One of my theology professors had just landed in Mumbai, India and was exiting the airport when he was confronted by a little boy holding out his hand. This is typical in India. Poorer families will send out their children to beg in tourist areas around the city in the same way that I and my brothers were sent out to mow people’s yards during the summer. It keeps kids out of trouble and to brings in a little money for the family.
Assuming the professor was American, which he was, the little boy asked for some money in perfect American English. Trying to get past the annoying kid and onto his bus, my theology professor answered back in perfect German, “I don’t speak English.”
Amazingly, the kid replied, “That’s OK, I can speak German too,” with a perfect German accent. The kid got the money.
Persistence.
The persistence of the kid and his linguistic abilities reminds me of the persistence of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. People from at least 15 nations had gathered in Jerusalem for the harvest festival of Pentecost, bringing gifts of the first fruits of their labor to sacrifice to God at the temple. Little did they know that God had a gift waiting for them.
Suddenly, a great wind blew over the place. Little flaming tongues of fire blew in with the harsh breeze and they fell upon some of the native Jews standing in the crowd.
This was not the surprise though; this was not the amazing part of the gift from God.
Just as that little beggar boy could talk to my seminary professor in multiple languages; those standing in the crowd were shocked to hear these native Jews with the flaming tongues speaking not in Hebrew, but in the native languages of their own countries.
The visitors were in a foreign country to celebrate, but it was as if they were at home. And, as anyone who has traveled to a foreign nation and tried to urgently ask for the directions to the bathroom can tell you, there is nothing better than to have someone who can speak your own language!
I think of a foreign exchange student that I became friends with in High School. She was from Colombia, and she is now a high paid official at the World Bank, negotiating loans between nations for the building up of global economies. This girl was (and is) no idiot. But, while in school, she was sort of treated like one.
Though she was a genius, she could not convey it in a way that we could understand. Her English was not yet perfected while in High School and her limited English vocabulary hid her intelligence. But, you should have seen her face light up when the Spanish teacher sought her out and struck up a conversation. Having someone who can speak your language can be life changing.
I know of two flourishing and growing churches right here in Pennsylvania that specifically minister to the drug and alcohol recovery communities. In these recovery churches, people who have struggled to find new life beyond the drugs and alcohol have found the new life that Jesus Christ can create which forgives sin and builds a new future.
As you already know, there is a huge need throughout our entire nation to have people who can speak the language of recovery and new life after substance abuse. This problem has only grown throughout this pandemic, but I do have to point out that not just any church or any person can take on such a ministry. Only those who know the language of addiction, only those who have been through the struggle and have been brought by Jesus to the other side are able to speak to people in ways that give new life from God.
Like the disciple who had been given the gift of the language spoken by the Medes, for the Medes, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has gifted these people of faith with the language of addiction and recovery. Having this gift of language turns the worst part of these minister’s lives into their greatest gift for the kingdom of God.
So, maybe you do not speak that language, but I assure you that you too have been given the gift of a language from the Holy Spirit. You too are a gift to someone waiting for the healing and wholeness that comes through knowing Jesus Christ.
I know of someone who had been trained as a theatrical actor who later went to seminary in order to learn more about God. And, after her pastoral training, she took a job (not in acting, because those are difficult to come by), but in managing props at a movie studio.
Why did someone from the theatre take the time and spend the money to go to seminary, just to return to the theatrical/movie world? Because, acting and theatre is her language. She understands the terminology. She knows which direction you would need to step if asked to go “up stage left.”
But, beyond terminology, she understands the unique culture and language of those in the creative performing arts. And, the Spirit has led her to be a gift to those people. She proclaims to those people in the dark corners of the stage as they try to clear their minds and enter into the minds of their characters. She can speak in a very particular way the good news of the grace of Jesus Christ to these very particular and peculiar people. But, they are her people.
And, just to be clear, you do not have to be seminary trained to do this stuff. Seminary trained people are just the people I have hung around with who do not care if I share their stories. The important part of these stories is not the seminary training, but rather the gift of a particular language that the Holy Spirit provides.
Perhaps, you have been given the gift of knowing an actual second or third language such as Spanish or even Ukrainian and can connect in the name of Christ with those who are new to our country.
“Tengo queso en mis pantalones.” That means, “I have cheese in my pants.” As you can see I remember only the most useless phrases in Spanish after two years of and straight Cs in Spanish class in High School. But, someone who actually knows Spanish could be a gift from God, walking alongside people and sharing Christ’s love with those people!
Perhaps, your language is quilting and you can share the good news of Christ Jesus through the block patterns that you put together. “Block patterns,” that is the extent of my knowledge about the quilting world, so barring a flaming tongue of the quilting language falling from the sky right now, I am not the choice to deliver the good news in that world. But, you may be!
Maybe your language is dairy farming; or auto mechanics; or hunting, or motorcycle culture; or pop music enthusiast; or old guys talking at the diner for breakfast. I do not speak any of those languages! I certainly do not speak the language of old ladies at the hair solon, but you might! And, if you have been given the gift of that language by the Holy Spirit, then you are sent from this church as a gift to those people.
You are the one who knows the language you have been gifted. You are the one who can speak of God’s grace, and God’s love for the sinner, and God’s care for the world to those particular people. You are the one who has been given as a gift of the Holy Spirit to those people.
Notice, that in the Pentecost story, it is not the divided tongues of fire that are the gift of the Holy Spirit, but rather the disciples themselves (who have been given those tongues and languages) who are the gift to the people at the Pentecost festival. God provides those followers of Jesus as a gift to those at the festival that they may understand and hear the good news of Jesus Christ.
You too are a gift to someone who needs to hear about the grace of God. You too are a gift to someone who needs their life to become new. You too are a gift from Jesus to someone else who needs salvation. You too are the one who knows how to share the language of God.
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