The Day of Pentecost, June 8, 2003
Acts 2:1-11 or Isaiah 44:1-8; Psalm 104:25-37 or 104:25-32 or Psalm 33:12-15, 18-22; 1 Cor. 12:4-13 or Acts 2:1-11; John 20:19-23 or John 14:8-17.
An American visiting in Egypt recently had the surreal experience of sitting in a room of locals all chattering in Arabic. It was surreal because even though they all knew the visitor was present, they also knew that he did not understand the language (and most of them did not know English) and there was no expectation for him to understand or even participate in the conversation. The visitor became a spectator as words flowed back and forth, laughter erupted, and people gestured as they spoke in what sounded like babble.
One might assume that our word “babble” had its origins in the famous tower of similar name but the dictionary says otherwise. It would certainly fit, however, as God confuses the common language of the human race so that as people try to speak to one another it sounds like babbling. God’s concern was, of course, that the people were conspiring to be God, and so his remedy was to make them unable to communicate with one another.
Pentecost is the reverse of the tower of Babel. What God had done near the beginning of time he undoes in that upper room 50 days after Easter. No more is he worried about our trying to be God. Instead he wants to empower us to be able to spread the word of God around the world.
What a novel idea this must have been to the apostles, who had been steeped in a tradition of exclusivity. God, they had been taught, was the particular possession of one nation, but now with the rush of a mighty wind and the appearance of fire, that notion is turned upside down. Not only are the apostles charged with spreading the word, but also they are miraculously empowered to do the same.
It would be easy to allow this unique experience of the apostles to distract us from the vision that is set forth. We are all charged with going into the world and telling others the story of Jesus, and we need to do so in their own language, that is, in a way in which they can hear and understand it.
In the late ’60s, Clarence Jordon published “The Cotton Patch version of Luke and Acts,” subtitled “Jesus’ doings and happenings.” He tells the story in the vernacular of the South:
“When Thanksgiving Day arrived, they were all gathered in one place. Then all of a sudden there came from the sky a rumbling like a tornado and it filled the whole house where they were gathered. And they saw forked flames as from a fire ... Everybody was bursting with Holy Spirit and started talking in whatever languages the spirit directed.”
This is not free-spirited paraphrase, but an attempt to convey the story in the language of his people. We are not free to be spectators in the conversation in which we are called to participate and tell the story because we’ve been filled with a “rumbling tornado.”
Look It Up
Genesis 11:1-9. How does Pentecost undo what happens at Babel?
Think About It
To whom is God calling me to tell the story of Jesus?
Next Sunday
Trinity Sunday, June 15, 2003
Exodus 3:1-6; Psalm 93 or Canticle 2 or 13; Rom. 8:12-17; John 3:1-16.
