in their own language.
We are charged with the task of preaching the Good News and opening ourselves to the Spirit who seeks unity among all of us. Let us celebrate the unity
that we have in the midst of our diversity and let us rejoice in the love of the Christ who makes us one and who now calls us to the feast of love.
Amen.
Sunday of Pentecost - Year c -- 2007
Psalm 104: 24-34, 35b
Romans 8: 14-17
John 14: 8-17, 25-27