The first thing the Holy Spirit
started to do was work on overcoming the communication barrier.
Being able to speak another language
would be great—especially if you didn't have to spend
years of hard study. But what would we do with the gift? They
used the gift to tell about God's deeds of power. What
deeds of power? If we go by Peter's speech in the next
part, then they were telling about the resurrection of Jesus
from the dead. The creation, the Red Sea crossing, the Ten Commandments,
the promised land—these were mighty deeds of power. But
they are only a shadow of what God did in the resurrection.
That's
what they were talking about in all those other languages. The
gift of the Holy Spirit is given for many reasons—but on
Pentecost it was first to spread the word about Jesus Christ
to people from all over the world. It tells us some important
things already about the Spirit: the Holy Spirit is about mission—the
Spirit is Christ-centered, concerned to bring people to Jesus,
and following Jesus—and the Spirit is globally-minded,
concerned to bring people together in unity and peace through
Christ.
Think for a moment about the story of the Tower of Babel.
The human race was united in a building project—but it
was not to the glory of God. It was demonstration of arrogance
and pride. So, to put a stop to it, the Lord sent languages to
confuse and scatter. Ever since then, students everywhere have
agreed, foreign languages are a curse. Can you imagine trying
to put a house together with carpenters who each spoke a different
language and couldn't understand the others? One guy says,
"Gimme that hammer" ... and the other says, "Que
es que c'est "Hammer"? It would take forever to accomplish
a single task.
But Pentecost is like one of those TV commercials
where they rewind the tape and everything goes into reverse and
the damage is undone. The people who were scattered by language
are now brought back together through understanding. And notice,
it's not that they all started speaking the same language.
The Spirit enabled disciples to speak in all the various languages.
Very important. God doesn't wipe out diversity: God loves
diversity. But God gives the ability—to those who are willing—to
communicate the news of Jesus Christ across the barriers created
by differences of culture and history and language. As individuals
and as nations, we can't just go stomping around like a
bull in a china shop and imposing our ideas on others—we
have to study and learn from and take the time to care and understand
those other cultures, those other nations. And, those other generations—young
from old, old from young.
We have concerns closer to home. We want to be effective communicators
with the people who speak our own language, with the people in
our own home and community. How much communication actually occurs?
We want to get through to the people we care about—but
sometimes we wonder if we're saying what we intend, or
if they're hearing it the way we want them to. It's
not unusual for young people to feel that the adults in their
lives don't really understand them. Parents also have been
known to have the distinct impression, they're not being
listened to. It's a miracle when we sense we've really
been heard; it's a gift when we can truly hear the other
person. I wonder—are we willing to do the hard work of
learning to speak somebody else's language? It seemed to
come effortlessly that one time long ago. Usually, it takes effort,
concern, willingness to see life from someone else's perspective.
Today some seminaries are training students who can reach out
and understand popular culture, youth culture and media.
So
many of us who live side by side seem to speak a different
language. In a recent article I read that by the time many adults
catch
on to a word or phrase popular among the young, it's already
too late. If we hope to reach out with the love of Christ,
we need at least some comprehension of those we seek to reach.
This
applies to music, movies, trends, Internet and technology.
In the same way, we are called to try to understand people of
other
religions and other nations. The Holy Spirit brings the gift
of understanding.
Look at the reactions the people had that day in Jerusalem.
Some were amazed and perplexed. They wondered, "what does
this mean?" That's interesting: we know they understood
the words—the
Bible tells us they did. But they still asked what does this
mean? They were wondering about the deeper meaning of the miracle.
Who is behind this? What's going on here? This seems like,
looks like, sounds like, a work of God. Can it be? So they were
intrigued, maybe a little anxious, wanting to be on board if
God was doing a new thing.
Then there were others who thought the disciples were filled
with new wine. Which is a nice way of saying sloshed, pickled,
wasted. Think about that. Unschooled laborers were all of a
sudden
speaking foreign languages with perfect fluency, and declaring
the deeds of God. Yeah, no doubt about it: they're drunk.
People who are drunk can't even speak their own language
very well, never mind several others flawlessly. It's funny
how we'll dream up explanations for things we don't
understand or like, and not so funny how those explanations can
actually assault the character of the one we disagree with.
But in another sense, the critics were right. These Jesus-followers
were filled with new wine—the wine of the Spirit. It brought
joy and strength, visions and dreams, fellowship and sharing.
These were all indicators that the Spirit was powerfully present
that day. Then the Spirit applied the word of the Good News about
Jesus and opened the hearts of those listening, so that they
came to faith. Whenever anyone turns to Christ as Lord and Savior,
it's because the Holy Spirit is at work in that person
enabling it to happen.
Now the interesting thing about this Pentecost passage is, it's
grounded in real life. Yes, there was a work of faith in the
hearts of those who came to believe. But pretty quickly, there
was a lifestyle change, too. First, they were baptized—about
three thousand of them. That's their entrance rite into
the new life—repentance, the washing away of sins, the
dying and rising to new life in Christ. Baptism. This is also
a ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is action-oriented.
Then it says, they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching
and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.
They held all things in common and distributed the proceeds
of items sold to those who were needy. They had, in other words,
worship, education, nurture and action. And, evangelistically,
day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being
saved. The Lord did that. As the church functioned in all these
areas, the Spirit drew people to the fellowship and they were
added. They became part of the family of God. So the Pentecost
event gives us a glimpse of what God has in store for the whole
world. Peace, unity, sharing, prayer, fellowship.
Now we have the great sign of unity and love within the body
of Christ: we call it Holy Communion. It's not so different
from the breaking of bread in the early days. It brings us together
around what we call the table of the Lord. And we recognize that
without the Spirit and without faith, there is no communion.
But with the promised Spirit, we can do all things. We can, young
and old together, dream dreams, see visions. Be together in this
new way of caring and purpose. And fulfill the mission. We completely
depend on God for this. So we pray that God will send the Spirit
to bless the bread and wine and our lives in God's service.
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