George Bernard Shaw once remarked that England and America are "two nations divided by a common language." His point was, I think, that just because we speak the same language, we don't always understand one another.
The same could be said of groups within the United States, or even with our own church and local communities. We can understand most of the words we say to one another, but that doesn't mean we always are able to successfully communicate.
The reality is that we all speak our own languages. Yes, we usually understand one another's words. But our words don't always tell the whole story. In fact, our words often conceal more than they reveal.
Think about it. When someone offers me a drink, or a meal, or some assistance, I usually reply, "No thank you." Then the other person replies, "Are you sure?" What does this exchange mean? Does the other person think I am being polite rather than sincere? Am I? Like I said, our words don't always reveal the truth.
On Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate a breathtaking moment of communication. With people of "every nation under heaven" in Jerusalem, followers of Jesus are filled with the Holy Spirit. The wind roars. Flames soar across the room. The disciples speak. And everyone understands them. People don't suddenly understand Hebrew or Aramaic or Latin, but "each one heard them in their own language."
We all speak our own language and it can cut us off from God and from one another. We may read our own biases into what we read and hear at church. If we pray like we speak, we may fail to connect with God in a way that gives us the reassurance and peace that we seek.
The good news is that God wants us to experience the Gospel in our own language. Not only are we invited to hear God's word in a way that we understand, God wants us to feel and see the liberating Spirit of love and grace that was unleashed. This is what we see this Pentecost Sunday. The wind and warmth of the Spirit surround and envelope the followers of Jesus and empower them to speak and be understood without any barriers of culture or language.
We need not be separated by our own languages. If God can speak to people of "every nation under heaven" through the disciples, God can speak to us and through us. Pentecost tells us that the Spirit of God can and will move us beyond our prejudices and preconceptions as we, like Jesus' first followers, try and understand how to be faithful in a world without a physical Christ.
Can we repeat the Pentecost experience in our own communities? I don't know. I do know, as I reflect on this passage, that I can certainly try harder to understand what other people are trying to express to me, and what God is trying to tell me. Rather than assume I understand others' words, or that I correctly interpret the experiences and circumstances in my life as God's will, I would do better to ask for clarification in both cases.
God wants us to understand. God wants us to be understood. This is part of the reality that Easter makes possible. Bill Peatman writes from Napa. He may be reached at bptidings@yahoo.com. |