God Speaks in My Language

The story of the Holy Spirit descending on the apostles in Acts 2 is a familiar one. A violent wind...tongues of fire...suddenly each man is fluent in a different language instantaneously...all during Pentecost (Shavuot, a harvest festival), when Jews from all over the world have converged in Jerusalem to celebrate.

Have you ever asked children if they could be a superhero, what superhero power they might like to have? Usually you get answers like the ability to fly, x-ray vision, speed, and so on. In this case...the apostles are each given a language.

In researching, I’ve discovered, I totally have taken for granted the reality that the bible is translated into my language and easily accessible. I can even choose from a multitude of translations, to pick one that appeals to me most. We might not own many books but I would bet that most of us have a bible somewhere in our house or at least access to one on our technology. God speaking in our language is not really something we cherish, appreciate or even think about.

In Acts 2, we see this is a HUGE deal.

I’ve tried to learn a different language before, I took four years of Spanish in high school and am sad to say, retained very little of that education! It’s not easy to become fluent in a different language other than your native one. Missionaries usually have no choice. Full immersion in the culture and extensive tutoring is about the only way they can have any kind of success. Most missionaries have many stories of mistakes and funny things they said or did because of how difficult it is to speak and communicate fluently.

In Acts 2, this fluency is immediate. And they each are able to speak multiple different languages immediately!

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to how inclusive God is, especially as we read the gospel stories and see who Jesus interacts with and how. It appears that the more people are on the margins of life the more He seeks them out...women, foreigners, the poor, the sick, etc.

I’m challenged to take an honest look at my own life and the church as a whole. I’m not sure we have gotten this basic premise right. Too often we make His message one for a few rather than for all. We make it exclusive and put up barriers to those on the margins rather than clearing the way and seeking out those on the edges. We have lots of reasons for doing this. Most of the time it happens so subtly we may not even recognize our behavior. But if we are honest and put our egos aside, we know it’s true. We’ve often made Jesus and Christianity into something that fits us and the kind of people we are most comfortable being around.

When I read Acts 2 I am reminded of the incredible inclusive nature of God, Jesus, and even The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit arrives and suddenly all language barriers are GONE, instantaneously! Wow!

Looking through church history is pretty eye opening. Do you know that there were people burned at the stake and tortured in other ways for translating the Bible from Latin to English? This was carried out by the church leaders of the day. They were extremely threatened at the notion that the common person would have access to scripture. The church leaders valued power, control, greed, and exclusivity. I would like to say these are problems the church no longer faces today. But I cannot.

I believe the Holy Spirit still fills each one of us and the outer evidence is probably in large measure how inclusive we are to those on the margins of life. This is where Jesus is found and where we need to be.

2021...let’s be more inclusive and let God speak in all languages and cultures.

Ruth