Something different. Well, they said much the same but in different languages. And every time I read this passage, I’m excited. I dare say we all are! We are witnessing the power of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church! Pentecost is the day when we have talked enough about church and experience church. We experience the palpable power of the Spirit, the mighty wind rushing, the tongues of flames, every hearing the word in their native tongue (with Galileans as speakers, no less) and understanding it. I would be astonished if a bunch of North Carolinians broke out into languages representing all our ancestry – how incredible this experience is!
The miracle at Pentecost, lest we think otherwise, is “understanding not sameness. God breaks everyone open so that they can be a radical, new, welcoming, fully engaged community” (lifted from James Howell’s blog, in case you want to see more). The people didn’t become the same, but suddenly they understood one another. Period. I can’t think of a better gift. I can’t think of a better way to unify the people, to start the church off right. My prayer this Pentecost is that God would “do it again.”
Pray with me: Give us understanding, Lord. We don’t need sameness to be one in You. Break us open so that we can become a radical, new, welcoming, fully engaged community. Give us ears to hear and hearts to open to the needs of the people. Inspire us to speak the language that others understand. Blow our collective hair back with the mighty wind of your Holy Spirit so that we are empowered to serve you in incredible, wonderful ways! Use us, show us how to engage with all our God-given gifts as we are out and about, so that we would look and act more and more like Jesus. Break us open, break our churches open, to glorify our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It’s in his name we offer this prayer. Amen.
