Acts 2: 1-21 June 4, 2022 Pentecost
Now, long ago
after the time of Noah
and his children, the people
had one language and they lived in
one place.
And the people
said to each other,
some bricks.
And then they
said,
“Come, let us
build ourselves a city,
and a tower whose
top is in the heavens;
let us make a name
for ourselves,
lest we be
scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
That is the story that’s
been come to be known as
the tower of
Babel. Although it never mentions a tower.
The people wanted
to band together for
their own glory,
for their own power
and pride and
ambition.
They thought they
could be like God,
if they could just
build an empire big enough to reach the sky.
But God knew that would
not be good news for anyone.
So God made them all
speak different languages,
so they couldn’t
understand one another
and then they
couldn’t build the city to reach the sky.
And the unfinished
city was called Babel which means confusion.
And the people
were scattered and separated
from one another.
Now this scattering has been seen as a curse:
God’s punishment for
the human penchant
towards despotism
and oppression.
It has also been
seen as a cure:
The separation of
languages
has prevented one
power from taking over.
And it has been
seen as a blessing:
diverse languages
and cultures make
the world a more interesting
place to be.
The richness and
diversity of humanity is a gift from God.
But even with its
beauty,
language has been a barrier between us humanity
and differences
have lead to suspicion,
misunderstandings,
and even hostility between nations.
Near the end of World
War II, July 26, 1945
America, the UK,
and China sent an ultimatum to Japan:
“Surrender or face
utter destruction”.
It became known as
the Potsdam Declaration.
The Japanese Prime
Minister quickly responded, in Japanese:
“I have nothing to
say at the moment.”
Since he was still
consulting with his leaders.
But it was
translated by international news agencies as:
“This is not
worthy of comment”
And on August 6th,
the US dropped two atomic bombs
on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki killing over 200,000 people.
I’m sure there are
other examples, known or unknown.
We are divided
personally from others too:
The truth is I
cannot understand
Swahili, or Spanish just because I want to
even though I have
people I know who only speak those languages.
Hand motions and
smiles and translations work to some
extent, but it’s
not the same as having full nuanced conversations.
But the effort to erase
different languages
Has been a way to abuse people and cultures,
to subjugate, to
scold and control others.
In the early years of
our country,
Native Americans
were forbidden
from speaking
their own languages,
or to teach them
to their children.
This had
devastating effects on their culture.
During the world wars,
Germans in the US
were forced to
hide their own language,
lest they be seen
as the “enemy”.
And today, although on
one hand we claim
to be a proud to
be a melting pot,
there is sometimes
suspicion and even hostility
towards those who
speak different languages .
We often purposely
don’t approach people who we know
can’t speak our
language.
And we assume that
people who can’t speak
the predominant
language are not smart or are lazy.
Many people are not
comfortable with the rich tapestry
of diversity that
God has created in this world.
Like that city of Babel,
we want to build
our own empires to the sky
and to do that, we
try to enforce uniformity,
and sameness, and
we attempt to build towers
to the sky made of
our own pride and prejudices.
But whether some people
like it or not,
We live in a
multi-cultural world that God has provided.
And one day in the
morning, we can be
in a place where
everyone speaks English
we can hop on a
plane or drive in a car
and be somewhere where
everyone speaks French,
or Mandarin, or
Hindi, or Arabic,
or any number of
languages and dialects.
And there are a
slew of cultures that go with each one
of those languages
and frankly that symphony is beautiful.
But
when the day of Pentecost had come,
they were all together in one place.
And suddenly from heaven there came a sound
like the rush of a violent wind,
and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them,
and a tongue rested on each of them.
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in other languages,
as the Spirit gave them ability.
God
is doing a new thing in this era.
Some
have said that Pentecost is an undoing of Babel,
but notice this, everyone didn’t speak the same language,
they didn’t all just start speaking English or Esperanto
or some majority language that was convenient
for the dominant culture.
It says that they were filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak and be understood in other languages.
No one lost their identity,
they weren’t a homogenous group.
They were all there: Parthians, Medes, Elamites,
and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,
Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Romans, Cretans, and Arabs
all of
them were still who they were, who God created them to be.
But
their differences were no longer a barrier.
Their differences did not divide them.
Pentecost is the sign that diversity is not division.
Pentecost is the sign that unity of humanity is possible.
Pentecost is the unity of the Spirit of all people found in Jesus.
Language and culture doesn’t need to dominate or divide.
We are one in the Spirit of God.
That is God’s vision for us.
We
are scattered over this world
to proclaim God’s peace, understanding and love
Instead of making a name for ourselves,
we build a servant community, to build up one another.
Instead of building a city as a homage
our own ambition and pride, we build a city of God.
And
as we do that,
we see that God is breaking down all
sorts of barriers.
God is breaking down the barriers of language, culture,
race, gender identities, sexual identities,
physical and mental abilities, age, economic status,
and all other barriers that we have created between
people.
Often God has to break things down
before God can create new things.
barriers to create the Kingdom of God on earth.
After working on it for more than 2000 years,
We’re obviously on the long term plan.
We are always going back and forth between our will
and God’s will, but our faith tells us that
God’s vision will be done.
Pentecost
is the birthday of the church.
The day that God put the vision of a new
kind of world into the hearts of believers,
and the day that God sent the Holy Spirit to help us do it.
So
can we, the baptized people of God
help God make this vision a
reality?
Can we do our part to welcome?
To break down barriers?
To love and accept all people just as they are?
Can we work to include all kinds of people and voices
in our worship and service to God?
We
might have a long way to go,
and the way may be difficult and complicated,
but once we start working on God’s vision,
the Holy Spirit will help us in ways we never knew were possible.
God
is doing a new thing today.
Jesus is opening our hearts and minds.
The Spirit is removing barriers.
God is giving us new challenges.
God is pouring out God’s Spirit on all flesh.
And with Christ’s love and grace,
we will all be saved.
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