Acts 2:1-21
1When the day of Pentecost had come, [the apostles] were all together in one place. 2And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living
in Jerusalem. 6And at this sound the crowd gathered and was
bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of
each. 7Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are
speaking Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our
own native language? 9Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of
Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and
Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from
Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11Cretans and Arabs—in our own
languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” 12All
were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13But
others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”
14But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and
addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known
to you, and listen to what I say. 15Indeed, these are not drunk, as
you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16No, this
is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17‘In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
18Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
19And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
21Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be
saved.’ ”
(This reflection, from Pastor Jira's archives, was written by Pastor Jira, but preached on his behalf while on vacation. Thus, the use of the third person.)
One of Pastor Jira’s 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 Pastor Jira and my brothers were sent out by his parents 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 waiting bus, the 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.
That kid’s linguistic abilities reminds me of the gifts the Holy Spirit brought 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.
The Bible tells us, “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 [the apostles]” (Acts 2:2-3).
The sudden appearance of flaming tongues appearing all around was not God’s amazing surprise to the people though. The gift from God that amazed the people did not have to do with what they saw; rather, it had to do with what they heard.
The Bible continues, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts 2:4).
Just as that little beggar boy could talk to the seminary professor in multiple languages; those standing in the crowd were “amazed and astonished” to hear these native Jews with the flaming tongues speaking, not in Hebrew, but in the native languages of their own countries. The crowds asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?” (Acts 2:7-8).
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!
This made Pastor Jira remember a foreign exchange student that he became friends with in High School. She was from Colombia. Today, she is a highly paid official at the World Bank, negotiating loans between nations for the building up of global economies. This girl was 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 the students could understand. Her English was not yet perfected while in High School and her limited English vocabulary hid her intelligence. But, her face lit up with a huge smile when the Spanish teacher sought her out and struck up a conversation. Having someone who can speak your language can be life changing.
There are 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 the sin of their addiction and builds a new future from the broken pieces of their lives.
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. But, not just any church, nor any person, would be able to take on such a ministry. Only those who know the language of addiction, only those who have been through the struggle, through the single steps forward and the multiple steps back, only those who have finally been brought by Jesus to the other side of the addiction are able to speak to people in ways that give new life from God.
Like the apostle who had been given the gift of the language spoken by the Medes, for the Medes, or the apostle who was given the language spoken by the Mesopotamians, for the Mesopotamians during Pentecost, the Holy Spirit still gifts particular people of faith with the language of addiction and recovery. Having this gift of language from the Holy Spirit transforms a recovery minister’s embarrassing past of addiction into their greatest gift for the kingdom of God. The same thing is true for you as well.
Maybe you do not speak the language of addiction, 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.
Pastor Jira knows of someone who had been trained as a theatrical actor who then went to seminary in order to learn more about God. And, after her pastoral training, she went back to the world of acting and took a job managing props at a movie studio.
Why did someone from the theatre world take the time and spend the money to go to seminary, just to return to the world of acting? Because, the language used in the world of acting is the language gifted to her by the Holy Spirit . 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. Where many look at those in the acting world and only see weird people with weird ways, she sees people who God created and who God yearns to redeem. The Spirit has chosen and equipped her to be a gift to those people. She proclaims to those people in the dark corners of the sound 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 peculiar people. They are her people, after-all.
And, just to be clear, you do not have to be seminary trained to do this stuff. The important part of the story 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 language such as Spanish and can connect in the name of Christ with Haitian or Guatemalan family who has been granted protection in our country. Someone who actually knows Spanish could be a gift from God, walking alongside them and sharing Christ’s love with them!
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 Pastor Jira’s knowledge about the quilting world, so barring a flaming tongue of the quilting language falling from the sky, he will not be 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. Pastor Jira does not speak any of those languages! He certainly does 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 our 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 apostles 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 a gift who knows how to share the language of God in a meaningful way.
No comments:
Post a Comment