God Speaks Our Language 5/19/13

       At my conference this past week, there was this poor guy who had the job of
standing up after either the worship service or lecture and doing announcements. I say
“poor guy” because there were about 1700 preachers there, and when the closing song was
sung, we got up like it was the end of church and time to head for the snacks in the
fellowship hall. He tried to talk over the sound of babble, babble, babble, but some folks
were into their conversations and really didn't pay attention. That he spoke softly didn't help. The second time, he leaned in close and said, “I have gifts to give out,” which helped, but still people were talking on the way out the door. By the next day the group learned to wait & listen, thank goodness - but the first day must have been totally embarrassing for him. Having been working on this sermon, I was struck by the noise of babble, babble, babble. We preachers can really talk.
      Was Babel a prequel for our Pentecost
       The mnemonic thing in English about "babble, babble, babble" is a neat trick in English to remember the story and the name of the tower. Of course the name of Babel in the Genesis text later becomes “Babylon,” the Sumerian civilization.  It actually did grow from a travelling population, built cities and tall towers called ziggurats as temples to connect earth and heaven, did come up with baking bricks rather than just sun drying them, and used bitumen to hold them together. They were a powerful empire, and enforced a one language rule to unite and strengthen their society. And they were eventually thrown down by invading forces from several directions at once, which brought their various languages as well as carrying captives off where other languages were spoken. This is the pre-story, the pre-quel , for the story of Abraham, introduced as Abram before his name is amended by Jehovah God, who sets out on his journey and becomes the ancestor of Israel.

Compare & contrast - that is so God!
        This text is often paired in our common lectionary with the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, seeing the two stories as a reversal of each other. The situations are similar – the Roman Empire, like the Sumerian Empire, was a powerful civilization, and also enforced a one-language rule over the peoples they either conquered or did business with – much like people kinda have to speak English today to deal with the powerful empire we live in. And in both situations, suddenly there are multiple languages in town. The difference is that in Sumer, the language was a result of the overthrow of the Empire, and the confusion of the people was
result of what tore the down. Whereas in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God enabled the disciples to spread the good news of Jesus Christ in people’s native languages…. and so subvert the edict of Rome at the same time. In Sumer, the people said “Let’s make a name for ourselves,” setting themselves up to challenge God; and God threw them down in a confusion of languages. In Rome, who had done the same things, God now undercut their enforced unity with speaking to people in their own language, using this miracle of talking to folks each in their own language.
      THAT IS SO GOD!
      In Sumer, God scattered the empire that tried to be settled themselves and worship a false god; in Jerusalem, God comforts these unsettled and far-flung Jews who had come to worship the true God by speaking to them in their words of home. 
       THAT IS SO GOD!
        We can imagine what it must have been like for the faithful Jewish people in that day, under the thumb of Rome, a conquered people, scattered, dispersed; coming back to their own holy city for one of their own holy festival days, and forced to speak in the language of the oppressor, use the money of the oppressor, walk by the soldiers of the oppressor. But then they hear the language of home, the language they know best – and they hear about the new activity of their God, the mighty works of God in Jesus Christ. Yeah, some scoffers think it’s just a bunch of babbling drunks, but many, many people there hear the gospel news and believe. This miracle on Pentecost sent the faith in Jesus as the Christ of God, the Messiah of God, all over the Mediterranean region as these folks returned to their own countries - we sometimes call it the birthday of the church.

God speaks to us in the words of home...
        IT IS SO GOD to speak to us in the words we know, in the words of home – literally
and metaphorically the words of home. God speaks to us in ways we can understand, our
own language, speaks straight to our heart the words we need to hear, the words of
deliverance, forgiveness, salvation. Through the Spirit, God speaks words of comfort, words of call, words of wisdom. In fact, in Jesus Christ, God spoke THE WORD in the flesh of a human person like us, our human language, in one who was born like us and lived like us and died like us – Yet the new WORD spoken in joy was that God raised Jesus up in a new creation, which we are invited to also share.
       Don’t you just hate being misunderstood? Sometimes, even all speaking English, our native language, we can be misunderstood. Communication takes effort – we have to metaphorically speak the same language. Right now in our poor country, if we speak about the economy, some people hear that the Republicans keep causing all sorts of problems, and others hear that those darn Democrats did it. In our Christian religion, we might all say we’re following Jesus, yet we go in different directions. In our close relationships, sometimes what we try to communicate isn’t heard – there’s a popular book about love languages – some people evidently speak “action” and others speak “kind words.” Even all speaking English we can have miscommunications.
       It’s good to know that the Spirit of God speaks OUR language. God communicates with us deep in our souls with the Holy Spirit, who knows who we are, knows what we intend, what we feel, what we think – and when necessary can even speak to us below the level of words. Our conversations with God don’t need a translator.
       Part of the fun of my conference was that we all spoke “preacher,” and could talk together about shared experiences and shared struggles - and laugh together at preacher jokes – and hear sermons and talks aimed towards our joint profession. It’s great to be understood in that way. Colleagues are important.

Closing
       On my flight home, I sat next to a nice man who unfortunately only spoke Spanish – his English was limited to “Coca-cola,” when the flight attendant came by with the cart. He didn't understand pretzel, peanuts or cookies, though, so he pointed to what I had. When the announcement came on that it was time to put your trays up and get ready for landing, he saw me do it and so did it, too. I saw him waiting at the wrong carousel for his bag, so went over to him and pointed to the right one. But did his face light up when his family found him and they began to talk and hug! They spoke Spanish, and they also spoke love. He was understood.
Friends, God is like that – God speaks our language. We are understood, and we can understand. God comes to where we are. God communicates love, acceptance, wisdom,
inspiration – whatever it is we need for our journey. Let us praise today for the miracle of the Spirit and Pentecost. AMEN.