The Day of Pentecost (20 May, 2018)

Can You Hear Me Now?

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.  And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.  And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.  Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth."  And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.  And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.  Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech."  So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.  Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.  Genesis 11:1-9

A Psalm of David. Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!  Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.  For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.  Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.  I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.  I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah  Answer me quickly, O LORD! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit.  Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.  Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD! I have fled to you for refuge.  Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!  For your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!  And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies, and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am your servant.  Psalm 143

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.  Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.  And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.  And they were amazed and astonished, saying, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?  And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?  Parthians and Medes and 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, Cretans and Arabians--we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God."  And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?"  But others mocking said, "They are filled with new wine."  But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.  For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.  But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: "'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.  And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.  And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'"  Acts 2:1-21

Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.  These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.  You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I will come to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.  And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.  I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here."  John 14:23-31

Many of the stories in the Bible bookend each other.  Not always obviously, at first.  One of the most significant that isn't directly involving Christ is the Tower of Babel and Pentecost.

Before His ascension, Christ told the Apostles that the Holy Spirit would be given to them.  Through His power, they would have the ability to proclaim the Gospel.  Now, while this same promise is granted to us, through God-given faith, the Apostles were granted special ability to bridge gaps, as it were.

After the flood, humanity stayed in relatively unified.  Instead of doing as God commanded and spreading out into the world, they gathered in one place and sought to make a monument to their own "greatness."  To halt this unified wicked effort, God scattered the people and scrambled their languages.  And ever since people have shouted at each other without understanding what is being said.

That all changed at Pentecost.  The Apostles started preaching the good news of Christ crucified and risen.  In every language.  Does that mean they spoke some special "mother tongue" that everyone understood, or that through miraculous means God "auto-translated" what they spoke into each language, or that they merely were suddenly able to speak each individual language?  Who knows.

Most will want to focus on the "speaking in tongues" aspect of this story.  Some so much so that it becomes justification for various actions.  But the focus here is not on that miraculous event, but on the first example of "reunifying" humanity.

Many people in the church today want to promote unity.  But what kind of unity, and at what cost?  Unity should mean that everyone agrees on what truth is, and what standards by which we are to live.  Most who call for "unity" don't mean that.  They just want to ignore the problems to have superficial unity.  But the Apostles brought true unity.

That is what the Gospel is.  This good news is the reunification of humanity, under the headship of our Lord and King, Jesus Christ.  That is the message proclaimed by St. Peter and the Apostles on Pentecost.  The only way that we, as a Church and as humanity, reach true unity is by faith in Christ crucified and risen for our sins.