Pentecost.C.25
Acts 2:1-21
Melanie L. McCarley
Today we find ourselves, this day, as participants in the Pentecost story. Recall from our reading from the Book of Acts that the disciples are all gathered together in one place. And suddenly, there comes from heaven, the sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it fills the entire house where they are sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appear among them, and a tongue rests on each of them—and they begin to speak in other languages—and behold, people understand them. The story continues: Amazed and astonished, the crowd, hearing them asked: “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretens and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”
I love this reading. And, I confess, I’m a bit envious as well. For, you see, I do not consider myself particularly skilled at the practice of other languages. However, I believe these words to be true; and I have my own Pentecost story of the Holy Spirit to share with you this morning.
Several years ago—when our daughter, Hannah, was in tenth grade, I was offered the opportunity to join a mission group from the Diocese of West Virginia and travel to Bogota, Colombia. The country had recently opened up the possibility for Americans to travel there and we did so in order to meet with the Episcopal Diocese of Colombia. I decided to take Hannah with me, and we joined the group. Hannah, I reasoned, was taking Spanish in school (I had some French, but in no way could be considered proficient). Upon arriving in South America, we discovered a few things. First, we would be staying with a family who were members of the cathedral in Bogota. They spoke no English. What we had was an English/Spanish dictionary. Second, women clergy had never been seen in Bogota—and the Bishop, knowing I was on this trip, decided they should meet me and have me celebrate Eucharist at the cathedral—something I didn’t learn until we were at the Cathedral and the service was about to begin. Hurriedly I was thrown into vestments and handed the Book of Common Prayer. Hannah gave me a few pointers. “Mom, the l’s are pronounced “y”. Did I mention I knew no Spanish.
I was awful. There’s no getting around it. I stumbled through the liturgy like an ox in a china shop. I’m sure people were cringing at every other word. People looked perplexed at times…in pain at others. But here’s the thing. All of us knew everything that was going on. We had the liturgy—despite my mispronunciations, all of us stood for the Peace, we all said the Lord’s Prayer at the right time, and we all received the sacrament in the Holy Eucharist. Somehow, despite my incompetence, we all knew what was happening.
By the end of the trip (where I was expected to celebrate Eucharist at each stop), Hannah was able to say: “Mom, I only shuddered a few times during that service.” Here’s the thing. I wasn’t the one doing the communicating. It was the liturgy itself and the Holy Spirit doing the communicating
I learned several things on that trip. First, as helpful as it is, you don’t need a language in common to communicate if you possess the will to communicate. Our host family did a magnificent job—and we did our best. We discovered that the games of Uno and Sorry are universal in their appeal. We used that dictionary—and understood far more than I imagined. We learned curiosity, and humility, and how to rely upon the Holy Spirit. We experienced grace.
The Pentecost story is one for our time. We live in a world where words have become toxic, where language has the capacity to divide and destroy. The troubles we are faced with are global, civilizational and catastrophic. We need to learn the art of speaking across the borders that separate us. The Bible tells us there is hope. The liturgies of our faith have the capacity to speak across the barriers of language and culture. Christianity is a global religion. We know, all of us, from every culture, what it means to be washed clean—and so the sacrament of Holy Baptism speaks to us. We all know the necessity of being fed—and so the simple meal of bread and wine—it speaks to us as well. We know the importance of community and fellowship, of grace and forgiveness—this is something that reaches across all languages and into all cultures. Pentecost teaches us that God transcends all boundaries we might impose—God speaks all languages, dwells amongst all cultures, and calls each of us to a life of repentance, grace and love. The Body of Christ has a language all its own.
Pentecost brings us together—the gift of the Holy Spirit unites and binds us into the Body of Christ. Pentecost tells us that there is nothing about us so different—our language, the color of our skin, or our culture, that prevents us from being one in Christ—brothers and sisters of the same faith. The Gospel comes to each person and to all peoples exactly where they are. Love speaks across boundaries and God’s love encompasses us all—even when the officiant is busy butchering the native tongue!
Today we have the joy of welcoming into the family of Christ Praveen Malempati. While Praveen has recently moved to North Carolina, he has been a part of our fellowship for several years—even serving on our Tech Team. It is our joy that he is back with us today to make this commitment to Christ.
Among the promises that Praveen will make (and each of us will re-solemnize in our baptismal covenant) is this. “Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?” Our response: “I will, with God’s help.” In other words, will you use both the gift of language as well as the work of your hands, to proclaim the Gospel. That Praveen has been doing the work of the Lord with his hands on the tech team for several years speaks of his commitment. Today he will speak the words which will join him to Christ in this sacrament.
Today we give thanks for the gift of the Holy Spirit, which enables us to transcend the barriers of our world to unite us as one in the Body of Christ. And we pray for the strength of purpose and courage of heart to go where the Spirit of God leads, bringing the Good News of our Savior to the very ends of the earth, so that all might be one body in Christ throughout the world. In the joy of the Holy Spirit. Amen.