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Scripture: Gen 11:1-9 and Acts 2:1-18
Audio: The Miracle of the Tongue and Ear Podcast
Sermon:
If you look around, you will see lots
of folks wearing red today. You'll see red paraments on the altar, as
well as red fabric hanging in the front and the back of the church.
If you are wondering what the deal is with the red, the red is in celebration
of Pentecost, the birthday of the church. All of the red in the sanctuary
this morning reminds us of the flames of fire that appeared over the
disciples' heads which we hear about in the text from Acts
Actually, there are two texts that I
want to deal with today; one from Genesis and one from Acts. The
Genesis text is the story of the Tower of Babel. The Tower of
Babel story is about earthly ambition and pride, how it leads the people
to build a proud tower so high that it reaches into the heavens so that
the people might touch God. The result was punishment in the form
of a confusion of tongues. The people began to speak in different
languages, and because they could not understand one another, they could
not work together. In the Tower of Babel story, the diversity
of language is more of a curse than a blessing.
But at Pentecost, we see a different
type of diversity in language. At Pentecost, by the power of the
Holy Spirit, the people overcome the curse of Babel. At Pentecost
the Holy Spirit descends, and with a mighty wind and tongues of fire,
the people are made to hear in a variety of languages, but they share
the gift of understanding. Each person hears the good news of
the mighty acts of God, in their own language, and they were never the
same again.
The story of Pentecost starts with the
disciples and other followers of Jesus hiding together in a small house
in Jerusalem. These followers were very vulnerable and powerless after
the Easter experience. They were culturally, socially and economically
marginalized by the mainstream system of religion and government. They
were vulnerable to those in power. They were just a small group
who still believed that Jesus was the Messiah; even though Jesus had
been executed by those in power. To believe in Jesus was very
foolish and dangerous for this group. And then, the Holy Spirit
rushes through the house like a violent wind, filling this small group
with the ability to proclaim God's “deeds of power” in all the languages
of all the people.
On this day, this small group of powerless
people found their voice. They started talking about their experiences
of God. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, they spoke with
authority. AND, most importantly, the mainstream people, the ones
in power listened. And because they listened, hearts and minds
were opened, a movement was started and lives were changed.
Pentecost is a story of two miracles;
the miracle of the tongue, and the miracle of the ear. The miracle
of the tongue was given to the small group of disciples and followers
of Jesus. Through the miracle of the tongue, they were able to
speak in the languages of the many other Jews who were in Jerusalem
from every other nation.
And the large group that had gathered,
the group of devout Jews, the group of those in power; the ones who
demanded that Pilate crucify Jesus in place of Barabbas; the majority
who did not believe that Jesus was the messiah. They were the
powerful ones that the disciples were hiding from. A powerful
majority, with the ability to crush the powerless, this group was given
the miracle of the ear; the gift of listening and understanding.
Just as the Holy Spirit gave the followers
of Jesus the miracle of the tongue so that they might speak their truths,
those in power were given the miracle of the ear so that they might
listen, so that they might hear of the wonderful works of God in their
own language.
In the Pentecost story the powerless, those who have no voice in society,
were given speech. Listen to this list, children, old men and
women, slaves. This is not a list of the movers and shakers of
society. This is a list of those with the least power, and they
are given the ability to speak with authority. And the powerful were
made to listen. Listening is not what the powerful do; the powerful
command, act and control. They give orders. They don’t
usually listen. They don’t have to. But here, we see the powerful
keep quiet long enough to hear a minority perspective and their lives
were forever changed because of it. The winds of the Spirit filled them
with humility, compassion and respect so that they became open to listening
and considering another viewpoint.
This story shows us that Pentecost is
made complete when the powerless of society are gifted with the miracle
of the tongue, and the powerful in society are gifted with the miracle
of the ear.
So, the question for us is how do we
experience Pentecost in our homes, our community, our nation and our
world? Whose voices need to be heard? Who needs to allow room for others
to speak? Who needs the miracle of the tongue? Who needs the miracle
of the ear?
The gospel challenges those of us with
power to advocate on behalf of the powerless. And the gospel encourages
those without power to find and renew their identity and strength, to
find their voice.
God, on this day of Pentecost, we pray
that pray that our own tongues might be stilled so as to invite others
to speak. We pray for ears to hear. God grant that we might understand
one another and that we might understand the good news, your good news,
in just the way we need to hear it.
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Queen Anne 
