UNDOING BABEL Text: Acts 2: 1-12 May 23, 2010 (Pentecost) Faith J. Conklin

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1 UNDOING BABEL Text: Acts 2: 1-12 May 23, 2010 (Pentecost) Faith J. Conklin On a business trip in Mexico City, a man decided to try out his college Spanish. He called room service at the hotel and ordered breakfast. He wanted scrambled eggs and ham. Eggs, he remembered were huevos and scrambled would be revueltos. He didn t remember the word for ham but he knew it was close to the English word. Confidently, he picked up the phone. When the room service operator answered, he said, Dos huevos revueltos y ama, por favor. There was a long moment of silence. Then the operator cleared his throat nervously, Y ama, senor? he asked. Y ama, si replied the man. There was another longer silence. He could hear a whispered conversation. Then a new, authoritative voice spoke, this time in English, You wanted scrambled eggs, Senor, and what with them? Ham, said the American now somewhat impatient, Ham you know, ama. Ah, said the new voice. He sounded relieved. Ham. That is jamon, Senor, not ama. What you ordered was scrambled eggs and the housemaid. We live in a multicultural world. Diversity and difference is a fact of life at every level. Language is just one sign of it. On a typical Sunday morning there are at least fifteen different languages and dialects in which United Methodists in this Conference worship. Our need to listen to one another and understand one another is critical. If we don t, or won t, it can cause more than an embarrassing mistake. It can destroy us. Today is Pentecost. Pentecost is often called, the birthday of the church. It marks the gift of the Holy Spirit to the disciples. In that outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all people is a promise and a hope that s much needed in our world. Our text is from Acts. Jesus has ascended into heaven. The disciples are gathered in the Upper Room. Jesus told them to wait. That s what they re doing. They were all together in one place. Suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them ability. To better see how the Church understood that story in Acts we need to go back to another story. It s found in Genesis. It s the story of the Tower of Babel. 1

2 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. They said, Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves Genesis records how the people of that time built a great city and with it a great tower. It was to be a triumphant symbol of human accomplishment, a monument to human pride and ability. It was also a way of invading heaven. The effort failed. Genesis says that God created a confusion of speech and language. Instead of one language there were many, instead of unity, there was disharmony. The people were scattered over all the earth. Now the people no longer had the same words. They had many words. The words separated them from God and from one another. The story of Babel is one of confusion and separation. In contrast Pentecost is a story of communication and restoration. At Pentecost Babel is undone. Conditions are reversed. Each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. They were amazed and wondered saying, 'Are not all those speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?' We live in a paradoxical world. The Internet circles the globe. From the remotest jungle to the most urban city we re tied in to one another. With a click we have immediate access to more information about others than we know what to do with or how to handle. Yet increasingly we re becoming more separate, fearful and isolated from one another. Sociologists describe a rising phenomenon known as tribalism. In its best sense it refers to the bonds and common ties that unite us in community. In its worst sense it refers to the us and them mentality, which divides and set persons and groups against one another. The increase of hate speech is another symptom of that division. A 2006 report listed over 6,000 hate web sites and the number continues to grow. Read the newspaper feedback columns, check the opinion blogs or listen to the media and you ll see how pervasive such speech is. What s even more disturbing is that the occurrence of such speech is no longer shocking. The purpose of the Pentecost event wasn t only the saving of individual souls. It was the creation of a new community. It was the gift of a new way of seeing the world. It was the establishment of a new language, the language of the Spirit, which is the language of love. That s the speech Jesus taught us. It s the way he lived among us and the work he left us to do. Amid the forces of raging individualism, tribalism and isolationism, hate and violence, which threaten to 2

3 engulf us, the church of Jesus Christ must continue to claim those gifts and be that beloved and loving community. A man tells of being on a bus tour in Rome. It was led by a guide who spoke English. Their first stop was a Church in a plaza surrounded by several lanes of fast moving traffic. After they were safely dropped off out front the group climbed the steps for a quick tour of the Church. When they finished they spread out to reboard the bus, which was parked across the street. The guide frantically shouted for the group to stay together. He hollered out to them, You cross one by one, they hit you one by one. If you cross together, they slow down because they think you will hurt the car! There s power in unity and community. To live in authentic community with others, especially those who think, act or live differently from us, is a challenge and a difficult one. How do we reach across our various opinions, preconceptions, prejudices and fears to build the necessary bridges with them? How do we listen not simply to correct or condemn but to understand? How do we disagree with others without disrespecting or dehumanizing them? How do we find a common ground on which to share without sacrificing our integrity or identity? How do we live out of the understanding that those who stand so firmly on the other side are children of God like us? One pastor writes of what he calls a blindness to the Spirit s presence and activity. He says we fail to see God s Spirit at work in the world or in the lives of others. He asks: How different might our politics, economics and environmental policies be if we recognized God s Spirit in all things and if we really took time to learn our common language? How would this consideration impact how we pray, speak, act, vote, spend, advocate and play? The Holy Spirit that came at Pentecost brought radical transformation. It changed those first disciples and they, in turn changed the world. What radical, transforming work is that same Holy Spirit calling us to do? In order to do it what defenses might we have to set aside? Where might our hands be offered to others? What cherish or long-held beliefs might have to be changed? What strange and different people might have to be welcomed and embraced? Walter Brueggemann in his commentary on Genesis suggests that the Tower of Babel story, which is usually translated, They couldn t understand one another, can also be translated, They wouldn t listen to each other. Maybe that s a task for the church in our time. Maybe our task is to find ways to listen to one another in our families, with our friends, at work and at school, in the 3

4 Church, in our communities and in the world. Maybe that s one of the best gifts we have to offer, to teach and to model to the world. That s the hope and promise I see in Pentecost. It reminds me that we have the gift to speak so as to be understood and the gift to listen so as to understand. We need to share it. Then it is we can capture the attention of the world and turn it in the direction of the kingdom. At the University of Wisconsin, there was an undergraduate literary club. It was composed of male students who d demonstrated outstanding talent in writing. At each meeting a student would read aloud a story or essay he d written. He d then submit it to the others to critique. The criticism was brutal. Nothing was held back. The students showed no mercy in dissecting the material line by line. So hateful were the sessions that the members called themselves, The Stranglers. Then a similar club was formed. It was called, The Wranglers. These were female students who also had outstanding writing ability. They too would read their writings at the meetings and critique one another. There was a noticeable difference. The Wranglers criticism was gentle, thoughtful, positive and kind. They lifted each other up and encouraged one another even where they disagreed. Twenty years later, a university researcher looked at the careers of those in both groups. Not one of the bright young talents in The Stranglers had achieved a literary reputation of any kind. The Wranglers, however, had produced half a dozen prominent, successful writers. The formats of both groups were similar. They both had very talented students. The Stranglers cut each other down. The Wranglers lifted each other up. The Stranglers choked the life out of one another. The Wranglers were life enhancing. We have a choice. We can live in ways that enhance the lives of others or we can live in ways that contribute to their destruction. We can build barriers or we can build bridges. We can speak and practice peace and mutual understanding or we can be another voice of hate and division. The world needs Wranglers not Stranglers. The world needs those who listen, understand and speak the truth in love, with love. That s the mission and gift of the Church. Power for such a witness was given to us at Pentecost. It still is. My colleague shares this story. It reminds me of why Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven belongs to children. A man worked for an oil company. He was assigned to do field exploration in the Middle East. He was given the option to take his wife and children with him. He had an eight-year old girl, and a six-year-old boy. They all went. They were provided with a very modest, small home in the city. 4

5 When they arrived they realized it might have been a mistake to go as a family. They were seen suspicion by many of the locals. As a result the family turned inward. The parents set rules and limits to protect their children. They wouldn t let the children go out or play with anyone else in the neighborhood. One very hot and humid day, the father was at work and the mother finally got the children down for a nap. She dozed off herself. She woke with a start and looked around. She found her daughter, but not her son. She searched the house high and low. It didn't take her long. Then she went outside and looked around. She still couldn't find him anywhere. She called her husband in panic, and told him, I don't know where he is. He s escaped someplace. The father immediately came home. As he was trying to console his wife, he happened to look out a window. There was his son coming down the street, arm in arm with a small Arab boy. The father ran out and grabbed him. He said angrily, Where have you been? We've been looking for you! Come inside. The little Arab boy stood there shocked and staring. As his father carried him inside the boy began to sob. I want my friend! I want my friend! His father sat him down, and said, Can't you see, son, we were worried sick about you. The little boy replied, Daddy, can't you see, he s my friend. Well if he s your friend, said his father, What's his name? I don't know his name, but he's my friend. Where does he live? I don't know that, but he's my friend. Well whose side are his parents on? Daddy, I don't know, but he's my friend. Can't you see? He's my only friend. It was at then his father finally did see. He saw what he d done to his son. He d been so concerned and fearful he d isolated him. His son was saying, Daddy, look and see. These people aren t the enemy. These people can be our friends. Those people aren t the enemy. Those people are our friends. Those people are our brothers and sisters. They re children of God just like us. Can we look at them like that? Can we believe that? Can we live like that? I hope so. I pray so. That s the kind of worldview I want for my grandchildren. That s the promise I want to hold out to these seniors and graduates we honor today. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them ability. Babel is undone. Pentecost is about learning that lesson, receiving that Spirit, talking that talk and living that witness in the world. God give us the courage to let it be so. Amen. 5