Over
the past couple days, they had come to Jerusalem from their respective towns around
the Lake of Galilee to celebrate the feast of Pentecost together. Pentecost in
their Jewish tradition had its origins in a thanksgiving festival for the conclusion
of the first wheat harvest, but by this time it had evolved into the commemoration
of the giving of the Law to Moses as Israel was gathered before Mount Sinai. The
gift of the Ten Commandments was the central part of this law, but its acceptance
involved a much larger commitment between Israel and God. Israel was now charged
to be both a community of faith and a people of blessing. Mt. Sinai was the place
of their graduation ceremony. Israel now knew God as one who had delivered them
from death, led them to safety and sustained them in the wilderness, and from
now on would call them into being a light for all nations. In the past they had
been slaves in a foreign land. In the present they were nomads in a wilderness.
In the future they would become settled in a land of their own. A new phase of
existence was beginning for them and all their descendants. .
It
is hard to reconstruct exactly what happened at Jerusalem in that large room filled
with Jesus’ disciples two thousand years ago. Luke, the author of Acts,
tried to describe it years later, but even he struggled to adequately put it into
words. While the disciples had intended to recall how the giving of the law had
changed their history, as the Holy Spirit moved among them found that they, too,
were being changed by a gift of God, and they were about to embark on a new phase
of life.
Suddenly this relatively ethnically homogenous group from
Galilee found themselves communicating the Gospel through the gift of different
languages. The Holy Spirit is linked to language because language is a primary
bridge of communication between people. All those strange names of people form
an axis of the north, south, east and west compass points from Jerusalem. The
point of specifically enumerating those foreign names is to emphasize that the
Gospel is to be spread with no restrictions; no one is to be left out or written
off. People heard the outpouring of the spirit in all languages because the Gospel
transcends all cultures. It is not culturally specific. Note that Luke's account
does not place emphasis on the disciples doing the talking, but on the Parthians,
Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia,
Phrygia, Pamphylia and all points beyond, understanding that God was calling and
including them. This was not simply a bestowal of an extraordinary talent on a
selected few. The significance of Pentecost is not about the abilities of certain
individuals having the gift of tongues. Rather it is the revelation that the Gospel
is able to be heard be everyone. The gift of Pentecost was meant to bless those
outside the circle of the disciples and be a gift to the world.
Of course, we are the beneficiaries of God’s gift
of Pentecost. The love of God has touched us and we share it with others, primarily
in the English language, in a culture twenty-one centuries removed from when Jesus
taught in Galilee. Now it is our turn to go forth as witnesses to the Good News.
My mother used to remind me that I had two ears and only
one mouth for a very good reason. We all need to be reminded from time to time
of my mother’s advice. I don’t care for those bumper stickers that
say, Honk if you love Jesus.” The Holy Spirit isn’t particularly interested
in us honking our own horns, creating more noise for the world. The Holy Spirit
wants the whole world to understand that God is calling and that God wishes to
give creation a blessing. Disciples give thanks for hearing rather than honking.
Pentecost involves giving thanks for being able to perceive, to listen, and being
open and willing to share the universality of God’s grace.
