We often think that the miracle of Pentecost was that a bunch of Galilean Jews began speaking in strange new languages. Jews from all over the known world, namely that strip of land all around the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean Sea – from Italy and Greece and Palestine and North Africa-- were in town for the harvest festival called Pentecost. And suddenly Jesus' disciples began speaking to them in their own languages.
The miracle of Pentecost is not that the disciples began speaking in new languages. The miracle is that the visitors began hearing in their own languages. The Word, the message of God, was not only being spoken – it was being heard. Maybe that sounds simple. But if you've ever tried to communicate with someone-- your grandchildren, your new neighbors from Mexico, your own spouse-- you know that it's a lot easier to talk than to get yourself understood. Hearing is the miracle.
We get together in worship to listen, and hopefully to hear... and to practice getting heard and being understood. We hear the Word of salvation in Jesus, and practice speaking it. We speak it in our prayer, in our singing, in the touch of greeting. We speak it when we hold our hands out to receive. All of this is practice for speaking the Word on Monday...
You see, the disciples were locked away together indoors. But when the Holy Spirit came upon them it made such a ruckess that a crowd gathered. The disciples went out into the city. They went out beyond themselves in order to let the world know that Messiah had come – the one who sets the world right... had come.
Now talking is not the only way to communicate. Using words is not the only way to get across what's in your head and your heart. The Gospel can be communicated through art: painting, sculpture, carving, weaving, drama, poetry, film. The Gospel can be communicated through music as the Spirit enables composers, hymn-writers, instrumentalists, vocalists, etc. But beyond words and art...
In the 13th century, Elizabeth, princess of Hungary, born rich and married at 14 to a wealthy German nobleman used her power of self-expression (her wealth) to speak the Gospel. In 1225 she gave away all of her money to feed the hungry during a famine. She built two hospitals. And when all her money was gone, she invited the sick and destitute into her husband's home and began spending HIS money to care for the poor – which made him furious, but didn't stop her. Elizabeth's wealth and status as nobility was her language – her means – of communicating the Gospel.
Toyohiko Kagawa of Japan, born 1888, took a Bible class in order to learn English. His family disinherited him when he became a Christian. He lived in the slums helping the poor, but he's best remembered for his efforts to prevent Japan from entering WWII. His efforts for peace amid hostility and peer pressure and nationalistic fever more intense than we can imagine has made him a hero of the faith. He is quite well known outside the US. Against all odds, Kagawa, as the Spirit enabled him, spoke the language of peace and social reform, bringing help and hope to thousands before, during and after the war.
So you may be saying to yourself, What's this got to do with me? Maybe you're not particularly artistic. Maybe you can't carry a tune in a bucket. You're not medieval royalty, nor a heroic peace activist. Maybe the Holy Spirit hasn't enabled you to do any of those things. On the other hand, maybe the Spirit has. None of you were born a princess. Yet here you sit. If you are alive in the late 20th century – early 21st century in North America, you are among the richest 2% of people who have ever lived on this planet. By the world's standards you are rich beyond imagining. Not only are we rich with material things we are rich with freedoms. You live in a nation where you can learn the truth about what's going on in your country and around the world. You can speak the truth as you understand it. You are rich with freedoms and powers. Now what does the Holy Spirit enable YOU to do?
Maybe you're no Michelangelo, but if you can draw a cross or nail two sticks together you can reproduce the Glory of God! Now what does the Holy Spirit enable you to do?
I once served a church where fourth, fifth, sixth grade kids made Valentines for shut-ins. I saw them being made. They were nice. Not a one of them was going to wind up in the Louvre, but each contained a nice message. A week later a woman calls the church in tears. “Thank you for remembering my husband,” she said. “His Valentines Day card was beautiful! It's so nice to know that he's not forgotten, even though it's been years since he could come to church. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” With nothing more than construction paper and markers those kids TOUCHED LIVES! Just by speaking as the Spirit enabled them.
In the United Church of Christ we like to say, “God is still speaking.” Or, using the words of Gracie Allen, “Never put a period where God has put a comma.” What does that mean? It means that we live together with God in an open system. Our faith is an old faith, but it is not exclusively defined by 2000 year old ideas or images or methods, or modes of communication. Preaching is the proof. There has been preaching since the beginning of the church. What is preaching but the interpretation of the ancient scriptures? In other words, asking and answering the question, “What do these scriptures mean to us, here and now?” That's interpretation. The Scriptures, precious as they are, do not – and have never – stood alone apart from interpretation. There is no such thing as a once and for all, literal interpretation of the Bible. That is an oxymoron and an idea that is proved false every time a fundamentalist interprets scripture claiming he is not interpreting it. Which is every time.
The theologian Karl Barth is famous for having said, “The preacher should climb into the pulpit with a Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.” In other words, God is still speaking. It is required of us that translate what we know of Christ from the Scriptures into the world we live in now. We get to decide how we share the Good News of Jesus Christ. We don't have to do it the way someone else did.
So what does the Holy Spirit enable YOU to do? Maybe you're feeling a little frustrated, like you don't know what YOUR contribution, YOUR witness is supposed to be? Here's my advice: Don't try to figure it out. DON'T TRY TO FIGURE IT OUT! Let the Holy Spirit lead you to it. There is a difference between “doing” and “letting.” Half of life is knowing when to “do” and when to “let.” Finding your role in Christ's salvation-story is a “let” rather than a “do.”
We are here to support each other in the work of emptying ourselves so that God's Holy Spirit can fill us. Part of that is to empty ourselves of our natural anxious desire to DO so that God can fill us with the ability to LET. We don't grab the Spirit and force it in. We let the Spirit in. Listen for the wind. Look for the flame. Wait for the Spirit. Then speak... as the Spirit enables YOU.
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