Spirit Signs

Acts 2:1-8 (The Message)

When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them. There were many Jews staying in Jerusalem just then, devout pilgrims from all over the world. When they heard the sound, they came on the run. Then when they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were thunderstruck. They couldn't for the life of them figure out what was going on, and kept saying, "Aren't these all Galileans? How come we're hearing them talk in our various mother tongues?

Spirit Signs

Dr. Jon Burnham preached this sermon
at Batesville Presbyterian Church on June 4, 2006

Language moved to the center of the political stage in America this week. Perhaps you didn't even notice the little insert in the Senate's immigration bill that would make English the official language of the United States. NPR commentator Daniel Schorr wonders why all of a sudden we need to officially establish English as our official language. He notes studies that demonstrate the Latin American immigrants walking our streets today are learning English more quickly than German immigrants of an earlier generation. While making English the official language the Senate did not provide additional funding for teaching English as Second Language in spite of the fact there are thousands of immigrants waiting in line to learn the English language.

Language matters. That is the message the Senate wants to send to the immigrants and voters back home. The Bible would certainly agree. Not necessarily with the Senate's immigration bill. But the Bible acknowledges the importance of language. You can see it in our text today in Acts 2. Language plays a crucial role on the day of Pentecost. The Spirit
emboldened and enabled the disciples to speak the languages of people from all over the world. When they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were thunderstruck. The people heard the Spirit speaking their own language and the fire of the Spirit burned within them. When people hear the Spirit speaking to them in a language they can understand people change. It happened in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. It happened again some 1600 years later in Whittenburg, Germany during the Protestant Reformation.

One of the key developments in the Protestant Reformation was the publication of the Bible in the language of the people. The invention of the printing press made that possible for the first time. Before the printing press the only way to copy the Bible was by hand. This was a time intensive process and there were few copies of the Bible. Before the Reformation the average person never once saw a Bible written in a language they could read. When they finally read the Bible in their own language the Spirit set the continent of Europe on fire with the power of the Spirit. As Presbyterians we trace our history back to the Protestant Reformation and we are certainly people of the Bible, the written Word.

On the day of Pentecost the Spirit spoke in a way more powerful than even the written word. The Spirit spoke in the language of the people with a human voice on the day of Pentecost. People from over 15 different countries heard the disciples speaking to them in their own language. The result was rather dramatic. Peter stepped forth and preached to the crowd gathered in Jerusalem and that day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers. Pentecost was a powerful group experience of the power of the Holy Spirit.

Presbyterians get a chance to experience how the disciples felt on the day of Pentecost. We get that chance every other year at the opening worship service of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA). I have attended three of these worship services and found them to be a powerful experience of the Holy Spirit in action. This year's General Assembly begins later this month in Birmingham, Alabama. One of our church members, Ginnie Monteith, is a Youth Advisory Delegate to this year's General Assembly.

Liturgical dancers, under the direction of Kathryn Sparks, brought color and movement to the opening worship celebration at the 216th General Assembly in Richmond, Virginia.
Photo by David P. Young

Perhaps Ginny will attend the Ecumenical Service of Worship at the General Assembly. If so, she will witness a Presbyterian version of the day of Pentecost. Judging from past experience this worship service may look something like this as you look down to the ground level from high your seat high up in a coliseum. First come the liturgical dancers waving batons with long red streamers to signify the entrance of the Holy Spirit. Then comes the multitude of banner bearers with a banner from each presbytery across the United States. These are followed by many ministers of Word and Sacrament in their various robes and stoles and elder representatives who will be serving the sacrament of the Lord's Supper during the service. The sermon is always interesting because someone stands near the preacher and interprets the sermon in sign language for the hearing impaired. The highlight of the service comes after the sermon when a host of missionaries who will be commissioned to service all over the world, taking the message of the Spirit to the people in their own language in a modern day Presbyterian version of the day of Pentecost. The visual and auditory signs of the opening worship service of the Assembly reinforce the theme of diversity and inclusiveness, which is a priority for our denomination and which was the sign of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost.

The Spirit spoke to people in more than 15 different languages on Pentecost. The folks in Jerusalem on Pentecost day couldn't for the life of them figure out what was going on, and kept saying, "Aren't these all Galileans? How come we're hearing them talk in our various mother tongues? They're speaking our languages, describing God's mighty works!" (Acts 2:6-12, MSG)

We recognize the importance of communicating to people in their own language so we give away Spanish language Bibles in Honduras. Our mission to Honduras is our own version of a very Presbyterian tradition of sending missionaries into the world to share the gospel with people in their own languages. This is still happening today.

Even today we have Presbyterian Mission Workers such as Kara VanderKamp who serves in Niger. In a recent letter Kara shared some of what she is doing on our behalf. Here is part of her letter from May 9, 2006.

Dear Friends and Family:
The sun burns the head and then it burns the heart.
This is the Hausa saying that Alio, my language teacher, told me when
we were discussing the impact that the sun and heat have on people.
(Hausa is a language and people group in Niger.) We are now in the
midst of the hot season, and I was telling him how the extreme heat is
affecting the way I relate to people. I'm not very proud of it, but I
find myself becoming irritated more easily and quickly. And I'm
apparently not the only person who is feeling the heat! In general,
people seem to be tired and on edge.
Despite the heat, life goes on.

That is Kara's story and that is our story as well. Despite the heat, life goes on. Whatever heat may come from this General Assembly life will go on. And thanks to our Presbyterian missionaries such as Kara VaderKamp, we are sharing the Spirit in the Hausa language in Niger and all across the world. The Spirit the language of the people wherever the people may be. Let us speak the language of the Spirit which is the language of love.

We will continue to speak the spiritual language of love in the native tongues of every person in every land. Painting pictures with our words. Calling forth the best from every person. Saying no to gossip. Saying yes to spirit signs. That is the way forward. That is the road we walk together as Presbyterians and as Christians.