Emily Schaming
I have always loved tongue twisters. Fox in Socks is my favourite Dr. Seuss book, because the entire thing is one huge tongue twister. When I was a child, we often watched old movies and my favourite scene was in Singing in the Rain when the characters go to diction coaches and the tongue twisters they learn have stuck in my mind. I can still recite, "Chester chooses chestnuts, cheddar cheese and chewy chives. He chews them as he chooses them, he chooses them as he chews them. Those chestnuts, cheddar cheese and chives, in cheery, charming chunks!" Tongue twisters are fun because they are hard to enunciate and often lead to silly mistakes. But these little nonsense poems are not exactly things that we desperately need to communicate to other people.
Sometimes our communications get twisted when we want our meaning to be clear. Sometimes this is because we speak different languages, sometimes it is because we interpret things in different ways. This can lead to frustration and conflict. Yet there are moments like the apostles experienced on the first Pentecost when God helps us find the right words and everything becomes clear.
Acts says, "Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each." There is something wonderful about hearing our own language spoken. If you have ever traveled somewhere where you don't speak the language and suddenly come upon someone who speaks your own language you know the peace that comes with understanding.
Communication Issues
English is becoming more and more common around the world, but it seems that the more universal and united our world is supposed to be, the more opportunity there is for confusion. International product marketers have learned this the hard way. For example, when Coca Cola was first introduced into China they named it Ke-Kou-Ke-La. Unfortunately, the Coke company did not discover until after thousands of signs had been printed that the phrase means "bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax", depending on the dialect.
Not to be outdone, when their competitor, Pepsi, started a marketing campaign in Taiwan, the translation of the Pepsi slogan "Come Alive with the Pepsi Generation" came out as "Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead."
The importance of hearing God's word spoken in our own language cannot be undervalued. This is one reason that there are so many projects devoted to translating the Bible. God's word feels so much more personal to us when we hear it spoken in our native tongue.
But even when we speak our own language, there are barriers to our communication.
A friend told me recently that she has stopped trying to talk to strangers here in Ottawa. She grew up in a small town and is used to striking up a conversation in the grocery aisle. Since moving here she has found that people look at her like she is crazy if she asks them how they use a particular ingredient or comments on the weather. How is it that we have become so distant from one another that we are afraid of a casual conversation? Does the misunderstanding run so deep that it has become mistrust?
People have stopped communicating with their neighbours. It seems that we require conditions to be perfect before we are prepared to reach out to other people. When the homework, housework, carpool, carwash, and renovation project are finished, then we will start to speak to one another. But that perfect time never comes and suddenly we realize that we don't know our neighbours, that we would feel uncomfortable offering them help if they were experiencing a crisis. We can start to reach past these barriers of fear of communication in small ways, sometimes very tiny ways. Smiling, making eye contact, sending kids to play outside, sitting in front of our houses instead of in the back, organizing community get-togethers, sharing garden produce, sharing tools, taking walks and chatting with people. These things sound so obvious, but are almost anomalous in many city neighbourhoods today.
The apostles on Pentecost were filled by the spirit in a sudden rush, able by a miracle to communicate in a language that everyone could understand. We too, have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit so that we have God's power to help us communicate with anyone.
It is upon communication through loving acts that the church is built. A couple of weeks ago we hosted an event at which numerous pastors from Anabaptist congregations came together. One of the pastors from the Congo told a story about spreading the message of the gospel in his village. A known thief was active in stealing from people in the village. The first time he stole something a local man chased him down and chastised him. The man showed repentance and returned what he had stolen. Soon, however, he was back to his old ways. He stole something from the man who was the first Christian in the village. Apparently this man was not a very stealthy thief as he was chased down and caught again. The village people waited to see what the man who had been stolen from would do. His response was to say to the man, "is that all you need"? He pressed more of his possessions on the thief. Both men still live in the village and the thief has not stolen anything since. Language is only one form of communication.
The result of that amazing Pentecost was the formation of the church. Later in the chapter we are told that thousands of people were baptized after hearing the word and "All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people."
Though humans divide and dominate, God communicates. God has the last word, and the word is wild. It changes everything. It rebuilds broken community. It breaks boundaries and enlarges the family. It makes possible understanding where before there was none. God has given us the ability to understand one another through acts of love, kindness and compassion.
God Speaks All Languages
Interpretation of what we hear is an essential part of experiencing the Holy Spirit. People who hear the same thing do not necessarily come away with the same information. Humourist Dave Barry illustrates this with a story about Fred and Martha, a couple who have been dating for a while. "One evening when they're driving home, a thought occurs to Martha, and, without really thinking, she says it aloud: "Do you realize that, as of tonight, we've been seeing each other for exactly six months?"
And then, there is silence in the car.
To Martha, it seems like a very loud silence. She thinks to herself: I wonder if it bothers him that I said that. Maybe he's been feeling confined by our relationship; maybe he thinks I'm trying to push him into some kind of obligation that he doesn't want, or isn't sure of. And Fred is thinking: Gosh. Six months.
And Martha is thinking: But, hey, I'm not so sure I want this kind of relationship either. Sometimes I wish I had a little more space, so I'd have time to think about whether I really want us to keep going the way we are, moving steadily towards, I mean, where are we going? Are we just going to keep seeing each other at this level of intimacy? Are we heading toward marriage? Toward children? Toward a lifetime together? Am I ready for that level of commitment? Do I really even know this person?
And Fred is thinking: ...so that means it was...let's see...February when we started going out, which was right after I had the car at the dealer's, which means...lemme check the odometer...Whoa! I am way overdue for an oil change here."
When people speak, each one of us hears their message differently.
Sometimes people complain that God's voice is not as obvious to us in today's society as it was in biblical times. Most of us have never seen a group of people with flames above their heads interpreting God's word in many languages. Most of us when out spring-cleaning our gardens don't suddenly have flaming shrubbery standing before us with God's voice speaking from it. Perhaps it is because those things seem so far fetched that God chooses other ways to communicate with us.
Instead we can hear God's voice within us, or coming from those who love us. Maybe it's that little voice in your head that sounds like your mother, or the feeling that something just isn't right. The gift of Pentecost is the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are given the spirit so that we might interpret what God wants for us and for those whose lives we touch.
God's love is beyond language. God speaks to each one of us in our hearts. We have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit within us, so that we can interpret God's will in our lives.
On this day of Pentecost, may God take our lips and speak through them; take our minds and think through them; take our hearts and set them on fire.
All quotations of Scripture, unless otherwise noted, are from the New Revised Standard Version.