How is it that we hear, each of us, in our
own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of
Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both
Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs–in our own languages we hear them
speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to
one another, “What does this mean?”
Among
the different things that may or may not be happening in this moment, there are
likely both supernatural occurrences as well as explainable phenomena about how
people of good will dispose themselves to truth. Part of, “How is it,” is
explained for us in the context of Peter’s proclamation.
Peter is proclaiming to the Diaspora, the
Parthians, Medes, etc. who might come to Jerusalem for the Festival of Shavuot,
known also as Pentecost to Greek Jews, as it was fifty days after Passover.
Shavout celebrated God giving the Torah to the Israelites and the offering of first
fruits at the Temple. (As it happens, this year Shavuot will run from sunset
tomorrow May 26 - nightfall May 28.)
During this time, dairy products are
traditionally consumed and, oddly, the Book of Ruth is studied. (Odd, because
Ruth is not a book in the core of the Torah, “the Law,” but a story of
relationship and outreach of the gentile, Ruth and her Mother-in-Law, Naomi.)
The Diaspora, even then were both honored
and scorned. They were honored as important parts of all the towns where they
were throughout the Mediterranean, the African interior, and the Arabian Peninsula.
By law or design, they frequently lived within their own ghettos, but their
synagogues were open focal points of learning, art, science, and ethical
reflection.
Many Gentiles who came to listen, and in
some cases participate in the rabbinic discussions were considered “gated”
proselytes whether in Judea, Galilee, or in their own cities. They weren’t
expected to become observant Jewish converts. These Gentiles only had to
observe the seven minimum tenets of the Noahide Law, the ancient rule from the
time of Noah:
·
do not worship idols,
·
do not blaspheme God's
name,
·
do not murder,
·
do not commit immoral
sexual acts,
·
do not steal,
·
do not tear the limb from a living animal, and
·
do not fail to establish courts of
justice.
So these Jews visiting Jerusalem and
foreigners who might be in Jerusalem for study or trade would have a general
understanding of some of the languages of the region around Jerusalem. You’ve
probably heard it said that Jesus and the Apostles, being from Galilee, would
usually speak a language known as Aramaic, with Hebrew as the language of the
Torah and worship.
And it’s not the Diaspora and the Proselytes
who doubted what’s going on. The
sneering cynics whom Peter is addressing were the Judeans and those living in
Jerusalem, who were jealous or generally bitter toward such outsiders –
Galileans, the Diaspora, “Gated Proselytes.”
Now return to the first question: “How is it that we hear, each of us, in our
own native language?”
We can presume some supernatural dimension,
that Peter was speaking in some sort of Hebrew or Galilean Aramaic, and the
Diaspora and foreign proselytes were hearing in their home languages. But perhaps Peter was speaking in a language
that the Diaspora could understand if
they were open to hear it, again by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The
Diaspora and proselytes would otherwise hear only the din of the big city.
An example today would be rock music and rap
music. I can’t hear the words – I don’t hear the words – I won’t hear the words
of such songs, partly because I am convinced those lyrics have no meaning for
me.
The Diaspora knew the Jewish scripture not
because it justified their existence, but because they saw the universality of
their scripture and tradition partly by the way the gentiles around them were
attracted to it.
As Episcopalians in contemporary Chelan and
Douglas County, and in contemporary America for that matter, we are sometimes
embarrassed by the way many Christians appear to scorn our “cafeteria
Christianity.” What is not so clear to us is the fact that there are those
within our community and country who admire the courage of our Church, as we
stand shoulder to arm with people scorned in our community, our society, and
our country – aliens, the poor, addicts, visionaries, advocates for justice,
and others deemed “Pariah” and “Leeches” to our way of living.
Peter proclaims a day when the Spirit will
be poured out upon the most despicable – Slaves, both Men and Women.
On the Great and Glorious Day of the Lord,
somehow, Everyone who calls on the
Name of the Lord shall be saved.
In Romans, Paul speaks of a Spirit present,
even in our own day, which can help us in our own weakness. And what is the great weakness of our own
day? Is it promiscuity? Greed?
Addiction? Genocidal and Internecine hate and War? Maybe.
But I think the great weaknesses of our own
day is that our “sons and … daughters (do not) prophesy, (our) your young …
have been made so cynical that they dare not see visions, because our old (no
longer value) dream[ing] dreams.”
Dreams are seen in our time as things that
will let you down. And it is in THAT void all the rest rushes in.
Why isn’t $10 billion enough for the likes
of Bernie Madoff that he must grasp $20, $30, $50 billion? Madoff and the rest
of the 1% believe more in lies than dreams.
The 1% of our nation and world have to stockpile behind their false
security of gated communities and possessions to live forever. Dreamers, on the
other hand, can’t get rid of it fast enough, because a lot is never enough. The
Dreamer doesn’t have to dream alone..
The true Dreamer CAN’T dream alone.
He or she must entrust their dreams to
others with the strength, hope, and stamina to carry them forward.
My dream can’t be a $200,000 RV. My dream has to be the journey.
My hope cannot be a world without snow. My
hope has to be the generosity of strangers, who will help push my car out of
the rut.
My security cannot be my 70 rental
properties in Wenatchee, East Wenatchee, and Monitor. My security must be my
sense of safety in neighborhoods where residents have a vested interest – where
sons and daughters are not left to fend for themselves in the midst of dangers
they cannot figure out for themselves – the dangers of idle time, cars, drugs,
sex, booze, and guns.
In today’s gospel, Jesus says
But
because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts.
Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for
if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will
send him to you.
Simply put, the Spirit cannot and will not
be let in where it is perceived as neither wanted nor needed.
Many love the concept of Self-Reliance but
few have studied it like Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said,
Your
isolation must not be mechanical, but spiritual, that is, must be elevation. At
times the whole world seems to be in conspiracy to importune you with emphatic
trifles. Friend, client, child, sickness, fear, want, charity, all knock at
once at thy closet door and say,—'Come out unto us.' But keep thy state; come
not into their confusion. The power men possess to annoy me I give them by a
weak curiosity. No man can come near me but through my act. "What we love
that we have, but by desire we bereave ourselves of the love."
Emerson says it little better than the
Beloved Disciple.
We possess only that which we are able to
love. It doesn’t work the other way around. We are tempted to believe that
possessions create an environment within which we are then able to love.
Jesus says,
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear it now.”
In this time of reflection on the mission of
the Church, I ask you to meditate this week on what you cannot bear the Lord to
say to you in these days. Not WHETHER, but WHAT. If you don’t come up with anything – Try
HARDER. Nothing in the Gospel is just for the other guy.
Listen for that Spirit in your heart, as it
sighs too deep for words. Those sighs
will carry with it
·
patience in the midst of the mob,
·
strength in weakness, and
·
hope in our unknowing.
