Think back to the last time you found yourself flustered by the sounds or symbols of a language foreign to yours.
Perhaps you were traveling in a land that was new to you, immersed in a place and a culture other than your own. You wanted to understand what was happening around you, but you struggled.
Perhaps you were studying language, literature, martial arts or film and encountered words you did not know how to process. You knew you needed to decipher the mysterious collection of letters, sounds and symbols, but you did not yet have the necessary knowledge.
Perhaps the moment was a simple one, an accident, something as innocuous as forgetting to change the audio or caption settings of a foreign film. There was a jolt of confusion, a momentary panic, as you tried to make sense of your inability to understand the story.
What was that moment for you? Surely, we have all found ourselves awash in sounds and symbols that make little sense to our untrained ears or eyes. What emotions does such a moment evoke? Anxiety? Embarrassment? Discomfort? Fear?
Now, think of the moment’s antidote: the instant when you can read the street signs and ask for directions in that as-yet unknown land; the time when your studies break new ground and you find yourself articulating those once inarticulable sounds or drawing those once unimaginable characters; even the quick settings switch on the night’s movie, allowing you to sink more fully into the story.
This is a moment of understanding, yes, but more so this is a moment of connection. In this moment of clarity, you find yourself standing at a threshold: You can now enter more deeply into relationship, narrative and knowledge. Now is the time to step in, to step forward, to embrace the mission at hand.
This is the sort of hinge moment we mark this upcoming Sunday on the Feast of Pentecost. Jesus sends the Holy Spirit, just as he promised.
“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.” (Acts 2:4)
You know how the story goes from there: The Apostles go outside and begin to preach the Gospel to the gathered crowd. “…but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language.” (Act 2:6) After all, those gathered were “Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs.” (Acts 2:9-11)
In short, there was no way the folks outside should have been able to understand the Apostles. It should have been a moment of division, a moment that evoked those feelings we noted earlier: anxiety, embarrassment, discomfort and maybe even fear. You’ve been there; you know what it’s like to stand in such a crowd, to be part of such a moment. What would you have felt?
Or, what would you have expected to feel if not for the grace of the Holy Spirit? Because of course, each one gathered there heard the Apostles’ words in their own native tongue.
As you pray with this scene this week, I invite you to consider three points:
- The Holy Spirit desires to bring people together, to connect individuals, communities and entire nations. In what ways is the Holy Spirit working in and through you to accomplish this holy work? Shared language, after all, is only one example of this important work in action.
- The Holy Spirit does not undercut or dismiss differences among people. If anything, the Spirit affirms such difference. The Apostles’ words were not all heard in one single language; they were heard in the varied languages of those gathered. The embodied affirmation of the cultural differences present in that moment appears to be essential to the story — and, more importantly, to how the Holy Spirit desired to work. How is the Spirit working in and through you to affirm who you are, and to bring you into relationship with individuals who are different?
- Finally, we know that from this Pentecost moment, the disciples go out. In the Gospel, Jesus says to his Apostles, “”Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (Jn 19:21) Through Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit as source and sustenance to mission. So, this week, how will you answer that call?
