Pentecost is when the church celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit. The focus is often on the powerful appearance that the Holy Spirit makes. Tongues of fire stretching out and touching all those who were gathered in Jerusalem that day. To be sure, something powerful happened to bring everyone together. Something powerful, allowed all those assembled to understand one another. That power, is God’s Holy Spirit.
What we don’t often reflect on during Pentecost is what everyone heard when the barrier of language was taken down.
Text: Acts 2: 1-21
United in the Spirit
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“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” George Bernard Shaw
Humanities inability to communicate effectively is the single largest contributor to the divisions we face in life. Whether it is our personal relationships, companies dealing with customers, politicians negotiating treaties with other countries. Everything hinges on our ability to effectively communicate our ideas and create a shared vision of our future.
Where things tend to break down is the misunderstandings of that shared future and how to communicate those ideas. Add in different languages and customs and the ability to communicate becomes even more difficult.
Years ago, I was travelling in Europe with my friend Curtis. We were travelling through France, the Netherlands and Luxemburg. All throughout the trip we were relying on Curtis’ rudimentary French or the hope that people might know some English. The reality was that it was a mix of the two.
I can remember one night in Luxemburg we had gone out for dinner. Our waitress greeted us in what I will guess was German. When we responded we didn’t understand, she switched to what I will guess was Dutch. When we still responded that we didn’t understand she switched to French. Curtis did his best and that’s when she greeted us in English. Looking back, she was probably toying with us, but we left a good tip anyway. We were fortunate that she spoke very fluent English.
Perhaps you have been travelling in a country where English was not the primary language. Perhaps it wasn’t spoken at all. You may have noticed that when you travel to a country where your own language isn’t spoken you tend to do some funny things. First you start speaking louder, as if that will magically make you better understood. What it tends to do is make you seem a little obnoxious. Secondly, you start speaking slower so the person will understand what you are saying. That also makes you seem obnoxious and doesn’t help the situation.
These days we can probably pull out our phones, load a translation app and make out alright. Language and our ability to communicate is a funny thing. We have enough problems communicating in the same language as we do in other languages. I can always recall my Homiletics professor telling us that words are meaningless. Which seems odd as every word has a definition.
But consider the word apple. You have all now thought of a fruit. Most of your apples are red, but maybe some of you have a green apple. But if I say the word again ‘apple’ I am telling you something about the apple. If I say it again ‘apple’ I am telling you something else. If I say ‘apple’ and point at your phone I am asking you a question. One word can carry a range of meaning based on its context.
It is no wonder that communication and out inability to communicate effectively has divided us. Which makes our passage in Acts so profound. We ourselves know how difficult it is to communicate and bring people together, to unify people as we see in Acts something dramatic must have happened. Something that affected all those gathered that day.
While language appears to be the central source of division in our passage it is not the only thing that can divide us. We are told that the Jews were speaking all different languages, which means they had returned to Jerusalem from a variety of locals. While they all identified as being Jewish, namely they shared a religion, many other things would have divided them: Language, custom, clothing.
The truth is there is more that divides us than there is which unites us. Politics divides us. Does your neighbour have the same colour sign on their lawn as you? I don’t need to know the answer, but politics divide us.
We’ve already spoken about how language can divide us.
Religion divides us. Canada is a pluralistic society. There are many people, of many different faith traditions. While we might argue that there are some common elements in religion, they are different religions and we are divided on those lines. Wars are still fought on the lines of religion.
Even within one religion there are divisions. Look at our own faith, the Christian church is not one church. Otherwise all the Christians in Cobourg would be here this morning. Instead there are eleven churches in Cobourg. The United church, Anglican, Roman Catholic, Calvary Baptist, Fellowship Baptist, Alliance, Pentecostals, Salvation Army, Christian Reform, Luthern and us the Presbyterians. There is also the Sister’s of St. Joseph. That’s a lot of diversity and division within the church. Because while we might agree on some core doctrine, we start to disagree on other issues and practices.
There are divisions within our own denomination and likely within this congregation. The denomination is split on the question of full inclusion for LGBTQI individuals. Many fear the debate and its outcome will tear the denomination apart. There are likely a variety of opinions on the issue within this congregation.
There is quite likely more that divides us than which unites us. But what is it which unites us?
It is nothing more than the love of God, made known to us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and sustained in our memory by God’s Holy Spirit. That day in Jerusalem everyone was confused, how is it that we can understand one another?
Peter stepped forward, you are not drunk he said. This is God’s Spirit at work as it was promised. And then Peter told the people about Jesus, about the promises of God.
Often with this passage we focus on how Peter seized the moment. On how the Spirit descended like tongues of fire and then everyone could speak as the Spirit enabled. What we don’t tend to focus on is what the crowd heard. We forget to listen. You, me we hear lots of things. We don’t always listen.
What this passage reminds me to do is to listen to the voices. Communication is made much easier when you do more than just hear, but actually listen to what is being said and attempt to understand the need which is being shared.
There are many gifts of the Spirit. However, I believe the most profound gift is the ability to hear and listen. Only then can we begin to understand. Only then can we begin to work together and share God’s plan of reconciliation with all people.
More may divide us that unites us. Yet, we are united in Christ through the Holy Spirit. Amen.