"Divided Tongues...Whatever They Are" – Acts 2:1-21

Occasionally I have prayed that the Biblical story of the giving of the tongues at Pentecost would take place in my own life – typically when I have been sitting at a desk with a language exam in front of me. I would pray and pray that the Holy Spirit would descend from heaven and fill me with the ability to translate a paragraph or conjugate the list of verbs. Often at such times I would feel the presence of the Spirit, but far from enabling me to speak a new language, it always bore the same annoying message: “You should have studied more!”

In my life I have studied five foreign languages: Spanish, French, Chinese, Ancient Greek, and Biblical Hebrew. Lest you think I’m saying that in order to impress you, let me clarify. I’m not saying I know five languages; and I certainly don’t remember enough of even one of them to consider myself bi-lingual.

Some of my best friends are bi-lingual. One spring break in college I accompanied four such friends on a trip to Mexico. Not the resort areas of Mexico, but a trek through the heart of Mexico – staying with local people, exploring off the beaten path. I was the only one who didn’t speak fluent Spanish. There is nothing quite as unnerving as being in a large group and being the only one who doesn’t understand what is being said. It was humbling and disconcerting. Whether it was just the five of us, or when we were with a group of locals, every time the group laughed I automatically assumed they were laughing at me.

We’ve probably all felt this way at one time or another. When we don’t understand what is going on or what is being said, we feel powerless. When we feel powerless we become defensive and stand-offish; everyone becomes a threat. And when we view and treat others as a threat, we give others cause to say things about us in that language we don’t understand. It is a vicious cycle built upon the irrational fear of the other: the other person, the other idea, the other perspective.

It is this context of fear and the inability to comprehend that the story of the apostles at Pentecost begins. In the last few days they have witnessed the betrayal and execution of their teacher. The betrayer, once their brother, died a brutal death. Their teacher, once dead, was alive, but had once again left them. They had little understanding of what was happening to them. They were terrified of the violent world outside their door. So, the apostles stayed huddled together in the relative safety of their home.

Into this scene, a loud noise, like the sound of a rushing wind, filled the house. Divided tongues (I don’t know what divided tongues are, but the writer says it was something like a flame) came to rest on them and they began to speak other languages. They began to speak in a way that made sense to the people outside their doors.

This story plays off of a similar story from the Old Testament about people speaking other languages – the Tower of Babel. In that story, the people of the earth used their one common language to conspire to build a monument to their own greatness and ascend to a level where they would become their own Gods. As punishment, God tore down the tower, scattered the people, and made them speak in various languages.

The Pentecost story picks up where Babel left off. The people are scattered across every nation under heaven; each nation and culture speaking their own language. God sends the Holy Spirit to enable the disciples to speak to and listen to people from every race, religion, and nationality. There is no call for a common language, but rather a call for common understanding:

The Holy Spirit fills the disciples with the common understanding that God’s promises are inclusive. This common understanding is so crystal clear that even Peter gets it (this is the same Peter who elsewhere in the gospels is always the one who says and does things that prove he hasn't quite grasped what Jesus is trying to teach him). Endowed with this new common understanding, Peter finally understands the message the prophet Joel brought from God centuries before when he said, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people..sons and daughters…young men…old men…even slaves…everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Each of us, at one time or another, realizes we are afraid of the world outside of the walls we have built around our lives. We don’t understand the languages being spoken around us. We don’t understand the younger generations; we don’t understand the older generations; we no longer understand our generation.

Into such scenes, we pray for a loud noise, like the sound of a rushing wind, to fill our homes and our church. We pray for divided tongues (whatever they are) to come and rest on us – to give us the ability to speak to and comprehend the languages, customs and ideas of people who are different from us. We pray that the Spirit would enable us, as disciples of Jesus, to speak in a way that makes sense to the people outside our doors.

Into our homes and into our church we pray for a new experience of Pentecost.
We desire an experience of the Holy Spirit that will remind us that we are God’s beloved creation and as such we are so much greater than our insecurities, fear, and pain. We desire an experience of the Holy Spirit that will send us out as God’s beautiful hands and feet in the world – revealing joy where there was pain, and hope where there was loss.

This is a curious and tumultuous time in the life of the worldwide church. There are voices on either side of church walls instigating hatred and fear towards the other. There is great apathy on the part of Christians who mistakenly think their faith is simply a ticket to heaven, as opposed to a way of life.

The solutions to the problems facing the church will not be solved by advocating intolerance, arrogance, isolation and disillusion. Rather, we cling onto hope in the face of despair; peace in the presence of hatred; and unity in spite of our division.

The Holy Spirit is the mighty wind that will blows the church into new and unexpected places of ministry. No one here knows where the Spirit will take us. Being a disciple of Jesus in this windstorm will bring the church, and you along with it, to unexpected places, and unexpected grace. It may only be in retrospect, and with inspired interpretation, that one day we can look back and recognize the Spirit’s driving wind rather than simply a frighteningly chaotic storm.

May the noise of the Spirit instruct you in the ways of peace. May the wind of the Spirit propel you along pathways filled with new people speaking unfamiliar languages. May the fire of the Spirit burn away your fears and insecurities and free you to live as the beautiful creature God made you to be. Amen.

"The Lie About Eternal Life" – John 17:1-11

There is a trend that I have noticed the last few times I have either presided or attended a funeral. The memorial cards – the ones next to the guestbook that include a picture of the deceased, along with their obituary, date of funeral, and so on – no longer include the word “Died.” It has been replaced by another word or phrase. I’ve seen examples including, “Went Home” or “Taken Into Christ’s Arms.”

This past week I attended the funeral service for the father of one of our members (for the sake of online anonymity, l'll call him “Bob”). I read the memorial card. Instead of “Died” was the phrase “Entered Eternal Life.”

This is an interesting concept that funeral homes have presented. I’m sure the family would either not notice, or actually would be quite comforted by the verbiage. But as a pastor, I pay particular attention to the way words are used and the concepts they advocate, especially words with profound theological implication, like “death” and “eternal life.”

And I’ll say this: in this act of writing down the date of someone’s death and labeling it as the date in which that person entered eternal life, funeral homes are making a profound mistake and are muddying up the miraculous good news that the Christian faith has to offer.

Ask a pastor or a physicist whether eternity can begin on a certain date in time. “No” is the answer you should receive from either profession. Eternity is a concept of time that has no beginning and no end. Eternal life is a life that has no beginning or end. If we think of our life as a line from point A to point B, eternal life is not a line that continues past point B infinitely into the future; instead, eternal life is the space on which that line exists.

My brothers and sisters, the good news is that eternal life is real; but the best news is that eternal life is available to be experienced here and now. We don’t have to wait until we die! There’s no such thing as an “Entered Eternal Life” date.

Confused? Don’t believe me? Well, let’s hear what Jesus had to say about this topic.

In the seventeenth chapter of John, Jesus is speaking to his disciples just before his betrayal. In his farewell prayer he says these words, “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

Eternal life is not clouds, harps, and halos. Eternal life is about knowing and experiencing God. Eternal life is about knowing and experiencing God in such a powerful way that you realize you are a part of something much bigger than yourself. Eternal life is about knowing and experiencing God is such a powerful way that you realize that knowledge and experience will transcend your death.

This is beautifully illustrated in the story of Simeon found in the second chapter of Luke. “Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
   ‘Now, Lord you let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled.
   My own eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared
   in the sight of every people.’”

As Simeon holds the Christ Child in his arms he knows and experiences God. He realizes that God's promise of eternal life is true and a present reality. He sees and holds God's promise in his hands, he touches and feels the promise of life which God granted to him through Christ. Simeon realizes that this experience and knowledge of God is so powerful that it will transcend his death, and so he prays, “Now, Lord you let your servant go in peace.”

Eternal life is all around us. Every day of our lives presents an opportunity to know God and experience life in God’s kingdom.

When I began this message I mentioned attending “Bob’s” funeral this past week. One of the most beautiful parts of the funeral service was when three of his granddaughters delivered eulogies – telling us their memories of him as well as some valuable life lessons he instilled in them. As I listened to their heartfelt words, it was clear to me that they experienced moments with their grandfather were experiences of eternal life.

As I sat there in the pew, listening to the stories and recognizing the love behind them; I looked at the memorial card and that’s when the apparent contradiction hit me. This man experienced eternal life way before his death on May 22. If his first taste of eternal life was last Friday, how could he have ever made such an incredible and positive impression on so many people? No, his life must have been a series of encounters of eternal life made possible by the knowledge of God through Jesus Christ.

On the way home from that funeral I learned that the poet Maya Angelou had died. Soon I started hearing people say how happy they were for her that this self-proclaimed caged bird had been freed and was now in heaven. The problem, however, is that Maya Angelou had to have experienced eternal life way before her death on May 28. If her first taste of eternal life was on Wednesday, than how could she have ever come up with the following words about heaven?

Preacher, don't send me
when I die
to some big ghetto
in the sky
where rats eat cats
of the leopard type
and Sunday brunch
is grits and tripe.

I've known those rats
I've seen them kill
and grits I've had
would make a hill,
or maybe a mountain,
so what I need
from you on Sunday
is a different creed.

Preacher, please don't
promise me
streets of gold
and milk for free.
I stopped all milk
at four years old
and once I'm dead
I won't need gold.

I'd call a place
pure paradise
where families are loyal
and strangers are nice,
where the music is jazz
and the season is fall.
Promise me that
or nothing at all.

What this preacher is promising you today is the best news. We don’t have to wait until the date of our death to experience eternal life.

As Maya Angelou said, eternal life can be experienced in loyal families, nice strangers, jazz music, and autumn. As Simeon demonstrated, eternal life can be experienced in the warm body of a special baby. As “Bob’s” granddaughters testified, eternal life can be experienced by spending time with and learning from your family. The possibilities are endless, even in the midst of a world that can seem so wrong and painful; we simply have to be ready and open to the experiences of eternal life that will break in at the most surprising times.

To conclude, I came across a video this week which I believe points directly to the truth that eternal life is available to us today. I thought it would be a tragedy not to share it:

We don’t have to wait for death to experience eternal life. I pray this truth will give you comfort, peace, hope, and eager expectation to know God and experience God today and every day hereafter.

Amen.