Hermetic Homiletics

Pentecost Sunday, Part 2: "The Universal Language"

"The Universal Language"

Speaking in Tongues?
“So, Bo, what do you think of this whole speaking in tongues thing?” Yes, I have been asked this in the past.

There are a variety of ways that people understand the significance of "speaking in tongues." Some people believe that if one has not “spoken in tongues” then they do not partake of the Holy Spirit. And by “speaking in tongues” they mean entry into this ecstatic state in which one prays in a babbling like activity that does not make sense to mortal ears. Others say Christians do not necessarily have to speak in tongues in order to be “real” Christians, but if one speaks in tongues, then that is a good sign of one’s salvation. And, I’m sure that there are also Christians out there who say that the whole spectacle of speaking in tongues is the product of self-induced delusions of grandeur, a mental concoction intended to bring about feelings of self-importance and belonging. Different people understand the significance to speaking in tongues differently.

“So, Bo, what do you think about this whole speaking in tongues thing?” I think that we have to look at the Scriptures in their context and in light of “who” God is as revealed in Jesus Christ if we truly want to understand what they reveal. And investigation into the meaning of speaking in tongues is no exception.

Speaking in Tongues, Version 1
In our passages today, there are two different versions of speaking in tongues. In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he speaks of himself and others having this particular gift. In that letter, to speak in tongues is to go into an ecstatic state in which one if filled with a divine spirit that leads to ecstatic utterances that were then interpreted as a divine message to the community.

Something that is very important to note (but is too often overlooked) is that these ecstatic utterances were not unique to Christian communities. Such ecstatic utterances were relatively commonplace in Greco-Roman religion. And in the Greco-Roman religious atmosphere, the ability to enter into that eccstatic state and give such utterances was seen as a sign of deep spiritual connection. This person who could enter into such ecstatic states, or speak in divine tongues, was considered to be an oracle, one who had a special relationship with the divine.

Paul dismisses all of this. To have the gift that allows one to enter into an ecstatic state and speak in tongues…doesn’t mean anything with regards to a person’s spiritual maturity or even their spiritual connection. For Paul, this ecstatic version of speaking in tongues is no more spectacular than the spiritual gifts of preaching, teaching, administrating, or bringing healing to peoples’ lives. These are all spiritual gifts. All such good things come from the Spirit of God. So in that sense they are evidence of divine blessing. But they are not in any way indicators of one’s being filled with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Living Christ.

Speaking in Tongues, Version 2
That’s one version of “speaking in tongues” that we have in our texts today. The other version comes from the Book of Acts. In this passage, speaking in tongues is about speaking a language that is comprehensible across all language barriers. This is a reversal of the Tower of Babel. In the Tower of Babel story, humanity had become so arrogant that it wanted to be a high as God. So they built a large pyramid, or tower. (For those who may have heard the term, the technical term is a ziggurat.) The purpose of this tower was to allow them to climb all the way to the top and thus live with God.

God, it turns out, does not appreciate the neighbors just barging into the house uninvited. This attempted crossing of the boundary that separates the human and the divine is a gross trespass. So in order to prevent this from happening in the future, God first smashes the tower, thus preventing access to heaven. And second, God causes all the people to speak in different tongues, thus preventing them from uniting as a single people who are able to come up with such schemes.

The Tower of Babble story was an ancient way to explain why the various peoples of the world can’t unite as one people, united by a common spirit. Language barriers that were imposed by God prevent it.

This Pentecost story in the Book of Acts is a reversal of the Tower of Babble story. If God, in the past, divided people into linguistic groupings (and that was a major way of identifying people, by the language they spoke, and the customs they followed), then God was in the present re-uniting them by tearing down the boundaries that at one time separated them. The power of the Holy Spirit in the midst of this earliest Christian community was working to re-create a unified humanity. And when we read through the Book of Acts, we see that the language of the Holy Spirit really isn’t found so much in spoken language systems (whether Greek or Hebrew or Arabic). No, what we find is that the language of the Holy Spirit is far more universal. It is nothing less than the language of…love.

The Mark of God
Yes, love is the universal, divine language. Where there is love, there is God, for God is Love. And not just any kind of love, but other-centered, justice-oriented, self-giving love. It’s a certain quality of love.

What is the mark of the divine in the midst of human life? Is it spectacle? No. Is it success? No. Is it power? No. Rather, as Paul says,

If I speak in human and angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

The mark of God, the mark of the Holy Spirit in our lives is nothing less than our becoming as vessels filled with divine love.

In Edward Hayes’ book, The Ladder, he writes a fictional story of a student who goes to his teacher and asks him, “so what do you think the best translation of the Bible is, there are so many out there.” And his teacher replies to him, “The best translation of the Bible is the life of a saint.” I think that the world in which we live instinctively knows that on some level. That is why some people are singled out as somehow superior representatives of God.

Mother Theresa
Mother Theresa is perhaps one of the best known. How many years had she spent of her life living in the midst of the “nobodies” in India? How often did she speak out to remind the world in which she lives that the God of the Universe is an advocate for those who are different from us, an advocate for those whome we want to exclude, whether we like that or not. When gaze upon the work of Mother Theresa, they can point at something tangible and say that is love, and not just any love, but other-centered love, love that is truly divine. Where there is that type of love, there is God.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Another cultural religious icon is Martin Luther King, Jr. He had a vision. And what was laid bare before his eyes was nothing less than a glimpse into the Kingdom of God, a place where Justice reigned. And so he stood boldly and proclaimed that the God of the Universe does not tolerate the discrimination and devaluing of God’s children. And boldly, through word and deed, he demanded: “This segregation must end! And by God this must end now!”

And that vision, that dream, that call to unity, is becoming more and more a reality with the passing of every season. When people look at Dr. King, they know that God is a God of Justice, who does not forget the little people, and will not forsake them to the whims of the powerful. He reminds us that to the extent that we do not bear justice, they do not bear God and cannot speak for God. For God’s love is a certain type of love. God’s love is is a justice-oriented Love.

Mom
I feel very blessed to have the parents that I do. And whatever you do, don’t ever tell mom that I talked about her in a sermon, but there are some things that are worth sharing. You see, my mom is one of the most self-sacrificing people you will ever meet. I’m not sure where she learned this, whether it was from her parents or her circumstances, but I believe that she learned her way of self-giving-being ultimately from God. She is always helping others out, giving of her time and resources. When I was young, all the kids would come over and she would be “mom” for the whole block. She would go without before she allowed others to do so. I learned a lot from my mom about life and about God, more I’m sure than she realizes.

I tell you this now because usually those living icons into God’s Love aren’t great big public figures like Mother Theresa or Dr. King. More often than not, they are the people who are closest to us who show us that in this dog-eat-dog world there is indeed a more excellent way, a way of self-giving love. They can be parents, children, friends, neighbors, or even strangers. We all know them, they are the people who demonstrate to us a certain quality of life that somehow seems beyond that which is considered “normal.” They are ordinary persons identifiably empowered by the Holy Spirit into an extraordinary way of being. My mom is one of those people in life who taught me that God is not just any kind of love, but a certain kind of love. It is self-giving love that is divine.

Where There is Love, There is God
Where there is true love, there is God. And where there is not that certain quality of love, there is not God. Divine Love is the mark that the Holy Spirit places upon the brow of humanity. It is the halo that identifies us as holy in the midst of the nitty-grittyness of life.

But what is it? What is this other-centered, justice-oriented, self-giving love? What does that look like in the midst of everyday life?

Hear, once again, the words of Paul:

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [it] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interest, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing [...pause...]

but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.

Love never fails.

And as the Book of Acts tells us, this love is the tongue of the Holy Spirit, and the language of love is universal.

May you all be filled with the Holy Spirit on this wondrous day of Pentecost, going forth into your everyday lives, proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel, speaking boldly in the universal tongue of other-centered, justice-oriented, self-giving Love. May you do so, and thus, make a real difference in this world.

+In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

posted by irreverance @ 11:08 PM