By: Rev. Gerry Weesner, Maples United Methodist Church
“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?” Acts 2:4-8 (NIV).
Differences in language can frustrate and confuse people and lead to conflict, a reality that the Bible speaks about in the story of the Tower of Babel. The story of Pentecost reverses this confusion of tongues, as the Holy Spirit enables the apostles to speak in languages that members of the crowd could understand. This is a sign of the creation of true community centered in Jesus Christ. Because the gospel can be proclaimed in all languages, this community can be sustained and can grow.
People are separated by language. Differences and disputes about language go a long way back in history. The Greeks divided everyone into people who spoke Greek and people who didn’t. Those who didn’t were the “barbarians” whose talk sounded weird to the Greeks. We turn that around; when we say “It’s Greek to me,” we mean that we don’t understand it
Christ crucified, and risen, is the center of this whole story of the brokenness of humanity and of God breaking down the barriers between people and uniting them. The first sign that the world sees of this reconciliation and unification comes on Pentecost. In the events that we read about in the scripture, different languages become not a source of conflict but various ways to speak about “God’s deeds of power.”
That first Pentecost was the beginning of restoration of true human community. It was when the Spirit of the risen Christ began moving among us to break down the barriers that divide peoples of different languages, races, genders and economic conditions from one another.
The Holy Spirit continues to equip members of the Christian community to do God’s work in the world. One of the most essential gifts that we are given is the ability to communicate among members of the church and with the rest of the world. The story of Pentecost reminds us that Jesus Christ, the Word of God, can be proclaimed in every human tongue.
